Chinese Herald Overseas Chinese Consulates
Author: Chen Kezhen
Fu Xinchun, the former chairman of the Singapore Anxi Association and the former chairman of the Singapore Fu Association, whose ancestral home is in Anxi County, is his 100th birthday this year. This 100-year-old overseas Chinese leader, who has worked hard in Singapore's transportation industry for decades, led his family to work hard, and achieved a modern enterprise providing a full range of logistics services in Singapore - Fu Changchun Group, contributing to Singapore's economic prosperity. He is enthusiastic about public welfare, willing to give kindness, and dedicates love to the society and his hometown.
Centenarian overseas Chinese leader Fu Xinchun
Hard work is well deserved
Fu Xinchun's ancestral home is Yangnei Village, Jingu Town, Anxi County. His father, Fu Boyan, went to Singapore at the beginning of the last century, began to work as a vegetable garden in his fourth uncle, then worked in a grocery store, returned to his hometown a few years later to get married, and then returned to Singapore with his wife, giving birth to his eldest son, Fu Xinchun, in 1924. Since then, he has operated the "Xinchengchun" grocery store and his business has been booming.
Fu Boyan gave birth to seven boys and one girl. Fu Xinchun attended a private school when he was a child, also studied English, and later entered a Chinese school to learn Chinese. In 1939, his father died young, and Fu Xinchun and his second brother dropped out of school to cut rubber for others. After the Japanese occupation of Singapore, he worked as a farmer in the countryside; After the Japanese surrendered, he used his bicycle to sell vegetables to support his family and keep his younger siblings in school. Fu Xinchun has six younger brothers and one younger sister, and after his father passed away, he resolutely shouldered the burden of running the family, and the eldest brother was like a father, so everyone respected him very much.
In the early fifties of the last century, Fu Xinchun decided to devote himself to the trucking industry, obtained a driver's license, and bought a truck to start his transportation career. Later, several younger brothers grew up one after another, and the second and fourth brothers also successively obtained truck driving licenses, gradually increased truck operations, and wrote the words "Fu Changchun" on the car. Because the names of the brothers have a "spring" character, and the word "long" represents longevity and eternity, the truck fleet was named "Fu Changchun". He is very pleased that "Fu Changchun" has accompanied him on a long road in life, and this brand has gradually become a household name in Singaporeans.
By 1960, Fu Changchun's fleet had 8 3-ton trucks, and Fu Xinchun registered and established "Fu Changchun Company". Five brothers joined the team and worked together to develop the company's transportation services. By 1962, the company had grown larger and began to hire clerks. The "Fu Changchun" enterprise he founded opened up a road to prosperity for the family.
Fu Xinchun is the founder and manager of "Fu Changchun", and the start-up capital of "Fu Changchun" was also raised by him under the leadership of his mother, but he selflessly distributed the company's equity to his six younger brothers, fully condensed the joint force of the brothers, created the development and growth of the enterprise, and finally became a well-known group enterprise.
With the development of Fu Changchun's company, it has successively hired people from outside the family, and the company treats them like family members, which deeply touches the hired personnel. Wang Shuijiu, a clerk hired by the company, who is engaged in the deployment of vehicles and the management of accounts, said that the company is his other home, and he has worked for 50 years, and he still insists on going to work at the age of eight. Many employees who have served in the company for decades have the same feeling of home as Wang Shuijiu.
In 1999, under the planning of the seventh brother Fu Chun'an and others, "Fu Changchun Storage and Transportation Co., Ltd." was successfully listed on the Singapore Exchange. This is one of the very few logistics companies listed in Singapore that is listed locally, which can be described as the highest honor of "Fu Changchun".
Since the fifties of the last century, under the excellent leadership of Fu Xinchun, after decades of careful management, the company has developed into Fu Changchun Group, becoming a large local enterprise with thousands of employees. Fu Changchun Group is mainly engaged in warehousing and transportation business, as well as bulk cargo transportation and handling.
At present, the Group has two warehouses with a storage area of nearly 120,000 square meters, and its warehousing services include the storage and management of raw materials and semi-finished products for customers, and the provision of services such as barreling and container handling of chemical raw materials. In terms of transportation, the Group has 100 towing vehicles, carrying tens of thousands of import and export containers for customers every month. The Group also has more than 100 10-ton trucks, providing customers with domestic transportation services for dry and refrigerated goods every day.
Fu Xinchun still insisted on starting a business, and the company's business continued to expand overseas, with the opportunity of the reorganization of the board of directors after the listing, he resolutely handed over the baton to his seventh brother Fu Chun'an, and he served as the company's consultant as the founder of the group. After retiring from his management position, he continued to contribute to the development of the company and invested more energy and financial resources in social causes.
Fu Xinchun (third from right) is with colleagues in the Anxi South Music Circle
Serve the society and benefit all directions
Fu Xinchun, who is enthusiastic about social affairs, often tells people that he has worked two jobs in his life, one is to run "Fu Changchun", and the other is to devote himself to public welfare activities. He said that public welfare activities occupy a considerable part of his life, and in his later life, the energy spent on them is no less than that of 'Fu Changchun'. ”
Fu Xinchun's public welfare activities in Singapore are mainly focused on the affairs of Singapore Anxi Association. In 1991, when Tang Yu, Chairman of Singapore Anxi Association, proposed the organization of the first World Anxi Friendship Association, he was elected as the second vice chairman of the Association, responsible for fundraising and participating in the preparation of the association, and contributing to the success of the first World Anxi Friendship Association.
Then, the second friendship party was held in Anxi County in 1994, Fu Xinchun and the chairman of the association, led 351 Singapore Anxi villagers to return to their hometowns to participate in the grand event, and the number of foreign villagers was 1,547, which was unprecedented and enhanced the friendship of the villagers. In 1997, he led a delegation back to his hometown to attend the third gathering held in Anxi County.
The 4th Friendship Party was held in Malaysia, and Fu Xinchun received the flag on behalf of Singapore Anxi Association to host the next Friendship Party. In 2002, the 5th Sorority Conference was held in Singapore, and he served as the First Vice Chairman of the Association. The conference invited the then Prime Minister of Singapore, Goh Chok Tong, to attend the meeting to add glory to the association.
Since 2003, Fu Xinchun has taken over as the executive chairman of the Singapore Anxi Association, and has worked hard with his colleagues to serve the Anxi villagers, striving to build the association into a bridge connecting overseas villagers with their homeland, and has led many delegations to communicate with domestic villagers and enhance the friendship between them.
During his tenure as chairman of the association, Fu Xinchun also completed a work to revise the association's constitution, and he and the council members of the association suggested that each executive chairman of the association should only serve three consecutive terms for a total of six years, which helped the management of the association to be updated in a timely manner, which was well received.
In November 2004, the 6th Friendship Party was held in Anxi, and Fu Xinchun, who was the chairman of the Association at the time, once again led a delegation back to his hometown to participate in the event. He also returned to his hometown twice to participate in the Anxi County Overseas Chinese Congress, and was hired as the honorary chairman of the Anxi County Federation of Overseas Chinese twice.
He has also served as the President of the Nanyang Fu Association in Singapore for more than 20 years, and despite his busy schedule, he always tries to attend any meetings or events of the Fu Association. He also serves as the Honorary Life President of the Transport Association of Singapore.
During his tenure as a member of the Standing Committee of the Anxi Association, Fu Xinchun led a Singapore business delegation of more than 50 people to visit relatives and ancestors in various parts of China. He likes Nanyin, and once led the Nanyin group of the guild hall to Xiamen to participate in the Spring Festival Nanyin Conference and sing. Every time he returned to his hometown, he communicated cordially with his hometown string friends, listened to Nanyin, talked about his hometown, and donated funds for Nanyin organizations.
In September 1999, the 3rd World Fujian Conference was held in Quanzhou, and he was invited to attend the meeting with colleagues from Anxi Association in Singapore. In May 2004, the 4th World Fujian Association was held in Fuzhou, and as the chairman of the Singapore Anxi Association, he once again led his colleagues to attend the conference.
In November 2007, the 85th anniversary celebration of the establishment of the Singapore Anxi Association was held, and the chairman of the association, Fu Xinchun, invited the Minister of Health of Singapore Koh Boon Yuen to attend the celebration dinner as the guest of honor, which was attended by Consul General Xue Yungang, Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in Singapore, Consul General Cheng Mei Lok of the Consulate General of Singapore in Xiamen, Chen Canhui, Governor of Anxi County Government, and Anxi villagers from all over the world.
Fu Xinchun is enthusiastic about Singapore's social welfare undertakings and has made outstanding contributions, and has been commended by the Singapore government. In 1999, he was awarded the Public Service Medal (PBM) by the President of Singapore, and in 2023, he was awarded the Public Service Star (BBM) by the President of Singapore.
Affection for Sangzi is kind and charitable
Fu Xinchun is in love with Sangzi, has a deep affection for his ancestral hometown, and has long been concerned about the development of his hometown. In 1983, when he was a sixtieth year, he set foot on the land of his hometown Anxi for the first time, and returned to Yangnei Village, Jingu Town, to visit relatives and friends and talk about family life. When he learned that his relatives were in difficulty, he generously donated money to help repair their homes and sponsor their children's education.
During Fu Xinchun's return to his hometown, he went to his hometown of Yangnei Village to pay homage to his ancestors, and saw that Zuyu was in disrepair, so he discussed with the villagers to repair it, and took the lead in donating one-third of the funds to repair Zuyu. There is another ancestral temple in the mud mouth of the ocean, and he also donated to support the construction of the ancestral temple, and the restoration of the ancestral temple was completed.
When Fu Xinchun returned to his hometown in 1986, he saw the dilapidated building of Yangnei Primary School, so he and Ye Changpeng, a villager living in Malaysia, jointly donated to build a new school building for Yangnei Primary School and added teaching facilities. Later, he went to Yangnei Primary School many times to comfort teachers and students, donated teaching equipment and renovated school buildings, and also donated funds to renovate a dilapidated house, named "Fu Baiyan Teaching Building" in the name of his late father.
In 1991, Fu Xinchun donated funds to set up the "Fu Boyan Education Fund" in Yangnei Primary School to reward students with excellent character and learning. He also bought two shops and a house in Anxi County, and the proceeds went to the "Fu Boyan Education Fund" to increase the education fund.
What's even more touching is that when Fu Xinchun ascended to the ninth rank, he donated another 2 million yuan in 2013, together with his previous real estate assets, to establish the "Fu Boyan Education Foundation in Jingu Town, Anxi County", expanding the scope of funding for poor students, and was registered with the Civil Affairs Department of the Fujian Provincial Government.
The education foundation stipulates that the county's Fu candidates will be rewarded with 1,000 yuan per person in the year of admission to the university, and each new student in the extremely poor university will be subsidized with another 1,000 yuan; Yangnei Village was admitted to the doctoral program that year, and each person was rewarded with 3,000 yuan; Fu candidates and Yangnei Village candidates in the county, who are admitted to Peking University or Tsinghua University, will be rewarded with 5,000 yuan each. Since 2013, Fu Boyan Education Foundation has distributed more than 2 million yuan.
The roads in Yangnei Village used to be dirt roads, and it was very inconvenient for the villagers to go out. In 1993, Fu Xinchun and Ye Changpeng jointly donated 1 million yuan to build a road to the outside of the village, and the road was widened and poured cement to facilitate the villagers' travel. The villagers named the road "Changchun Road", and the Fujian Provincial Government awarded the two philanthropists gold medals for donating funds to public welfare undertakings.
Fu Xinchun, who cares about the cause of his hometown, has also donated to Yangnei Village to create a fund for the elderly, and donated to help build the Overseas Chinese Association Club in Jingu Town, the Longmen Tunnel Project and the World Anxi Villagers Friendship Building. He donated to the construction of his hometown and was also awarded the Gold Medal for Donation to Public Welfare Undertakings by the Fujian Provincial Government.
In the early days of reform and opening up, Fu Xinchun and overseas Chinese Cai Longhai jointly developed the secondary hydropower station of Lantian River in Hanyuan Village, Shangqing Township, Anxi County, and established Xinquan Hydropower (Anxi) Co., Ltd. with an installed capacity of 8,000 kilowatts, contributing to the economic development of Anxi. Soon after the establishment of the hydropower station, Anxi County was listed as one of the first electrified counties in the country.
Anxi is the hometown of Tieguanyin famous tea, after the reform and opening up, the hometown has held the China Tea Capital (Anxi) Tea Culture Tourism Festival and China Anxi Tieguanyin Oolong Tea Festival, China Cross-Strait Tea Culture Exchange Conference and the first and second China Tea Industry International Cooperation Summit and other important tea activities, Fu Xinchun was invited to return to his hometown to participate in the tea event, concerned about the development of the economy of his hometown.
Fu Xinchun, whose ancestral home is Anxi County, although he was born in a foreign country and grew up in another country, he has a deep friendship with his hometown. On the occasion of his 100th birthday, the people of his hometown wish this 100-year-old overseas Chinese leader a happy old age and a long life with reverence!
(Lin Quannan)