Chung Tien-hsiang, senior correspondent for Asiaweek magazine in Malaysia, recalls when the Chinese language educator Lin Lian-yu, who was stripped of Malaysian citizenship for pursuit of Chinese language education, died in 1985, Kuala Lumpur Chinese sent countless memorials, declared the day "Malaysian Chinese Education Day," and inscribed "Soul of the Race" at the burial site.
亞洲週刊駐馬來西亞資深特派員鍾天祥追憶，因華文教育而被褫奪馬來西亞公民權的華文教育鬥士林連玉，一九八五年逝世時，吉隆坡華人送殯者不計其數，且訂其忌日為「大馬華教節」、墳地名為「族魂」。