GBBM was founded in Tehel, Malacca by Mr. Tee An Chuan, in the year 1975.
In the sixties to seventies, Tehel was a rural village made up of about 30 families with a population of about 200 people. The villagers lived a simple and peaceful life and were closely knit. They were predominantly farmers and rubber tappers. Cycling was their main means of transport . The only school, Shuren School, has only one classroom. The Principal was the only teacher. There were about 34 students, from standard one to standard four.
The social culture of Tehel then, was typical of an ideal culture of an organization. The youths love to participate in group activities. During festivals like the Dragon Boat Festival, Lantern Festival, Chap Goh Meh, they would gather together to celebrate and make merry.
In November, 1974, Mr. Tee An Chuan attended a 3-day rally organized by the Ministry of Youth for the villagers. After listening to the speech by the Director of Youth and Culture, Encik Jahari Ahmad, he learnt of the benefits of the various activities and benefits for youths. Later, he visited Encik Jahari Ahmad and learnt that it was possible to register a youth movement.
At that time, the legal societies for youths were limited to MAYC, 4B, ST. JOHN AMBULANCE, PENGAKAP, PANDU PUTERI, PALANG MERAH, YOUNG CHRISTIAN MOVEMENT, BOYS BRIGADE, etc. Except for the YOUNG CHRISTIAN MOVEMENT and BOYS BRIGADE, most of the members of other societies were Malays. According to the statistics, of the 11,787 members of societies for youths, there were only 252 Chinese members, 111 Indian members . All others were Malays.
In view of such a situation, it was very difficult to recruit Chinese youth members. The difference in language, culture and family backgrounds, made it difficult for them to communicate and interact. Mr. Tee An Chuan suggested if it was possible to form a society only for Chinese youths. The Minister of Youth and Culture agreed and Mr. Tee An Chuan immediately started to set up a platform for Chinese youths.
Mr. Tee An Chuan immediately started to go all out to set up clubs for Chinese youths (Persatuan Belia). He set up and registered the Persatuan Belia Tehel, Persatuan Belia Bemban and other societies for Chinese youths. In a very short span of time, from December 1974 to January 1975, in just over 2 months, he set up a total of 34 youth clubs.
However, he realized that there was not much he can do with so many independent clubs. After deep consideration, he gathered all the clubs and united them under one main umbrella, GERAKAN BELIA BERSATU. Not long after, all the youth clubs re-registered their name to GERAKAN BELIA BERSATU but each club registered with the ROS separately. On the 1st February, 1975, 12 GBB clubs had registered with the R.O.S. The speed and strength of formation of this youth movement attracted the attention of the public. The Malacca GBBM Committee was formed on 1st February 1975.
On 11th April, 1975, Mr. Tee An Chuan organized a meeting for all Presidents and Secretaries of all the GBB clubs in Malacca. There, the state council for the movement was set up. The Club Constitutions, activities or projects were established. There was no more individual registration of GBB clubs. Instead, each club was to be registered as a branch of GBB Melaka.
GBB Melaka introduced a series of projects. In May, 1975, a 3-day leadership training was organized . In June, a Cultural Night was organized. By 5th August, 27 branches with a membership strength of 1,501, had been registered.
On 11th August, 1975, Mr. Tee An Chuan again organized another meeting for the Presidents and Secretaries of all clubs. At that meeting, the club resolutions were revised to accommodate expansion to a national level. Preparations were also made to form the Youth Cooperation Unit and the Vanguard
The youths of Johor and Negeri Sembilan started to contact Mr. Tee An Chuan for the purpose of setting up youth clubs in their respective states. On 3rd September, 1975, the first GBB clubs of Johor were set up. On that auspicious day, altogether 3 GBB branches, Bukit Kepong, Pengkalan Bukit Estate and Kampung Raja were formed in Johor.
On 15th September, 1975, the first national GBB Council was established. The GBBM Charter President was Mr. Tee An Chuan, deputy president was Hoh Gan You, secretary was Lee Weng Shuang, Financial was Ooi Xian Chuan, AJK was Weng Su Min, Teng Zi Chai, Wang Aa Sheng, Lee Zhen Jing, Kok Jin Phiao, Lian Ji Nan.
On 26th October, 1975, a national assembly for club representatives was organized at Dewan Belia Kampung Pandan, Kuala Lumpur. Participants came from Melaka, Johor, Negeri Sembilan, Selangor and Perak. The 2nd Central Committee was established.
On 17th November, 1975, Negeri Sembilan’s first GBB Pedas Branch, was formed; Selangor’s first GBB Gombak Branch, was formed on 12th February, 1976; in Federal Territory, GBB Taman Midah branch was formed on 7th March, 1976.
On 21st April, 1976, GBB Headquarters got its registration number, 666/75 from the Registrar of Societies.
Since then, GBB continued to spread and expand until today.
At the beginning, the emblem for GBB Melaka had 2 mousedeer, stars and moon . From 26th October, 1975, the new emblem was used until today.
In 2006, the government announced a new regulation for youth organizations. From the year 2008, all youth organizations have to be registered under the Ministry of Youth and Sports with strict emphasis on the age limit for its members. This new regulation created a lot of controversy for youth organisations within the country. Fortunately, under the leadership of Mr. Chan Teck Yin, and Dato Ho Teck Kuen, GBBM proceeded steadily to reform the internal machinery. They set a uniform system of election at all levels and capped the age limit for members at 40 years old. By 26th June 2008, GBBM became the first Chinese Youth Organisation and the Nation’s third Youth organisation to be registered under the new regulation ruling youth organizations. Its registration number is PPBM0003/08.志。