Tan Sri The Malay language has a complex system of styles, titles and honorifics which are used extensively in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and the southern Philippines. Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore and several provinces in Indonesia regul ...

Datuk Datuk (or its variant Dato or Datu) is a Malay title commonly used in Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia, as well as a traditional title by Minangkabau people in West Sumatra, Indonesia. The title of the wife of Datuk is Datin. Origin The oldes ...

Tiong Hiew King (; Hokchew Romanized: ''Diŏng Hiēu-kĭng''; born 1935) is the Malaysian Chinese founder and chairman of the Rimbunan Hijau Group, a timber company founded in 1975. Its overseas timber operations in

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

is the largest in that country. He also has interests in logging operations in Russia. Tan Sri Datuk Tiong resides in

Sibu Sibu (; Hokchew Romanized: ''Sĭ-bŭ'') is a landlocked city in the central region of Sarawak. It is the capital of Sibu District in Sibu Division, Sarawak, Malaysia. The city is located on the island of Borneo and covers an area of . It i ...

, a town in

Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the Malaysian state of Sabah to the northeast, ...

, of

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and ea ...

island that is part of Malaysia. , with a net worth of about US$1.1 billion,Forbes.com
/ref> Tiong is ranked by

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

as the 1,999th richest person in the world. In April 2017, Tiong’s family confirmed that he was hospitalized after suffering a stroke.

Family

Tiong's family is the second largest private landowner in New Zealand.

Influence in media

Tiong's Rimbunan Hijau Group operates ''

Sin Chew Daily ''Sin Chew Daily'' (), formerly known as ''Sin Chew Jit Poh'', is a leading Chinese-language newspaper in Malaysia. According to report from the Audit Bureau of Circulation for the period ending 31 December 2011, ''Sin Chew Daily'' has an averag ...

'' and '' Guang Ming Daily'', two of the major Chinese national dailies in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. They also operate ''The National Daily'' in Papua New Guinea and

Ming Pao ''Ming Pao'' () is a Chinese-language newspaper published by Media Chinese International in Hong Kong. In the 1990s, ''Ming Pao'' established four overseas branches in North America; each provides independent reporting on local news and colle ...

Holdings Ltd in Hong Kong. He is forging a global Chinese publishing group with his Ming Pao Enterprises; ''Ming Pao'' newspaper is also available in San Francisco, New York, Vancouver and Toronto. Media Chinese International Limited (MCIL) is the holding company for all Tiong’s media assets formed after the merger of Ming Pao Enterprise Corporation Limited, Sin Chew Media Corporation Berhad and Nanyang Press Holdings Berhad. In 2018, Tiong stepped down from the position of executive chairman of MCIL to take up a non-executive, non-independent directorship in the group.

Influence in local politics

Back home in Sibu, Tiong and his family are members of the ruling

Sarawak United People's Party The Sarawak United Peoples' Party, or SUPP (; ms, Parti Rakyat Bersatu Sarawak; Iban: ''Gerempong Sa'ati Rayat Sarawak'') is a multiracial centre-right local political party of Malaysia based in Sarawak. The SUPP president is Dr. Sim Kui Hi ...

(SUPP), a major party of the ruling coalition government in Sarawak. Tiong's younger brother

Tiong Thai King Datuk Tiong Thai King (; born 4 July 1945) is a Malaysian politician who served as Member of the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Dudong from May 2016 to December 2021 and Member of Parliament (MP) for the Lanang from April 1995 ...

has been the Member of Parliament of the Lanang Parliamentary Constituency in Sibu from 1995 to 2013.

Knighthood controversy

In 2009, Tiong was declared an honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE). Following his knighting Environmental groups around the world called for him to be stripped of his title, claiming that his success was built on the destruction of tropical forests by his company, Rimbunan Hijau.

Honours

Honours of Malaysia

* : **

Commander of the

Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia The Most Esteemed Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia ( ms, Darjah Yang Mulia Setia Mahkota Malaysia) is a Malaysian federal award presented for meritorious service to the country and awarded by the sovereign. The order was instituted ...

(PSM) - Tan Sri (1999) * : ** Commander of the Order of the Star of Hornbill Sarawak (PGBK) - Datuk (1990)

Foreign honours

* : **

Order of the British Empire (Civil) Ribbon

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(KBE)

References

External links

Being well connected goes a long way in Malaysia
– Malaysia Today: MT-News {{DEFAULTSORT:Tiong, Hiew King Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Living people People from Sarawak Malaysian businesspeople Malaysian people of Chinese descent Malaysian billionaires 1935 births Hong Kong newspaper people Members of the Dewan Negara Sarawak United Peoples' Party politicians Commanders of the Order of the Star of Hornbill Sarawak Commanders of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia