Malaysian Tiong Hiew King, owner of Hong Kong media conglomerate, dead at 91

Malaysian media and timber tycoon Tiong Hiew King, who built a newspaper empire spanning Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, has died aged 91.

Media Chinese International, which owns the Chinese-language daily Ming Pao in Hong Kong, issued a notice on Tuesday announcing the death of its honorary chairman.

“The board of directors of Media Chinese International Limited announces with deepest sadness that Tan Sri Datuk Sir Tiong Hiew King, a substantial shareholder and honorary chairman of the company, passed away peacefully today,” it said.

One Media Group, a subsidiary of Media Chinese International, also issued the same notice.

According to Malaysian media outlet Sin Chew Daily, which is also owned by Media Chinese International, Tiong died on Tuesday morning at 11.47am.

Born in 1934 in Sibu, Sarawak, Tiong founded timber company Rimbunan Hijau Group in 1975, which had logging businesses in Malaysia and other countries such as Papua New Guinea.

But he was best known to Hongkongers as a media tycoon, after he acquired controlling shares in Ming Pao Enterprise in 1995 and was appointed chairman of the board.