Tiong King Sing JP (Bàng-uâ-cê: Diŏng Kéng-séng; born 3 September 1961) is a Malaysian politician and businessman who has served as Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture in the Unity Government administration under Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim since December 2022 and the Special Envoy of the Prime Ministers Muhyiddin Yassin, Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Anwar to China since April 2020, Member of Parliament (MP) for Bintulu since November 1999 and Member of the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Dudong since December 2021. He served as Special Envoy of the Prime Ministers Najib Razak and Mahathir Mohamad to East Asia from January 2014 to June 2018. He is a member of the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP), a component party of the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) and formerly Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition. He has served as President of PDP since November 2017. In accordance with its expansion to West Malaysia in November 2017, the party was rebranded with its new name and logo from the Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP), a former component party of the BN coalition. He served as the 3rd Chairman of the BN Backbenchers Club from April 2008 to June 2013. He also served as President of SPDP from May 2014 to November 2017 and Deputy President of SPDP from March 2012 to his promotion to the SPDP presidency in May 2014 and previously the Treasurer-General of SPDP. Following the collapse of the BN administration after the 2018 general election and in the aftermath, a meeting between all Sarawak-based BN component parties was held on 12 June 2018, PDP decided to leave the coalition with the other three parties to form a new Sarawak-based political coalition in the meeting, namely the GPS coalition.

Political career

Tiong was originally a member of the Sarawak National Party (SNAP) but was dismissed in 2002 for what the party cited as disciplinary reasons. He subsequently joined the SPDP. At the 2008 general election, he successfully defended his seat receiving 73% of the vote. Tiong was re-elected to Parliament again in 2013 general election, and the following year became the President of the SPDP, replacing William Mawan Ikom, who had resigned from the party. In 2018 general election, Tiong retained his seat in Bintulu with a majority of 7,022. In 2022 general election, Tiong won his seat in Bintulu with overwhelming majority of 22,168. On 3 December 2022, Tiong is appointed by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim as the Minister of Tourism.

Issues raised

Gangsterism in Sarawak

In 2007 he became involved in a dispute with police administration alleging that criminal gangs were acting with impunity throughout Sarawak but that his concerns were not being addressed by police. His outspokenness was reported to have triggered a large police operation against criminal organisations in the State. Tiong subsequently received mail threats, including a parcel of shotgun cartridges, at his constituency office.

Pan Borneo Highway

In 2013, Tiong urged the repair of the Pan-Borneo Highway because poor road conditions were causing fatal road traffic accidents on the highway. In 2016, he expressed his desire for the highway project to include expanding the coastal road connecting Bintulu and Miri into a double carriageway. In 2017, Tiong criticised the Pan Borneo Highway project for bypassing Bintulu, thus depriving his parliamentary constituents of its benefits. In 2018, Tiong criticised the highway contractors for creating potholes, causing damage to public utilities, and for not installing sufficient warning signs. In June 2019, he complained again that the Pan Borneo Highway road conditions did not improve despite road inspections conducted by Democratic Action Party (DAP), which at that time was part of the ruling Pakatan Harapan coalition. In December 2019, Tiong criticised works minister Baru Bian for slow response to Pan Borneo Highway issues. He also alleged that Work Package Contractors (WPCs) were paid despite substandard work. In response, the Works Ministry said that the federal government had appointed Lebuhraya Borneo Utara (LBU) to oversee WPC projects. LBU was also delegated authority to disburse payments to the WPCs. Shortly thereafter, the federal government issued a termination letter on 20 September 2019 to LBU with effect from 20 February 2020.

COVID-19 pandemic

On 21 June 2020, as a result from Tiong's effort in raising funds from private sector and individuals, a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) lab was set up in Bintulu Hospital to conduct tests for COVID-19 without the need to send the samples to Sibu or Kuching for processing. In July 2020, he also complained the slow response of Malaysian Ministry of Health in supplying personal protective equipment (PPE) to Sarawak during the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. He also denounced the use of rapid RTK antigen tests for COVID-19 due to high false negatives rates amongst the patients screened. However, according to Malaysian Institute of Medical Research, the antigen RTK's sensitivity level stood at 90 per cent, while specificity remains at 100 per cent.

Controversies

Kong-Kali-Kong pet phrase

In 2015, Tiong King Sing introduced a pet phrase into Parliament when he described Opposition lawmakers as "Kong-Kali-Kong" MPs. Tiong made the remark after several opposition MPs lashed out at Barisan Nasional (BN) lawmakers, in particular Azalina Othman Said (Umno-Pengerang) for tabling a motion to suspend Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Gelang Patah). Among the opposition lawmakers who voiced their disagreement with the tabling of the motion were Gobind Singh Deo (DAP-Puchong), Ramkarpal Singh (DAP-Bukit Gelugor), Khalid Samad (Amanah-Shah Alam) and Tony Pua (DAP-Petaling Jaya Utara). In an attempt to silence them, Tiong used the term "Kong-Kali-Kong" on them, which he explained as "empty vessels" or "people with no insight on any matter whatsoever." This remark was followed by roars of laughter from other MPs who practically drowned out Gobind, who asked sarcastically, "What does that mean? Is that Bahasa Malaysia?" The pandemonium was triggered when Lim was suspended from Parliament for six months for refusing to apologise or retract his allegation that Pandikar Amin Mulia had abused his position as Dewan Rakyat Speaker on the Public Accounts Committee's (PAC) investigations on 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) when he ordered that the PAC be temporarily suspended. Speaking up in defence of Pandikar, Tiong said the Speaker had to be firm in allowing the motion to be tabled by Azalina for voting. "Remember, we have to respect the Speaker," Tiong said, adding that he believed opposition MPs would never admit their faults and would instead continue to block the issue from being debated.

"Afraid to die" remark against Director-General of Health

On 11 November 2020, Tiong criticised Director-General (DG) of Health, Dr. Noor Hisham Abdullah that he did not visit Bintulu during the COVID-19 pandemic and alleged that the DG is "afraid to die". However Noor Hisham defended himself that he had visited Sabah in August 2020 for preparation works before Sabah State Election. He also sent his deputies to Sabah in November during Sabah COVID-19 pandemic. He also said that death does not discriminate anyone. Five days later, Tiong apologised for his remark.

Criticism of Nancy Pelosi's Taiwan visit

On 5 August 2022, Tiong, then the Prime Minister's Special Envoy to China, issued a strongly worded statement against the visit to Taiwan by then US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, accusing Pelosi of violating the one-China principle and destabilising the region. Tiong added that "Taiwan is an inseparable part of Chinese territory" and accused the West of applying double standards between Russia's war in Ukraine and the Taiwan issue. Tiong's statement was toned down by then Minister of Foreign Affairs Saifuddin Abdullah, saying that it was not the official position of the government. Tiong's was criticised by some for supposedly compromising Malaysia's neutral stance towards geopolitics issues.

KLIA Commotion and Immigration corruption allegation

On 29 June 2023, an online news portal reported on an unnamed minister caused a commotion in the Terminal 1 of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). The portal alleged that the minister barged into restricted areas of the KLIA without presenting entry pass to "rescue" a detained tourist from China who was denied entry into the country and caused a ruckus when the minister scolded auxiliary police and Immigration officers. It was also learnt that this was the third time said minister had acted this way over detained foreign tourist. Tiong publicly admitted that he was the minister responsible for the commotion the next day and defended his action as exposing corruption among some KLIA officials. Tiong claims that the detained tourist had her phone illegally confiscated and asked to pay several thousand ringgits to be allowed entry into the country. Tiong said that he was alerted to the incident by the consulate general of Malaysia in Guangzhou and went to KLIA to investigate the incident at 3pm accompanied by officers from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). Tiong denied the allegation that he entered the arrival hall illegally as he have an entry pass valid until 2024, a fact confirmed by the Minister of Transport Anthony Loke. Tiong also urged the Minister of Home Affairs Saifuddin Nasution Ismail to take actions to eradicate a "culture of corruption" within the Immigration Department. The incident generated divided public opinion on Tiong's action. CUEPACS president Datuk Haji Adnan Mat condemn Tiong's action for violating "national security protocols and disrupted the duties of civil servants". UMNO Youth similarly condemn Tiong's "misconduct" and calls for his sacking as minister. However, Tiong's action was also praised by other organisations such as DAP Sarawak and tourism players for exposing corruption. The incident prompted separate investigations by the Immigration Department, MACC, Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) and Ministry of Transport.

Election results

Honours