Two weeks after Malaysian timber tycoon cum media mogul Tiong Hiew King was awarded a knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II, environmental groups have launched a campaign to strip him of the honour over his “illegal logging record”.

The award was bestowed on Tiong, the billionaire founder of logging giant Rimbunan Hijau, for his “services to commerce, the community and charitable organisations” in Papua New Guinea, a country which still recognises the British monarch as its head of state.

However, Bruno Manser Fund (BMF) said that Tiong - labelled by the Switzerland-based environment group as the ‘Knight of the Chainsaw’ - cannot be called ‘Sir’ as he is not a ‘substantive’ holder of the award.

BMF, which has campaigned against rampant logging in both Sarawak and elsewhere, said it had received confirmation of Tiong’s status from the Honours and Appointments Secretariat of the United Kingdom's Cabinet Office.

tiong hiew king “Being neither a citizen of Papua New Guinea nor the United Kingdom, Tiong cannot qualify as a substantive award holder but only as an ‘honorary’ one,” said BMF, which has written to Honours and Appointments Secretariat for clarification on the matter.

“As Mr Tiong's knighthood is honorary, he cannot be called ‘Sir’,” Honours and Appointments Secretariat’s Christopher Corbett wrote in a letter in respond to BMF.

"The Papua New Guinea Birthday Honours List, honorary and substantive, is approved by HM The Queen - in the same way that she approves the United Kingdom Lists - but in her constitutional capacity as Queen of Papua New Guinea and on the advice of her Papua New Guinea ministers,” added Corbett.

Rupert Murdoch of Asia

Tiong is a controversial figure in PNG as Rimbunan operates half of the biggest logging projects and directly accounts for one-third of the country's raw log exports.

kamula doso papua new guinea 041108 He has been accused by environment groups for the destruction of PNG rainforests, corruption and violation of human rights.

Among the disputed areas between the logging giant and and indigenous landowners is the huge Kamula Dosa concession area in PNG's Western Province.

Rimbunan Hijau was founded in 1975 by Tiong, who once served as a senator for the Sarawak United Peoples' Party.

In recent years, he has invested heavily in the media, earning him the moniker of ‘Asia’s Rupert Murdoch’.

He controls Chinese Malaysian newspapers Sin Chew Daily and Guangming Daily , as well as The National in Papua New Guinea and Ming Pao in Hong Kong.

Tiong, who has an estimated net worth of about US$1.1 billion in 2008, is ranked 840th richest person in the world by Forbes magazine.

Queen ‘ill-advised’ by her PNG ministers

BMF, in a statement emailed to Malaysiakini , lamented that the Queen was “ill-advised by her Papua New Guinea ministers” in conferring the award on the billionaire.

“Tiong is commonly known to be one of the chief people responsible for widespread illegal logging in both Papua New Guinea and other countries.

rain forest rainforest jungle 010708 01 “A Greenpeace 2004 report said that Rimbunan Hijau's activities were ‘often characterised by a disregard for the law, with documented illegalities in many aspects of their operations’.

“Papua New Guinea environmental and human rights campaigners reacted with shock to the news of Tiong's knighthood, describing it as a bad joke,” it added.

BMF plans a letter campaign directed at Papua New Guinea governor-general Paulias Matane, who is Queen Elizabeth’s representative, to protest against the award.

The letter states that Tiong is unfit for a knighthood and calls upon the Queen and the Papua New Guinea government to deprive him of this honour.

Tiong Hiew King article chinese asiaweek 260609 Copies of the letters will be sent to the Queen’s private secretary Christopher Geidt.

In the latest edition of regional Chinese-language news weekly Yazhou Zhoukan , the Tiong-owned magazine carried a two-page interview with the tycoon as well as a report on his knighthood award.

Previous reports

Logging firm Rimbunan Hijau under Greenpeace spotlight

Tiong in mega Chinese media merger

Tycoon to create global media empire

Logging in PNG: Rimbunan accuses NGO of lying

Native group seeks help to stop logging giant

Logging giant damned for 'rights violations'