The owner of Chinese daily Sin Chew Jit Poh , Tiong Hiew King is believed to be out of the running as a strategic partner in MCA's newly acquired Nanyang Press since the prime minister had recently disapproved of a Chinese media monopoly.

A business source who declined to be named told malaysiakini today that Tiong, who has timber and Chinese media interests worldwide, was initially being considered as a key player in running Nanyang Press, which publishes two major dailies, Nanyang Siang Pau and China Press .

"However, Dr Mahathir Mohamad has rejected the idea of Tiong controlling Nanyang Press and monopolising the local Chinese dailies," said the source, adding that Tiong is not even allowed to acquire a minority stake in the company.

On June 26, Mahathir was reported to have said that he does not support the idea of one group controlling the Chinese newspapers in the country.

Tiong had indicated his interest in taking over Nanyang during an interview last month with a Hong Kong-based Chinese regional periodical which he owns, saying if MCA wanted his help to run Nanyang, he must have a major stake in it.

On the same day of Tiong's interview, MCA president Dr Ling Liong Sik announced that the party was looking for strategic partners to take up shares in Nanyang Press.

New player

However, with Tiong out of the picture now, the source said it is widely speculated that the new player might be Dr Khoo Kay Peng, 61, the chairperson and group chief executive of the MUI group.

"However, the situation will become clearer in a week or two," said the source.

The MUI Group is a diversified conglomerate with interests in the Asia Pacific region and the United States of America.

Khoo is one of the directors of the Hong Kong-based daily South China Morning Post , which is owned by Malaysia's sugar tycoon Robert Kuok

The source said due to strong protest from the Chinese community against MCA's takeover of Nanyang, the political party is likely to relinquish its majority stake but will remain as a minority shareholder.

"The protest blew out of MCA's expectations and it will have to consider the repercussions on the 2004 general election," said the source.

Furthermore, the source said in an effort to placate the Chinese community, MCA might allow the Chinese consortium led by Lim Guan Teik to hold a minority stake in Nanyang Press.