It seems the end is not in sight yet on the Chinese press monopoly issue.

The subject is likely to heat up even more in the days and months ahead as another fresh development has emerged.

KTS Group, a well-known timber conglomerate in Sarawak, is closing in on the tail of media baron Tiong Hiew King. Words are out that KTS is keen to take over Nanyang Press Holding from Tiong and MCA.

Nanyang Press Holdings is the owner of leading Chinese dailies Nanyang Siang Pau and China Press .

It is believed that a KTS proposal to take over Nanyang has been sounded to the latter's owners.

KTS chairperson Lau Swee Nguong will hold a special press conference in Kuala Lumpur tomorrow to reveal details of his plans - whether the offer is from the group or in his personal capacity.

The recent takeover of Nanyang by Tiong has never gone down well with a large cross section of the Chinese community.

Fears were expressed that with Nanyang in Tiong's hands, the media mogul from Sibu now monopolises the Chinese press in Malaysia.

He currently owns Sin Chew Media Corporation Bhd, which publishes two top newspapers, Sin Chew Daily and Guangming Daily .

Early this month, some 300 students held a peaceful sit-in protest against the media monopoly by Tiong at the Sin Chew premises in Petaling Jaya.

Commenting on the latest development, veteran Chinese-language media practitioner Kou Yok Liong ( left ) lauded the move as a positive development.

"If the deal goes through, it will break the monopoly of the Chinese press. Even if KTS is able to acquire MCA's minority share of 20%, it will help to put some sort of check and balance although Tiong is still the second largest shareholder of Nanyang Press Holdings," he said..

Kou has worked as the general manager for Sin Chew , executive director of Nanyang Press Holdings as well as media consultants for the KTS Media Group. However, he doubted that MCA will ever agree to sell off its Nanyang shares to KTS.

Press freedom

Writers Alliance for Media Independence (Wami) chairperson Wong Chin Huat ( right ) also expressed his support for the proposed acquisition based on two reasons.

"Firstly, the press will no longer be controlled by a political party like MCA. Secondly, KTS's Oriental Daily News is not a dominant player in the Chinese press arena as they only enjoy 4% of the readership. Thus the acquisition will not pose any threat towards press freedom," he said.

KTS Group currently owns four newspapers - Oriental Daily , See Hua Daily , Utusan Borneo and Borneo Post.

Only Oriental Daily , launched on 2003, is based in the peninsula. The others are published in Sarawak.

KTS was founded in 1962 by Lau Hui Kang ( right ), who passed away last year at the age of 83. Currently, Oriental Daily News is helmed by his second son, Henry Lau.

On Oct 17, after months of speculation, MCA finally announced its decision to sell off 21.02 percent of its controlling 44.4 percent stake in Nanyang Press Holdings to Tiong.

The purchase increases Tiong's stake in Nanyang from 23.74 percent to 44.76 percent.

With the new acquisition, Tiong cements his reputation as the dominant media player in Malaysia with a near monopoly of the country's Chinese-language press.

Of the six major Chinese newspapers, Oriental Daily and Penang-based Kwong Wah Daily are the only two other Chinese newspapers not under Tiong's control.

Nanyang Siang Pau was founded by the late Tan Kah Kee in 1923 in Singapore. In 1993, Nanyang took over the management of China Press .