Malaysia's "casino king" Lim Goh Tong, who died last week at the age of 90, was laid to rest Monday on the jungle hilltop which he turned into a thriving gambling resort.

Lim was interred at a memorial park near his palatial home Gohtong Villa, after a funeral procession that wound its way up to the peak where the Genting Highlands casino resort is sited.

Led by a marching band and Buddhist monks, at least 3,000 people walked on foot behind the hearse which bore Lim's portrait.

The cortege stopped at a temple along the way for prayers before arriving at the resort - closed for the day as a mark of respect - where Genting staff paid their respects.

The billionaire entrepreneur's five-day wake was extensively reported by local media since his death on Oct 23.

More than 20,000 people have reportedly paid their condolences to Lim's family at his residence, many arriving on free bus services laid on to the highlands, about an hour outside Kuala Lumpur.

The Star daily said florists have been inundated with orders for wreaths from local and foreign customers, driving up the price of blooms by a third.

Rags-to-riches story

One company alone said it was sending three trucks a day to Gohtong Villa, laden with wreaths that cost up to RM2,000 apiece.

In a classic rags-to-riches story, Lim first came to Malaya - as it was then known - as a poor Chinese immigrant in 1937 with just a handful of dollars in his pocket.

Last year he was ranked 204th on the Forbes list of billionaires worldwide, with his family's assets valued at US$4.2 billion.

He developed Genting Highlands in the 1960s and founded the Genting Group, which grew into a conglomerate comprising listed companies on the Malaysian, Singaporean and Hong Kong bourses.

Besides gaming operations in Malaysia and Britain, and one planned for Singapore, Genting has interests in the leisure, power, oil and gas, property and plantation sectors.

Its Hong Kong-listed unit, Star Cruises, is the third-largest cruise operator in the world. Another subsidiary, Genting International, owns Stanley Leisure, Britain's largest casino operator.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his deputy Najib Razak were among Malaysian government and corporate leaders who paid their respects and lauded Lim.

"He was so hard-working. He would often tell me that he was the 'number one coolie' in his company. He worked all the time which was testimony to his dedication towards his career. And he was always humble," Abdullah was quoted saying by the official Bernama news agency.