Datuk Hii Yii Chiong
SIBU: Founder of Sibu Kidney Foundation, Datuk Hii Yii Chiong passed away at 12.32 pm yesterday at Singapore’s Mount Elizabeth Hospital. Hii was 88.
He left behind wife Datin Tie Hung Kiu, five children, eleven grandchildren and one great grandchild to mourn his loss.
The en-coffin service will be held in his residence in Singapore at 8.15am next Wednesday.
This will be followed by a Church service before cremation at Mandai Crematorium Hall 1 at 9.45am.Hii was a prominent businessman with a string of successful entrepreneurships, beginning with his early days in timber trading.
Born in Sibu on July 1, 1931 to the late Hii Kah Tung and Wong Nguok Ing – both immigrants from Fuzhou in China – Hii received his education at Methodist English School in Sibu.
Having started his career as an assistant manager with Hock Seng Sawmill in 1952, he left the company in 1955 and worked with Borneo United Sawmills until 1962, when he became the Managing Director of Montague L. Meyer (Sarawak) Limited on June 16 which changed name four times before finally being known as Delta Bhd in 1969.
Together with other investors, Datuk Hii acquired Sebuyau Sawmill in 1956 and Teck Hong Sawmill in 1958. In the following year, the former acquired Hua Lee Sawmill Sdn Bhd and became the non-executive chairman of the three companies.
In 1967, he set up Delta Finance Bhd, a subsidiary of Delta Bhd, which had a network of 17 branches in Sarawak, Sabah and West Malaysia.
Delta Bhd enjoyed success as a timber concessionaire. From logging activities, it diversified into manufacturing of sawn timber and timber laminated boards, besides providing kiln dry services to other wood-based industries.
In addition to his many years of experience in the timber industries, Hii also expanded his investment and business interests into other areas like property development and water treatment.
Under his guidance, Delta Bhd increased its business activities into property, insurance, leasing, shipping and investment holding, as well as having owned and operated one of the largest hotels in Vancouver in the 1980s.
In 1969, Hii formed a joint venture company called Delta Far East Ltd to invest in timber operations in Indonesia.
He had also invested substantially into palm oil plantations in Sarawak and Indonesia, as well as serving as Chairman or director of more than 30 companies for many years.
Despite his numerous business commitments, Hii actively served in his community and was involved in numerous community associations, educational institutions and other charitable organisations. He was the president of Jaycee in 1966, the chartered president of the Lions Club, Sibu from 1967 to 1968, and served as the chairman of the Sarawak Society For The Blind, Third Division Branch.
He also sponsored the golf course of Sibu Lions Club, and is the honorary president of the Sibu Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, where he served as treasurer from 1968 to 1974.
He was a committee member of Methodist Secondary School’s Board of Management, served as the first president of the School’s Alumni & Alumnae Association in 1994 and was an advisor to the association from 1993 onwards.
He was the promoter and the first chairman of the RM10 million Education Fund Committee of the United Association of Private Chinese Secondary Schools Board of Management, Sibu. Largely through his untiring effort, the six Private Chinese Middle Schools benefited by way of annual grant.
He served as the chairman of the Wong Nai Siong School’s Board of Management from 1965 to 1971, and assisted in the Wong Nai Siong School’s building project, and chaired the school’s building fund-raising committee.
He was a member of the Board of Governors of former Sarawak United College, now known as Kolej Laila Taib, and had donated a sum of RM1 million to the college for its education fund.
One of his many contributions was the setting up of the Sibu Kidney Foundation in 1993, which has since offered dialysis treatment to many patients in Sarawak.
He devoted many hours to this project and made significant donations to building the dialysis centre and its ongoing operations.
He has been the chairman of the Board of Trustees of Hii Kah Tung Foundation since its inception in 1985. The Foundation has awarded millions of ringgit of scholarships to students from poor families.
It has also given many donations to local educational institutions and schools towards their various education funds and school building projects. He also donated RM1 million to Catholic High School in 2011, and also RM3 million to Methodist Secondary School for the construction of its library in 2012.
Hii has been a successful business entrepreneur and an outstanding Sarawakian whose integrity and business acumen has earned him a reputation for honesty and trustworthiness, and for his tireless efforts and contributions to the well-being of the Sarawak community, he was conferred Johan Mangku Negara (J.M.N.) by the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong in 1994 and was also awarded Panglima Gemilang Bintang Kenyalang (P.G.B.K), which carries the title “Datuk”.