Chung Thye Phin

Life & Legacy

Chung Thye Phin MSC, JP (simplified Chinese: 郑大平 / 郑太平; traditional Chinese: 鄭大平 / 鄭太平; pinyin: Zhèng Dàpíng / Zhèng Tàipíng; 28 September 1879 – 29 March 1935) was a Chinese Malayan business magnate, planter, miner, bureaucrat, and philanthropist who served as the last Kapitan Cina of Perak and Malaya. He was reported to be the richest man in Penang.
The son of tin-mining magnate Chung Keng Quee, he was a pioneer in the tin-mining industry through the introduction of modern equipment and tin-mining techniques in Perak under Western assistance. He was also known for pioneering the cultivation of roselle fibre for the production of ropes and twines, with the creation of the Sweet Kamiri Estate at Sungai Siput.
In his later years, he was a member of the Perak Advisory Board, and eventually became the Kapitan China of Perak. He has been described by his contemporaries as one of the "best known residents of the Chinese community" in British Malaya.