Chung Thye Phin (; 28 September 1879 – 2 April 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. Early years Early life Chung Thye Phin was born in the village of Kota,Taiping, at the Perak Sultanate on 28 September 1879. He was the fourth son of Chinese tin-mining business magnate and philanthropist Chung Keng Quee (18271901) and Foo Teng Nyong (18491883), Chung's third wife. His name, Thye Phin (Chinese: 太平), was named after the town of Taiping. Chung had 9 brothers and 6 sisters, including Thye Yong, Thye Ngit, Thye Cheong and Thye Siong, and was an uncle of Chung Kok Ming. His godfather was Chin Seng Yam (d.1898), the leader of the Ghee Hin, a secret society opposed to the Hai San, another secret society led by his father due to tin-mining disputes. The rivalry eventually escalated into the Larut Wars (18651874), which ended in a Ghee Hin victory with the Pangkor Treaty of 1874. However, they were conferred the honorific titles of "Kapitan China". Chung received his education at St. Xavier's College (St. Xavier's Institution) in George Town. In August 1897, he was subjected to international media attention when reports of him being robbed by armed bandits at Canton River surfaced. The robbery was carried out on a boat hired by Chung while in a trip to their "native lands". Armed with revolvers, Chung and several of his relatives were held hostage for 12 hours, and lost "$70,000 worth of jewellery and cash" in the process. In 1902, he was granted a certificate of naturalization by the government of the Straits Settlements, making him a British citizen. The tin man An enterprising