Fan Bingbing’s Manager Denies HK Tycoon Helped Her Get Datuk Title In Malaysia

Fan Bingbing may have fallen from grace in China no thanks to her 2018 tax scandal, but her reputation elsewhere in Asia has evidently remained unscathed. 

Last year, the 43-year-old star was appointed as a goodwill ambassador for Visit Melaka Year and also starred in Malaysian film Mother Bhumi. She also made a surprise appearance as a guest of the Tourism Authority Thailand last April before going Malaysia in July this year to film a Singaporean short drama Small, Sharp & Green.

And look who has just been awarded the DPSM “Datuk” title at the official ceremony marking the 76th birthday of the Governor of Melaka, Tun Mohd Ali, last week. 

While Bingbing is busy basking in glory for her contributions in promoting tourism in Melaka, the people in her home country are skeptical of her latest title.

Shortly after, Chinese media even began reporting that Bingbing was only appointed Datuk "thanks to connections facilitated by [Hong Kong tycoon] Cecil Chao", the owner of Cheuk Nang Ltd, a Hong Kong-based property development and investment company.

They even found photos of Bingbing attending Cecil's Christmas party in 2024 and mentioned that the 88-year-old tycoon's group owns as much as 1.7 million sq ft of real estate in Malaysia.

“Many are speculating whether Fan Bingbing’s flourishing career in Southeast Asia has been supported by a ‘wealthy friend’ in the background," Chinese reports stated.

But Bingbing's team was quick to refute the rumours. 

“We only met briefly at an event and had no contact since!," said Bingbing's manager, Jersey Chong. 

“These press releases are ridiculous and absolutely laughable," she added in a post on Facebook.

Jersey stressed that all of Bingbing's achievements in Southeast Asia "are the result of [their] own hard work", including writing letters and contacting government departments themselves.

"There was no ‘powerful figure’ helping us behind the scenes. Everything we’ve achieved was earned step by step through our own efforts," asserted Jersey.

"What ‘wealthy friend’? The truth is, there’s not even a one per cent connection with any ‘wealthy friend’ at all," she snapped.