Chinese media baron Tan Sri Tiong Hiew King has started work to set up a proposed local English daily in Malaysia.

Negotiations for the new daily, to be based in Sarawak, have begun with prospective partners. The paper's business model is still preliminary and could change, however a paid paper is being favoured over a free paper, according to a report Monday by The Edge Financial Daily.

The paper could eventually cover all of Malaysia, and Tiong hopes to launch the initial version by early next year, the report stated. In 1990, Tiong launched The National, an English daily, in Papua New Guinea.

The latest proposed English daily may not involve any of Tiong's local public listed media companies, three of which are Sin Chew Media Corporation Bhd, Ming Pao Enterprise Corp. and Nanyang Press Holdings Bhd, even though Nanyang has had an English daily license for 12 years, according to The Edge Financial Daily.

If launched from Sarawak, Tiong's new daily would compete with the Eastern Times, owned by listed property developer Naim Cendera Holdings Bhd, and The Borneo Post, owned by the KTS group.