Fan Bingbing to be conferred Datuk title for contributions to Melaka tourism

The Malaysian state of Melaka is rewarding Chinese actress Fan Bingbing with an honorary title for her contributions to the state’s tourism industry.

Datuk Kehormat

Fan will be conferred the title “Datuk Kehormat” (Honorary Datuk) at an investiture ceremony on Aug. 24 in conjunction with birthday celebrations for Melaka’s Yang di-Pertua Negeri (governor).

The award was confirmed by the state’s chief minister, Ab Rauf Yusoh, on Aug. 21, who said that Fan had helped "catapult the historic city into the global tourism spotlight and we deeply appreciate her efforts”, as quoted by The Star.

Fan was appointed Melaka’s Tourism Friendship Ambassador, as part of the promotion efforts of Visit Melaka Year 2024.

She was credited with driving online engagement on Melaka, which recorded more than 1.5 billion impressions on China's social media platform, WeChat.

Chinese tourist arrivals to Melaka also tripled from 204,818 in 2023 to 664,687 in 2024.

Recovery

Fan’s involvement in the tourism campaign initially drew questions asking if it was worth the RM498,346 (S$152,611) that was being paid to cover her three-day visit in 2024.

These complaints were raised as Melaka was still recovering from Covid-era economic fallouts, although it was reported by Hype.my that private money had paid more most of the campaign, up to 84 per cent.

Fan was also not without her own controversy, having once been China’s highest-paid actress, even gaining international attention via a role in the 2014 superhero film X-Men: Days of Future Past.

But in 2018, she ran afoul of China’s authorities; being accused of tax evasion in China in what was known as a “yin-yang contract”, which allegedly concealed part of her earnings.

Since then, she has kept a relatively low profile, making her decision to endorse Melaka a bit of a surprise at the time.

But whatever misgivings the city might have initially had, it appears that the organisers and the city’s government have felt it a worthy investment.

Fan will be in Melaka on Aug. 24 to accept her award, which carries with it the title of “Datuk”.

She will also be in Kuala Lumpur on Aug. 23 to promote her line of beauty products at Watsons Malaysia.

Top image via @bingbing_fan/Instagram