According to The Borneo Post, Hiew breathed his last at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital II in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, where he was undergoing treatment for lung cancer.

Previously of DAP, Hiew won the Kota Kinabalu parliamentary seat in 2008 and then the Luyang state seat in 2013.

He quit the party in 2014 following a fallout with the Sabah DAP leadership, before joining MCA, where he completed his term as Luyang assemblyman.

In 2018, Hiew resigned from MCA to join Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (Gagasan Rakyat), becoming the party’s deputy president.

He then contested in a six-cornered contest for the Luyang seat in the 2020 state elections, but only managed to garner 62 votes as DAP’s Phoong Jin Zhe won the seat.

He subsequently left the party, which has since been taken over by Hajiji Noor and other former Sabah Bersatu leaders and elected representatives.