From 2008 to 2013 he was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Kota Kinabalu constituency in Sabah, representing the opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP).
[2] Hiew had contested the federal Kota Kinabalu seat in the 2002 by-election and 2004 Malaysian general election losing on each occasion.
[3] In a four-way election, he narrowly defeated Christina Liew of fellow opposition party PKR and Barisan Nasional's Chin Teck Meng.
[7] Hiew joined the Malaysian Chinese Association in 2014 after an invitation by the party in June that year.
[10] In 2019, Hiew had joined Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (PGRS) and was elected its deputy president.