With elections due in June this year, many of the 500-plus members of the Kuching Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCCI) are quietly looking for someone to replace incumbent president Wee Kok Tiong who has occupied the position for a number of years.

Wee, son of the late millionaire businessman Wee Boon Ping who served for many terms as head of the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Malaysia (ACCCIM), is said to be seriously contemplating quitting the position.

Indications are that even if he should decide to stay on, several senior members who are disappointed at what they described as the 'passive state' of the chamber would prefer him to stand aside and replaced by a new, more energetic leader.

A Henghua businessman who carries a Datuk title from Sabah has been mentioned as a possible successor. He is presently holding a senior position in the chamber. The Wees are from the Hokkien clan.

The KCCI has been dominated by the 'Wees' for a long time. Its first president was the late Wee Kheng Chiang, then his son Wee Hood Teck, followed by Wee Boon Ping and lastly Wee Kok Tiong, who is also a former senator.

Wee Hood Teck who carries the title Datuk Amar from Sarawak is now a low-profile businessman whose family interests in real estate development, lottery, industrial gas, chemical fertilisers and shipping, are mainly in the hands of his sons, Richard and Mark.

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The only relations between Hood Teck and the late Wee Boon Ping, who was in timber and property development, were business.

When Boon Ping passed on, his son took over the business, including a local Chinese newspaper - International Times - as well as some timber companies.

He was also elected head of the Kuching chamber and served for a time as head of the state chamber.

Kok Tiong took on the incumbent but lost for the top post of ACCCIM two years ago. In last March's general election, he was the only Barisan Nasional candidate to be defeated in Sarawak.

Kok Tiong is said to have been 'demoralised' at the electoral defeat, and is contemplating to rebuild his father's business empire which is said to be suffering because of the lack of attention.

A change at the top of the KCCI will mean that the long 'family chain' among the Wees would be broken - perhaps for the better.

TONY THIEN is malaysiakini's Sarawak-based stringer.