KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 29): Hai-O Enterprise Bhd announced a slew of new board appointments today, led by the passing of baton from managing director (MD) Tan Kai Hee, who is also one of its founding members, to his son, Tan Keng Kang, which will take effect on Feb 1.

The group's bourse filings showed that Kai Hee, 78, will be redesignated as the group's chairman, while Keng Kang, 39, currently the group's chief operating officer (COO), will be redesignated as the new MD.

Kai Hee will be taking over from the group's current chairman, 85-year-old Tan Sri Osman C Cassim, who will be retiring on Feb 1.

Meanwhile, the group's chief financial officer Hew Von Kin will be reappointed as the group's executive director.

Kai Hee, a businessman with over 40 years of experience in the trading business, has been one of the main policy and decision makers behind Hai-O, which is principally involved in the wholesale, retail and multi-level marketing for a range of traditional chinese medicines and wellness products.

Kai Hee is also a founding member and secretary-general of the Malaysia-China Friendship Association, the president of the Malaysia-China Medicine & Health Product Association and the Malaysia-China Culture & Arts Association, as well as the honorary president of the Malaysia-China Chamber of Commerce.

He is also a director of the Malaysia China Business Council. He was also re-elected as the president of the Federation of Chinese and Medicine Dealers Association of Malaysia last May.

His son, Keng Kang, joined Hai-O as an operations executive on Aug 1, 1998, mainly to support the operations and activities of Hai-O's marketing arm, and worked his way up from there.

Appointed as group COO on May 1, 2014, Keng Kang has been involved in strategic planning at the group level, besides assisting the MD in managing Hai-O's operational activities and overseeing its business development.

Share in Hai-O closed unchanged at RM2.35 today, for a market capitalisation of RM455.3 million.

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