'Tycoon's divorce petition in KL academic'
Published on: Wednesday, February 01, 2017
PETALING JAYA: Any divorce petition in a Malaysian court by tycoon Khoo Kay Peng is now "academic", says former Miss Malaysia Pauline Chai, it was reported. According to Chai's lawyer, New Sin Yew, the petition by Khoo is redundant because an English court had already declared them officially divorced last week."It is academic. The marriage has ended. The English court declared last Thursday that they are officially divorced. The decree absolute has been granted to her there.ADVERTISEMENT "In UK, the lawyers are waiting for the split of assets," New said. The decree absolute, otherwise known as the "decree nisi", is the legal document that ends the marriage.Meanwhile, Chai, 70, said she was relieved and just wanted to move on."I'm so relieved that I have a resolution to this long, four-year process. I look forward to moving on to the next chapter in life with my family," she told The Star in a tex=t message. Chai filed for divorce in the United Kingdom four years ago.Khoo, who is based in Malaysia, is non-executive chairman of Laura Ashley Holdings, one of Britain's most popular homeware stores. He is also chairman of international investment holdings firm Malayan United Industries Bhd.ADVERTISEMENT Khoo, 78, married Chai in 1970 and they have five grown-up children. Khoo and Chai have been fighting over money in the courts since 2012.It was previously reported that Chai had wanted the divorce to be decided in the UK, where she stood to receive 50pc of Khoo's assets. He in turn, had always wanted the divorce to be heard in Malaysia, where she would have likely been awarded much less.
ADVERTISEMENT
The UK's Daily Mail reported last week that Chai had asked for £85,000 (RM470,000) a month from her estranged husband, who lives in Malaysia. In her UK divorce petition, Chai also asked for a payment of £135,000 a year that she wanted to cover first-class flights, suites at five-star hotels and chauffeurs.New told The Star that the Family Court in Kuala Lumpur has set March 28 for case management on Chai's application to strike out Khoo's divorce petition.In response to Chai's lawyer on the "academic" petition, Khoo's lawyer Goh Siu Lin said the English court's decision did not change the legal position that Malaysian courts have jurisdiction to hear Khoo's divorce petition."The English decree absolute is not automatically recognised in Malaysia. The Malaysian courts still retain jurisdiction to hear the Malaysian divorce petition which is pending," Goh was quoted as saying by The Star.Chai filed her latest application to strike out Khoo's petition on June 20 last year.On April 28, 2016, a Federal Court denied Chai leave to appeal against a Court of Appeal ruling that she did not have the right to choose her domicile of choice as common law stated that a wife's domicile must follow that of her husband.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
Daily Express Malaysia
This was after Chai said the case should be heard in the UK as she had been a resident of Britain since 1980. This resulted in Khoo proceeding with his divorce petition against her in Malaysia.