Wife a very difficult and bad tempered person: Tycoon
Published on: Wednesday, November 05, 2014
KUALA LUMPUR: Kuala Lumpur is the real home, tycoon Tan Sri Khoo Kay Peng on Tuesday told the High Court which is hearing an application by him over a divorce petition he had filed last year.The 74-year-old said he never changed his place of residence and as a family, they lived here, not the United Kingdom or Australia.He said his wife, Puan Sri Pauline Chai Siew Phin, 67, who was Miss Malaysia/International 1969, and the couple's five children celebrated festive seasons mostly overseas, but always returned to Malaysia.
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"Kuala Lumpur has always been our home, the real home. The centre of my business operations is located in the city here," he said during re-examination by lawyer Datuk Cyrus Das.Khoo was testifying before Judge Yeoh Wee Siam on his application for dispensation of the need to go before a reconciliatory body for reconciliation before divorce and to determine a preliminary issue of whether a Malaysian court has the jurisdiction to hear his divorce petition.Khoo, who is the international fashion brand Laura Ashley non-executive chairman, also told the court that his family, including the couple's five children, did not live in England.He said when he and Chai, who is from Ipoh, married in 1970, she had arrived at his house in Kuala Lumpur with just two bags of "old clothes" and "nothing else".
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Khoo said his family had never stayed together at the couple's home in the sprawling Rossway Park estate in England.Earlier, the tycoon said Chai was a very difficult and bad-tempered woman who would yell at "every small thing".
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He also claimed that one of their sons called Chai "mentally imbalanced", while a daughter had complained to him that Chai had called her "fat and ugly"."She is a very difficult lady. Her temper is very bad. She'd yell and scream and shout at every small thing," he said.Khoo added that sometimes, Chai and their children did not speak to each other for months at a time, and Chai did not have any respect or regard for businessmen."In her mind, all businessmen are dishonest," he said.In the proceeding, Khoo also denied that Chai had always been on good terms with their children, saying they behaved like enemies at certain periods of time and sometimes did not speak to each other.Khoo said their five children, aged between 28 and 43, were living at separate locations in Canada, Singapore and the United Kingdom."Her (Chai's) behaviour and demeanour had changed. Now, I know who the real person (Chai) is, after 43 years of marriage," he added.In February last year, Chai filed the divorce petition in a London court, seeking a £500 million (approximately RM2.75 billion) settlement.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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