Pang Rosaline v Chan Kong Chin

• Jurisdiction: Singapore
• Judge: Lai Siu Chiu J
• Judgment Date: 18 February 2009
• Neutral Citation: [2009] SGHC 39
• Court: High Court (Singapore)
• Published date: 23 February 2009
• Citation: [2009] SGHC 39
• Plaintiff Counsel: Soo Poh Huat (Soo Poh Huat & Co)
• Defendant Counsel: Goh Siok Leng (Christina Goh & Co)
• Subject Matter: Family Law
• Year: 2009

18 February 2009

Lai Siu Chiu J:

1 This case involved the determination of ancillary matters pursuant to a decree nisi that was granted to Rosaline Pang (“the wife”) against Chan Kong Chin (“the husband”) by the Family Court on 2 June 2006. The uncontested divorce petition was based on the husband’s unreasonable behaviour. The parties had been married for almost 32 years (since 23 August 1974) by the time the decree nisi was granted. Presently, both are 60 years of age.

2 When the ancillary matters came on for hearing before this court, I made the following orders:

(a) the property situated at No. 2 Marine Vista #18-73, Neptune Court, Singapore 449026 (“the flat”) shall be sold within 180 days of the date of my order and the sale proceeds less sale and incidental expenses shall be apportioned 20% and 80% respectively in favour of the wife and the husband.

(b) the property at No 17A Sennett Road, Singapore 466797 (“the matrimonial home”) shall be sold in the open market within 12 months of the date of my order and the sale proceeds less sale and incidental expenses shall be apportioned 40% and 60% respectively in favour of the wife and the husband.

(c) the husband shall pay the wife half of the sale proceeds of the CMG Global 100 Fund amounting to $17,910.72 forthwith.

(d) the husband shall also pay the wife when they are sold, half of the sale proceeds of the United Global Telecoms Fund and United Japan Growth Fund.

(e) there shall be no maintenance for the wife or Chan Wai Keat (“the son”) from the husband save that if the son gains admission to a local or overseas university on a full-time course, prior notification is to be given to the husband and his consent obtained thereto. The husband shall then pay 80% of the son’s university fees and reasonable living expenses including airfare (if applicable) to and from Singapore and the wife shall pay the remaining 20%.

(f) each party shall retain his/her own assets.

(g) costs of the divorce proceedings to the wife fixed at $1,500 together with disbursements on a reimbursement basis.

(h) the parties to have liberty to apply on the sale of either property.

(i) no order for costs for the ancillary hearings.

3 The wife is dissatisfied with all the orders I made and has filed a notice of appeal (in Civil Appeal No 168 of 2008) against my decision.

The facts

4 The affidavits and affidavits of assets and means filed by the parties revealed the undisputed facts set out in paragraphs [5] to [19] below.

5 The wife graduated with a Bachelor of Social Science degree from the University of Singapore in 1971. She worked as a social welfare officer with the Ministry of Community Development and Sports until her retirement in January 2004. Thereafter, the wife worked as a part-time administrative assistant with the National Library Board (“the NLB”) from October to December 2006.

6 On 22 November 2004, the wife registered a sole-proprietorship called Family Treasures Publication (“the business”) which sold her cookbook called “Family Treasures” (“the cookbook”).

7 The husband graduated from the University of Singapore in 1974 with a Bachelor of Architecture degree. He worked as an architect in the private sector before joining the Public Works Department (“PWD”) in January 1975. He continued working at the PWD until his voluntary retirement in April 1999.

8 In February 2002, the husband found employment with Kimly Construction Pte Ltd (“the company”) as a senior manager and is currently still with the company. His gross monthly salary (as at 15 November 2007 when he filed his second affidavit) was $6,200.

9 When they retired from their respective positions with the government, the couple received their pensions. Both opted to receive their pensions partly in a lump sum and partly by way of monthly payments. The wife received a lump sum of $170,194.32 while the husband received $213,149.98 (which he invested in unit trusts). The wife’s monthly pension amount is $1,906.80 while the husband receives $2,131.50. The couple will be paid their monthly pensions until their deaths.

10 The couple has two children. The son is 23 years of age (born on 11 November 1985) while their daughter Caitlin Chan Lai Kuen (“the daughter”), is older (born on 18 January 1978) and is presently residing and working in England, after obtaining an accountancy degree from Leeds University followed by a master’s degree from Reading University. The son is doing his national service after having obtained a diploma in commerce from Ngee Ann Polytechnic. He intends to further his studies (at Warwick University) after his discharge from the army.

11 After their marriage, the couple opened a joint account with United Overseas Bank Ltd (“UOB”) no. 119-XXX-XXX-X (“the joint account”). Both husband and wife credited their monthly salaries into the joint account and withdrew funds therefrom to pay for household and living expenses.

12 The husband has since his university days also maintained an account with Post Office Savings Bank (POSB) no. 097-XXXXX-X (“the POSB account”) into which he deposited monies to pay for the children’s school fees. After he commenced employment with the company, the husband opened another POSB account no. 172-XXXXX-X (“the second POSB account”) into which he deposited his monthly salary and from which he paid his expenses.

13 The wife, on her part, maintains a separate account with UOB no. 351-XXX-XXX-X into which her monthly pension is paid. She claimed it was opened at the husband’s request while he said it was to set aside monies she inherited from her late father. The wife also has two accounts with POSB, an account with Development Bank of Singapore (DBS) and one with Maybank.

The affidavits

14 The couple filed four affidavits each while the son filed one affidavit (in support of the wife). The parties’ first affidavits of assets and means were filed in December 2006. A number of their subsequent affidavits were filed pursuant to court orders.

15 The flat (99 years leasehold) was purchased for $55,450 in November 1980 in the parties’ joint names (neither party could recall the exact date of purchase) and the purchase price was wholly paid by the husband with a housing loan from Credit POSB. The monthly mortgage instalment and conservancy charges were deducted from the husband’s salary between 1980 and 1992. The purchase price has been fully paid by the husband. The couple moved into the flat in late 1983 and moved to the matrimonial home after the latter was acquired. After their marriage and prior to acquiring and moving into the flat, the couple stayed with the husband’s parents, his two maternal aunts and his younger brother. The wife (by her own admission) did no housework as there was a maid and the husband’s old nanny in the house. Consequently, after the daughter was born, there were people to look after her while the couple were at work.

16 The matrimonial home was purchased in August 1992 in the parties’ joint names for $775,000. The husband and wife contributed $253,000 and $164,000 respectively towards the purchase price from their CPF savings. The husband also paid the stamp and legal fees totalling $34,535 from his CPF account. The husband obtained a loan of $308,000 under the Government Officers’ Housing Loan scheme to part-finance the purchase and borrowed a further $60,000 from his mother. The monthly mortgage instalment of $2,849 was serviced by $1,289 from the husband’s CPF contributions while $828 was deducted from the wife’s CPF contributions. The balance of $732 was deducted from the husband’s salary before it was paid into the joint account. There was no mortgage on the matrimonial home at the time of the hearing as the couple used their CPF savings to redeem the government loan. The matrimonial home was valued at $1.45m as of 29 August 2008 while the flat was valued at $1m.

17 In 1994, the couple jointly purchased a property in Qingdao, Shandong province, China (“the Qingdao property”) for $38,340 which was sold for $26,838 in 2006 and the sum was deposited into the joint account.

18 The husband has negligible savings in his CPF account as he withdrew therefrom $60,000 in November 2005 and $76,088.37 in June 2003. The wife has $13,862.02 in her CPF account. She had withdrawn $127,296.97 and $12,602.01 from the same on 3 February 2004 and on 13 February 2004 respectively, after she attained 55 years of age.

19 The parties’ joint investments are:

(a) $10,000 in United Global Telecoms Fund;

(b) $20,000 in United Japan Growth Fund;

(c) $50,000 in CMG Global 100;

(d) membership in Qingdao Huashan Intentional Country Club (“the country club membership”) purchased for $24,480 which the wife claimed was worth about $80,000 (RMB398,000);

(e) membership of Palm Golf and Country Club (“the golf club membership”) in Malaysia purchased for MR48,000/- The husband estimated that the golf club membership was worth $1,700/- against a transfer fee of $1,300/-.

(i) The wife’s affidavits

20 As a part-time employee of the NLB, the wife deposed she earned about $960 gross per month with $839.50 as her take-home pay. Her monthly income from the sale of the cookbook was variable as it depended on the number of books she could sell. When she launched the business in 2004, she printed 2,000 copies of the cookbook. She received $6,076.77 for the sale of the cookbook but incurred expenses of $27,442.05 thereby incurring a loss of $21,365.28 which loss was reflected in her income tax for the year of assessment 2005. Similarly, the wife incurred a loss of $3,525.80 on selling the cookbook for year of assessment 2006. The wife deposed that the business was not meant to make money as the cookbook was a labour of love on her part dedicated to her two children and their future families. As at the date of filing of her first affidavit, the wife had a balance of 1,600 copies left of the cookbook. The wife promotes the cookbook on the internet through two websites as she...