Wong Swee Hor v Tan Jip Seng and others

• Jurisdiction: Singapore
• Judge: Woo Bih Li J
• Judgment Date: 16 December 2014
• Neutral Citation: [2014] SGHC 263
• Date: 16 December 2014
• Docket Number: Suit No 902 of 2012/B
• Published date: 19 December 2014
• Plaintiff Counsel: See Tow Soo Ling and Edwin Chia (Colin Ng & Partners LLP)
• Hearing Date: 14 November 2013,26 September 2013,01 October 2013,08 July 2014,19 November 2013,25 September 2013,04 July 2014,24 September 2013,03 October 2013,09 July 2014,12 November 2013,27 September 2013,09 September 2014,02 October 2013,13 November 2013,27 August 2014,18 July 2014
• Defendant Counsel: Sean Lim Thian Siong and Gong Chin Nam (Hin Tat Augustine & Partners),The 10th defendant in person.
• Court: High Court (Singapore)
• Subject Matter: Customary Marriage,Evidence,Family Law,Marriage,Admissibility of Evidence,Probate & Administration,Intestate Succession

Woo Bih Li J: Introduction

The proceedings before me concerned the estate of the late Mr Tan Bung Thee (“Mr Tan”), who died intestate on 27 February 2011. During his lifetime, Mr Tan had eleven children with three women: (a) the 1st to 5th defendants are his children with Mdm Du Chao Wan (“Mdm Du”); (b) the 6th to 10th defendants with Mdm Owyang Wan (“Mdm Owyang”); and (c) a daughter with the plaintiff, Mdm Wong Swee Hor (“Mdm Wong”). The two mothers of the defendants passed away in the late 1980s. After Mr Tan’s death, the 1st to 9th defendants claimed that Mdm Wong was never Mr Tan’s legitimate wife and that she and her daughter were therefore not beneficiaries to Mr Tan’s estate under the Intestate Succession Act (Cap 146, 1985 Rev Ed). Mdm Wong commenced this action and sought inter alia a declaration that she is Mr Tan’s lawful wife. In the course of this action, the 1st to 5th defendants counterclaimed and sought a declaration that their mother was lawfully married to Mr Tan and that they are the legitimate children of Mr Tan under the Intestate Succession Act.

After considering the evidence and submissions, I allowed Mdm Wong’s claim with costs. I also allowed the 1st to 5th defendants’ counterclaim with costs. I set out my reasons below.

Family Background

The late Mr Tan started his business from humble beginnings; he owned a stall selling pork at Silat Road in the 1950s.¹ Mr Tan subsequently expanded his business to the operation of petrol stations in Singapore. Mr Tan also had a tin mining business in Malaysia. Due to his contributions to society, he was once awarded the Public Service Star Award from the President.²

The late Mr Tan’s mother was one Mdm Phua Siew Mei (“Mdm Phua”).³ Mr Tan had two elder brothers. Mr Tan’s nephew is Tan Ah Leng,⁴ also known as “Fan She” or “Fan Xu” (which means “sweet potato” in English) to the family members.⁵

The 1st to 5th defendants were born between 1942 and 1953. It was the 1st to 5th defendants’ case that Mdm Du lawfully married Mr Tan in 1942 under Chinese customary rites. Mdm Du had two other children from an earlier marriage, namely, Tan Ah Tong and Tan Ah Kee, deceased. Mdm Du died in 1988.⁶

The 6th to 10th defendants were born between 1949 and 1965. It was not disputed that Mr Tan lawfully married Mdm Owyang under Chinese customary rites prior to 1961. Mdm Owyang died in 1987.⁷ The marriage certificate⁸ between Mr Tan and Mdm Owyang sets out the exact date of their marriage to be 10 August 1947.

Mr Tan had one daughter, Tan Sock Fong (“Sock Fong”), with Mdm Wong. Sock Fong was born on 6 April 1966.⁹ It was Mdm Wong’s case that she lawfully married Mr Tan in 1957 under Chinese customary rites.

For clarity, a graphical representation of Mr Tan’s family (with particulars of the individuals such as sex, date of birth and, where applicable, date of death) is set out below:

In the 1950s/1960s, Mdm Du and her children resided at 219-1 Silat Road.¹⁰ At that time, Mdm Owyang and her children lived at 83 Silat Road, along with Mdm Phua who lived there until she passed away on 23 October 1962.¹¹

Mdm Wong was born in China. She came to Singapore with her parents in 1937. Her parents rented a room in a house in Chinatown. She started working when she was 13 years of age after her father passed away.

From in or around 1951, Mdm Wong and her mother resided at 481 Silat Road. Mdm Wong said she married Mr Tan on 11 January 1957 of the lunar calendar or 10 February 1957 of the Gregorian calendar. The wedding dinner was held at 481 Silat Road. There were two tables of guests. After the marriage, Mdm Wong rented a room in the Redhill Estate (“Redhill Flat”)¹² and stayed there for around ten years. During that time, her mother continued to live at 481 Silat Road.¹³ Mdm Wong moved back to 481 (renumbered 481A) Silat Road after Sock Fong was born in 1966.¹⁴ The three Silat Road households were within walking distance from one another.¹⁵

In the late 1960s or early 1970s, the government acquired most of the land at Silat Road.¹⁶ As a result of the land acquisition: Mdm Du and her children relocated to 27 Blair Road; Mdm Owyang and her children relocated to 55 Blair Road; and Mdm Wong moved into a flat at Indus Road (“Indus Road Flat”). In or around 1976, she subsequently moved into a flat at Block 65 Tiong Poh Road #03-38C Singapore 160065 (“Tiong Bahru Flat”). She presently resides at the Tiong Bahru Flat.¹⁷ A tabulation of the residences of Mdm Du, Mdm Owyang and Mdm Wong is set out below:

After the acquisition of Silat Road, Mr Tan moved to Block 14 Spottiswoode Park Road #16-15 Singapore 088641 (“Dragon Mansion”) in the early 1970s. Mr Tan lived at Dragon Mansion up to his death on 27 February 2011. Dragon Mansion is an asset of Mr Tan’s estate.

Claim and counterclaim

Mdm Wong sought the following orders/reliefs:¹⁸ A declaration that Mdm Wong is the lawful wife of Mr Tan; A grant to her of Letters of Administration of Mr Tan’s estate and for Mdm Wong to be named as the sole administrator; A declaration that the 1st to 5th defendants have no right to apply for a Grant of Letters of Administration; An inquiry of the assets of Mr Tan’s estate, including all assets outside of Singapore; An order that the 1st defendant and any of the defendants who has intermeddled with the estate to account to Mdm Wong for the sums received by him or them that represent income or proceeds of the assets belonging to Mr Tan; and An account of all sums received by the 1st defendant and any of the defendants who had intermeddled with the estate representing income or proceeds of the assets belonging to Mr Tan.

In this action, Mdm Wong also asserted that the late Mdm Du was not Mr Tan’s legitimate wife and that the 1st to 5th defendants are therefore not his beneficiaries.¹⁹ Hence, just before the trial, the 1st to 5th defendants were given leave to include a counterclaim, seeking a declaration that their mother, Mdm Du, was lawfully married to Mr Tan²⁰ and that they are the legitimate children of Mr Tan within the meaning of the Intestate Succession Act.

On the 5th day of trial, Mdm Wong agreed to withdraw all the statements contained in paras 11 to 15 of her Statement of Claim alleging that the 1st defendant had intermeddled with Mr Tan’s estate and also the reliefs set out in [14(d)] to [14(f)] thereof.²¹ I need not say more on Mdm Wong’s “intermeddling” claim except that her withdrawal of such allegations does not necessarily preclude her from raising such allegations again.

The 10th defendant and Sock Fong

Not all the Defendants shared the same position. The 1st to 9th defendants filed a common defence asserting that Mdm Wong is not lawfully married to Mr Tan.²² The 10th defendant did not enter an appearance and/or file a Defence in this action. However, eventually she attended trial as Mdm Wong’s witness and gave evidence on behalf of Mdm Wong. In contrast from her siblings, the 10th defendant accepted that Mdm Wong is a lawful wife of Mr Tan.²³

Therefore, the only parties contesting Mdm Wong’s claim in the trial before me were the the 1st to 9th defendants. Unless otherwise stated hereinafter, when I refer to the “Defendants” in this judgment, I refer only to those nine parties.

Although Sock Fong is not a party to this action, she agreed through her solicitors that she will abide by the decision of this court with regard to the 1st to 5th defendants’ counterclaim.²⁴ She gave evidence about Mr Tan’s daily visits to see Mdm Wong in the afternoon before Mr Tan became too weak to visit Mdm Wong. She also gave evidence about what was done at Mr Tan’s wake.

The witnesses

Apart from Mdm Wong herself, Sock Fong and the 10th defendant (as stated in [17] above), the following witnesses gave evidence for Mdm Wong: Foong Ah Lui (“Mdm Foong”). At the material time, she was a close family friend of Mdm Wong. She gave evidence that she attended the wedding dinner between Mr Tan and Mdm Wong. Foo Fong Liang Edward. At the material time, he was a close friend of Sock Fong. He attended Mr Tan’s wake on 1 March 2011. Sylvester Wong Hock Ping. At the material time, he was an ex-colleague and close friend of Sock Fong. He attended Mr Tan’s wake on all three days from 1 March to 3 March 2011. Chong Lai Fun Katherine. At the material time, she was Sock Fong’s childhood friend and former neighbour at Silat Road. She gave evidence about seeing Mr Tan at the flat at Tiong Bahru when she visited Sock Fong. She attended Mr Tan’s wake on 1 March 2011. Tan Chin Tuan and Tan Chin Wee Godwin. Both Tan Chin Tuan and Tan Chin Wee Godwin are sons of the 1st defendant. They gave evidence that they drove Mr Tan to visit Mdm Wong and pick Mr Tan up thereafter from her Tiong Bahru flat before Mr Tan became too weak to visit Mdm Wong.

The following witnesses testified on behalf of the Defendants: All the Defendants save for the 4th and 5th defendants who elected not to give evidence at trial. Tan Ah Leng. Tan Ah Leng is Mr Tan’s nephew. He said he was living a few doors away from 481A Silat Road where Mdm Wong was staying. He had no recollection of a wedding dinner held at 481A Silat Road. Tan Ah Tong. As stated in [5] above, Tan Ah Tong is Mdm Du’s son from an earlier marriage. He was the one in charge of writing the Chinese characters of the names of Mr Tan’s relatives for Mr Tan’s obituary. His evidence was on how Mdm Wong’s name came to be included in Mr Tan’s obituary as his wife.

Issues before this court

The following two main issues were before me: whether Mdm Wong is Mr Tan’s lawful wife; and whether Mdm Du was Mr Tan’s lawful wife. For ease of reference, I shall refer to them as “Mdm Wong’s status issue” and “Mdm Du’s status issue” respectively.

The applicable law The law on Intestate Succession

Section 7 of the Intestate Succession Act reads:

Rules for distribution 7. In...