Yeo Kim chwee v Ng Ai Geok

• Jurisdiction: Singapore
• Judge: Koh Juat Jong
• Judgment Date: 25 May 2000
• Neutral Citation: [2000] SGDC 20
• Year: 2000
• Published date: 19 September 2003
• Citation: [2000] SGDC 20
• Court: District Court (Singapore)

Judgment

GROUNDS OF DECISION

Background

1. The parties were married on 24 December 1994. They had no children. The decree nisi to dissolve their marriage was granted on 8 April 1999 based on the petition as well as the cross-petition. The petition cited the unreasonable behaviour of the wife and the cross-petition cited the unreasonable behaviour of the husband. Both were uncontested. The ancillary matters came before me for hearing on 10 November 1999 and the following orders were made:

(a) the matrimonial flat shall be sold in the open market within 6 months and the proceeds of sale, after repayment of the outstanding loan, deduction of all costs and expenses of sale and payment to the wife of the sum of $28,000, shall be divided in the proportion of 75% to the husband and 25% to the wife;

(b) each party shall refund to their CPF accounts all monies withdrawn for the purchase of the flat with accrued interest subject to any approval by the Central Provident Fund Board of any waiver of refund;

(c) the husband shall pay the wife a lump sum maintenance of $5,000;

(d) there shall be no order as to costs; and

(e) either party shall have the liberty to apply.

The wife appealed against the orders made.

2. The parties knew each other in 1991. In 1993, they broke off the relationship. The Respondent suffered an emotional turmoil over the break-up. In April 1994, they started to go out together again. In May 1994, they went to Japan for a holiday together. Soon after the trip, the Petitioner told her that he had to marry another woman as he had had sex with that woman. He asked the Respondent to be his mistress instead. Some time later, the Petitioner told the Respondent he would marry her if she could give him $20,000. She did so and they were married in December 1994.

3. The Petitioner said that they went out together again in April 1994 because the Respondent threatened to commit suicide. He said that the Respondent threatened to commit suicide if he did not marry her. He asked her for $20,000 only to discourage her from marrying him.

4. I found the reason of the Petitioner in demanding the sum of $20,000 ludicrous. Even if it was true, the Petitioner was highly irresponsible to enter into a marriage because of $20,000 and not because he loved her. No doubt, the Respondent was also to be blamed for having acted in such a foolhardy manner.

5. The relationship between the parties deteriorated after marriage. They quarrelled frequently. There were incidents of violence by the husband. The wife said that she left home on several occasions after the quarrels and the husband often locked her out of the flat. In December 1996, the wife moved out after a quarrel over the monthly instalments of the flat and the parties separated for seven months. In July 1997, the wife wanted to come back. The husband allowed her back after making her sign a statement that she had realised her problem and she promised to be a good wife. Matters did not improve. One month thereafter, there was another quarrel and the wife attempted suicide. In January 1998, there were further incidents. During the quarrel and fight, the wife wielded a knife and a pair of scissors. In February, another incident occurred. The wife applied for a personal protection order. The husband thereafter locked her out of the flat. The husband said that she had to be kept out as she was unstable. Both parties subsequently consented to and were granted personal protection order against each other. The wife thereafter stayed with her mother. In May 1998, the husband filed the divorce petition followed by the cross-petition of the wife.

Matrimonial Flat

6. The 5-room HDB flat was bought in March 1996 at the price of $335,000. The parties held the flat as tenants-in-common with the husband holding 80% and the wife 20% share. The value of the flat was about $330,000 at the time of hearing and the outstanding loan was about $134,000 as at May 1999. The parties made use of their CPF funds to make initial payments. The husband also paid a cash sum of $18,811 for option, caveat and agent fee. These payments were supported by receipts. The husband initially asked the wife to contribute $200 per month for the monthly instalments. Subsequently, he asked her to increase the amount to $371 per month on the basis that she should pay 20% of the monthly instalments as she owned 20% of the flat. The husband also made the wife contribute about $98 per month being 20% of household expenses. She dutifully made the payments until March 1998, one month after she moved out of the flat.

7. The husband also claimed that he had paid more than $14,000 for the renovation of the flat. However there was no receipt exhibited in support. The husband also said that part of the $20,000 given to him by the wife as a condition of the marriage was utilised for the renovation. The other part was spent on the wedding and the honeymoon. Under the circumstances, I would disregard any amount spent on renovation in computing the share of contribution of the parties.

8. During hearing, the wife’s counsel computed the direct contribution by parties towards the purchase price and the monthly instalments for the housing loan to be $82,265 by the wife and $188,512 by the husband.

9. A more accurate computation of such contributions would be as follows:

		Husband ($)		Wife ($)
		CPF	Cash	CPF	Cash
initial payment		89,960	18,811	73,500 ($74,700 - $1,200)
monthly payment	1996	4,986 (Mar–May at $1662 per month)	11,610 (Jun-Jul at $1,662 , Aug at $1,654, Sep – Dec at $1658 per month)	1,200 (Mar–Aug at $200 per month)	800 (Sept-Dec at $200 per month)
	1997	12,980 ($3,750 plus Aug-Dec at $1,846 per month))	4,792 (total payment of $22,224 less $12,980 less $4,452)		4,452 ($371 per month)
	1998	18,790 (Jan-Feb & June at $1,846, Jul-Dec at 1901 per month)	2,579 (total payment of $22,482 less $18,790 less $1,113)		1,113 ($371 for three months)
	1999	20,911 ($1.901 for 11 months)
sub-total		147,627	37,792	7...