The court affirmed that the Malaysian court has jurisdiction over custody and maintenance issues, dismissing the Respondent Wife's application to set aside the ex-parte order due to lack of merit.

Introduction

[1] This is an application by the Respondent Wife("RW") via Notice of Application (encl 14) under O 28 r 3B, O 32 r 6, O 29 r 1 and O 92 r 4 of the Rules of Court 2012 (" ROC 2012") and ss 88, 89 and 101 of the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976 [Act 164], inter alia, that the Petitioner Husband ("PH") shall forthwith, return and deliver their daughter, Rebecca Lim Shen Ai ("Rebecca") to the custody and care of the RW, together with Rebecca's passport, in Singapore and the ex-parte Order dated 21 May 2024 be set aside and any damages suffered by the RW be assessed and paid by the PH.

[2] After having read the Affidavits, written submissions by the RW and the PH, and after having heard the oral submissions of the parties, I dismissed encl 14 with costs of RM2,000.00 subject to allocator costs, to be paid by the RW to the PH.

[3] Below are my grounds of the decision.

Background

[4] The background facts in this application are gathered from the cause papers and submissions filed by the parties in chronological order.

[5] PH and RW were married in Singapore on 1 February 2013 and their marriage was registered in Malaysia on 20 October 2014. The PH is a Malaysian citizen whereas the RW is a Chinese national. Both are also permanent residents of Singapore. The RW has applied to be Singaporean citizen since January 2024 and has submitted her application in April 2024.

[6] On 19 September 2014, Rebecca, was born in Singapore with her birth being registered in Malaysia on 29 October 2014. Their daughter, Rebecca, is a Malaysian citizen holding a Malaysian passport. Rebecca has lived and has been schooled in Singapore for nearly 10 years.

[7] The parties had a huge fight in June 2023, and one of the arguments amongst others, was the RW's refusal to allow the PH's aging mother to live with parties in their matrimonial home. Parties separated in December 2023, where the PH moved to Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

[8] Prior to the parties' separation in December 2023, they lived in Apt Blk 686C Woodlands Drive 73, # 05-88 Singapore 733686.

[9] There was an arrangement between PH and RW where the RW look after Rebecca in Singapore after PH moved to Johor Bahru. Rebecca used to stay with the PH in Johor Bahru for the weekend, from Friday evenings after school until Sunday.

[10] Rebecca constantly expressed intense longing for the PH, and would cry refusing to go back to Singapore every Sunday. Rebecca has in many occasions expressed the desire to live with the PH.

[11] The RW booked a trip to China with Rebecca. Bookings were made without the prior consent of the PH. It is not uncommon for Rebecca to travel with one parent and because of the suspicious behaviors of the RW that led to the filing of the ex-parte Originating Summons (encl 1) by the PH.

[12] The brief facts which are relevant to the present application are as follows:

(a) on 6 May 2024, PH filed encl 1 under rr 76 and 77 of the Divorce and Matrimonial Proceedings Rules 1980 [P.U. (A)32/1980] ("DPMR 1980") and ss 88, 89 and 93 of Act 164, seeking for the following reliefs:

(i) RW be prohibited from removing Rebecca from Malaysia;

(ii) PH be granted custody, care and control over Rebecca, immediately;

(iii) RW or her parents or other members of her family shall surrender Rebecca to the PH, immediately;

(iv) RW pays PH RM2,500.00 a month as part of Rebecca's maintenance, commencing July 2024; and

(v) RW be granted reasonable supervised access to Rebecca with two (2) weeks' n