Abdul Aziz Mohamad JCA:

The dispute that gave rise to this appeal was one between the estate of Li Keng Liat @ Lee Keng Liat and the estate of Tan Tai Tip. The subject of the dispute was the sum of RM616,146 which was awarded by the collector of land revenue as compensation for the acquisition by the State of Malacca of a Malacca customary land of about seven acres in area, which was registered in the name of Lee Chim Giang as executor of the estate of the said Li Keng Liat, who had died in 1903. The dispute had its source in the fact, which was conceded in the appeal, that in 1935 Lee Chim Giang sold the land to Tan Tai Tip for an unknown sum. The estate of Tan Tai Tip succeeded in its claim in the High Court that it was entitled to that sum. We dismissed the appeal by the estate of Li Keng Liat.

Since the sale, Tan Tai Tip and his relatives had been in quiet and uninterrupted possession of the land, had built dwelling-houses and lived on the land, had paid all quit rent and other dues, had been using the land for the planting of padi and vegetables and the rearing of cattle, and had been in possession of the document of title to the land. Although the land remained registered in the name of Lee Chim Giang as executor of the estate of Li Keng Liat, there was no claim to the land by any beneficiary of Li Keng Liat. In fact, after the death in 1937 of Lee Chim Giang, who was one of the sons of Li Keng Liat, Li Keng Liat's estate was unrepresented until well after the land was acquired in 1982. In short, to all appearances the beneficiaries of the estate of Li Keng Liat had at all times regarded the land as belonging to Tan Tai Tip, that is, until after the land was acquired.

Tan Tai Tip died in 1978 leaving the land as his only property and a will in which he appointed his wife, Wong Ah Yah, and his son, Tan Ngiap Heng, as the executrix and executor and trustees of his will.

The land was acquired by the State in 1982 for housing. At the inquiry to determine compensation, the children of Tan Tai Tip, seven in all, including Tan Ngiap Heng, claimed compensation for the land on the ground that they were beneficially entitled to the land. No one appeared for the estate of Li Keng Liat. There is no evidence that the necessary notices were served on anyone on the side of the estate of Li Keng Liat. The collector awarded RM616,146 for the land but, because the land was registered in the name of the estate of Li Keng Liat, the Collector did not order the compensation to be paid to the estate of Tan Tai Tip but ordered on 18 March 1982 that it be deposited in court.

Inquiries made on behalf of Wong Ah Yah and Tan Ngiap Heng, who desired to pursue on behalf of the estate of Tan Tai Tip their claim to the compensation, disclosed that one Lee Joo Eng, daughter of Lee Chim Giang, was the only surviving next of kin of Li Keng Liat. On 4 July1987 the solicitors of Wong Ah Yah and Tan Ngiap Heng wrote to Lee Joo Eng to enquire whether she was prepared to renounce her right to representation of the estate of Li Keng Liat to their clients and her right to any claim in respect of the land. Lee Joo Eng did not respond. Subsequently she applied on 8 April 1988 to be the legal representative of the estate of Li Keng Liat and did become such.

In June 1988 the estate of Tan Tai Tip commenced its action against the estate of Li Keng Liat in the High Court. The estate of Tan Tai Tip was represented by Wong Ah Yah, his widow, and Tan Ngiap Heng, his son, as plaintiffs, and the estate of Li Keng Liat was represented by Lee Joo Eng as defendant. The collector was included as the second defendant. Wong Ah Yah died on 16 November 1990, leaving Tan Ngiap Heng as the sole plaintiff to pursue the action. He was the second respondent here. Before the trial could properly commence, the defendant Lee Joo Eng died and by order dated 22 September 1994 was replaced by Robert Lee and Jeffrey Lee Cheng Tiam, the appellants here, as defendants in the High Court