Azahar Mohamed JC:

[1] This is the defendant's application in encl. 98, inter alia , for the relief that the order of Faiza Tamby Chik J dated 15 December 1999, in so far as it relates to the maintenance in the sum of RM5,000 per month payable by the defendant to the children, be varied and the defendant be ordered to pay a sum of RM400 per month as maintenance for Gayithiri Kunathasan Chelliah and Meera Kunathasan Chelliah with effect from 24 August 2001.

[2] Before going any further, it is important to set out the factual background and the sequence of events relevant to this application. The matter arises in this way. The plaintiff is an accountant and the defendant is a public accountant and has his own accounting firm munder the name of Chelliah & Associate in Johor Bahru. They were married at the Civil Registry of Marriages in Johor Bahru on 1 November 1987 and out of this marriage three children were born:

1. Venothini Kunathasan Chelliah born on 7 February 1990;

2. Gayithiri Kunathasan Chelliah born on 2 November 1993; and

3. Meera Kunathasan Chelliah born on 24 Mac 1995.

[3] The plaintiff and the defendant have a long history of disagreements and irreconcilable differen