Haidar Mohd Noor J:

The plaintiffs, namely Yong Eng Kong, Ting Yang Tieh @ Ting Kong Ing and Lee Dung Chu, filed this originating summons on their own behalf and on behalf of 46 other members of the Foo Chow Association, Kuching ("association") against Ying Tien Ping as chairman of the Interim Committee of the association under O. 7 r. 2 of the Rules of the High Court 1980 seeking certain directions from the Court in respect of the consent order dated 19 June 1990 in Suit no. 189 of 1981 regarding the powers of the Interim Committee as per the said consent order.

The directions of the Court are primarily centred on the action of the Interim Committee advertising in the Chinese press (see Exhibit YEK 8B) purporting to call on all members who were in arrears of their monthly subscriptions to settle them with the secretary in order that they may be eligible to vote and/or be qualified to hold office in the association at the general meeting of the association scheduled to be held on 17 September 1990. In fact the secretary of the Interim Committee has since accepted payments of arrears of monthly subscriptions which in some cases dated back several years (Exhibits YEK 9A to J).

Background Facts

The association was founded sometime in 1931 and officially registered after the second world war on 12 February 1958. The objects of the association are spelt out under art. 3 (Exhibit YEK 3). Sometime in 1981, some thirty-one of the then existing members of the association instituted a Writ of Summons No. Kg. 189 of 1981 against the then chairman and secretary-general of the association. The plaintiffs in the said action obtained an interim injunction against the then defendants on 22 April 1981, restraining them from convening and/or holding an annual general meeting of members of the association on 26 April 1981 until after the trial of the said action or until further order.

Subsequent to the said interim injunction and in compliance thereof, the association did not hold the annual general meeting on 26 April 1981 and indeed for the next nine years or so as no attempt, I believe, was made to set aside the interim injunction. However, the association continues to function and in striving to attain the objects of the association as laid down in its rules and constitution, it yearly called on its members to pay up their monthly membership subscriptions in the Chinese press in order to carry out its activities (Exhibits YEK 4AA to EE).

By consent order dated 19 June 1990 (Exhibit YEK 5) the said interim injunction was discharged and an Interim Committee was appointed. The terms of reference of the Interim Committee are:

(1) That an Interim Committee comprising of the persons named therein be and is hereby appointed to manage the affairs of the association until the next general meeting.

(2) That the Interim Committee shall approve the membership as at 22 April 1981 and arrange for a general meeting of the association to, inter alia, elect office bearers for the years 1990 - 1991, to be held within three (3) months from the date of this order, such general meeting to be called and held in accordance with the rules of the association.

(3) That the Interim Committee shall be at liberty to apply for extension of time if necessary.

According to the affidavit of Yin Tien Ping, the chairman of the Interim Committee and the defendant in this originating summons (encl. 8) from the membership record available as at 22 April 1981, the association has 731 members. During the period from 27 April 1981 to 26 August 1990, 50 members have died. Further, 1 member has emigrated to China. This leaves a total of 680 members as at 26 August 1990. However, from the said record of the association only 183 members are up to-date in their subscriptions payments and a total of 497 members are in arrears. He therefore verily believed that those 497 defaulting members ought to be dealt with under art. 13(3) and (4) of the rules and constitution of the assoc