This is an application by the applicants for the continuation of an interim injunction granted by this court on 18 August 1987 restraining Messrs. Debevoise and Plimpton, a firm of New York attorneys (herein called "D&P"), or any partner or associate thereof from acting or appearing on behalf of the respondents in an arbitration in Singapore between the applicants and the respondents.

The following facts are not in dispute. The applicants, a company incorporated in Singapore, were the main contractors for the building project known as "The Gateway Project" which was a development along Beach Road of two multistorey office blocks which were designed and laid out in such a manner as to give an architectural impression of a gateway into the island of Singapore. For reasons which do not concern us, the applicants stopped work in December 1984 as a result of which the disputes arising therefrom between the applicants and the employers have been referred to arbitration under the main contract.

The respondents were the sub-contractors for the construction of the curtain walls for the Gateway Project. Following the stoppage of work by the applicants, the respondents made