The Guardianship of Infants Act applies to illegitimate children, granting equal parental rights, with children's welfare as the primary concern for custody decisions.

[1] This is my judgment regarding the originating summons (encl 1) filed by the plaintiff for orders which are summarised as follows:

(i) The guardianship, custody, care and control of the children V, B and E ("the children");

(ii) The plaintiff shall be responsible for the maintenance of the children;

(iii) The defendant whether by herself, agent or worker and/or any party be prohibited, prevented or restrained from removing the children from the jurisdiction of this court or overseas without the consent of this court and without the knowledge of the plaintiff;

(iv) That the children attend counselling sessions with a recognized/ registered counsellor;

(v) The defendant be given supervised access to the children pending the outcome of (para iv) above;

(vi) The identities of the children be protected by the court in the event that a judgment is published;

(vii) Costs in the cause;

(viii) Any other relief deemed fit by the court.

Brief Facts

[2] The plaintiff and the defendant registered a civil marriage on 6 May 1995 but were subsequently divorced on 27 March 1998. The plaintiff contended that the divorce was due to the defendant being involved in an adulterous affair with a third party almost immediately after the registration of the marriage (paras 2 and 3 of the plaintiff's affidavit).

[3] On or about 1998 the defendant approached the plaintiff asking him to accept her back into his life after being left by the third party. The plaintiff agreed as he loved the defendant although he was heartbroken by her adultery (para 5 of plaintiff's affidavit).

[4] The plaintiff and the defendant went through a Chinese customary marriage on or about 5 January 2000 ("the customary marriage") (para 7 of plaintiff's affidavit, and para 14 of defendant's affidavit). The customary marriage:

(i) entailed two grand wedding dinners and a Chinese customary tea ceremony (the photographs are in exh THS 6 of the plaintiff's reply);

(ii) had a few hundred invitees including relatives and friends locally, from outstation and overseas, who had attended the dinners which were held in Kuala Lumpur and the other dinner in Ipoh at the defendant's hometown (para 8 of plaintiff's reply).

[5] The costs and expenses of the wedding ceremony and the wedding dinners were borne by the plaintiff (para 9 of plaintiff's reply).

[6] The customary marriage was not registered under the Law Reform (Marriage & Divorce) Act 1976 ("the LRA") at the material time or subsequently (para 8 of plaintiff's affidavit and para 14 of defendant's affidavit).

[7] Out of the union between the plaintiff and the defendant, three children were born, namely:

(a) V, a girl aged 10 years;

(b) B, aged 9 years; and

(c) E, a boy aged 5 years.

[8] The plaintiff, defendant and the children were residing at No 34, Jalan Medang Serai, Bukit Bandaraya, 59100 Kuala Lumpur ("the residence") as at 2 November 2011, ie the date of filing of the originating summons.

[9] The plaintiff, defendant and the children have lived together at the residence as a family unit since 2001 (para 6 of plaintiff's affidavit).

[10] On or about 1 November 2011 the plaintiff and the children shifted out of the residence and moved to No A-23A-3A, Kiaramas Ayuria 9, Jalan Kiara 7, Bukit Kiara, 50480 Kuala Lumpur.

[11] The children are currently residing with the plaintiff pursuant to the ex parte interim order of this court dated 2 November 2011.

[12] The plaintiff is the Executive Director of Shencourt Sdn Bhd. The defendant is a contract retail pharmacist at Guardian Pharmacy.

[13] V and B attend a Chinese school ie, SJK(C) Kuen Cheng 2, Kuala Lumpur. E attends Kuen Cheng Kindergarten.

[14] The def