JUDGMENT

Mohamed Dzaiddin bin Hj Abdullah SCJ:

This was a reference in the form of a special case from the High Court Kuala Lumpur made under s. 48 of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964 .

Both the petitioner and the respondent, who are Malaysian-born Chinese, were married according to Chinese customary rites on 20 February 1964 and cohabited in Malaysia until April 1982, when they decided to live apart. Some time in March 1988, the petitioner left the matrimonial home. On 22 November 1989, the petitioner filed a divorce petition under s. 53 of the Law Reform (Marriage & Divorce) Act 1976 (the Act) on the ground that her marriage with the respondent had irretrievably broken down. On 17 December 1991, the Kuala Lumpur High Court dissolved the marriage and granted a decree nisi to be made absolute after three months. In the meanwhile, pending the decree nisi being made absolute, the petitioner on 24 December 1991 filed an application against the respondent under ss. 76 and 77 of the Act for an order of division of matrimonial assets and for maintenance. The respondent opposed the petitioner's application on several grounds, but in a subsequent affidavit, he raised the issue that the H