Ex-wife awarded RM26mil more

THE former tai tai who appealed against her S$17mil (RM36.89mil) divorce settlement from millionaire businessman Peter Kuah was awarded almost S$12mil (RM26.04mil) more. 

Sandra Ng, 49, had turned up in the High Court on Thursday asking for an extra S$67.1mil (RM145.6mil). 

After a two-hour hearing in chambers, Justice Judith Prakash awarded her monthly maintenance of S$20,250 (RM43,942) for 16 years. This works out to S$3.89mil (RM8.44mil) – compared to the S$2mil (RM4.34mil) awarded in the Family Court on Dec 31, 2001. 

Justice Prakash also increased Ng's share of her former husband's assets from S$15mil (RM32,5mil) to S$25mil (54.2mil). But whether Ng will get any of that money remains to be seen.  

Kuah, 55, a Singaporean, said on Thursday in a telephone interview from Kuala Lumpur, where he now lives, that he did not have the money to pay. 

“I'm happy with whatever the court awards as long as I can afford it. But where am I going to get the money to pay her?” asked the construction-industry tycoon, who was made bankrupt here in 1999 after failing to pay a credit-card debt. 

He, too, had lodged an appeal against the original Family Court ruling, on the grounds that S$17mil was too high. But that appeal was dismissed with costs. – The Straits Times/Asia News Network