Chai arriving at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur in November
PETALING JAYA: Former beauty queen Pauline Chai was awarded £50,000 (RM273,300) a month by a British High Court in her divorce battle with multimillionaire chairman of Laura Ashley Tan Sri Khoo Kay Peng.
In court, she demanded £85,000 (RM463,700) a month from her 76-year-old ex-husband Khoo to cover her “needs”, including first-class flights, suites at five-star hotels and chauffeurs. Lawyers for Khoo described her request as “staggering”.
Chai, 68, had told a judge that since her split from Khoo, she had been forced to give up her “expensive” hobby, and only spent £450 a month on having her hair cut.
The Telegraph on Thursday reported Justice Roberts as rejecting Chai’s claims of a “frugal existence,” saying the Miss Malaysia 1969 will have to get by on £50,000 a month.
Justice Roberts said it appeared that between May 2013 and February 2014, Chai had spent £950,000 on “living expenses and outgoings”.
But Chai's lawyers argued that she had “suffered reductions” since the separation. She had stopped physiotherapy, had started to “cut and dye” her own hair, had not been going on holidays or having weekends away and had stopped her “expensive” hobby of renovating dolls’ houses.
In a written judgment, Justice Roberts said: “I am unable to accept the picture which she paints of a somewhat frugal existence, deprived of the opportunity to socialise with friends and/or to take care adequately of her personal needs in terms of clothing and hairdressing.”
Last year, a judge questioned why the Malaysian couple, who pay no tax in this country, have been allowed to “squeeze out” more important cases while paying a fraction of the costs of the taxpayer-funded court hearings.
The legal battle has already taken more than a year and cost nearly £3 million.
The court heard that although the couple, who have five children, married in Malaysia in 1970 and spent 42 years together, both agreed there had been tensions for much of that time.
Chai has claimed Khoo is worth more than £400 million and that she should be awarded around half that.
She has insisted she is not interested in money but wants to get away from a “violent” and “oppressive” relationship and has suggested that her husband was also racist.
The allegations have been “completely and utterly denied” by Khoo, who also said he did not have those “sort of assets”.
Khoo, who is based in Malaysia, says the marital home was there and he wants a judge in Malaysia to decide the division of money.
He said Chai wants to fight in England for a more generous award.
In October, Chai told a different judge at another hearing that she owned 1,000 pairs of shoes and that her husband would spend “hours” reading and working while sitting on the lavatory, needing a padded seat after he got backache.
In November last year, a Malaysian High Court ruled that Khoo's divorce case should be heard locally.
Justice Yeoh Wee Siam said her findings confirmed that Khoo "is a Malaysian citizen and that he is domiciled in Malaysia."
Under Malaysian laws, she said the wife’s domicile was dependent on her husband’s domicile. Chai is expected to appeal the ruling.
Justice Yeoh Wee Siam said her findings confirmed that Khoo "is a Malaysian citizen and that he is domiciled in Malaysia."
Under Malaysian laws, she said the wife’s domicile was dependent on her husband’s domicile. Chai is expected to appeal the ruling.
