- Joined
- Apr 9, 2009
- Messages
- 3,070
- Points
- 0
Scriptwriters couldn't have put together a better court drama.
There was a young lover, an unhappy wife and a famous actor/radio DJ hauled to court over maintenance payments.
There's even the promise of an upcoming well known witness: Jack Neo's wife, Madam Irene Kng.
Sure, there was no loud wailing or dramatic fainting in the courtroom.
But yesterday's session at Court 8 at the Family Court was no less gripping.
The central characters were Marcus Chin, 57, famous for acting in comedic roles and getai performances, and his wife Murong Ying, 54.
Through her lawyer, Mr Sng Kheng Huat, Madam Murong had argued that Chin had means but failed to pay her sufficient maintenance.
He is currently paying her $3,000 a month following a court ruling. They are separated pending a divorce.
He also pays their HDB loan instalment of $600 a month.
But she is asking for a monthly maintenance allowance of $5,000, which Chin had allegedly promised her earlier but had subsequently backed down.
Chin denied several times the insinuations that he had hidden money from her.
But no drama would be complete without a twist. And for good measure, there were two yesterday.
Madam Murong, through her lawyer, revealed Chin had sent her a text message in May 2009.
In it, he had asked her to tell the media "a few good words" about him and his 25-year-old lover.
She refused.
And because of that, Mr Sng added, Chin stopped the $5,000 maintenance money to Madam Murong in June 2009.
Chin, looking festive in a flaming red collared shirt underneath his sombre black suit, denied coolly he had stopped the payment out of spite.
But the heated grilling only intensified over the two hours of cross-examination.
Mr Sng pointed out that Chin had withdrawn from his CPF account a sum of around $18,000 in 2008 and another sum of around $22,000 in 2009.
He had also placed around $17,000 in the CPF Minimum Sum account.
Where did the $18,000 and $22,000 go, Mr Sng asked. Chin said he wasn't clear about the withdrawals and will need to check.
At some points in the questioning, he sounded frustrated and impatient.
"The $18,000 withdrawal was made one month before you purchased the property in Kuala Lumpur," said Mr Sng.
Chin retorted: "When did I say I bought the property?"
His girlfriend, Miss Eileen Cheah, had bought it, he told the court.
He also denied that he had directly or indirectly helped her purchase her properties in Kuala Lumpur and Johor Baru (JB).
He later admitted, upon MrSng's questioning, that he is "the borrower" in the RM220,000 (S$92,600) housing loan obtained to purchase the JB property.
When questioned, Chin replied: "It was the second property that (Miss Cheah) bought, so banks do not have much faith in her.
"So she has to add my name (as borrower) for the bank to approve the loan." The hard questioning appeared to have tired Chin.
During a court break, he walked over to chat with the five reporters present. "It's never-ending...So many questions," he sighed.
He was still in a pretty mood though, smiling as he made light talk.
Bu this wife sat rigidly throughout the hearing, her mouth drawn into a tight line.
Through her lawyer, she said that she resents Chin's earlier allegation that she had once deliberately left his elderly mother standing outside their matrimonial home for around an hour.
This allegation, which made headlines in local papers in October last year, had put her in a bad light, she felt.
Mother-in-law incident
She denied that incident with her mother- in-law happened, but Chin claimed that his then-neighbour, an artiste, had told him it did.
The cross-examinations revealed many family secrets.
But Mr Sng left another surprise for the end.
Just before the hearing ended, he revealed that he would be calling a witness.
The witness, Madam Irene Kng, will be taking the stand in the next hearing scheduled for Feb 28.
The 46-year-old is the finance and administrative manager of J Team Productions, which managed Chin as an artiste from 2000 to 2009.
She made front-page news after her husband, local director Jack Neo, admitted to an affair with a 22-year-old freelance model last year.
Like a teaser trailer, the lawyer revealed briefly her connection to the proceedings.
According to Mr Sng, Madam Kng had told Madam Murong in a private conversation around May 2009 that Chin had asked for a part of his salary to be "tweaked" and paid to his lover.
The hearing is adjourned to Feb 28. Stay tuned.
This article was first published in The New Paper.
