Custody hearing concerning son of slain bank manager adjourned

KUCHING: The High Court here yesterday adjourned to Wednesday for submission the hearing on a suit concerning the custody of the only son of slain banker Wong Jing Kui.

Wong, 31, a former branch manager of HSBC Bank in Sibu, was murdered at his house in Ulu Sg Merah in Sibu.

Judicial Commissioner Celestina Stuel Galid made the decision after the lawyer of the respondent Roger Chin and Lim Heng Choo had raised their preliminary objection.

Chin said they had replied to the application regarding two issues: the duplicity in the application; and application to disqualify him and Lim from representing the respondent.

The respondent is the boy’s mother Ling Hang Tsyr who was sentenced to death on Oct 27 this year after being found guilty of killing her husband.

Chin said the family had filed originating summons over the custody of the child in November 2012, and they had filed a notice of application in December this year over the same matter.

“The notice of application is improper and wrong because of the duplicity.

“It’s similar to the originating summons filed by their lawyer previously,” he told reporters he met at the courthouse yesterday.

He said a consent order had been given by the court to the mother, and they should file a fresh application if they were to go against the initial order.

Chin said the plaintiffs had also applied for both him and Lim to be disqualified from representing the respondents on the ground that there would be a conflict of interest.

“The reason was because we were representing Ling during the criminal case. We however did not see any conflict of interest in representing her in the custody suit,” Chin added.

Ling had been given custody of her only son.

The boy was the only grandson of the paternal grandparents.