Share this on WhatsApp On 27 October 2016, Ms. Azlin Arujunah, 24, was charged with the murder of her son. The boy died one day after Ms. Arujunah allegedly splashed hot water on him repeatedly. The boy’s 3 siblings have been placed under foster care by the Child Protective Service temporarily. See: Elena Chong, “Woman charged with murder of 5-year-old son”, The Straits Times, 27 October 2016 The child’s life journey had concluded before it even began. There are many “what ifs”. Were there tell-tale signs? What if there were tell-tale signs and someone did something about it? Could the
Share this on WhatsApp The case of Mr. Soon Chwee Guan was reported in The Straits Times in September 2016 (Jalelah Abu Baker, “Dead man’s CPF savings of over $170,000 will go to siblings instead of China bride”, The Straits Times, 8 September 2016). Under the law in Singapore, should a person pass away without leaving a Will, his/ her assets will be distributed entirely to his/ her spouse if he/ she does not have any living children or parents. Assuming that the deceased has no living children, parents or spouse, his/ her assets will be divided amongst his/ her
Share this on WhatsApp In his opening remarks at the International Family Law Conference 2016, Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon announced that parties going through a divorce will attend private mediation if there is a “contested property dispute over $3 million in value”. See: Seow Bei Yi, “Countries should work together on family justice: CJ”, The Straits Times, 30 September 2016 Mediation is a method of resolving disputes without going for a hearing in Court. A neutral mediator facilitates the parties’ negotiations and assist them in reaching their own solutions. Lawyers are present to advise their respective clients and help parties
Share this on WhatsApp Former national table tennis team player Wang Yuegu announced on 13 October 2016 that she is divorced. See: “Former national paddler Wang Yuegu, 36, announces divorce”, The Straits Times, 15 October 2016 In a Facebook post, Wang wrote: “Gabriel Lee and I have been divorced. I don’t wish to dwell on the reasons, but I think everyone should understand why a woman would get a divorce shortly after giving birth.” She added that her husband had “disappointed everyone”. In Singapore, the sole ground for divorce is the irretrievable breakdown of marriage. A marriage would be deemed
Share this on WhatsApp Weddings in Singapore are expensive affairs. In a recent report on The New Paper (Cynthia Choo, “Bachelor saves 6,000 $1 coins in 2 years, netting him marriage proposals”, The New Paper, 3 September 2016), Mr Muhammad Helmy Kamid, 26, was reported to have saved 6,000 $1 coins in two years. Even though he does not have a girlfriend, he plans to use the money as part of his future wedding expenses. Mr Helmy indicated that “two to three people from Malaysia” had messaged him, asking him to marry them after seeing his post online in relation to
Share this on WhatsApp One of my first questions to potential divorce clients is: “Can the marriage be saved?” As the saying goes, it takes “both hands to clap”. If one or both parties refuse to work on saving the marriage, the marriage can never be saved. Further, husband and wife should put in joint effort to resolve their differences early. As time passes, it gets harder for the problems to be fixed. In an article posted on Woman’s Day (Denise Schipani, “9 Signs Your Marriage Might Be Over”, Woman’s Day, 16 August 2016) the author pointed out the following signs
