|
Aussie couple vow to fight till the end. |
|
Kota Kinabalu: The Australian stepfather of two children
caught in an ownership tug-of-war said he and his wife will stay in
Malaysia and fight to the end until the youngsters are returned to them
as the legal custodians.
He also maintained Saturday that the youngsters had been kidnapped
by their Labuan grandparents, businessman Peter Chin and Christina Woo.
Geoffrey Day said this is because the children, Alison and Justin Chan (aged 3 and 4) were not born in Malaysia.
"The grandparents are trying to mislead everyone into believing that the children are Malaysians.
"They were born in Australia, hold Australian passports and an
Australian court already granted custody of the children to my wife
Jane last year after calling her former husband to also present his
case," he claimed.
Jane is the daughter of the grandparents and the problem arose when she
told them during a visit to Labuan that she was divorcing her husband,
Hong Kong resident Alan Kwong Lun Chan, to marry Geoffrey, a Caucasian.
It was last reported that the children had been taken away by her former husband to Hong Kong.
Geoffrey said he and his wife tried to negotiate with Jane's parents
for almost a year for the return of the children but to no avail.
Explaining how the grandchildren came into the possession of the
grandparents, he said: "Jane brought them back to Labuan. Justin came
first to attend International School in January last year and was
supposed to be there only till November.
"In April the same year, Christina, who also has a house in Perth,
sought Jane's permission to bring Alison over to Labuan for holiday."
According to Geoffrey, when Jane came to Labuan later and discussed her
divorce plan, the family members became angry and told her that if "you
walk out the children belong to us."
"We don't know where the children are and my wife is very upset. She
can't understand why her parents are doing this to her just because she
decided to marry a Caucasian.
"The grandparents had taken it upon themselves to do what they like
even though the children do not legally belong to them which is totally
unjust. We are seeking further legal advice."
Geoffrey said he and Jane turned up at the International School to
collect the children last Monday but the school Principal felt that
since Peter paid the fees they were the rightful custodians.
"Jane does not want to shame her parents and wants to see matters
sorted out legally and it is illegal if true that the children had been
taken to Hong Kong.'
He also dismissed the grandparents' earlier claim that he and Jane were not financially capable of raising Alison and Justin.
"We are financially capable or we will not be pursuing the matter this far," said Mr Day.
SOURCE: Daily Express Newspaper East Malaysia,
April 8, 2001
|
