SINGAPORE - It was a case that
saw the Court of Appeal express "surprise" that a custody fight
over cross-terrier Sasha had reached the highest court in the
land.
In the hearing yesterday, which only lasted 15 minutes, the
three-judge court dismissed United States-based surgeon Tan Kok
Chye's appeal and upheld the High Court decision that the dog will
stay with his ex-girlfriend Connie Tan, a senior specialist in
professional development.
In delivering the ruling, Justice Chao Hick Tin said the court did
not see any basis in the appeal. "(The case) should not reach the
courts at all. Parties should have applied good sense in resolving
it," he said.
"He (Dr Tan) has unnecessarily taken time of this court off the
other cases," he added.
The two-year-old dog has been the centre of a lawsuit between Ms
Tan, 30, and Dr Tan, 37, since March last year.
The couple had adopted the dog in August 2008 when they were living
in Alabama. Ms Tan returned to Singapore with Sasha in November
that year when the couple broke up.
In March last year, Sasha disappeared and was traced to Dr Tan's
mother's apartment in Cavenagh Road. Ms Tan then sued her
ex-boyfriend and his mother. She was granted a temporary court
order to keep Sasha and, in March this year, the court decided that
Sasha would remain under her care.
This did not sit well with Dr Tan, who lodged an appeal.
It was heard in court yesterday that Ms Tan had tried to resolve
the matter with Dr Tan but a settlement could not be reached.
Most of the talking in the appeal hearing was dominated by the
judges. Before Dr Tan's lawyer Leslie Netto could present his
argument that Dr Tan is entitled to keep the dog as he is named as
the owner in the adoption agreement in Alabama, the judges fired
questions at him.
Justice Rajah commented that the appeal is neither about Sasha nor
the adoption contract: "This is a contest of will and Dr Tan wants
to demonstrate to Ms Tan that he will pursue this matter as far as
he can."
Mr Netto told the court that he had "discouraged" Dr Tan from the
appeal but Dr Tan was "strong about it".
Ms Tan, who was in court with two of her sisters, shed tears of joy
after hearing the verdict and gave them a hug. She told reporters
that she was "very thankful" for the court's decision.
She said: "It's been difficult but I think what spurred me on is I
know she (Sasha) likes my care and I know that if I didn't fight
for her, nobody would."
Dr Tan was also ordered to pay S$6,000 in costs. Ong Dai
Lin
Ms Connie Tan with her dog, Sasha.
