Mum wants Bi-Anne with her - After being separated from her daughter Low Bi-Anne for eight years, London-based restaurant manager Tan Siew Siew...

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Mum wants Bi-Anne with her
By HARIATI AZIZAN
sunday@thestar.com.my

PETALING JAYA: After being separated from her daughter Low Bi-Anne for eight years, London-based restaurant manager Tan Siew Siew is hoping to be reunited with her soon.

“I love Bi-Anne most dearly and can’t wait to begin a new life with her,” Tan told Sunday Star in an e-mail interview.

Since she won custody of Bi-Anne in 2008, Tan, 38, has been checking out the primary schools near her flat in London.

“I want to provide her with all motherly love and care that she has not had previously,” said Tan, breaking her silence over the tussle with her ex-husband Low Swee Siong, 41, for custody of Bi-Anne.

On Friday, the Court of Appeal ordered for a full hearing of an appeal in the custody battle of the 11-year-old next month after a closed-door video conferencing mediation between Bi-Anne, her real-estate negotiator father Low and Tan reached a deadlock.

Happier times: Tan hugging her daughter Bi-Anne (then seven years old) in a picture taken in 2006. Tan has been checking out primary schools near her flat in London since winning custody of her child in 2008.

Tan expressed hope that the dispute could be settled quickly.

She added that the custody case had left her emotionally anguished.

The couple was married in 1999 but in 2002, Tan returned to London alone, leaving her husband and daughter in Malaysia after he accused her of having an affair with another man.

“I was forced to separate from my husband because of his unreasonable behaviour. I left Malaysia when Bi-Anne was still a baby because that’s the only way I could leave the man I had wrongly chosen,” she said.

In 2006, both parties filed for divorce and custody of Bi-Anne was given to the father.

Tan subsequently won custody and Low was given reasonable access.

However, Bi-Anne insisted that she wanted to live with her father.

According to R. Pushpa Ratnam, one of the lawyers representing Bi-Anne’s father, mediation failed because Tan wanted Bi-Anne to live in London for six months and the child to be with her father for another six months – which was not beneficial for the child.

However, Tan said: “I never proposed six months in London and six months in Kuala Lumpur. I said I wanted Bi-Anne to come to live with me in London. I also said that I would bring her back to Malaysia every summer during her school holidays to see her father.

“My ex-husband would be welcome to visit Bi-Anne in London at anytime that is convenient to her and myself.”

On her refusal to return to Malaysia, Tan said she had already built her career in London.

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Bi-Anne custody case: Mediation fails
By NURBAITI HAMDAN

PUTRAJAYA: The mediation process in the case of 11-year-old Low Bi-Anne, who is caught in a custody battle, has failed to reach a settlement.

The 90-minute mediation took place at the Court of Appeal here on Friday via video conferencing between real estate negotiator Low Swee Siong and his ex-wife Tan Siew Siew who is a London-based restaurant manager.

Justice Low Hop Bing, who was present in the mediation, fixed Feb 16 for all appeals in the case to be heard before a three-man panel after both parties could not come to an agreement.

Bi-Anne appeared in good spirits and was seen chatting with her relatives and friends before she went into the courtroom.

She, however, emerged from the 90-minute mediation at 6.15pm teary-eyed and glum.

Co-counsel Pushpa Ratnam, for Swee Siong, told reporters that Tan had suggested that Bi-Anne spend six months with her in Britain and six months with her father in Malaysia.

Pushpa said Bi-Anne disagreed as she refuses to leave the country.

"The child has made her wishes clear that she wants to stay with her father. If the mother comes back to the country, Bi-Anne agrees to spend time with her," she said.

Asked by reporters, Bi-Anne said she was upset that the mediation could not reach a favourable agreement.