Hainan clan feud: Court suggests overhauling company’s board

In an effort to resolve an impasse between two feuding factions in the Hainanese community, the Court of Appeal yesterday suggested completely overhauling the board of a company that runs a nearly 170-year-old temple.

- Selina Lum

The suggestion – for existing board members to refrain from standing for the next election so that a new slate can be voted in – came during the hearing of an appeal against a court order to wind up the company, Kheng Chiu Tin Hou Kong Burial Ground (THK).

The company, which has about 2,000 members, was set up to maintain the Kheng Chiu Tin Hou Kong temple built by Hainanese migrants, and holds about $100 million in assets.

The current slate of 15 board members was elected in 2011.

No elections have been held since then, owing to disputes between the two camps – one led by THK chairman Foo Jong Peng, 68, and the other by Mr Phua Kiah Mai, 63, president of the Singapore Hainan Hwee Kuan clan association.

In 2013, Mr Phua, who is also a director of THK, went to court seeking to invalidate certain proxy forms that were filed in the company’s 2012 elections.