KUALA LUMPUR, March 22 — Pauline Chai made the headlines in 1969 when she won the coveted Miss Malaysia title, but largely retreated from the limelight after her marriage a year later to Malaysian businessman Tan Sri Khoo Kay Peng.

Over four decades and five children later, Chai is back in the news as the estranged wife seeking half of her 76-year-old billionaire husband’s estimated fortune of at least £440 million (RM2.4 billion) in a high-profile divorce.

But Chai, who had given up her dreams and youth for the family she raised, wants to be known as more than the spouse of a wealthy business tycoon or a beauty pageant winner.

A happy childhood

Before she was known merely as a former beauty queen, Chai enjoyed a carefree and “happy childhood” with her four siblings, with much time spent outdoors and running around.

“I remember climbing trees to get coconuts and eating tamarinds off the ground,” the Ipoh-born 68-year-old told Malay Mail Online in an email interview.

“I enjoyed school and was voted the most courteous in school. I was probably known for being well-behaved as my parents raised us in a very strict manner,” said Chai, the youngest in a middle-class family which she said had “very devoted” parents.

Her father worked at a pharmacy while her mother was from a wealthy family that owned rubber estates before the Japanese Occupation in then-Malaya, she said.

In her final year in a Catholic convent secondary school, Chai said she went to the US as an exchange student before coming back to complete her Form 6 studies.

She was then poised to go to Australia to study law, but before she could begin her studies, she met Khoo and got married at the young age of 24.

Looking back, Chai concedes she would have led a more independent life if she had been able to pursue her further education.

“I have often regretted this and felt trapped and powerless. Because of this I would encourage my daughters to study and become independent so they wouldn’t end up in the situation of being completely dependent on a man,” she said.

Family first

Pauline in Form 6 at a Catholic school.

Chai had joined the Miss Malaysia beauty pageant with an eye on travelling the world, but gave up on her dreams of doing so and instead “led a very home-oriented life” to look after her husband and children - giving birth to her first child at the age of 24.

All thoughts of getting a university degree were pushed aside as her responsibilities as a wife and mother became her “main focus”, Chai said, describing her “hands-on” efforts in raising her five children without the help of nannies since the youngest was 10 years old - including shuttling them to school and cooking daily.

“Being a homemaker, I put all my efforts in bringing up the children with values that my own parents had instilled in me. Today, I am very proud of all of them,” she said.

Chai said she never felt like a “trophy wife” to Khoo, noting that she deliberately retreated from the limelight after marriage and “kept the family very private, shielding the children from publicity”.

In her 44 years of marriage to Khoo, Chai hopped around continents, first making a “scary decision” to leave for Australia together with Khoo for the children’s education at around 30, before shifting to Canada about 10 years later and then to the UK - where Chai is currently based.

Having spent 38 years or half of her life abroad with her five children, Chai - who has a dual Australian and Canadian citizenship - said she has now “lost touch” with Malaysia.

“It is a beautiful country and I have many happy childhood memories here, but I have no ongoing connection here. I don’t have any intention of coming back to stay as I will be where my children are,” said Chai, whose five children between the ages of 27 to 43 now mostly reside in Canada or London.

A fresh start

Chai said she has been painted in an unkind manner by many despite being a “dutiful” wife and mother of five, as well as giving up her youth and chances of furthering her education and having a career for her family.

“But since the divorce, I have been portrayed simply as a tycoon’s wife or an ex-beauty queen in the media, and have even been called a gold-digger or an ungrateful wife, despite my contributions and sacrifices during 42 years of marriage.

“The reality today is women are still not treated as equals to men. It is sad that women are still expected to be in the shadow of and subservient to men. As a result, there are many women who find themselves in powerless situations,” she added.  

Chai, who stands to gain as much as half of Khoo’s estimated wealth of a minimum £440 million in the UK courts, wants to start a charity for women and also for those suffering from autism with the divorce settlement.

“I am very passionate about the rights of women in such situations having come from an abusive marriage, and I also have a heart for people with autism as often they are left without options or a voice. I’d like to form a charity in the future focusing on these areas,” she said.

Chai said she believed this divorce — which came about after attempts to save the marriage failed — “represents a new start” and a chance for her to “move on”.

“I believe that good can still come out of this difficult situation, and I intend to spend the rest of my life helping people who have faced the struggles and heartache I’ve experienced,” she said.

In the protracted and high profile divorce battle, Chai wants the case to be heard in the UK courts — which recognises homemakers’ non-financial contributions to a couple’s wealth, while Khoo wants the divorce settlement to be decided in Malaysia where they were married.

Chai filed for divorce first in the UK in February 2013, with Khoo subsequently filing in Malaysia.

The UK courts then decided that the divorce should be heard there, while the Kuala Lumpur High Court contradicted that decision and has ruled in favour of divorce proceedings being heard here.

The actual divorce cases in both Malaysia and the UK have yet to start, as both Khoo and Chai are still appealing in both countries on which court is the best forum to hear and decide on their divorce case.