In an emotion-filled Instagram posting, the 59-year-old better known as Chef Wan also shared what he believes to be the main cause for their marriage breaking down: his son-in-law’s failure to provide financial support for the family.
“Alhamdulilah after advising my son in law on numerous time the important of suami menjalan kan tanggung jawab memberi saraan perbelanjaan isterinya tiap2 bulan and he refused to accept my advise and i am very happy that my daughter is filing for a divorce and we will go ahead with all legal proceeding to fight for her right and justice too,” he wrote.
[Translation: Thank God, after advising my son-in-law numerous times on the importance of a husband’s responsibilities to provide monthly financial support to his wife and his refusal to accept my advice, I am very happy that my daughter is filing for divorce; we will go ahead with the legal proceedings to fight for her rights and justice too]
He continued by saying that in any marriage, the wife should be spoilt by the husband, but in his daughter’s case, she was forced to take over the financial burden of providing for their family.
Chef Wan said he felt sad witnessing his only daughter in such circumstances and had advised his son-in-law not to be a “a cheap f****** bastard”, even though they did not come from a destitute background.
The divorced father of two related that he had given his former wife RM3,000 a month as living expenses and even bought her a three-bedroom apartment after their marriage ended.
Chef Wan disclosed that he was sharing this publicly as there had been too much speculation about his daughter’s troubled marriage lately in the media, to the point they were “hounding me like a mad dog!” even though it was a private matter between Serina and O’Luanaigh.
He then said marriage is “always a gamble” but believed that one must have the courage to leave when it is over, for their own happiness.
He also said he is sad for his grandchildren but believed that “they will survive” the breakup of their parents’ marriage with support from their extended family.
Concluding his post, Chef Wan reminded all Muslim husbands to remember the wedding vows they had recited on their responsibilities to their wives.
“There no such things as my money is my money and your money also u need to contribute to the household… and there no question about this!”
Chef Wan’s post drew over 8,500 “likes” on Instagram from the time he posted earlier this afternoon.
He had included a snapshot of a newspaper clipping headlined “Serina stays mum on marriage” which contained gossip about his daughter’s relationship with her Irish convert husband.
Serina dispelled rumours of a third party coming between her and her husband, but declined to elaborate beyond saying it was not easy to cope with a marriage involving two different cultures.
Serina and O’Luanaigh were reported to have wed on January 1, 2010 and have two children together: a boy, Tristan Tareef and a girl, Isabella Saffiya.
The Irishman took the name Salahudin Ghafar after embracing Islam.
