Sim Hok Khun v Henry Budi Harsono: Forum Non Conveniens & Breach of Trust over Jardine Matheson Shares

In Sim Hok Khun @ Hadi Gunawan v Henry Budi Harsono @ Sim Hok Kiong, the Singapore High Court considered the defendant's application for a stay of proceedings based on forum non conveniens. The plaintiff, Sim Hok Khun, sued the defendant, Henry Budi Harsono, for breach of trust, claiming the defendant held Jardine Matheson shares on trust for him. The defendant argued Hong Kong was a more appropriate forum, as the shares were allegedly part of a Sim Family Trust Fund. The court, presided over by Assistant Registrar Jordan Tan, granted the stay, finding Hong Kong a more appropriate forum due to the trust's connection to Hong Kong and ongoing proceedings there.

1. Case Overview

1.1 Court

High Court

1.2 Outcome

Defendant's application to stay this action on the ground of forum non conveniens granted.

1.3 Case Type

Civil

1.4 Judgment Type

Grounds of Decision

1.5 Jurisdiction

Singapore

1.6 Description

The High Court stayed proceedings in Singapore, finding Hong Kong a more appropriate forum to adjudicate a breach of trust claim involving Jardine Matheson shares.

1.7 Decision Date

10 April 2012

2. Parties and Outcomes

Party Name	Role	Type	Outcome	Outcome Type	Counsels
Sim Hok Khun @ Hadi Gunawan	Plaintiff	Individual	Application Dismissed	Lost	Christine Ong of Shook Lin & Bok LLP Terence Seah of Shook Lin & Bok LLP Vinodh Coomaraswamy of Shook Lin & Bok LLP
Henry Budi Harsono @ Sim Hok Kiong	Defendant	Individual	Stay of Proceedings Granted	Won	Cavinder Bull of Drew & Napier LLC Lin Shumin of Drew & Napier LLC Lim Gerui of Drew & Napier LLC Lee Xin Jie of Drew & Napier LLC

3. Judges

Judge Name	Title	Delivered Judgment
Jordan Tan	Assistant Registrar	Yes

4. Counsels

Counsel Name	Organization
Christine Ong	Shook Lin & Bok LLP
Terence Seah	Shook Lin & Bok LLP
Vinodh Coomaraswamy	Shook Lin & Bok LLP
Cavinder Bull	Drew & Napier LLC
Lin Shumin	Drew & Napier LLC
Lim Gerui	Drew & Napier LLC
Lee Xin Jie	Drew & Napier LLC

4. Facts

Plaintiff and defendant are brothers.
Plaintiff sued defendant for breach of trust regarding Jardine Matheson shares.
Defendant claimed the shares were part of a Sim Family Trust Fund.
Defendant applied for a stay of proceedings based on forum non conveniens.
The Jardine shares were sold from a Hong Kong custody account.
The Trust concerned various Hong Kong assets and was managed in Hong Kong.

5. Formal Citations

Sim Hok Khun @ Hadi Gunawan v Henry Budi Harsono @ Sim Hok Kiong, Suit No 8 of 2012/T (Summons No 642 of 2012/Q), [2012] SGHCR 1

6. Timeline

Date	Event
2012-01-04	Writ of summons filed
2012-01-11	Defendant entered an appearance
2012-01-20	Defendant filed Summons 324 of 2012 for an extension of time to file his defence
2012-01-25	Consent order recorded before an Assistant Registrar
2012-04-11	Judgment reserved

7. Legal Issues

Forum Non Conveniens
- Outcome: The court granted the stay of proceedings, finding Hong Kong to be the more appropriate forum.
- Category: Procedural
- Related Cases:
  - [1987] AC 460
Breach of Trust
- Outcome: The court did not rule on the merits of the breach of trust claim, as the proceedings were stayed.
- Category: Substantive

8. Remedies Sought

Declaration that defendant held shares on trust
Account of the shares

9. Cause of Actions

Breach of Trust

10. Practice Areas

Commercial Litigation

11. Industries

No industries specified

12. Cited Cases

Case Name	Court	Affirmed	Citation	Jurisdiction	Significance
Spiliada Maritime Corporation v Cansulex Ltd	N/A	Yes	[1987] AC 460	N/A	Cited for the test to determine forum non conveniens.
Yeoh Poh San and another v Won Siok Wan	N/A	No	[2002] 2 SLR(R) 233	Singapore	Cited regarding the requirement to apply for a stay of proceedings before taking any step other than filing an appearance.
Chan Chin Cheung v Chan Fatt Cheung and others	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2010] 1 SLR 1192	Singapore	Cited to support the argument that a defendant is entitled to apply for a stay even after filing a defence.
Jio Minerals FZC and others v Mineral Enterprises Ltd	N/A	Yes	[2011] 1 SLR 391	Singapore	Cited for the requirements of the Spiliada test.
Murakami Takako (executrix of the estate of Takashi Murakami Suroso, deceased) v Wiryadi Louise Maria and others	N/A	Yes	[2009] 1 SLR(R) 508	Singapore	Cited for the requirements of the Spiliada test.
The “Rainbow Joy”	N/A	Yes	[2005] 3 SLR(R) 719	Singapore	Cited regarding the issue of whether there was a viable defence to the claim was not a relevant consideration as the court should not be required to go into the merits.
The “Reecon Wolf”	High Court	Yes	[2012] SGHC 22	Singapore	Cited as another factor militating for a stay.

13. Applicable Rules

Rule Name
Order 12 Rule 7(1) of the Rules of Court
Order 12 Rule 7(2) of the Rules of Court
Order 18 Rule 2 of the Rules of Court
Order 3 Rule 4 of the Rules of Court

14. Applicable Statutes

Statute Name	Jurisdiction
No applicable statutes

15. Key Terms and Keywords

15.1 Key Terms

Forum Non Conveniens
Breach of Trust
Jardine Matheson Shares
Sim Family Trust Fund
Stay of Proceedings
Connecting Factors
Hong Kong
Singapore

15.2 Keywords

forum non conveniens
breach of trust
Singapore
Hong Kong
stay of proceedings
Jardine Matheson
trust fund

17. Areas of Law

Area Name	Relevance Score
Forum Non Conveniens	90
Trust Law	75
Jurisdiction	60
Civil Procedure	50

16. Subjects

Civil Litigation
Trusts
Jurisdiction