ONE lawyer noticed his clients being "extra cautious" when engaging him to oversee their property transactions. It was not unexpected, said Mr Suppiah Thangaveloo of Thanga and Co, given the recent series of lawyers absconding with clients' cash. "I've not heard any snide remarks but I've noticed that many of (the clients) are more inquisitive in matters concerning money," he said. "They're just being...
Legal News
A former Strata Titles Board officer has been charged in court on Thursday for two offences of cheating and providing false information. The case revolves around a quote for transcribing services for the board. The court heard that the accused, 25-year-old Hong Shihui and another person, Rajasvarai d/o Radhakrishnan, had prepared a quotation which was sent to the board's Registrar for approval. However,...
Court said temple's acquisition based on planning factors AN APPEAL by three devotees to get back the site of their 66-year-old temple off Bartley Road has been dismissed. In an 18-page judgment released on Monday, the Court of Appeal rejected the trio's contention that the Government's acquisition of the land had violated the Republic's Constitution. The three devotees of Jin Long Si Temple - Ms Eng...
Singapore's Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has gazetted its Master Plan 2008. It is a statutory land use plan that guides physical development of the country for the next 10 to 15 years. Some 200,000 people visited the exhibition of the Draft Master Plan 2008 over the past six months. And as part of public consultation process, the urban planners also reviewed 300 feedback received during the...
A dispute between property developer Lee Tat Development and Grange Heights residents over a strip of land came to an end on Tuesday as the Court of Appeal ruled in favour of Lee Tat, overturning an earlier appeal decision. It is extremely rare for the Court of Appeal to re-look a case that it has passed judgement on. Since the 1970s, Lee Tat has been trying to stop the residents from using a pathway,...
High Court to determine whether two properties should be returned to mother and son Almost 30 years ago, when Mr Loo Chay Sit was going through a divorce after just a few years of marriage, he transferred a piece of newly-bought property at Margate Road near Katong to the name of his younger brother Chay Loo. Years later, in 1986, his mother, Mdm Tan Chan Tee, registered another property - in Seraya...
Jurong Town Corporation (JTC) had won an appeal in a civil suit brought against it by a former sub-contractor and was awarded $8.1 million in damages. But in the latest twist to the four-year legal wrangle between JTC and sub-contractor Wishing Star, JTC will receive only $339,823. The saga began in Nov 2003 when Hong Kong-based Wishing Star cried foul over the way JTC terminated its services after it was...
THE Court of Three Judges is deliberating over how three lawyers should be taken to task for their roles in making a court wrongly pay out $4.27million. In hearing the matter last Thursday, Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong said it was clear the court had been 'made use of'. The question though, said the CJ, was the intent of the three lawyers - Ms Nor'ain Abu Bakar, Ms Ruby Tan and MrPeter Chua. In 2005,...
The High Court on Monday dismissed an application by three devotees of the Jing Long Si Temple. The devotees had initiated proceedings to declare that the government's acquisition of the temple site had violated the Constitution. The three devotees had initiated proceedings on January 16 this year, and the case was heard in chambers on January 29. The Court said the devotees had no standing to make the...
There is now a free website that gathers up-to-date news and information on all legal matters. It is called “Singapore Law Watch” (www.singaporelawwatch.sg) and has been developed by the Singapore Academy of Law. The website is updated every weekday and provides content like headline news relating to the legal practice here. It uses sources like the TODAY newspaper. It also has updates on new...