More Singaporeans are exercising their legal rights by suing the authorities. Such activities is set to rise as Singaporeans mature and gain enough knowledge about their law. Suing Mindef "and win" is never heard, till recently.
Case 1 : He went to court to quit his job
NORMALLY, a letter is all that is needed. A former :major with the Singapore Armed Forces, however, went all the way to the High Court just to quit his job.
Mr Mohamad Zaidi Hasbollah had resigned his commission on Jan 14 last year. But due to “administrative lapses”, the 38-year-old was only released six months later — after he filed a claim in the High Court on June 23,seeking the acknowledgment of his resignation.
He also sought payment of bonuses, including retirement benefits, that had been withheld pending an investigation.
The result was that the Attorney-General — who represents the Government and its agencies in any legal case — processed his resignation on July 14, and Mr Mohamad Zaidi was paid the monies owed three months later, in October.
Yesterday, he agreed to discontinue the legal action, with legal costs awarded to him.
In his affidavit, the former major — who served in the SAF for 19 years — said he was given no reason why the bonuses were not paid.
These included his mid-year, variable market and year-end bonuses for 2007, and his performance, market adjustment component, variable market and growth bonuses for 2008.
The total sum was not specified, nor was the nature of the pending investigation.
Mr Mohammad Zaidi claimed that not only did his family suffer financially as a result, he also went into a “major depression” over “the manner in which” he had been treated.
“There has been ample time of about five months notice period given to process my application for early release,” he said in his affidavit.
On why he had sought to resign,Mr Mohammad Zaidi cited stress-related ailments and the need for a “complete change of work environment” to recover.
The former army officer was head of logistics at the Camp Commandant’s Office at Pasir Laba Camp, and had served on the peace monitoring mission in Aceh in 2006.
Now working in a logistics company, Mr Mohammad Zaidi is keen to close this chapter of his life. With the matter resolved, he instructed lawyer Suppiah Thangaveloo, of law firm Thanga & Co, to wind down proceedings.
“This is perhaps the first case of its kind,” said Mr Suppiah.
“I’m not sure if this will set a precedent, but it is unusual to see a man resorting to legal action just to resign from his job.” - Zul Othman
Case 2: Parents sue Mindef
The parents of a former full-time national serviceman, who has remained in a coma for over three years after an incident in camp, is taking the Ministry of Defence to court over compensation issues.
They claim that then-corporal Jeremy Tan, now aged 26, is entitled to coverage for medical costs and a permanent disability package since the injuries occurred while he was in camp and in service.
Mr Tan, then a storeman at the Seletar East Camp, was found unconscious on a grass patch outside the block where his third-level bunk was located at about 6pm on Aug 3, 2005.
He was subsequently taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital with severe head injuries, although his parents were also told when they arrived at the hospital that he had a severe viral infection.
But the issue which the courts are expected to address when the hearing starts on Monday before Justice Tay Yong Kwang is whether the injury was caused in the course of his service. Mr Tan would not be eligible for compensation if the injuries were not service-related. - ST
Great. This is telling the ruling party that people are not to be taken for granted.
yes! hurray for them...
not right leh....
suing MINDEF becomes suing garmen.....
sue P4P ..... that's suing garmen....
Originally posted by Chin Eng:not right leh....
suing MINDEF becomes suing garmen.....
sue P4P ..... that's suing garmen....
and suing in singapore court is like suing the govt court too,..hmm not rite...sue in hokkien means lost...those sue them better becareful
Originally posted by angel7030:
and suing in singapore court is like suing the govt court too,..hmm not rite...sue in hokkien means lost...those sue them better becareful
u have got a point.
Originally posted by Fantagf:
u have got a point.
OMG, fantagf, u agree with me!!! something is very wrong,...u r suppose to oppose me, that is your role here...hv u strike toto recently??
Originally posted by angel7030:
OMG, fantagf, u agree with me!!! something is very wrong,...u r suppose to oppose me, that is your role here...hv u strike toto recently??
allo hello, me base on reasoning.
Originally posted by Fantagf:
allo hello, me base on reasoning.
but i thot u base on seasoning, depend on your season moods, sometime u praise people, sometime u attack people...like no tomorrow..me very confuse leh??
Ok, nevermind, thanks for reasoning with me.
Originally posted by angel7030:
but i thot u base on seasoning, depend on your season moods, sometime u praise people, sometime u attack people...like no tomorrow..me very confuse leh??
Ok, nevermind, thanks for reasoning with me.
u funny. I already said base on reasoning. Some people spout nonsense so must correct them
hahaha.
hahaha.
laughters is the best medicine
that will send a message to the govt. screw with our rights, and we'll see you in court
even a high rank army officer also got problem with saf.
From here we can see that if theres a war coming, pretty sure that no officers will stay back to fight.
Doubt our officers CAN fight in the first place.
siao they forgot the court is owned by who =.=
Since the army major won, is that ok for you? so the court owned by who?
http://www.sgforums.com/forums/1390/topics/344066
Parents sue Mindef and won, that is FAIR!
Originally posted by Stevenson101:Doubt our officers CAN fight in the first place.
Can, sure they can fight, recently got a few SAF officers came to my pub and drink, later they fought against each other over a game of football, who said they cannot fight. Bloody hell, smashed my glasses and still haven't pay, me going to sue SAF.
Parents: It was our last resort
By Crystal Chan
THEIR household income is just $2,000. So how, their friends asked them, can they take on the Government?
You will lose, their friends said. And you will be worse off because of the costs.
But Mr Tan Kian Lee, 50, and his wife, Madam Hor Hong Kiow, 47, refused to buckle under the enormity of the challenge.
'It was a nerve-racking experience,' said Mr Tan, of taking on the Ministry of Defence.
Their son, Chia Wee, had become an invalid after he was found unconscious while he was in National Service
He was their hope. He was to have gone to university and supported them when he graduated.
Mr Tan said in Mandarin: 'My son began NS as a healthy soldier but he came out a vegetable. He used to jog and do standing broad jumps every day. Now, he's like a baby.'
When four years of talks with Mindef and the Attorney-General's Chambers came to naught, the couple sued Mindef for compensation - and took it all the way to High Court.
On 16 Jan, the Tans' dogged determination paid off when the High Court ruled that Chia Wee, now 26, was entitled to compensation.
'Many people have told us that we're very brave to sue the Government,' Madam Hor, a bank teller, said in Mandarin, 'especially when we're not rich. But I believe anyone in our position would have done the same.
'Some people even told us we may lose the case as we were up against the Government and we'd have to pay costs if we lost.
'We're not greedy. Going to court was really a last resort and we're really grateful to our lawyer. Till today, our lawyer has not charged us for his work.'
Their lawyer, Dr Lau Teik Soon, is a former People's Action Party Member of Parliament for Serangoon Gardens.
Looking at photos of Chia Wee in happier times, Mr Tan, who is unemployed, sighed: 'He had hoped to go to UniSIM to study business and support us after he graduated.
'He was enthusiastic about NS despite being a storeman. He obeyed instructions without complaint and always smiled when he left for the camp.
'Every day, we'd buy him supper so he could have his favourite burgers when he came home.'
Shocked
Chia Wee, a business diploma holder from Temasek Polytechnic, had told his parents he could do a variety of jobs with a business degree.
Mr Tan said: 'Now, he can only stare at us when we visit him.
The Tan family, (from left) Chia Wee, Madam Hor Hong Kiow,
Mr Tan Kian Lee and their daughter Chia Min (in front).
'We have accepted that he'll never be able to look after us. At least, we'll get some compensation so we can care for him.'
The couple's ordeal began when the Singapore Armed Forces called with the bad news that Chia Wee was discovered unconscious at the foot of his three-storey barracks at Seletar East Camp.
He was found at 6pm on 3 Aug 2005.
Mr Tan recalled: 'I was so shocked that I could barely stand. My daughter, Chia Min, had to support me.'
The tragedy affected Chia Min so much that she did badly for her O levels that year, scoring 29 points for her best five subjects.
She re-sat for her O levels in 2006 and scored 15 points, qualifying for polytechnic courses.
Mr Tan and Madam Hor sought an explanation from Mindef but details were sketchy as there were no witnesses.
One of Mr Tan's friends, who lives in Pasir Ris, took him to a meet-the-people's session with Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean in November 2005.
Mr Tan said: 'My friend spoke on my behalf and one of Mr Teo's assistants wrote a letter. Within 10 days, Mindef replied, saying it was investigating.'
In April 2006, Mindef officials met Mr Tan, informing him they did not know what led to Chia Wee's tragedy as there were no witnesses. The ministry offered to give Mr Tan $500 a month for five years to help him care for Chia Wee at home.
Mindef also said it would not provide additional compensation, claiming its checks showed Chia Wee was not hurt in the line of duty.
Not knowing what to do, Mr Tan delayed discharging his son, who remains in a step-down facility at Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH).
Why didn't he just accept the monthly compensation of $500?
Mr Tan said: 'I wouldn't get anything after five years and my son needs lifelong care. I was also worried that if I accepted this offer, it would mean I couldn't pursue legal action against Mindef.'
In March 2007, Mindef stopped paying for Chia Wee's hospitalisation after having paid more than $30,000 for his medical treatment.
Worried
Mr Tan said: 'I took that to mean Mindef was absolving itself of any liability. That's unfair because my son got injured in camp, not while he was off-duty.
'At that point, my wife and I considered legal action as it was the only chance we had of getting compensation.
'It's not that we want to leave Chia Wee in TTSH permanently, but we can't afford to hire a nurse to care for him at home.'
Madam Hor's colleague recommended Dr Lau to the couple and he, together with Ms Rajvant Kaur, represented them for free.
In August 2007, the Tans had a meeting with the Attorney-General's Chambers to resolve the dispute, but to no avail.
Dr Lau told The New Paper: 'We were hoping to settle the issue of liability amicably but it wasn't a meeting of two minds.'
Soon after that, the Tans sued.
Mr Tan said: 'I spent two hours reading my 40-page affidavit every day. My English is limited and I was worried of slipping up while testifying.'
After a four-day hearing last month, Justice Tay Yong Kwang ruled in the Tans' favour.
Mindef has not appealed against the verdict.
Dr Lau told The New Paper that the next step is to assess the degree of Chia Wee's disability and, using Manpower Ministry guidelines, work out how much he should get.
Mr Tan said: 'We would have had to pay the A-G's costs if we had lost. It was a risk we had to take. But if we didn't take this step, we wouldn't get any compensation.
'Of course, we're happy to win. After such a long time, we finally got justice.'
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They need to buy $3,000 bed for son
THE Tans have no proper bed of their own.
Now they will have to buy a motorised special bed costing $3,000 for their son.
The couple, who also have a daughter in polytechnic, live in a spartan three-room flat at Old Airport Road.
It is a flat that indicates their modest income.
The family sleep on mattresses on the floor instead of on beds.
Their living room has a sofa and two armchairs, but no coffee table.
Instead of Chia Wee supporting them in their old age, Mr Tan and Madam Hor will now have to care for him for the rest of his life.
They spend about $2,000 a year on their daughter's school fees.
They intend to use the compensation, which the court will assess at a later date, to hire a nurse to care for Chia Wee at home.
His vegetative state means he has to be fed through a tube and wear diapers all the time.
The Tans have decided against placing Chia Wee in a nursing home as it will cost between $1,200 and $1,800 a month.
Mr Tan said: 'If our son stays in a home, we'd have to spend money on transport to see him every day.
'I'm not working, so I can care for him at home. We hope to use the compensation money to buy diapers, milk and a proper bed for him.'
Affordable
Bendemeer Medical Marketing & Nursing Services, which provides training for home nursing, is willing to work out an affordable package for the Tans.
Its head nurse, who asked to be known as Ms Angie, said: 'We can train Mr Tan to change the diapers, clean him and top up the feeding tube.'
She added that Chia Wee's parents will need to acquire a nursing bed, the type used in hospitals, to prevent him from developing bedsores.
She explained: 'The nursing beds are motorised and have ripple mattresses which have an alternating pressure pump and a special air-mattress. These will boost blood circulation and prevent bedsores.'
Such beds cost around $3,000 but MsAngie said the company can source for donated beds from previous patients.
I am glad justice is served!
standing broad jump every day?
Mindef was wrong to have tried to escape responsibility for the soldier in the first place. There was no way to avoid compensation for an injury sustained in camp while the soldier was officially "booked-in."
I hope this will pave the way for more lawsuits against MINDEF from injured ex-serviceman. $500 per month for 5 years to support an invalid? That paltry sum is an insult of the highest degree.