loses $1.7 million deposit colgate businessman wanted out, · housing board (hdb) did not give the...
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By IAN POH
A SERIAL cheat who fell backinto his old ways four monthsout of a 10-year preventive de-tention stint has had his appealagainst his latest sentencerejected.
Jason Kuppusamy Pannisil-vam, 58, was given eight moreyears of the same punishment– which is usually imposed onhardened criminals considereda threat to society – after plead-ing guilty to his latest offencesin May.
In January and February, heprocured more than $3,000 byoffering smartphones andhome entertainment productsto victims, and then making offwith their money without giv-ing them the goods.
He also stole $280 from ataxi driver.
Chief Justice Sundaresh Me-non dismissed his appeal yester-day, saying Kuppusamy’s crimi-nal record – which stretchesback to 1979 – meant the lowercourt had been “lenient” in im-posing a shorter term the sec-ond time around.
“I cannot accede to yourplea for a second chance giventhe clear (pattern) that emerg-es,” the judge said.
He also considered a raft ofpast property-related andcheating offences, which haveseen Kuppusamy given a rangeof punishments, includinglengthy jail and corrective train-ing stints.
The court heard that he alsocheated victims of more than$18,000 in 2003.
When pleading guilty inMay, Kuppusamy expressed re-morse and promised not to reof-fend. He said he committed theoffences to relieve “financialproblems”, and to look after hisfamily.
But District Judge CarrieChan later said there was evi-dence that he fell into the cate-gory of “hardcore recidivistcriminals” and “represented acontinuing danger to the pub-lic”.
“His main risk factor was hislong history of offences and ina-bility to manage his financialproblems,” Judge Chan said.“(His) situation did not supportor admit the possibility for re-form.”
Preventive detention can in-volve between seven and 20years in prison. Those whocheat victims out of their prop-erty can be jailed for up to 10years and fined.
By K. C. VIJAYANSENIOR LAW CORRESPONDENT
A BUSINESSMAN who wantedout of a $16.8 million deal tobuy a car showroom was or-dered to forfeit his $1.68 mil-lion deposit instead.
Mr Cheong Sim Lam had ar-gued that the National Environ-ment Agency (NEA) and theHousing Board (HDB) did notgive the approval needed forthe change in ownership.
But the High Court decidedthat he should have done moreto convince the governmentbodies into saying “yes”.
The case involved a swankyshowroom unit in Leng KeeRoad, which was sold by Pacif-ic Motor Credit to Mr Cheong’scompany, The One Suites, in2012.
But before HDB’s consent tothe transfer could take place,NEA’s approval was needed toaddress any pollution control is-sues in relation to unit use.
HDB also sought a business
plan from One Suites to discussthe proposed use of the site.
When the company soughtNEA’s approval to use thepremises as a car showroomand motor workshop in August2012, it was rejected.
NEA pointed out that thelong-term land use for the areawas residential.
But Pacific had appealed,and persuaded NEA to changeits mind, noted Judicial Com-missioner Edmund Leow.
One Suites, represented bylawyer Michael Palmer, arguedthis happened only after thedate set to complete the sale.
And this allowed the compa-ny to rescind the contract andseek a refund of the $1.68 mil-lion deposit paid.
But the judge made clearOne Suites had an implied dutyto undertake all reasonablesteps to help complete the deal.
If the authorities had al-ready considered all possible ar-guments, and clearly said “no”,then it would have to be reason-
able not to attempt an appeal.But this was not the case
here, said the judge, in a deci-sion earlier this month.
Instead, One Suites had lostinterest in buying the propertyand was looking for a chance torescind the contract.
The $1.68 million paid byOne Suites was meant as a secu-rity deposit to ensure it abidedby the contract.
As Mr Cheong’s company
had breached the contract, Pa-cific, which was defended bylawyer Albert Balasubramani-am, was entitled to keep the de-posit, ruled the judge.
But he declined Pacific’scounter-application to orderOne Suites to go through withthe sale, ruling it was inappro-priate for the court to use itsdiscretion in the circumstancesof the case.
By LINETTE LAI
NEARLY 40 years ago, profes-sors Chay Oh Moh and QuakSeng Hock were course matesat what was then called theUniversity of Singapore.
Yesterday, the old friendswere honoured as veteran doc-tors and mentors – both re-ceiving the National Outstand-ing Clinician Mentor Award.
“What I am today is be-cause of many mentors I hadin my younger days,” said ProfQuak, who hails from the Na-tional University Health Sys-tem (NUHS).
Prof Chay, of KK Women’sand Children’s Hospital, said:“I’m just paying it forward.”
Five other awards were giv-en out at last night’s NationalMedical Excellence AwardsCeremony, where health-careprofessionals were honouredfor contributions in theirfields.
Winners in each category re-ceived a trophy, citation, and$10,000.
Health Minister Gan KimYong, who presented theawards, congratulated all thewinners.
“We have achieved whatwe have because of the manyoutstanding and dedicated pio-neers, leaders, and staff in ourhealth-care sector,” he said.
“You are the role models ofcommitment and innovationwhom we honour and appreci-ate.”
The other winners were:Professor Wong Peng Cheang
and Associate Professor AllenYeoh, both of NUHS, for fertil-ity and paediatric leukaemia re-search respectively; and associ-ate professors Chow WanCheng and Ong Biauw Chi ofthe Singapore General Hospi-tal.
Prof Chow was honouredfor her contributions to medi-cal education in the field of vi-ral hepatitis, and Prof Ong forher efforts to improve patientsafety.
A group of four specialistsfrom NUHS, who work in theemergency medicine and respi-ratory and critical care divi-sions, won this year’s NationalClinical Excellence TeamAward.
They came up with a way to
quickly identify and treat pa-tients with severe pneumoniainfections, and make sure thatthe transition between differ-ent levels of care was carriedout smoothly.
Under their supervision,the mortality rate for these pa-tients fell from 24 per cent toaround 6 per cent.
“Sometimes, health carecan be fragmented,” said Asso-ciate Professor Malcolm Ma-hadevan, head of the emergen-cy medicine department at theNational University Hospital.
“We didn’t want that tohappen. So there’s alwaysbeen very good communica-tion between the two depart-ments.”
The car showroom in Leng Kee Road was sold by Pacific Motor Credit to MrCheong’s company, The One Suites, in 2012. PHOTO: SHIN MIN DAILY NEWS
By WALTER SIM
FORMER presidential candi-date Tan Jee Say said yester-day that his newly registeredpolitical party will activelyengage in dialogue with otheropposition parties to ensure“our chances of success at theelections are enhanced”.
This is the main aim, hesaid, of the Singaporeans Firstparty, which received the nodfrom the Registry of Societieslast week.
One of the issues he hopesto discuss with them is theavoidance of multi-corneredfights with other parties at thenext polls, due by January2017 at the latest.
Mr Tan, 60, is the party’ssecretary-general in apro-tem committee that hasbeen formed. He contested un-der the Singapore DemocraticParty banner in the 2011 Gener-al Election.
In a brief telephone inter-view with The Straits Times,he said: “Our objective is to en-sure that the overall interest inopposition unity is served, andthat our chances of successare enhanced.”
The party has also startedan online recruitment drivefor members, he added, say-ing: “We do not have a targetbut will get as many people onboard as we can.”
The Singaporeans First par-ty has 11 founding members.
They include architects, a re-tired army colonel and otherprofessionals.
Following its registration,the proposed party logo – aheart within a circle – hasbeen submitted to the Registryof Societies for approval.
The process is expected totake a few weeks, said Mr Tan,who is a financial adviser andformer investment banker andcivil servant.
He said last May whenannouncing the move to regis-ter the party that it wouldchampion a new national nar-rative that puts people at theheart of all policies, ratherthan treat them as “economicdigits”.
Prof Chay Oh Moh (left) and Prof Quak Seng Hock yesterday received theNational Outstanding Clinician Mentor Award. ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN
SALE OF CAR SHOWROOM
Businessman wanted out,loses $1.7 million deposit
Serialcheat’sappealturneddown
Veterandoctorshonouredasmentors
His firm should have done moreto secure approval of deal: Judge
Tan Jee Say to engage opposition parties
HHOOMMEE B7 F R I D A Y , A U G U S T 2 9 , 2 0 1 4