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!