Family wins
suit
THE parents of a former full-time national serviceman, comatose for
more than three years after an incident in camp, have won their
lawsuit against the Defence Ministry.
The High Court decision paves the way for the family of Jeremy
Tan, now 26, to seek disability compensation and medical benefits
from Mindef.
On Aug 3, 2005, Mr Tan, then a corporal rostered as duty
storeman at Seletar East Camp, was found unconscious at the foot of
a building where his bunk was located on the third-level.
Ex-NSF's parents insist he was on duty
THE parents of a former full-time national serviceman (NSF) who
has been comatose for more than three years after an incident in
camp insisted in court yesterday that he was injured while on
duty.
Mr Tan Kian Lee, 50, and Madam Hor Hong Kiow, 47, have taken the
Ministry of Defence to court seeking disability compensation and
medical benefits for their son Jeremy, who is now 26.
The crux of the case, which opened in the High Court yesterday,
was whether Mr Jeremy Tan was injured while he was on duty. Mindef,
which has classified his case as a non-service-related injury,
stopped subsidising his treatment at Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH)
from March 2007.
Mr Jeremy Tan, then a corporal, was the scheduled duty storeman
at Seletar East Camp on Aug 3, 2005. At about 6pm, he was found
unconscious on a grass patch at the foot of the block where his
bunk was located on the third level. He was later taken to TTSH
with severe head injuries.
Although the injuries are consistent with a fall from a height,
there were no eyewitnesses and findings by Singapore Armed Forces
(SAF) investigators remain inconclusive as to what led to his
injuries. The evidence did not point to suicide.
Mr Jeremy Tan's father contended yesterday that his son was on
duty as he was still wearing his army T-shirt, trousers and boots
when he was found. Mr Tan insisted that his son, who was holding
the store keys, was still on duty and was waiting to hand them over
to his replacement.
But government lawyers asserted that Mr Jeremy Tan was not at
his place of duty at the time. And minutes before he was found
unconscious, he had been seen resting in his bunk, pointed out
State Counsel Shawn Ho.
Madam Hor told the court that Major Linda Quek from Mindef's
Manpower Branch, the liaison officer assigned to the family, had
told them the SAF would take care of the hospitalisation costs.
'She told us she would help us appeal to Mindef to cover the
medical fees for my son as his injuries arose in the course of his
duties.'
Madam Hor said she understood that to mean that Mindef would pay
the medical costs until her son recovered.
Major Quek, one of the four witnesses for Mindef who took the
stand yesterday, denied making such a promise. Questioned by the
couple's lawyer Lau Teik Soon on why she told them she would do her
best to help them, she said it was her job to submit all
information to the relevant agencies to get the subsidies they are
entitled to.The trial continues before Justice Tay Yong Kwang.
This article was first published in The Straits Times on Jan
14, 2009.
