Bid to void transfer of S$7 million Chancery Hill house
dismissed
SINGAPORE: If he knew his two sons were taking his
long-time mistress to court in a tussle for his property,
once-prominent psychiatrist Wong Yip Cheong would be "heartbroken",
a High Court judge said on Monday.
In dismissing a bid by the plaintiffs to declare
void their father's move to make Madam Patricia Ling Ai Wah joint
owner of a S$7 million property along Chancery Hill Road, Justice
Lai Siu Chiu noted that Dr Wong, 82, who now suffers from
Alzheimer's disease, had lived there with her "as man and wife" for
almost 30 years.
Except in name, the plaintiffs' mother, Madam Tan
Kim Yam, has not been considered by Dr Wong as his wife for the
better part of 50 years, pointed out Justice Lai at the conclusion
of a 23-day hearing, during which the court heard details of the
relationship between Dr Wong and his two families.
The two plaintiffs, neurologist Meng Cheong, 54, and locum general
practitioner Meng Leong, 49, had contended that their father was
already stricken with Alzheimer's disease and had been unduly
influenced by Mdm Ling, 60, when he signed the transfer deed in
December 2004.
They asked that the transfer be declared void or, failing which,
for the joint ownership to be converted into a shared
tenancy.
But Justice Lai noted that the evidence presented in court painted
a different picture. For instance, Dr Wong was still treating
patients and generated some S$3 million in income for Adam Road
Hospital, which he had founded, that year.
The judge also criticised the plaintiffs for using Dr Wong's
incapacity to "wrest as much of his assets as they could".
She removed Meng Cheong and Meng Leong from being members of the
Committee of Persons of the Person and Estate of Dr Wong, leaving
the second defendant, their half-brother Meng Weng, 35, as the only
member.
But Justice Lai also made an unusual order: Mdm Ling's decisions
concerning how Dr Wong would be cared for - whether to bring him
home or send him to hospital - would prevail, saying it was "only
right" given their relationship.
Meng Cheong, who had in 2006 obtained some S$1million of his
father's money as repayment of loans he had made to him for his
medical upkeep, was also ordered to refund the money to his
estate.
The two plaintiffs also have to pay all of Mdm Ling's legal costs
out of their own pockets.
-- TODAY