William Tan says he hid romantic relationship from
Chee's daughters
SINGAPORE : The High Court case involving prominent
paraplegic athlete William Tan and the woman who is suing him for
some S$400,000 wrapped up on Wednesday with more relevations about
the nature of their relationship.
Dr Tan told the court on the last day of the hearing that
Dr Stephanie Chee had never asked for the money to be
re-paid.
The 53-year-old claimed that although they were in a romantic
relationship, he had to tell Dr Chee's daughters that they were
just friends.
He also told the court that one of Dr Chee's daughters had knocked
on the door when she heard "noises" while they were intimate in the
bedroom on one occasion. Dr Tan explained that her mother was
helping him with his leg braces.
On the last day of the hearing of his suit with Dr Chee, Dr Tan
said he took loans from a friend to speculate on property and earn
money so that he could fulfil Dr Chee's wish of living in a
bungalow.
The borrowing was "out of the ordinary" as he is "not a person who
jumps to borrow money from people", said Dr Tan. But he "stepped up
and went out in search for the funding" because he wanted to build
a future with Dr Chee.
"I've had many relationships, unfortunately they never last. So I
treasure this relationship very much," said Dr Tan.
He said he had tried to reconcile his differences with Dr Chee
after he received a writ of summons from her lawyers last year, but
the two could not come to an agreement.
Dr Chee is suing Dr Tan for S$259,800 in financial help that she
extended to him from 1999 and 2005.
She is also claiming another S$149,800 for the losses she suffered
from purchasing and selling a unit at One Tree Lodge which she held
in trust and as a nominee for Dr Tan.
Dr Tan is in turn filing counterclaims and said that the money was
a love gift from Dr Chee.
Asked by Justice Tay Yong Kwang why he did not return the money to
Dr Chee after her lawyers sent him a letter of demand in 2008 to
return S$433,000, Dr Tan said he had asked them for a breakdown of
the sum but had never heard from Dr Chee again until he was served
with a writ of summons.
Dr Tan also said he had broken up with Dr Chee in 2006 because of
"many" disagreements. She was being investigated by the police in
mid-2006 for fraudulent offences and both of them had different
ideas on how she should have handled the matter, said Dr Tan.
Dr Chee has denied that the two were romantically linked and
claimed that their relationship soured because of Dr Tan's "poor"
work performance in a charity that they were both working in.
Dr Tan said: "I still have the gratitude to Dr Chee for all the
tremendous help given to me. I've never ever met a person who has
been so consistently kind to me, consistently helping me. (For) who
I am today, I'm very grateful to Dr Chee for what she has done for
me.
"All this while, I've always wanted to be a gentleman. Whatever is
owed, I'll pay back. But the understanding that Dr Chee has given
me is I need not have to pay, that it's all right and we are one
family."
Judgement will be handed down at a later date.
- CNA/al