Schools’ owner breaks down in court
SINGAPORE: Students at Stansfield College and the Singapore
Institute of Commerce had remained uninsured "for months" even
though staff members knew of this.
So, the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) had not
wrongfully suspended the two private schools, senior counsel
Cavinder Bull argued in court on Monday.
By having 479 uninsured students, the schools were in breach of
the CaseTrust for Education scheme, and as the scheme’s
administrator, CASE was obliged to inform the public about it, said
Mr Bull, who was defending CASE against a $10—million suit.
The schools’ suspension between Nov 20 and Dec 13 in 2006 was
not brought about by false rumours that they were facing financial
troubles — as contended by the schools’ owner Kannappan Chettiar —
said the lawyer.
He added that when CASE wrote to the schools, it asked only
about the discrepancy between the number of student passes issued
by the immigration authorities and the number of insured
students.
The suspension came a week after, when the schools had not been
able to "remedy the situation" despite promising to do so.
Under the lawyer’s cross—examination, on Day Two of the suit
against CASE and insurer NTUC Income, Mr Chettiar broke down on the
stand.
Mr Bull grilled him on his intentions for taking legal action
and referred to a letter Mr Chettiar had sent out to students,
government agencies and the press following news about his schools’
suspension — in which the businessman said the two organisations
were "fully responsible" for the errors.
The lawyer asked if he was "trying to profit" from the mistakes
or was bringing about a "frivolous lawsuit".
When Mr Chettiar disagreed, Mr Bull asked if he was trying to
force CASE to apologise through the lawsuit.
"I have ... I think my ... yes, I want an apology," Mr Chettiar
said, before taking out his handkerchief and wiping his tears.
— TODAY/so
