Mum Bought Houses With My Money

Sources : The New Paper, Sat, Jul 21, 2007

A BUSINESSMAN is suing his own daughter - who has a low IQ - for her share of his mother's generous legacy.

He is also suing his three siblings for their share of three houses which sit on a total of about 18,000sqft of land at Paya Lebar Crescent.

The properties are estimated to be worth between $8 million and $9 million.

Madam Tan Soo Keow died in July last year at the age of 91.

In a will which she had made in April 2002, she bequeathed one semi-detached house to her son, Mr Chang Ham Chwee, 69, managing partner of Chan Kain Thye Literage Company.

She gave another semi-detached house to her mentally-challenged granddaughter, Ms Chang Lee Siang, 51.

And she willed the proceeds of a bungalow to be split four-ways: To her daughters, Madam Chan Siew Khim, 70, Madam Chan Meow Khin, 60; her other son, Mr Chan Hung Hor, 67; and to a charity of the Chan sisters' choice.

But Mr Chang, an honorary council member of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, claims that the money which was used to buy and build the houses in the '50s and '60s was actually his.

He claims that his mother was holding the money in trust for him. And, as such, these properties - which were in his mother's name - actually belong to him.

According to documents filed with the High Court, his case is that when his father died suddenly in an accident on board a vessel in September 1950, he took over the running of the business, although he was just 13 years old.

He claims that his father had taken loans from his clients and his debts exceeded the value of his vessels.

As the eldest son, he had to step into his father's shoes, for the survival of his family. He claims his mother was in a state of shock and grief.

He negotiated with his father's creditors for a grace period to settle the debts and went about getting more business, he says.

In the days before the clean-up of the Singapore River in the early 1980s, lighters (also known as tongkangs) used to transport cargo between the port and the ships anchored out at sea.

DROPPED OUT OF SCHOOL

As Mr Chang was busy with the business, he had to drop out of school the following year.

His mother could not have run such a business, he claims, as it would not have been possible for a woman to do so.

He claims that he gave the money that he had made from the business to his mother for safekeeping, as he was too young to open a bank account.

He did that from the time he took over the business, until around 1966.

He claims that his mother knew she was holding the money for him.

In 1951, he said, profit from the business was used to buy two plots at Paya Lebar Crescent.

They were put in his mother's name as, he claims, he was too young at that time.

Two years later, money from the business was used to buy another property along that stretch, now known as 40G. In 1959, Mr Chang's mother and siblings moved into the bungalow built there.

Mr Chang stayed at a shophouse in Boat Quay, to be close to his office.

In 1965, he decided to build four semi-detached houses on the other two plots so that they could be rented out.

They were completed in 1966 and paid for in 1967. In 1990 and 1991, two of the semi-detached houses, 40B and 40C, were sold for about $1.1m to help pay off MrChan Hung Hor's business debts.

Mr Chang claims that even after this, his mother had assured him that the rest of the properties belonged to him.

He also argues, through his lawyer, MrCavinder Bull from Drew & Napier, that Madam Tan's 2002 will is irrelevant as the properties were not hers to give away.

Mr Chang's sisters, however, have a different version of events.

They claim, through their lawyer, MrAnthony Lee of Bih Li & Lee, that after their father died in 1950, it was their mother, Madam Tan, who took over the lighterage business, running it with the help of her brother.

Madam Chan Siew Khim, being the eldest child, helped her mother keep the accounts and pay the workers.

The sisters, who are executors of their mother's will, claim that Mr Chang was then only a young, 'naughty' boy who was still in school and knew nothing about the business.

They say he joined as an apprentice only in 1952, after he dropped out of school.

The sisters claim it was their mother who was the boss. She ran the business while maids took care of them.

'FORMIDABLE WOMAN'

They say that Madam Tan was a 'formidable woman', with 'steely character' and determination. She commanded the respect of all the children, till the day she died.

It was she who bought the properties and dealt with the architects and contractors for their construction, they say.

They argue that the money from the lighterage business belonged to their mother alone.

It is not true that she was holding the money in trust for Mr Chang, they say, and the properties were hers to do as she wished.

Meanwhile, Mr Chan Hung Hor has taken his elder brother's side in the case, saying that Mr Chang is the beneficial owner of the three properties.

So the lawsuit has the two brothers pitting themselves against their sisters.

As for Ms Chang, represented by Mr Wong Siew Hong of Infinitus Law Corporation , she is just saying that her grandmother gave her the house.

The case is due to be heard in the High Court on Monday.