Court rules low-IQ woman is owner of million-dollar house
AS she sits staring blankly at the TV screen in the comfort of her own home, Ms Chang Lee Siang probably does not fully appreciate what her late grandmother did for her.
She's taken care of: Ms Chang Lee Siang lives with a cousin in her late grandmother's bungalow. Her grandmother had willed a separate piece of property - a million-dollar semi-detached house - to her. The red-and-white chair is her grandmother's favourite chair.
Mentally-handicapped from birth, the 48-year-old woman is in many ways still like a child.
But she will not be left destitute, nor know poverty, because of the house in her name.
Call it a legacy of love: a grandmother's love for her mentally-challenged granddaughter.
Last week, after a long legal battle over her late grandmother's will, the High Court ruled that she can keep the gift of the million-dollar semi-detached house in Paya Lebar.
Madam Tan Soo Keow, who ran a lighterage business after her late husband died, had three houses to bequeath in 2002, when she made her will. She was then about 87 and in good health.
One semi-detached house she gave to her eldest son, Mr Chang Ham Chwee, 69, a businessman.
Generous: Madam Tan Soo Keow is said to be generous and charitable.
She then specified that the bungalow she was living in be split four ways - between her two daughters, her other son and charities of the daughters' choice.
The last house she gave to Ms Chang, Mr Chang's second daughter.
Madam Tan died in July 2006. She was 91.
It was only after her death that her family found out about the contents of her will.
And Mr Chang was unhappy with the way his late mother had divided her estate.
He sued his sisters and his own daughter for their shares of the houses, claiming that the land had been bought, and the houses built, with the money he had earned from their late-father's lighterage business.
Last week, Justice Choo Han Teck threw out his case, and preserved Madam Tan's inheritance for her granddaughter.
MOVED IN WITH 'AH MA'
For more than 16 years, Ms Chang lived with her doting grandmother.
And it was Madam Tan who looked after her, although Mr Chang claimed in court that his daughter had moved in with her grandmother to keep her company in the 'big house'.
Ms Chang, who lives with a cousin in her late grandmother's bungalow in Paya Lebar, passes her day watching TV and VCDs. She is able to fend for herself, cooking simple meals.
She could reply to simple questions that were put to her by The New Paper on Sunday.
'Did you go to school?'
She replied: 'Yes, until Primary 6. To convent school in town.'
She was chauffeured to school by her grandmother's driver.
'Do your parents celebrate your birthday?'
'No.'
'When is your birthday?'
'June 26.'
Asked about what she used to do with her grandmother, she replied: 'We go out, see show.'
'Do you like your father?'
'No.'
The court had heard that Ms Chang was apparently treated like a maid in her own home, and had to work very hard cleaning the house and doing household chores.
But Mr Chang had said in his affidavit that he was suing his daughter only because she was named as a beneficiary in the will and he still intends to take care of her for as long as he can.
Her three brothers testified in court for their father, against their sister.
Mr Chang is the managing partner of Chan Kain Thye Lighterage Company.
When we asked Ms Chang if her father shouted at her or scolded her, her reply was 'No'.
Does he visit you?
She said again: 'No.'
No one knows why Madam Tan gave one of her houses to Ms Chang - the only grandchild to inherit something from her.
But her aunt, Madam Chan Meow Khin, 61, a management consultant, said: 'My mother probably wanted to show her love and concern for her, and ensure that her welfare is taken care of.
'She had a soft spot for her because she's disadvantaged.'
She added: 'My mother was an extraordinary woman - a woman of great character and virtue.'
In court, it was said that Madam Tan had taken over the reins of her husband's lighterage business after he died in a boat explosion in 1950, when she was just 35.
Madam Tan, a devout Buddhist, was as generous and charitable as she was capable.
Madam Chan, her second daughter, said: 'My mother used to donate tens of thousands of dollars to the temples every year because it gave her great joy in doing so.
'She was also very kind to the poor as she believed that you have to give to receive.'
When she was alive, her children all got along. It was only after the matriarch died that trouble started.
All the siblings have their own homes. The two semi-detached Paya Lebar houses are rented out.
Speaking for herself and her elder sister, Madam Chan Siew Khim, 70, a businesswoman, Madam Chan said: 'We were shocked when our brother took action against us.'
She added: 'We just want my mother's last wishes to be respected.'
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Her dad claims properties belong to him
MR Chang Ham Chwee, 69, sued his siblings, Madam Chan Siew Khim, 70; Madam Chan Meow Khin, 61; Mr Chan Hung Hor, 67; and his daughter, Ms Chang Lee Siang, 48, for their share of his late mother's estate.
At the centre of the dispute was a semi-detached house and a bungalow in Paya Lebar.
Mr Chang was given a semi-detached house by his mother, Madam Tan Soo Keow.
Mr Chang claimed that all the properties belonged to him as the money that was used to buy the land and build the houses, between 1951 and 1963, came from the lighterage business he ran.
He claimed he took over his late father's lighterage business when he was about 12 years old after his father was killed in a boat explosion.
He claimed he gave the money he earned to his mother for safekeeping.
In court, he was represented by Senior Counsel Cavinder Bull and Ms Chua Ying Hong.
The sisters were represented by Mr Anthony Lee and Ms Pua Lee Siang, while Ms Chang's lawyer was Mr Wong Siew Hong.
Their case was that it was their mother who took over the reins of the business. It was she who bought the land and oversaw the building of the houses.
They said their mother was a formidable woman of 'steely character'.
Mr Chan Hung Hor switched sides at the last minute during the court hearing and took his elder brother's side.
The hearing lasted close to three weeks between July and August last year.
Last week, Justice Choo Han Teck dismissed Mr Chang Ham Chwee's claim, saying he did not believe his story.
He said: 'Ultimately, the question central to this action, namely, whether the plaintiff took over and owned the lighterage business after his father died in 1950, depended on whether I believe the plaintiff.
'I do not.'
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