SICC Member loses suit over suspension

SICC member loses suit over suspension

Fri, 21 Feb 2014 18:17:56 GMT
February 22, 2014 2:17 AM

A GOLFER who was suspended for a month by Singapore Island Country Club (SICC) after she had a loud argument with another player has failed in her bid to have the decision quashed in court.(image) 


Full story on ST

Court rules against golfer who sued club over suspension
Judge: No bias by Jurong club in suspension over driving range fracas. -ST 
K. C. Vijayan, Senior Law Correspondent

Mon, Apr 22, 2013
The Straits Times
SINGAPORE - It all began with a scuffle at a driving range.
On Friday, Mr Ho Hoe Theng's lawsuit against his golf club landed well and truly in the rough, after a court ruled against him.
The 64-year-old (above) had his membership suspended in 2008 over a bust-up with another member, which led to both men accusing each other of assault.
He then sued Jurong Country Club, accusing it of breach of contract and claiming that its disciplinary committee was biased against him.
But on Friday, District Judge Loo Ngan Chor ruled that the club was not at fault, and ordered him to pay its legal costs.
Mr Ho's scuffle with fellow member Stanley Ang broke out on the driving range in December 2007.
A three-man disciplinary committee - which held four hearings and called several witnesses - found neither man had been sufficiently courteous.
It added that they had failed to refer their differences to the range operator, and acted in a way that could have alarmed others and potentially put people in danger.
The following February, the club suspended both of them for three months.
But Mr Ho went to court to try to have the move declared invalid, saying it went against the rules of natural justice.
He also wanted damages for the alleged wrongs.
The court hearings were spread out over seven days last year. Mr Ho testified with two other witnesses, while five people gave evidence for the club - including its then president, former Singapore presidential candidate Tan Cheng Bock.
Mr Ho, who was represented by lawyer Adrian Wong, argued that the committee's verdict was inadequately reasoned and erroneous. One reason for this was that it allegedly showed bias.
The judge was not convinced, making clear that the court's job is not to rehear a case conducted by an internal tribunal or to provide the forum for an appeal against its decision.
"The court's role is simply to check that the process of the tribunal hearing... has been conducted fairly."
He added this was not a public law case, in which the court was being asked to review and set aside a decision by the committee because it had failed to observe the rules of natural justice.
Instead, his suit was about a breach of contract.
The judge found there was no basis for thinking that the committee's reasoning was inadequate or it had a "closed mind and had the appearance of bias".
He agreed with the club's lawyer Ramesh Selvaraj that "domestic tribunals are not bound by any established, standard or rigid procedures when they set about trying to ascertain the facts and to arrive at a proper outcome in their inquiries".
vijayan@sph.com.sg


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SINGAPORE Island Country Club's (SICC) legal woes look set to drag on into the New Year with a wrongly suspended member now suing the club for defamation. 

Madam Kay Swee Pin, 54, has been in a two-year legal wrangle with the swank club in Upper Thomson where she has been a member since 1992. 
In May 2006, she was suspended from the club after its governing body, a 12-member general committee, ruled that she had lied about her marriage in order to get her husband Ng Kong Yeam spousal benefits and free use of the club facilities. 
But Madam Kay contested the dismissal and eventually won in the Court of Appeal which ruled that her suspension was wrong and ordered costs and damages against the club. 
She was awarded $72,000 in damages by a High Court assistant registrar last September. The club's legal fees are also said to be over $200,000. 
Madam Kay's defamation suit, which was filed in the High Court - which handles claims of over $250,000 - last week, lists the club and the 12 members of the general committee who suspended her as defendants. 
She is taking issue with the notices posted on clubhouse notice boards announcing her one-year suspension. 
Among other things, the notices had said she made a false declaration about her spouse in 1992 and acted in a manner prejudicial to the interests of the club. 
In court papers filed by her lawyer S.H. Almenoar, Madam Kay alleges that the words 'seriously injured her reputation, character and credit' in the eyes of club members and others who would have read the notices. 
She claims the injury was made all the more serious because the notices were kept up on the boards for a year and were not removed by the committee despite being urged to do so by her.

Wow... 
Drama inside man! 
Interestg. Tx Dazt mate fr sharg.