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mr funny
28-06-11, 01:28
http://www.straitstimes.com/Singapore/Story/STIStory_684323.html

Jun 27, 2011

Sons, mistress tussle over $7m house

Sons, mistress tussle over $7m house

Siblings suing the companion of once famous psychiatrist

By K. C. Vijayan, Law Correspondent

http://www.straitstimes.com/STI/STIMEDIA/image/20110626/ST_IMAGES_VIWONG-7M3.jpg
Madam Ling Ai Wah, 60, who lived with Dr Wong Yip Cheong, 81, for 36 years, stands to own the Chancery Hill Road house (above) upon his death. Dr Wong is now suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Dr Wong founded and built Adam Road Hospital and testified in famous court cases as an expert witness. -- PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO

A trial - over ownership of a Chancery Hill Road house worth more than $7 million - starts today.

It will pit two sons of once prominent psychiatrist Wong Yip Cheong against his long-time mistress. Dr Wong, 81, now suffers from Alzheimer's disease.

Madam Ling Ai Wah, 60, who lived with Dr Wong for 36 years and bore him a son, stands to own the property upon his death after he signed a document in 2004 making her joint owner.

But his sons Meng Cheong, 54, a neurologist, and Meng Leong, 49, a general practitioner, want the High Court to declare the document void.

In his heyday, Dr Wong testified in several seminal court cases as an expert witness, including in the murder trial of Freddy Tan in 1968 which led to the abolition of the jury system.

He also founded and built Adam Road Hospital and served in several organisations, including the Singapore Chess Federation, Singapore Medical Association and Medico-Legal Society.

The plaintiffs are suing as members of the Committee of Persons of the Person and Estate of Dr Wong. They were appointed by the court in 2005 under the Mental Health Act.

Such a move is made to manage the assets of a person who is mentally incompetent.

A third person in the committee, Mr Wong Meng Weng, 35, who is the plaintiffs' half-brother and Madam Ling's son, refused to accede to the suit and was named as second defendant.

The plaintiffs claim Dr Wong did not know what he was doing when he signed the transfer deed in 2004 and allege he was unduly influenced by Madam Ling, according to court documents filed.

They want the court to declare the transfer document void or, alternatively, convert the ownership into a shared tenancy between Dr Wong and Madam Ling and have the property sold to enable each to get a share. Represented by Senior Counsel Andre Maniam of WongPartnership, they want the sales proceeds to be used to help in the maintenance and upkeep of Dr Wong.

Madam Ling, defended by Senior Counsel Cavinder Bull and lawyers from Drew & Napier, is denying the claims, pointing out that Dr Wong had gifted a Whitley Road bungalow to her in 1976, about a year after their son was born and some three years into their relationship.

The bungalow was sold in 1981 and the proceeds were used to buy the Chancery Hill Road house in 1981. The house was placed in her name initially and it was where they lived with their son.

Dr Wong had, at the time, maintained a home in Goldhill Avenue for his wife, Madam Tan Kim Yam, and their four children.

He started a relationship with Madam Ling some years after she started working for him at his clinic in 1969. They lived in the Chancery house with their son until February last year when Dr Wong was taken away by his son Meng Cheong to live with him.

She claimed that Dr Wong would often visit the Goldhill house during their cohabitation years to ensure his wife, whom he married in 1955, and children were well taken care of.

Madam Ling and her son continue to live in Chancery Hill.

She said any Alzheimer's disease which Dr Wong may have been suffering from 2002 was mild and did not affect his mental capacity to conduct his affairs. He continued to practise actively at Adam Road Hospital the following year and even took part in a TV interview on the Sars outbreak in 2003, among other things.

She is counter-claiming for a declaration that she is the beneficial owner of the Chancery Hill Road property as well as a condo unit at Draycott Towers, which the plaintiffs had wanted to be sold.

Her son, in his defence statement submitted through lawyer Daniel Koh of Eldan Law, said his father was able to manage his daily activities without assistance till late 2008 and had the mental capacity to sign the transfer document in 2004.

The hearing is set for 12 days before Justice Lai Siu Chiu.

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kingkong1984
28-06-11, 02:13
Haven't die already fighting... Die fighting how?

bargain hunter
28-06-11, 09:11
famous doctor naughty lah. maintain 2 homes. :tsk-tsk:



Haven't die already fighting... Die fighting how?

gap969
28-06-11, 11:40
The lawyers will be the ultimate winner:D

proud owner
29-06-11, 08:34
famous doctor naughty lah. maintain 2 homes. :tsk-tsk:

if mistress wins the case ... she would have gotten the chancery hill house, also another landed bought in her name ..

champion ...

another success story ..
to encourage more millionaire wannabe chabo to become mistress ..
also gets the best ..compared to the legitimate wife ..

:banghead:

bargain hunter
29-06-11, 10:07
"She is counter-claiming for a declaration that she is the beneficial owner of the Chancery Hill Road property as well as a condo unit at Draycott Towers, which the plaintiffs had wanted to be sold."


not another landed, its a condo unit at draycott towers.


the basis for her defence of the chancery hill house is that the bunglow given to her in 76 was sold to fund this house.




if mistress wins the case ... she would have gotten the chancery hill house, also another landed bought in her name ..

champion ...

another success story ..
to encourage more millionaire wannabe chabo to become mistress ..
also gets the best ..compared to the legitimate wife ..

:banghead:

devilplate
29-06-11, 10:10
anyway the mistress stay by him for 3xyrs and bore him a son.....

so not so bad la....3xyrs being a mistress jus to get 2 houses aso not easy money.....must have true love rite?

proud owner
29-06-11, 10:19
anyway the mistress stay by him for 3xyrs and bore him a son.....

so not so bad la....3xyrs being a mistress jus to get 2 houses aso not easy money.....must have true love rite?

why didnt he divorce the first wife ?

knn lah this man ..

bargain hunter
29-06-11, 10:41
becoz he is a famous psychiatrist. if he din get this illness and no tussle, few pple will know this dirty linen.

maybe he also giam siap becoz divorce first wife gotta pay maintenence and split asset? :doh:



why didnt he divorce the first wife ?

knn lah this man ..

devilplate
29-06-11, 10:54
ya....cannot blame the mistress....its tat KNN man fault!

mistress's son aso stressful....must hf very terrible childhood days

proud owner
29-06-11, 10:57
ya....cannot blame the mistress....its tat KNN man fault!

mistress's son aso stressful....must hf very terrible childhood days


yes i can imagine ...

the correct term is indeed ... Bastaxd ....

sad ...

probably whole life , dont even dare to tell people ..his dad is MR XXX ..

one man's mistake .. the next generation suffers ..

then again ..the mistress also wrong ..

she knew from the start ..he is married ..
probably at that time ..shes materialistic .. or SPG also lah

bargain hunter
29-06-11, 11:07
1969 edition of SPG.


yes i can imagine ...

the correct term is indeed ... Bastaxd ....

sad ...

probably whole life , dont even dare to tell people ..his dad is MR XXX ..

one man's mistake .. the next generation suffers ..

then again ..the mistress also wrong ..

she knew from the start ..he is married ..
probably at that time ..shes materialistic .. or SPG also lah

land118
29-06-11, 11:37
1969 edition of SPG.Mistress blinded by love/$....; Man want everything and eat it too!

36 years.... mean He was 45 yrs old then and she was sweet young thing @24years old

mr funny
30-06-11, 01:51
http://www.straitstimes.com/Singapore/Story/STIStory_684704.html

Jun 28, 2011

Son in $7m house tussle 'not frank' in court actions

No full disclosure in past three court applications: Lawyer for dad's mistress

By Selina Lum


THE hearing into a tussle between once-prominent psychiatrist Wong Yip Chong's two sons and his longtime mistress over a $7 million house began yesterday - with the younger son accused of not being completely frank in three previous court actions.

Dr Wong, now 82 and suffering from Alzheimer's disease, had lived in the Chancery Hill Road house with Madam Patricia Ling Ai Wah, 60, for the past 30 years.

His sons - neurologist Meng Cheong, 54, and general practitioner Meng Leong, 49 - are suing Madam Ling and their half-brother Meng Weng, the 35-year-old son of the senior Wong and Madam Ling.

The two brothers want a document signed by their father in 2004, making her the joint owner of the property, to be declared null and void, a move also opposed by their half-brother.

The house was bought in 1981 in the name of Madam Ling - once the senior Wong's clinic assistant - then transferred to his company, and later to himself, before being put in their joint names.

The suit over the house, currently valued at about $7 million, is the latest in a string of court actions taken by the brothers in recent years.

In 2005, before their falling out, Meng Cheong, Meng Leong and Meng Weng applied to be appointed as members of a committee to manage their father's financial affairs, on the basis he was mentally incompetent.

In 2006, the committee got a court order to withdraw $1.06 million from their father's estate as a loan repayment to Meng Cheong in connection with a family company. But Meng Weng now says he did not know the actual situation as he was in America and relied on what Meng Cheong told him.

Last year, the committee obtained powers to sell their father's assets on the grounds that he was running low on cash.

Yesterday, Meng Leong, who does not have an active medical practice and described himself as a project director for the family investment company, was the first witness to take the stand.

Madam Ling's lawyer Cavinder Bull took him through the past three court actions and pointed out that he had failed to notify her of the series of applications.

The lawyer also asserted that Meng Leong had failed to give full and frank disclosure to the court while making these applications.

For instance, the reason given for seeking a court order to allow the sale of their father's assets was that funds were needed for his daily upkeep, with the senior Wong incurring $17,000 a month in expenses.

But Mr Bull put it to Meng Leong that this figure was inflated. He also noted that Madam Ling offered to pay the property tax on the house but the brothers rejected this, which went against their committee duty. Meng Leong replied that they were afraid that if she paid, it would undermine their father's claim to the property.

Mr Bull contended that Meng Leong kept Madam Ling out of the loop in the 2005 application. He replied that he did not mean to exclude her but felt it unnecessary to tell her as it was an 'unconventional family'.

He did not elaborate but, when asked about it again, said 'she was not technically a family member'.

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mr funny
30-06-11, 02:02
http://www.straitstimes.com/Singapore/Story/STIStory_685095.html

Jun 29, 2011

Debate over dad's mental state in $7m house tussle

Doctor accused of lying to deny father's mistress a stake in shared home

By Selina Lum


IN SWORN court statements, the second son of once-prominent psychiatrist Wong Yip Chong has described how his father's mental health showed signs of deterioration back in 1998.

Among other things, locum doctor Wong Meng Leong, 49, said his father showed 'marked memory and cognitive impairment', was 'strikingly forgetful' and that 'his driving was very erratic'.

Yet, the senior Wong practised medicine until 2005, and in 2001, Meng Leong was the one who certified his father fit to drive, the High Court heard yesterday.

During the second day of a hearing into a tussle over a $7 million house, Senior Counsel Cavinder Bull said this did not square with the picture Meng Leong had painted of his father's poor mental state.

Mr Bull is acting for Madam Patricia Ling Ai Wah, 60, the senior Wong's long-time mistress, who lived with him in the Chancery Hill Road house for 30 years.

Meng Leong and his older brother, neurologist Meng Cheong, 54, are suing Madam Ling and her son with the senior Wong, entrepreneur Wong Meng Weng, 35. The brothers are contesting the validity of a transfer document their father signed in 2004 making Madam Ling joint owner of the house.

They contend that their father was mentally incapable of understanding what he was signing, or that he acted under Madam Ling's 'undue influence'.

Dr Wong, 82, who founded the Adam Road Hospital, has Alzheimer's disease.

Yesterday, Mr Bull sought to show that Meng Leong was exaggerating or lying about his father's mental health as he wanted to challenge the transfer.

Meng Leong disagreed.

In an affidavit in July last year, Meng Leong said that as early as 1998, his father's driving was 'very erratic'.

But it was later discovered that he had certified his father fit to drive in 2001.

'If someone was driving erratically, you would still certify them fit to drive?' asked Mr Bull. Meng Leong said erratic to him meant 'not as patterned and calm and composed as before'.

The lawyer pointed out that Meng Leong's subsequent affidavits no longer mentioned 'erratic driving', and suggested that this was because his lie had been found out. Meng Leong disagreed.

Mr Bull also noted that the senior Wong was signing corporate documents relating to his company, Wong Yip Chong Private Limited, around the time he signed the house transfer document.

But Meng Leong said corporate documents required a lower level comprehension and that his father was signing them 'almost in a ceremonial mode'.

Mr Bull noted that in the same month he signed the transfer document, the senior Wong signed a resolution diluting his shareholding in the company from 90 per cent to 15 per cent.

As a result, his sons could buy into the company for the first time, at a 50 per cent discount to the shares' face value.

When questioned, Meng Leong said his father was perfectly capable of understanding this document, to which Mr Bull countered: 'Even though you stood to gain from the resolution, you were in a position to protect your father?'

Meng Leong said that with his father ill, no one but the family could run the business.

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hyenergix
30-06-11, 07:12
The documents were already signed well before the sickness strike. Very little chance for the first wife's sons. The mistress' son is well compensated for his childhood misery.

mr funny
02-07-11, 00:44
http://www.straitstimes.com/Singapore/Story/STIStory_685439.html

Jun 30, 2011

$7M house tussle

Dad 'not pressured into giving up house'

Defence cites note in which he wrote that mistress 'deserved' property that sons are claiming

By Selina Lum


HEARING his long-time mistress reading to his grandchildren, once-prominent psychiatrist Wong Yip Chong wrote her a note saying she 'deserved No. 5', the Chancery Hill Road house at the centre of a High Court lawsuit.

Madam Patricia Ling Ai Wah's lawyer read from the note yesterday to counter allegations by Dr Wong's second son that she had pressured Dr Wong to give her the house by threatening to leave him.

Yesterday was the third day of the hearing into the suit brought by Dr Wong's sons - neurologist Meng Cheong, 54, and locum general practitioner Meng Leong, 49 - against Madam Ling, 60. Her son with Dr Wong, entrepreneur Meng Weng, 35, is named as the second defendant.

Meng Cheong and Meng Leong are challenging the validity of a transfer paper Dr Wong signed in 2004, making Madam Ling joint owner of the house now valued at $7 million.

Dr Wong is now 82 and suffers from Alzheimer's disease.

The plaintiffs said their father was mentally incapable of understanding what he was signing and Madam Ling had 'unduly influenced' him.

Continuing his cross-examination of Meng Leong, Madam Ling's lawyer Cavinder Bull sought to show that Dr Wong had always intended for the house to go to her and Meng Weng.

The court heard that Dr Wong had sought legal advice in 2002 about transferring it, but did not do so after his sons objected.

The lawyer read a note that Dr Wong penned in January 2003, in which he wrote that he heard Madam Ling reading to the grandchildren in the house.

'In what would be a dark moment in your life that you still cared for them signifies a sincerity in your attachment to the Wong's family. For this reason, apart from others, you deserve No. 5.'

Dr Wong wrote that once he was satisfied he would not be left bankrupt from the financial crisis then, he would get his lawyers to work on the transfer. The note ended with: 'Let me reiterate - Rong (referring to Meng Weng) our son is a Wong and you as his mother holds an exalted position in my family. In this your dark moment therefore don't think too badly of me.'

Mr Bull put it to Meng Leong that this note did not show Madam Ling was pressuring Dr Wong.

Meng Leong disagreed. When asked, he said the 'grandchildren' referred to the children of his Australia-based sister who stayed with their grandfather during the school holidays.

Mr Bull also read a note written in September 2003, in which Dr Wong wrote: 'I should not transfer to her now.' He said the notes showed Dr Wong was able to consider the transfer very rationally.

Meng Leong replied that his father was someone who thought through things a lot, was hesitant to do things and would consult others a lot.

The trial continues today.

[email protected]

mr funny
02-07-11, 00:47
http://www.straitstimes.com/Singapore/Story/STIStory_685895.html

Jul 1, 2011

Dad strayed 'due to wife's mental illness'

Court hears reason for long-term affair in $7m house tussle

By Selina Lum


HIS wife's schizophrenia was a factor that led once-prominent psychiatrist Wong Yip Chong to start a relationship with his then clinic assistant, who went on to become his long-time mistress, the High Court heard yesterday.

Despite his relationship with Madam Patricia Ling Ai Wah, Dr Wong promised his wife that he would not divorce her and that he would take care of her.

This emerged when the lawyer for Madam Ling's son with Dr Wong sought to show that because she had no legal rights, being 'the other woman', the psychiatrist had reassured her that he would give her the house that is now at the centre of the suit.

Dr Wong's sons from his wife - neurologist Meng Cheong, 54, and locum general practitioner Meng Leong, 49 - have sued Madam Ling.

They contend that Dr Wong, now 82 and suffering from Alzheimer's disease, was mentally incapable of understanding a transfer document he signed in 2004 making her joint owner of the Chancery Hill Road house now valued at $7 million.

They want the document declared null and void. Alternatively, if the transfer was held to be valid, they want the ownership of the house to be converted from a joint tenancy to a tenancy-in-common.

A property under joint tenancy can be sold only if both owners agree; when one owner dies, the other inherits his share.

Under tenancy-in-common, each owner can sell his share of the property.

Madam Ling's son with Dr Wong, Mr Meng Weng, 35, is also named as a defendant in the suit.

Dr Meng Leong, cross-examined by Mr Meng Weng's lawyer, Mr Daniel Koh, admitted that his mother was on medication for schizophrenia and 'had an episode when she was younger'.

Mr Koh referred Dr Meng Leong to a letter which Dr Wong wrote to the Singapore Children's Society in 1976, opposing a move by the Registrar of Births to make it compulsory for illegitimate children to have double surnames.

In the letter, Dr Wong said that while illegitimacy was not to be encouraged, some marriages fail, citing reasons including 'incurable illness, especially mental'.

Questioned by Mr Koh, Dr Meng Leong agreed that the 'incurable illness' had contributed to his father finding companionship with Madam Ling.

Mr Koh suggested that, having spent decades with Dr Wong, it was only natural for her to plan financially for herself and her son.

Dr Meng Leong replied: 'Yes, it's natural for anyone. We are worried she plans too much.'

Mr Koh referred to a note Dr Wong had written in September 2003, in which he wrote about giving the house to Madam Ling. The court heard that the note had phrases like 'give her an undertaking', 'giving house to her is straightforward during my lifetime. MC can persuade me to mortgage to bank', and 'one way to reassure her...'

Mr Koh asserted that Dr Wong used the word 'reassure' as opposed to 'placate' or 'pacify', which showed that he would give the house to her out of love.

Also taking the stand yesterday was Dr Wong's third son, Hong Kong-based psychiatrist Meng Kong, 47.

Dr Meng Kong said in his affidavit that since 1998, his father had had 'bouts of hesitation and confusion'.

When questioning Dr Meng Kong, Madam Ling's lawyer, Senior Counsel Cavinder Bull, pointed out that Dr Wong was carrying out electroconvulsive therapy - applying an electric current to a patient's head - up to 2003.

Mr Bull put it to Dr Meng Kong that if his father was confused, he would, as a doctor and as his son, have stopped him.

To this, Dr Meng Kong replied: 'I believed I contributed to a process where certain measures were done to evaluate risk.'

Mr Bull put it to him that he was grossly exaggerating his father's mental state. Dr Meng Kong disagreed, saying it was a gradual decline.

The case, which was in its fourth day, is scheduled for 12 days. Dr Meng Kong continues on the stand today.

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mr funny
10-07-11, 06:08
http://www.straitstimes.com/Singapore/Story/STIStory_687610.html

Jul 6, 2011

$7M HOUSE TUSSLE

Mistress 'deliberately left out' of estate panel

By Kimberly Spykerman


SHE lived with him for more than two decades, and was his main caregiver.

Yet the long-time mistress of once prominent psychiatrist Wong Yip Chong was deliberately left out of a Committee of Persons set up in 2005 to manage his estate and affairs after he developed Alzheimer's disease.

The court heard yesterday that Madam Patricia Ling, 60, was not informed by Dr Wong's sons when the application was made to the court in 2005 to set up the committee.

Senior Counsel Cavinder Bull accused the eldest of Dr Wong's three sons, neurologist Meng Cheong, 54, of giving the court the false impression that, aside from the immediate family members, no one else was required to give consent for the committee to be formed then. 'You knew she lived with him and would have a good perspective on whether he could conduct his affairs. Yet you chose not to serve her the papers,' said Mr Bull, adding that this was done because Meng Cheong and his brother Meng Leong, 49, wanted control over the committee.

The lawyer highlighted that the committee had even asked for the powers to sell Dr Wong's property, including a house in Chancery Hill Road, where Dr Wong, 82, lived with Madam Ling.

Meng Cheong and Meng Leong are now suing their father's mistress over the $7 million house. Unhappy that he had made her joint owner in 2004, they are seeking to have the document declared invalid, or to convert it into a tenancy-in-common, so that they can sell their share to pay for his medical bills.

In his defence, Meng Cheong said that he saw no need to inform Madam Ling of the family's application to form the committee as she was not related to his father by blood or marriage.

Mr Bull told the court that the 2005 incident was one of a few incidents which indicated that the son had not been frank with the court, and had not disclosed all relevant material in the proceedings.

At one point, the lawyer even accused Meng Cheong of making up his evidence on the stand. A visibly irked Justice Lai Siu Chiu also told the witness to 'stop prevaricating'.

In the most recent example, Mr Bull said that the court had not been told that there was a $3.7 million debt owed to Dr Wong before the proceedings against Madam Ling started. The money had been loaned from Dr Wong's personal account to Wong Yip Chong Private Limited. It owns Adam Road Hospital, which Dr Wong founded, and other properties.

The money would have been more than enough to meet his maintenance needs, said Mr Bull.

Meng Cheong claimed on Monday to have forgotten about it when proceedings began, but the court heard that the company accountant had asked about the loan shortly after proceedings into the latest suit began. The brothers, who are on the company's board of directors, later agreed to reclassify the loan so that it was no longer in their father's sole name.

'The reason you did not take steps after that to inform the court of the $3.7 million was because you wanted an excuse to target No. 5, Chancery Hill Road,' said Mr Bull.

The hearing continues today.