‘Bullying’ Air Force LTC loses court case against neighbour

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‘Bullying’ Air Force LTC loses court case against neighbour

January 2nd, 2014 | Author: Editorial

Edward Teo Boon Hiang



National Day Award medalist LTC Ng Boo Han, and his wife who ‘bullied’ their neighbour to build their dream home have lost the court case against their neighbour.

The couple saw the house of their neighbour, retiree Edward Teo Boon Hiang, around Christmas 2010. They were so impressed with his property that they also wanted to rebuild their single-storey corner terrace house similar to Mr Teo’s English country-style double-storey house.

They asked Mr Teo about his house-builder but were surprised to hear that Mr Teo had self-renovated his own house.

They then asked if Mr Teo could help re-build their house similar to Mr Teo’s.

The couple said they had a budget of $350,000 from which Mr Teo could draw a wage of $17,500. They also agreed that Mr Teo could use recycled materials where he deemed fit.

The neighbours signed a simple two-page agreement in which the couple gave the 61-year-old a free hand to reconstruct their house.

It was to include:

• master bedroom with a washroom on the ground floor
• two bedrooms with a common toilet on the second floor
• study room
• music room
• kitchen
• attic

But a year later, their relationship turned sour when a dispute arose over renovation works. The couple sued Mr Teo for almost $200,000 for rectification work, accusing him of failing to complete the project, while Mr Teo sued them for $89,000, which he said they owed him for his work and extra tasks they had demanded he carry out.

The Judge, however, said the couple’s evidence against retiree was a ‘shambles’. The Judge had deemed the couple “unsatisfactory witnesses”.

He was not convinced by the couple’s claim that it was Mr Teo who had been the protagonist. The couple said it was Mr Teo who came up with the idea of renovating their home and invited them to look at his, adding that he had seen their house and told them of his desire to rebuild it into “a beautiful home”.

Mr Teo, however, told the court that the couple made his job impossible by demanding he do work not agreed upon, such as repainting part of a wall five times and replacing all three air-conditioning units because one of them had a scratch.

Mr Teo also said he was so stressed by their demands that he broke down in front of his grown-up children.

The Judge noted that Mr Teo’s wife and children had rallied around him when they felt that he had been “bullied” by the couple.

The Judge did allow the couple $25,000 for defects after Mr Teo replaced the non-conforming zinc roof with clay tiles. But he awarded Mr Teo $35,000 and $12,000 for legal costs, plus expenses incurred in the suit on top of this.

The couple have appealed against the decision.

According to the PMO website, LTC Ng Boo Han was awarded the Long Service Medal (Military) during the National Day Award 2013 last year [Link].


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