S'pore court awards $4.75m compensation for victim of M'sia crash

A Singaporean who lost his mental capacity after a road traffic accident in Malaysia six years ago was awarded $4.75 million by the High Court in June.

This might be the highest sum awarded so far by a court here to a Singaporean victim of an accident in Malaysia, said lawyer Raj Singh Shergill, who represented the victim, Mr Lim Chun Yong.

Mr Lim was 38 years old at the time of the accident. Since then, he has required full-time care.

More importantly, said Mr Shergill, the case affirms that victims can pursue legal action in Singapore, rather than in Malaysia, if the circumstances and conditions warrant it.

“Where the pretrial and future losses are primarily incurred in Singapore, the courts will assess personal injury claims based on the merits of the case, regardless of location,” he added.

In Mr Lim’s case, claims were brought against six defendants.

The accident on Feb 12, 2018, involved three vehicles in a chain collision along a stretch of highway about 270m from the Kempas Toll Plaza in Johor. The foremost vehicle in the chain was a semi-trailer, while the middle vehicle in the chain was a Toyota Innova, in which Mr Lim was the front-seat passenger. The vehicle in the rear of the collision chain was a BMW X3.

None of the vehicles was Singapore-registered.

Knocked unconscious and with serious injuries, Mr Lim had to be extricated from the wrecked car and taken to Hospital Sultanah Aminah in Johor Bahru. The next day, he was taken to the intensive care unit at Singapore General Hospital. 

Now aged 44, he has lost mental capacity owing to severe brain damage.

His wife, Madam Janet Fung, initially cared for him at home with a domestic helper, but as his physical injuries healed and he regained more physical strength, he became harder to manage with behavioural disorders.

Unable to cope and suffering caregiver burnout, Madam Fung admitted her husband to a nursing home after consulting his doctors.

She sued all five defendants for negligence, personal injuries and losses sustained. The insurer for the Toyota vehicle in which Mr Lim was a passenger was later added as the sixth defendant, with the court’s approval.

Following a 12-day High Court trial, Judicial Commissioner Alex Wong found the five defendants jointly and individually liable for Mr Lim’s injuries.

In a reserved judgment delivered on June 10, he placed 50 per cent of the blame on the driver of the semi-trailer, Mohd Jafri Abdul Hamid, and his employer, Syarikat Continent Lorry Transport.

The judge found Toyota driver Jeffrey Yap, together with car owner Liew Loy Sang, to be 30 per cent liable, and placed the remaining 20 per cent of the blame on the BMW driver, Low Woon Hong.

The judge awarded a total of more than $4.7 million in claims, which included $1.87 million for the cost of full-time care at a nursing home for Mr Lim.  

Rejecting the defence’s claim that Madam Fung had a legal obligation to look after Mr Lim in his own home, he cited a precedent case in 2022 which made clear that family members should not be seen as a “free of charge caregiver” whom defendants can take advantage of to reduce the sum that they ought to pay as fair compensation to the plaintiff.

“The risks of Mr Lim doing harm to himself or others outside the controlled confines of permanent nursing home care are too significant to ignore,” noted the judge.

He awarded nearly $1.6 million for loss of future earnings on the basis that Mr Lim could have worked until the retirement age of 70, but was unlikely to ever work again. Mr Lim had an overseas degree in finance and was working in an office job at the time of the accident. 

“This case is one where a loss of future earnings award ought to be given, and not an award for loss of earning capacity,” said the judge.

The award also included compensation for pain and suffering, medical expenses and future occupational therapy.

The defendants are appealing the case.