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SINGAPORE – A woman who sued the national water agency PUB after falling into a 6-foot-deep sewer five years ago added her diagnosis of schizophrenia in February this year to the list of injuries she allegedly suffered as a result of the accident.
Ms. Chan Hui Peng, 47, believes her husband was an evil spirit and laser beams were shining on their condo unit, her lawyer told the High Court on Monday (November 23).
Mr. L. Devadason also told the court that his client, a certified public accountant, is no longer pursuing his initial $ 20 million claim, which was based on a report from an accounting firm.
Madam Chan is now seeking around $ 5 million in damages.
He has submitted thousands of pages of medical reports and clinical notes in an attempt to show that, in addition to a broken ankle and scrapes, the accident also led to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and schizophrenia.
PUB accepted 70 percent of responsibility for the accident, but disputes its claims for items that include loss of future income and future medical expenses.
Attorney K. Anparasan, representing PUB’s insurers, argued that Madam Chan “has a tendency to obtain and modify medical evidence to her satisfaction.”
He said the defendant’s psychiatry and psychology experts will testify that Madam Chan did not suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and that “there could have been some beautification.”
“(Madam Chan) has made a mountain out of a molehill and has taken the opportunity to capitalize on the injuries she allegedly suffered from the accident,” he said.
Among other things, she claimed the loss of the opportunity to have a child.
She also claimed the costs of a future maid, even though surveillance by private investigators showed she was able to perform daily activities, including walking up to 3.5 km per day.
Mr. Anparasan also argued that Madam Chan was “dishonest” in making her claim and that she had “fabricated evidence in the hope of making a windfall”.
But Devadason said Madam Chan was simply seeking “fair compensation” for her physical and psychological injuries so that “she can continue her diminished existence with at least some measure of dignity.”
The court heard that on the morning of December 1, 2015, Madam Chan left the Kovan MRT station and was walking towards a row of tents to collect some bird nests that she had ordered in advance.
He did not see an open sewer near Kovan Residences and landed on his feet first, landing on his buttocks. Devadason said a tree had cast a shadow over the culvert and there were no curbs or signs around it.
Three PUB officers who were standing near the sewer helped her out and took her to seek medical help.
Madam Chan spent five days at Tan Tock Seng Hospital and was diagnosed with trauma, contusions to her hip and a fractured ankle.
He then spent four months rehabilitating at Ang Mo Kio Hospital.
On Monday, Devadason showed slides of his multiple hospital admissions and complaints.
His first complaint of a mental condition was recorded on March 17, 2016, when he told a doctor that he was afraid of holes.
That year, he visited the National Institute of Neurosciences repeatedly for headaches, but MRIs of the brain were normal.
She was diagnosed with PTSD after starting sessions at the Better Life Psychological Medicine Clinic on March 14, 2017.
In October 2018, she began filing police reports, complaining that people were talking about her or spying on her.
In a report released this year, he said he felt the heat from the laser beams while in his bed.
She was guarded at the Mental Health Institute twice: once in February after drinking hand sanitizer and again in June after throwing a bamboo pole out the window.
On Monday, Madam Chan spoke in a low voice, but was composed when she took the stand to be questioned.
Mr. Anparasan claimed that she was not working at the time of the accident and had fabricated evidence to substantiate her loss of earnings claim.
In her lawsuit, Madam Chan said she earned $ 11,500 a month as a senior consultant at a company called HP&S International, which turned out to be a dormant family business.
The attorney presented her paycheck that she had signed herself.
She also submitted a letter from the company, which was signed by her 79-year-old mother-in-law and typed by her husband Sim Kuang Jui on the day of the accident, putting her on unpaid leave.
That same day, the company’s registered address was changed from Madam Chan’s marital home in St Nicholas View to her mother-in-law’s Bishan home.
Madame Chan did not agree that the address was changed so that it could not be linked to HP&S. He said the change was to make sure “the right person gets the government documents.”
The trial continues.
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