Hi all,
Does anybody have experience with the Sub Ordinate Courts of Singapore?
My ex-neighbour has sued me for "Publication of defamatory material" and will enter interlocutory judgement with damages to be assesed.
The following has happened many months ago:
There is one of these anti-social neighbour's, living at the second floor - we wereliving at the 5th - who is making a lot of noise and when people confront him and/or request to tune down the volume, he starts acting very aggressively and using abuse, vulgar, racial-discriminating language. This was going on for many months.
In the night of 12 to 13 July the noise (music) was so much that again we could not sleep. Already we (many neighbors) had requested the guards and the condominium management to take some action, but nothing happened sofar. That night I went to the guard house and asked two guards to come with me and to knock on the neighbour's door. Very loud music was coming from his unit and his daughter's unit. The level of music was like one was standing in front of a discotheque. While from both units came loud music, in the daugther's unit nobody was home, as she was visiting her parents.
When the guards knocked on the door, there was a very loud discussion. It was after midnight and neighbour and daughter did not want to tune down the music. He was acting aggressively and dangerous.
After this night the condominium management finally went to the police because they finally realized that this problem might end with serious results.
This wa ofcourse not the only issue. Many neighbors have been in fights the neighbour before. The police also have visited our condominium several times as well.
Many times the bass vibration was so bad that the windows were vibrating and that the remote controls at our table were moving. Even people on the 10th floor have complained about the noise.
MY LETTER TO THE NEIGHBORS
After when the condominium management had a meeting with the Queenstown NPC (= police) they informed me. I wrote a letter to the neighbours to advise them to call the Queenstown NPC in case they were being disturbed by the neighbour. Everything I wrote in this letter was really true. It was just a matter of facts and I had many witnesses.
CLAIM OF NEIGHBOUR
Neighbour's daughter is lawyer. So, it is not surprising that they would do whatever they can within the law.
Now he is suing me for injurying his "good name and reputation in the neighboorhoud". He claims $S 15,000 + lawyer costs.
END OF ASSIGNMENT
Mid-September 2004 my assignment was going to be ended. I did not want to spend any money on the claim of my neighbour and therefore just hired a lawyer to file a Letter of Defence. The strategy was to file a defence only and after that to return to my home country and not to reply on neighbour's claim anymore. So I told my lawyer to stop working on the case.
LETTER OF DEFENCE
A letter of Defence was filed in which my lawyer explained the reasons why I wrote the letter to my neigbours. Furthermore, a counterclaim was added.
INTERLOCUTORY JUDGEMENT
In order to make me spend more and more money (lawyer costs), the lawyer of the neighbour asked many particulars and proof about things mentioned in my letter of Defence. Ofcourse, I did not reply on those questions.
Currently, the counterclaim has struck out and my ex-neighbour has the liberty to enter interlocutory judgement with damages to be assesed.
COURT ORDER
Does anybody know how "fair" the Court is in Singapore and can anybody predict the outcome of such a neighbour-fight?
During interlocutory judgement sessions; does the plaintiff always get what he wants?
I don't have any representative during the case. The only thing I have now is one Letter of Defence.
In fact this is really a "bull-shit case", however, as the neighbour can do this for free, he will fight till the end.
