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MADAM Lee Ah Muey gave up her women's clothing stall in Hougang Avenue 1 in 2003 and the Housing Board gave her $18,000 as compensation.
But this was a mistake on the HDB's part. Madam Lee, 75, was not entitled to the money, and in fact had signed a contract back in 1996 forgoing any compensation if the hawker centre was redeveloped.
Realising its mistake, the HDB now wants its money back. On Wednesday, Madam Lee received the board's notice giving her three weeks to pay back the money that she had long since spent.
'I was in shock. I couldn't sleep for days. I worried about how to pay back the money I didn't even know I owed,' said the widow, whose husband died seven years ago.
The money is long gone - used to pay her medical bills, when her health started deteriorating after she stopped working.
'I became sick because I missed my friends from the hawker centre,' said the mother of five grown-up children. She lives with her second daughter in a house in Lorong Gambir.
After the notice to pay up from the hawker centre's landlord, Madam Lee got another reminder, this time from the National Environment Agency (NEA), which managed the hawker centre.
'It's ridiculous,' said Madam Lee's second daughter, Ms Gina Lau, 46, an insurance agent. 'She was no longer a hawker by then.'
Faxes and phone calls to HDB and NEA did not help clear up matters. To get to the bottom of things, Madam Lee, accompanied by two daughters and a son-in-law, trooped down to the HDB Hub office in Toa Payoh yesterday .
Two officers from the HDB's Properties and Land Department finally explained how the mix-up happened.
It turns out Madam Lee originally operated out of a stall at the Lim Tua Tow market near Serangoon. When it closed, she signed an undertaking to continue operating her stall at Block 105, Hougang Avenue 1.
The document states that in the event that the Hougang stall was also closed or redeveloped, there would be no compensation.
Seven years later, in 2003, the hawker centre was upgraded.
'Due to an oversight, Madam Lee was offered the ex-gratia payment of $18,000. Madam Lee opted for the payment and terminated her tenancy,' said the HDB spokesman.
Madam Lee will have to repay the money, but is now hoping to do so in instalments and has also made a new request - to get another stall to go back into business.
HDB and NEA officials will meet her on Monday and she will be given a list of available stalls to consider.
Madam Lee had mixed feelings after yesterday's meeting, as she would still have to return the money. 'What else can we do? I feel quite bo pian,' she said, using a Hokkien term meaning 'no choice'.
Her daughter said: 'We can return it but we'll be quite tight on cash.'
On a more positive note, Madam Lee added: 'I'm happy to have a chance to go back to work.'
taniat@sph.com.sg
tansle@sph.com.sg
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