Govt regrets error, but says $3m demand not acceptable
Mum says she'll settle for $300,000

By Tay Shi'an
July 02, 2007
The New Paper

FROM $150,000 to $3 million.

That's the big jump in compensation and damages that Madam Ho Gee Lin, 52, is demanding after her son, Dickson Tan Yong Wen, was given three extra strokes of the cane.

The mother and son raised the amount after hiring lawyer Joseph Chen Kok Siang to fight their case.

Tan, 20, was given eight strokes of the cane in prison instead of the five he was sentenced to, after a court clerk wrongly recorded the sentence on a document.

He had been sentenced to nine months' jail and five strokes of the cane for abetting an illegal moneylender to harass a debtor.

In a joint statement yesterday, the Ministry of Law and Ministry of Home Affairs said that the government regrets the error, and is ready and willing to settle the matter.

However, they said the $3m sum could not be accepted.

They also said that Tan had not told prison officers about the mistake, as he had claimed, and had verified the number of strokes on some documents. (See report on facing page).

But, when contacted by The New Paper on Sunday, Madam Ho stood by her version that her son and family had tried to notify the authorities of the error through various channels.

She also said that the family would actually settle for $300,000.

She said in Mandarin: 'If tomorrow, the Government calls me and offers $300,000, I will accept.

The New Paper, yesterday Change of heart: Madam Ho says she will give away the extra money to charity. 'If they offer less, but it's a reasonable amount, we can consider it.'

So why ask for $3m?

That's only if the Government does not offer a settlement that the family is willing to accept and the case goes to court, said Mr Chen.

The $3m demand would then include punitive damages, over and above the compensation.

Madam Ho claimed that if they were to be awarded the $3m, they would donate $2.7m to charity.

'The $300,000 is all I really want to take care of my son,' she said.

Madam Ho, who is also a claimant in the case, added that she suffered fear and could not sleep due to her son's ordeal.

She said her son had found out about the mistake on the day he entered prison, and had told his family about it.

The family claims that despite numerous attempts by both Tan and his family to correct the mistake, Tan still received eight strokes on 29 Mar, two weeks after he entered prison.

His family only found out two weeks after he was caned, during their next visit.

Said Madam Ho: 'When I first found out the mistake, I was so scared, I couldn't sleep.

'For two weeks, we didn't know who to look for, we hoped the caning would be postponed or the mistake corrected, but we weren't told the outcome. By the time we knew, he had already been caned.'

Madam Ho said that before she engaged a lawyer, she had actually written to the Prisons Department and Admiralty West Prison, where her son was caned, to ask for $150,000 compensation.

She met a lawyer from the Attorney-General's Chambers on 4 Jun, but they offered a lower amount, which she did not accept.

It was at this time that she consulted a lawyer.

Then, the family discovered 'aggravating factors' and increased their compensation demand to $300,000.

The case was referred for mediation - but the family did not go forward with it.

Mr Chen said it was because they were told they had to pay $2,000 in mediation fees, which the family could not afford.

Since it looked as though the case was heading to court, the family, on MrChen's advice, increased the sum to $3m.

Mr Chen said: 'My advice to them was based on cases in other countries. If we go to court, we ask for $3m.'

The lawyer added that Tan is willing to undertake a lie-detecter test over his claims that he had told prison officers of the mistake on the first day he entered prison.

Madam Ho claimed her son had put his thumb print on the documents because the same officers he had complained to were there during the caning.

'He was worried if he raised the matter again with them, he'd be punished further. He also thought that if they wanted to check, they would have done so two weeks earlier.'

Tan was released from prison on 17 May and is serving out the rest of his sentence on home detention until August.

Madam Ho said he was treated for trauma and depression by a psychiatrist and was warded at Adam Road Hospital for four days after his release.

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