Lim Chun Yong was a passenger in a car in the middle of a collision with a semi-trailer and another vehicle. - Photo courtesy of Janet Fung
SINGAPORE: A Singaporean man who suffered traumatic brain injuries in 2018 after he was caught in a chain collision in Malaysia has had his original award of S$4.7 million in damages cut to about S$3.5 million, following appeals by the defendants.
The Appellate Division of Singapore’s High Court reduced the damages partly because of the uncertainties associated with the future employment of the man, Lim Chun Yong.
At the time of the accident, he had just started a new job and was on probation. He also had gaps in his employment history.
Lim’s wife, Janet Fung, had sued the drivers and owners of the three vehicles involved in the road traffic accident on the North-South Expressway in February 2018.
He was the front-seat passenger in a Toyota Innova that was in the middle of the chain, between a semi-trailer truck in front and a BMW X3 behind. She was in the back seat with their two young children.
None of the vehicles was Singapore-registered. The Toyota driver was hired to drive the family to Senai Airport.
Lim, who was 38 years old at the time of the accident, suffered permanent cognitive impairment and was found mentally incapable of handling his financial affairs. He requires nursing care for the rest of his life.
In 2024, the High Court found the five defendants jointly and individually liable for Lim’s injuries.
The judge placed 50 per cent of the blame on the driver of the semi-trailer truck, Mohd Jafri Abdul Hamid, and his employer, Syarikat Continent Lorry Transport.
The Toyota driver Jeffrey Yap and car owner Liew Loy Sang were found to be 30 per cent liable, while 20 per cent of the responsibility was placed on BMW driver Low Woon Hong.
The High Court awarded Lim more than $4.7 million in damages.
The sum included nearly $1.6 million in loss of future earnings and nearly $1.9 million for the costs of future nursing care.
Lim has a distance-learning degree in finance from an overseas university.
The defendants appealed against the awards for various categories of damages. The Appellate Division partly allowed the appeals in November 2025.
On Feb 3, the three-judge court issued written grounds to explain its decision.
The court had reduced the award for loss of future earnings to $1.1 million by applying a 30 per cent discount.
The judges said the discount was warranted, given Mr Lim’s chequered employment history.
Lim began work as a finance executive at the Society for the Aged Sick (SAS) on Feb 7, 2018, a Wednesday, drawing a monthly salary of $3,500.
The accident took place the following Monday, which meant he had worked for only three days in the new job and was still on probation. Because of this, the court considered Lim’s employment track record to determine if he could have remained employed by the society in the long term.
Fung provided Lim’s 2017 and 2018 Central Provident Fund statements.
She also provided references from his previous employers – CBS Ventures, where he worked from July 2009 to August 2013, and GS Engineering & Construction Corp, where he worked from May 2016 to November 2016.
The court ruled that references were inadmissible hearsay evidence as they had been provided by former employers to assist in job applications.
Even if the references were taken into account, there remained significant gaps in Lim’s employment history, the court said.
The court noted that he worked at GS Engineering for only six months.
His CPF statements showed that he did ad-hoc project work for five months in 2017, which earned him a total of $10,918 that year.
The court added that the reference from CBS did not indicate the quantum of his last-drawn basic salary or why he left the company.
“Due to these circumstances, the reference provided by CBS was of limited assistance in assessing if Lim would continue employment with the SAS (or with any other employer) on a long-term basis had the accident not occurred,” said the court.
The court also cut the award for costs for future nursing care to $1.2 million by using the rates in a four-bed ward at Orange Valley Nursing Home, instead of a two-bed ward.
The court said it was reasonable to place Lim in long-term nursing care, but that a four-bed ward could achieve the same level of effective care for him as a two-bed ward.
Fung testified that from end-2021, Lim started becoming violent and angry and would use vulgarities. He could not be controlled by Fung and her domestic helper, and would get agitated and violent when she reminded him to mind his behaviour.
Lim also exhibited behaviour such as switching on appliances at night, rummaging for food at night, burning food, running out of the house, and snatching food from the children.
Staff at Orange Valley testified that Lim would sometimes throw tantrums and throw items such as the tissue box and television remote control.
The court also reduced an award for costs of future occupational therapy from $111,240 to $77,868, as it was uncertain whether he would require these sessions.
An award of $11,124 for future caregiver services when Lim is on home leave was also set aside because this had been accounted for in the costs of future nursing care. - The Straits Times/ANN
