Singapore Democrats
Dr Chee Soon Juan had written to theOfficial Assignee (OA) on 26 July 2012 to offer $30,000 to Mr LeeKuan Yew and Mr Goh Chok Tong in settlement of the amount owed tothem in damages awarded by the court.$CUT$
The OA replied on 6 August saying thathe “will write to the creditors to convey a debt settlementproposal only after the monies (of $30,000) are paid in.”
Dr Chee wrote again to the OfficialAssignee as asked him to convey the offer to Mr Lee and Mr Goh toseek their responses to the offer (see letter below). This is because one of the roles of the OA is to “act as mediator to assist in reaching amutually acceptable proposal.”
8 August 2012
Ms Lydia Loh
Senior IndividualInsolvency Executive
IndividualInsolvency Division
Insolvency & Public Trustee’sOfficeDear Ms Loh,
Thank youfor your email of 6 August 2012.
As the bankrupt in thismatter, I would very much like to place before my creditors myproposal for settlement. I understand that one of the roles of theOfficial Assignee is to “act as mediator to assist in reaching amutually acceptable proposal.” I would be grateful if you wouldconvey my offer of composition of $30,000 to my creditors, Mr LeeKuan Yew and Mr Goh Chok Tong.
I hope that they can acceptthis proposal and be able to move this matter forward. Otherwise, could you please let me knowwhat their counter-offer is?
I recall at the briefing forbankrupts I attended in 2006 one of your colleagues saying that amounts owed that are $500,000 or less wouldreceive a discharge from bankruptcy after three years if the debtormakes monthly payments towards the amount owed.
I owe Mr Lee $200,000 and Mr Goh$300,000. If I had made monthly payments of a couple of hundreddollars to each of them, I would have in all likelihood beendischarged by now. To make up for the years that I have not been ableto pay them, I am offering to pay the arrears in one lump sum whichwould work out to less than $20,000 over the six years I have beenmade bankrupt. On top of this amount, I am offering another $10,000.
As I indicated in my previous email, $30,000 is a large sumof money for me and I would have to raise it through the sales of mybook. After paying the printing and distributing costs of the book, Iam left with a fraction of the proceeds part of which I will alsohave to use as income for my family.
Given the circumstance, please conveyto my creditors that the sum of $30,000 can be viewed as areasonable offer.
I look forward to receiving afavourable response from Mr Lee and Mr Goh. Please feel free to contact me so that we can discusshow we can move this matter forward.
Thank you.
Chee Soon Juan
The OA has also informed Dr Chee thatthe Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) and DBS Bank have also filedproofs of debt against Dr Chee’s bankruptcy estate.
The AGC’s claims arise from the court feesthat was levied on Dr Chee when he made the application for QCs torepresent him for the case. The court rejected the applications,leaving him without counsel.
DBS’ claims are for outstanding creditcard amounts which Dr Chee was not allowed to pay the moment he wasdeclared bankrupt.
Both claims amount to a few thousanddollars. As this amount is small compared to that owed to Mr Lee andMr Goh, the offer will have to be accepted by Mr Lee and Mr Goh, andnot the AGC and DBS.