Pines club members appeal against S$1,500 award in class action on Peter Kwee and Co

THE Pines members have appealed against the High Court judgement that awarded 170 of them a nominal sum of S$1,500 each in their class action on motoring tycoon Peter Kwee's company over the relocation of the clubhouse at Stevens Road.

The counsel for the members filed the notice of appeal on Aug 8 in a bid to overturn Justice Chua Lee Ming's decisions dismissing three of their claims against both Mr Kwee and Exklusiv Resorts for alleged deceit, negligence, and negligent misrepresentation.

The appellants are also appealing against the finding that they failed to prove they have suffered loss arising from Exklusiv Resorts' breach of contract, as well as the award of only nominal damages of S$1,500 to each of the 170 members participating in the lawsuit.

They had sought damages of more than S$110,000 per person and other reliefs against Exklusiv Resorts as the owner of the club and the 74-year-old Mr Kwee as Exklusiv Resorts' director and indirect owner. The claims against Mr Kwee were all dismissed.

The court has ruled that there was a breach of contract by Exklusiv Resorts when the clubhouse was moved out of the core central region. Exklusiv Resorts had amended the rules and regulations of the club in March 2016 to allow it to relocate the club and clubhouse at its sole discretion. Justice Chua has found that such amendments were not valid.

The judge, however, ruled that the plaintiffs' claims of alleged deceit and negligent misrepresentation were not made out, because the defendants did intend to provide the club members with a new clubhouse at Stevens Road but were ultimately unable to do so for various reasons.

Justice Chua also subsequently directed that the defendant pay the plaintiffs 50 per cent of S$200,000 for their legal fees while the plaintiffs will pay 35 per cent of the same amount for the defendants' legal fees.

Lim Seng Hoo, a club member in the lawsuit, told The Business Times that nine of them might drop out of the appeal, six have yet to vote but the rest are in favour of pursuing the appeal.

The counsel for Mr Kwee and Exklusiv Resorts said the firm did not file an appeal against the award of nominal damages, while there is no need for Mr Kwee to appeal as claims against him were dismissed.

The clubhouse is now at the premises of the Laguna National Golf & Country Club in Tanah Merah, with The Pines members given access to the non-golfing facilities at the golf club and the facilities at the Dusit Thani Laguna Singapore Resort.

Novotel Singapore and The Mercure Singapore opened on the original clubhouse site in late-2017, after the plot was sold to mainboard-listed property developer Oxley Holdings' wholly-owned subsidiary Oxley Gem.

BC Lim & Lau's Lau Kah Hee is acting for the appellants, while Rajah & Tann's Vikram Nair and Foo Xian Fong represent Mr Kwee and Exklusiv Resorts.

READ MORE: 170 Pines members win suit against Exklusiv Resorts but awarded nominal S$1,500 each