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Politician and lawyer Lim Tean is embroiled in a legal dispute with a Chinese national named Huang Min who is demanding that his loan to Mr Lim of US$150,000 (S$205,720) made in 2013 be repaid. Mr Lim however, says that it was not a loan but merely an advance for the purchase of iron ore from his Indonesian mine through a firm called Falcon Resources (FRC).
Mr Huang claims that he had agreed to lend the sum to Mr Lim who agreed to repay the amount by 30 Nov 013. However, the Chinese national says that Mr Lim did not repay any part of that amount within the agreed period.
In his defence, Mr Lim who heads a new party People's Voice Party, denied Mr Huang’s claim entirely, saying that it was an advance for purchase of iron ore. Mr Lim also said that the Plaintiff has visited his mine around 2012/2012 and was pleased with the quality of the ore. After the visit, both parties agreed to the sale and purchase of iron ore. According to Mr Lim, Mr Huang asked for the down payment to be termed as a loan ‘for his own internal purposes’.
In late August, State State Courts Deputy Registrar Regina Lim Siew Mei was unconvinced by Mr Lim’s case and ruled that he has to repay Mr Huang. Later in November, District Judge Tan May Tee gave a summary judgement agreeing to that Mr Lim has to repay the loan. Consequently, Mr Lim appealed to the High Court where the case is still pending.
In their report of this ongoing civil battle, Straits Times (ST) pointed out that Mr Lim had resigned from NSP in May last year and proceeded to set up a new political party called the People’s Voice in October 2018.
TOC reached out to Mr Lim for comment about his legal trouble as reported in ST. Mr Lim said that the reports from Straits Times about his case is ‘obviously a planned attack’ on him as he has been a staunch critic of both state media and the establishment. He also said that these unfavourable reports are an attempt from the government and state media to distract from the fact that his party has been quickly gathering support.
Mr Lim added, ‘It is a civil dispute which dates back to 2013 when I was in the mining business. I see this attack as the surest compliment that the establishment feels the heat from my new party.’
He continued, ‘instead of discussing the critical issues facing Singaporeans such as cost of living, HDB, Ministerial salaries and CPF, our State Media would rather discuss a civil dispute case involving an Opposition leader.’