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OA
on lookout for CSJ at airport even on Saturday night
10
Jan 07
Dr Chee Soon Juan swore that he was going to travel
regardless of whether he was given permission or not. Or so said
Ms Kalaselvi, Manager at the Official Assignees's (OA) office,
when she interviewed Dr Chee on 28 Mar 06.
Dr Chee is
charged with attempting to leave the country without permission
from the OA's office to attend an international conference
organised by the World Movement for Democracy in Istanbul, Turkey
in Apr 06.
As a result Ms Kalaselvi claimed that she
quickly alerted the Immigrations and Checkpoints Authority (ICA)
to stop Dr Chee at Changi Airport on 1 Apr 06.
Her
testimony, however, directly contradicted the evidence given by
two of her colleagues. Ms Jasmine Ang and Mr Patrick Lim both
testified earlier that Dr Chee had been cooperative with the OA's
office in communicating with them, providing the necessary
information and attending meetings.
At a later point when
she was confronted on two occasions by defence counsel, Mr Alfred
Dodwell, Ms Kalaselvi admitted that Dr Chee had not been
defiant:
Dodwell: "I put it to you that when asked to
fill up forms and whenever he was asked to sign the forms, he did
not protest."
Kalaselvi: "Agree."
Dodwell:
"I put it to you that the officer had gone through the forms
and whenever he asked Dr Chee to sign the forms, Dr Chee duly
signed them."
Kalaselvi: "Agree."
So
why did the OA Manager tried to show that Dr Chee was
uncooperative? Was it to justify the fact that she had alerted
the ICA to stop Dr Chee at the airport? Ms Kalaselvi testified
that she was on the telephone and communicating with an airport
immigrations officer, a Mr Nah, between 10:25 pm and 12 midnight
on Saturday, 1 Apr 06.
The OA officer must have been an
extra-conscientious civil servant who regularly kept an eye out
for bankrupts (all 25,000 of them under her charge) at the
airport, even on weekends.
Either that or she was being
extra-cautious because the creditors in this case happen to be
two former prime ministers of Singapore and one of them goes by
the name of Lee Kuan Yew.
Ms Kalaselvi also admitted that
the Commissioner for Oaths from her office should not have signed
off on the form on 9 Mar 06. Dr Chee was asked to fill up a form,
witnessed by the Commissioner on that date.
Ms Kalaselvi's
staff subsequently discovered that they needed additional
information and asked Dr Chee to make additions to the form on 28
Mar. The amended portions and the date they were made were,
however, not noted. This is a significant problem because the
form is signed and sworn before a Commisioner of Oaths before
being filed in the High Court.
Ms Kalaselvi however defied
that the amendments were "minor".
Cross-examination
of Ms Kalaselvi will continue on 29 Jan 06 in Subordinate Court
15. The case cannot proceed any earlier because of scheduling
problems.
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