Siow Doreen v Lo Pui Sang: Application for En Bloc Sale Intervention

In Siow Doreen and Others v Lo Pui Sang and Others, the High Court of Singapore heard an appeal against the Strata Titles Board's rejection of an application for the en bloc sale of Horizon Towers. Horizon Partners Pte Ltd, the purchaser, and a group of 13 consenting subsidiary proprietors sought leave to intervene in the appeal. The court, presided over by Justice Choo Han Teck, allowed the applications for intervention, reserving the issue of costs.

1. Case Overview

1.1 Court

High Court

1.2 Outcome

Applications to intervene are allowed with costs reserved.

1.3 Case Type

Civil

1.4 Judgment Type

Grounds of Decision

1.5 Jurisdiction

Singapore

1.6 Description

Appeal regarding the rejection of an en bloc sale application. The court considered applications for intervention by the purchaser and some consenting subsidiary proprietors.

1.7 Decision Date

30 September 2007

2. Parties and Outcomes

Party Name	Role	Type	Outcome	Outcome Type	Counsels
Maryani Sadeli	Respondent	Individual	Other	Neutral	Michael Chia of Tan Kok Quan Partnership Kannan Ramesh of Tan Kok Quan Partnership Karam Parmar of Tan Kok Quan Partnership
Ng Eng Ghee	Respondent	Individual	Other	Neutral	Philip Fong of Harry Elias Partnership K S Rajah of Harry Elias Partnership
Ong Sioe Hong	Respondent	Individual	Other	Neutral	Phang Sin Kat of Phang & Co
Horizon Partners Pte Ltd	Applicant	Corporation	Other	Neutral	Ang Cheng Hock of Allen & Gledhill LLP K Shanmugam of Allen & Gledhill LLP Yew Zhong Ming of Allen & Gledhill LLP
Lo Pui Sang	Respondent	Individual	Other	Neutral
Quek Keng Seng	Respondent	Individual	Other	Neutral	Phang Sin Kat of Phang & Co
Canterford Limited	Respondent	Corporation	Other	Neutral	Phang Sin Kat of Phang & Co
Siow Doreen	Applicant	Individual	Other	Neutral	Burton Chen of Tan Rajah & Cheah C R Rajah of Tan Rajah & Cheah Lalitah Rajah of Tan Rajah & Cheah
Halimah Tan Bee Lay	Applicant	Individual	Other	Neutral	Burton Chen of Tan Rajah & Cheah C R Rajah of Tan Rajah & Cheah Lalitah Rajah of Tan Rajah & Cheah
Henry Lim Meng Loke	Applicant	Individual	Other	Neutral	Burton Chen of Tan Rajah & Cheah C R Rajah of Tan Rajah & Cheah Lalitah Rajah of Tan Rajah & Cheah
Kuah Kim Choo	Respondent	Individual	Other	Neutral	Philip Fong of Harry Elias Partnership K S Rajah of Harry Elias Partnership
Reghenzani Claude Augustus	Applicant	Individual	Other	Neutral	Dominic Chan of Rajah & Tann Andre Yeap of Rajah & Tann Dawn Tan of Rajah & Tann
Mohammed Yusuf	Respondent	Individual	Other	Neutral
Hendra Gunawan/Sulistiowati Kusumo	Respondent	Individual	Other	Neutral	Michael Chia of Tan Kok Quan Partnership Kannan Ramesh of Tan Kok Quan Partnership Karam Parmar of Tan Kok Quan Partnership
Rudy Darmawan/Widia Seteono	Respondent	Individual	Other	Neutral	Michael Chia of Tan Kok Quan Partnership Kannan Ramesh of Tan Kok Quan Partnership Karam Parmar of Tan Kok Quan Partnership
Then Khek Koon/Jasmine Tan Kim Lian	Respondent	Individual	Other	Neutral	Phang Sin Kat of Phang & Co

3. Judges

Judge Name	Title	Delivered Judgment
Choo Han Teck	Judge	Yes

4. Counsels

Counsel Name	Organization
Michael Chia	Tan Kok Quan Partnership
Kannan Ramesh	Tan Kok Quan Partnership
Karam Parmar	Tan Kok Quan Partnership
Philip Fong	Harry Elias Partnership
K S Rajah	Harry Elias Partnership
Phang Sin Kat	Phang & Co
Ang Cheng Hock	Allen & Gledhill LLP
K Shanmugam	Allen & Gledhill LLP
Yew Zhong Ming	Allen & Gledhill LLP
Burton Chen	Tan Rajah & Cheah
C R Rajah	Tan Rajah & Cheah
Lalitah Rajah	Tan Rajah & Cheah
Dominic Chan	Rajah & Tann
Andre Yeap	Rajah & Tann
Dawn Tan	Rajah & Tann

4. Facts

Consenting Subsidiary Proprietors appealed against the Strata Titles Board's rejection of their en bloc sale application.
Horizon Partners Pte Ltd, the purchaser, sought leave to intervene.
A group of 13 Consenting Subsidiary Proprietors also sought leave to intervene.
The minority subsidiary proprietors opposed the intervention applications.
The purchaser claimed a real interest in the contract's performance.
The 13 members claimed their signatures were left out of the application to the Board.

5. Formal Citations

Siow Doreen and Others v Lo Pui Sang and Others (Horizon Partners Pte Ltd, first intervener, and Reghenzani Claude Augustus, second intervener), OS 1269/2007, SUM 4254/2007, 4336/2007, [2007] SGHC 167

6. Timeline

Date	Event
2007-10-01	Judgment reserved

7. Legal Issues

Joinder of Parties
- Outcome: The court allowed the applications for intervention, finding it just and convenient to hear additional perspectives.
- Category: Procedural
- Sub-Issues:
  - Interest in outcome of appeal
  - Effectual and complete determination of matters

8. Remedies Sought

No remedies sought

9. Cause of Actions

No cause of actions

10. Practice Areas

Commercial Litigation

11. Industries

Real Estate

12. Cited Cases

Case Name	Court	Affirmed	Citation	Jurisdiction	Significance
No cited cases

13. Applicable Rules

Rule Name
No applicable rules

14. Applicable Statutes

Statute Name	Jurisdiction
Rules of Court (Cap 322, R 5, 2006 Rev Ed) Or 15 r 6(2)	Singapore

15. Key Terms and Keywords

15.1 Key Terms

En bloc sale
Intervention
Strata Titles Board
Consenting Subsidiary Proprietors
Minority subsidiary proprietors

15.2 Keywords

En bloc sale
Intervention
Strata Titles Board
Civil Procedure
Singapore

17. Areas of Law

Area Name	Relevance Score
Strata Title Law	90
En Bloc Sales	90
Joinder	80
Civil Practice	75
Property Law	30
Striking Out Applications	20

16. Subjects

Civil Procedure
Real Estate
Strata Titles