Harwindar Singh v Michael Wong: Striking Out Claim for Breach of Oral Agreement

Harwindar Singh s/o Geja Singh (Plaintiff) sued Michael Wong Lok Yung (First Defendant) and GDS Global Limited in the High Court of Singapore, alleging breach of an oral agreement. The First Defendant appealed against the Assistant Registrar's decision not to strike out the claim against him. Chua Lee Ming JC allowed the appeal, striking out the Plaintiff's claim against the First Defendant, finding the oral agreement void for uncertainty and the quantum meruit claims unsustainable. The Plaintiff has appealed against this decision.

1. Case Overview

1.1 Court

High Court

1.2 Outcome

Appeal Allowed

1.3 Case Type

Civil

1.4 Judgment Type

Grounds of Decision

1.5 Jurisdiction

Singapore

1.6 Description

Appeal regarding striking out a claim for breach of oral agreement. The court struck out the claim due to uncertainty and unsustainability.

1.7 Decision Date

17 May 2015

2. Parties and Outcomes

Party Name	Role	Type	Outcome	Outcome Type	Counsels
Harwindar Singh s/o Geja Singh	Plaintiff, Respondent	Individual	Claim Dismissed	Lost	Walter Ferix Silvester, Leow Wei Xiang, Jeremy
Michael Wong Lok Yung	Defendant, Appellant	Individual	Appeal Allowed	Won	Khoo Boo Teck Randolph, Tan Huiru Sally
GDS Global Limited	Defendant	Corporation	Claim Struck Out	Dismissed

3. Judges

Judge Name	Title	Delivered Judgment
Chua Lee Ming	Judicial Commissioner	Yes

4. Counsels

Counsel Name	Organization
Walter Ferix Silvester	Joseph Tan Jude Benny LLP
Leow Wei Xiang, Jeremy	Joseph Tan Jude Benny LLP
Khoo Boo Teck Randolph	Drew & Napier LLC
Tan Huiru Sally	Drew & Napier LLC

4. Facts

Plaintiff claimed the First Defendant orally promised future rewards if the Gliderol roller shutter business did well.
Plaintiff alleged he rejected other job offers to accept the First Defendant's offer.
The First Defendant denied the existence of any oral agreement.
The Plaintiff's claim is based on the listing of GDS Global, not the sale of a Relevant Company.
The Plaintiff claims for loss in salary based on the difference between his actual and potential earnings.

5. Formal Citations

Harwindar Singh s/o Geja Singh v Michael Wong Lok Yung and another, Suit No 1087 of 2014 (Registrar's Appeal No 61 of 2015), [2015] SGHC 132

6. Timeline

Date	Event
2006-09-01	Plaintiff met the First Defendant.
2007-01-23	Gliderol International (ME) FZE incorporated in the UAE.
2007-09-01	Gliderol Doors LLC incorporated in the UAE.
2012-06-24	GME became a wholly-owned subsidiary of GDS Singapore.
2012-07-19	GDS Global Pte Ltd incorporated.
2012-09-01	GDS Singapore incorporated in Singapore.
2012-09-14	GDS Singapore became a wholly-owned subsidiary of GDS Global.
2013-01-14	Plaintiff voluntarily resigned as a director of GME.
2013-03-25	GDS Global Pte Ltd converted into a public company under its present name.
2014-01-01	Suit No 1087 of 2014 filed.
2015-02-13	Assistant Registrar struck out the Plaintiff’s claims against GDS Global but declined to strike out the Plaintiff’s claims against the First Defendant.
2015-05-18	Appeal allowed and Plaintiff’s claim against the First Defendant struck out.

7. Legal Issues

Breach of Oral Agreement
- Outcome: The court held that the oral agreement was void for uncertainty.
- Category: Substantive
- Sub-Issues:
  - Uncertainty of terms
- Related Cases:
  - [2012] 1 SLR 457
  - [2013] 4 SLR 1023
  - [2004] 1 SLR(R) 202
Quantum Meruit
- Outcome: The court held that the Plaintiff’s quantum meruit claims were unsustainable as pleaded.
- Category: Substantive
- Related Cases:
  - [2007] 2 SLR(R) 655
  - [2011] 1 SLR 457

8. Remedies Sought

Monetary Damages
Quantum Meruit

9. Cause of Actions

Breach of Contract
Quantum Meruit

10. Practice Areas

Commercial Litigation

11. Industries

Manufacturing

12. Cited Cases

Case Name	Court	Affirmed	Citation	Jurisdiction	Significance
Ng Chee Weng v Lim Jit Ming Bryan and another	High Court	Yes	[2012] 1 SLR 457	Singapore	Cited for the principle that a pleading will only be struck out under O 18 r 19(1)(a) if it fails to make out a reasonable cause of action without reference to other evidence.
Rudhra Minerals Pte Ltd v MRI Trading (formerly known as CWT Integrated Services Pte Ltd)	High Court	Yes	[2013] 4 SLR 1023	Singapore	Cited for the principle that for a contract to be valid and enforceable, its terms must be certain and the contract must be complete.
Grossner Jens v Raffles Holdings Ltd	High Court	Yes	[2004] 1 SLR(R) 202	Singapore	Cited for the principle that unless all the material terms of the contract are agreed there is no binding obligation.
The “Bunga Melati 5”	High Court	Yes	[2012] 4 SLR 546	Singapore	Cited for the principle that a claim may be struck out for being frivolous or vexatious under O 18 r 19(1)(b) if it is legally or factually unsustainable.
Rabiah Bee bte Mohamed Ibrahim v Salem Ibrahim	High Court	Yes	[2007] 2 SLR(R) 655	Singapore	Cited for the principle that where there is an express or implied contract which is silent on the quantum of remuneration or where there is a contract which states that there should be remuneration but does not fix the quantum, the claim in quantum meruit will be contractual in nature.
Ng Chee Weng v Lim Jit Ming Bryan	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2011] 1 SLR 457	Singapore	Cited for the principle that while the pleader should be free to plead inconsistent causes of action in the alternative, the inconsistency cannot offend common sense.

13. Applicable Rules

Rule Name
O 18 r 19(a) of the Rules of Court
O 18 r 19(1)(b) of the Rules of Court
O 18 r 19(1)(d) of the Rules of Court

14. Applicable Statutes

Statute Name	Jurisdiction
No applicable statutes

15. Key Terms and Keywords

15.1 Key Terms

Oral Agreement
Quantum Meruit
Condition Precedent
Listing
Relevant Company
Senior Management
Loss in Salary

15.2 Keywords

breach of contract
oral agreement
quantum meruit
striking out
civil litigation

16. Subjects

Contract Dispute
Breach of Contract
Civil Litigation

17. Areas of Law

Contract Law
Civil Procedure