Ng Kong Yeam v Kay Swee Pin: Resulting Trusts & Presumptions Against Gifts

In Ng Kong Yeam (suing by Ling Towi Sing) v Kay Swee Pin, the Court of Appeal of Singapore heard an appeal regarding the transfer of shares from Ng Kong Yeam to Kay Swee Pin. Ng Kong Yeam, through his litigation representatives, claimed the shares were held on a resulting trust or, alternatively, that Kay Swee Pin breached a contract by failing to provide consideration. The High Court dismissed both claims, and the Court of Appeal upheld the dismissal, finding the share transfer was intended as a gift. The court dismissed both the resulting trust claim and the contractual claim.

1. Case Overview

1.1 Court

Court of Appeal of the Republic of Singapore

1.2 Outcome

Appeal Dismissed

1.3 Case Type

Civil

1.4 Judgment Type

Ex Tempore Judgment

1.5 Jurisdiction

Singapore

1.6 Description

Appeal concerning the transfer of shares. The court dismissed claims of resulting trust and breach of contract, finding the transfer was a gift.

1.7 Decision Date

7 June 2020

2. Parties and Outcomes

Party Name	Role	Type	Outcome	Outcome Type	Counsels
Ng Kong Yeam @ Woo Kwang Yean	Appellant, Plaintiff	Individual	Appeal Dismissed	Lost	Martin Roderick Edward, Sharon Chong Chin Yee, Nandhu, Yap Yongzhi Gideon, Eugene Tan Song Jin
Kay Swee Pin	Respondent, Defendant	Individual	Appeal Dismissed	Won	Suresh s/o Damodara, Ong Ziying Clement, Khoo Shufen Joni
Wu Yimei Eva Mae	Defendant	Individual

3. Judges

Judge Name	Title	Delivered Judgment
Andrew Phang Boon Leong	Judge of Appeal	Yes
Chao Hick Tin	Senior Judge	No
Quentin Loh	Judge	No

4. Counsels

Counsel Name	Organization
Martin Roderick Edward	RHTLaw Asia LLP
Sharon Chong Chin Yee	RHTLaw Asia LLP
Nandhu	RHTLaw Asia LLP
Yap Yongzhi Gideon	RHTLaw Asia LLP
Eugene Tan Song Jin	RHTLaw Asia LLP
Suresh s/o Damodara	Damodara Ong LLC
Ong Ziying Clement	Damodara Ong LLC
Khoo Shufen Joni	Damodara Ong LLC

4. Facts

Appellant transferred 799,999 shares in NatWest Holdings (Pte) Ltd to the respondent.
The share transfer form stated a consideration of $1 million.
The appellant and respondent cohabited for approximately 30 years.
The appellant relocated to Malaysia in July 2013 due to a deterioration in his mental condition.
The respondent claimed the $1 million consideration represented past loans and household expenses.
The NHPL's assets included shares in Sino-America Tours Corporation Pte Ltd and an apartment at Cairnhill Road.
The appellant amended his will in August 2011, omitting express provisions for the NHPL shares.

5. Formal Citations

Ng Kong Yeam (suing by Ling Towi Sing (alias Ling Chooi Seng) and others) v Kay Swee Pin, Civil Appeal No 179 of 2019, [2020] SGCA 55

6. Timeline

Date	Event
1962-01-01	Appellant married his wife.
1991-01-01	Appellant, respondent, and Ms. Wu lived in the Cairnhill Apartment.
2010-06-24	Appellant gave instructions to draft a will.
2010-11-01	Share transfer form executed.
2011-04-01	Share transfer form lodged.
2011-08-17	Appellant amended the June 2010 Draft Will.
2012-02-06	Appellant's will was dated.
2013-07-01	Appellant relocated to Malaysia.
2013-12-06	Appellant declared to be of unsound mind by the High Court of Malaya.
2016-01-01	Suit No 894 of 2016 filed.
2020-06-08	Judgment delivered.

7. Legal Issues

Resulting Trust
- Outcome: The court found that the presumption of resulting trust was rebutted, and the appellant intended to gift the shares to the respondent.
- Category: Substantive
- Sub-Issues:
  - Rebutting presumption of resulting trust
  - Intention to gift
- Related Cases:
  - [2008] 2 SLR(R) 108
Breach of Contract
- Outcome: The court found that there was no breach of contract because the consideration was past consideration, and thus no contract existed.
- Category: Substantive
- Sub-Issues:
  - Lack of consideration
  - Past consideration

8. Remedies Sought

Declaration of Resulting Trust
Damages for Breach of Contract

9. Cause of Actions

Resulting Trust
Breach of Contract

10. Practice Areas

Civil Litigation
Trusts
Contract Disputes

11. Industries

No industries specified

12. Cited Cases

Case Name	Court	Affirmed	Citation	Jurisdiction	Significance
Ng Kong Yeam (suing by Ling Towi Sing (alias Ling Chooi Seng) and others) v Kay Swee Pin and another	High Court	Yes	[2019] SGHC 219	Singapore	Cited for background facts regarding the relationship between the appellant and respondent.
Lau Siew Kim v Yeo Guan Chye Terence and another	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2008] 2 SLR(R) 108	Singapore	Cited for the principle that the operation of the presumption of resulting trust rests on the premise that there is a lack of consideration.
Wibowo Boediono and another v Cristian Priwisata Yacob and another and other appeals	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2018] 2 SLR 481	Singapore	Cited and distinguished regarding inconsistent positions taken by plaintiffs.
Brailsford v Tobie	N/A	Yes	Brailsford v Tobie (1888) 10 ALT 194	N/A	Cited as an example of a case where a party relied on alternative statements of fact.
MK (Project Management) Ltd v Baker Marine Energy Pte Ltd	Court of Appeal	Yes	[1994] 3 SLR(R) 823	Singapore	Cited for the principle that material facts must be pleaded but legal conclusions need not be.
Toh Wee Ping Benjamin and another v Grande Corp Pte Ltd	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2020] SGCA 48	Singapore	Cited for the principle that material facts must be pleaded but legal conclusions need not be.

13. Applicable Rules

Rule Name
No applicable rules

14. Applicable Statutes

Statute Name	Jurisdiction
Evidence Act (Cap 97, 1997 Rev Ed)	Singapore

15. Key Terms and Keywords

15.1 Key Terms

Resulting Trust
Presumption of Resulting Trust
Past Consideration
Share Transfer
Beneficial Interest
Legal Interest
NHPL Shares
Litigation Representatives

15.2 Keywords

Resulting Trust
Breach of Contract
Share Transfer
Gift
Singapore
Court of Appeal

16. Subjects

Trusts
Contract Law
Equity
Civil Procedure

17. Areas of Law

Trust Law
Contract Law
Equity