Tan Peng Kwang v Zimerick LLP: Mobile App Contract Dispute & Quantum Meruit

Tan Peng Kwang (trading as Europe Mini Holiday) appealed the District Court's decision in favor of Zimerick LLP regarding a mobile travel app development contract. The High Court dismissed the appeal, finding that Tan Peng Kwang breached the contract by not allowing Zimerick LLP to complete the iPhone app development. The court affirmed the award of 95% of the contract value to Zimerick LLP and dismissed Tan Peng Kwang's counterclaim.

1. Case Overview

1.1 Court

General Division of the High Court

1.2 Outcome

Appeal Dismissed

1.3 Case Type

Civil

1.4 Judgment Type

Grounds of Decision

1.5 Jurisdiction

Singapore

1.6 Description

Singapore court case involving a mobile app development contract dispute. The appeal was dismissed, affirming the original judgment and quantum meruit claim.

1.7 Decision Date

23 February 2021

2. Parties and Outcomes

Party Name	Role	Type	Outcome	Outcome Type	Counsels
Tan Peng Kwang (trading as Europe Mini Holiday)	Appellant, Defendant	Individual	Appeal Dismissed	Lost	Choh Thian Chee Irving of Optimus Chambers LLC Oei Su-Ying Renee Nicolette of Optimus Chambers LLC Melissa Kor of Optimus Chambers LLC
Zimerick LLP	Respondent, Plaintiff	Limited Liability Partnership	Judgment for Respondent	Won	Alain Abraham Johns of Alain A Johns Partnership

3. Judges

Judge Name	Title	Delivered Judgment
Kwek Mean Luck	Judicial Commissioner	Yes

4. Counsels

Counsel Name	Organization
Choh Thian Chee Irving	Optimus Chambers LLC
Oei Su-Ying Renee Nicolette	Optimus Chambers LLC
Melissa Kor	Optimus Chambers LLC
Alain Abraham Johns	Alain A Johns Partnership

4. Facts

Tan Peng Kwang contracted Zimerick LLP to develop a mobile travel app for $134,122.
The contract included development for Android, iPad, and iPhone platforms.
Zimerick LLP developed the app for Android and iPad but not for iPhone.
Tan Peng Kwang terminated the contract, alleging breach due to the missing iPhone app.
Zimerick LLP claimed they were willing to develop the iPhone app but requested payment for work done.
The District Judge awarded 95% of the claim to Zimerick LLP, deducting 5% for the iPhone app.
Tan Peng Kwang appealed, arguing breach of contract and disputing the UAT completion.

5. Formal Citations

Tan Peng Kwang (trading as Europe Mini Holiday) v Zimerick LLP, District Court Appeal No 29 of 2020, [2021] SGHC 45

6. Timeline

Date	Event
2013-10-08	Customer Services Agreement Contract #00001114 and Work Order #00001114 signed
2015-02-09	Zimerick LLP emailed Tan Peng Kwang regarding the app being live
2015-03-03	App went live on the Apple App store for the iPad platform
2015-03-10	Tan Peng Kwang actively used the app
2015-04-17	Tan Peng Kwang requested the missing iPhone app and its completion by 4 May 2015
2021-01-27	Judgment date
2021-02-24	Judgment date

7. Legal Issues

Breach of Contract
- Outcome: The court held that the appellant was in breach of contract for failing to allow the respondent to complete the iPhone app development.
- Category: Substantive
- Sub-Issues:
  - Material breach
  - Wrongful termination
Admissibility of Evidence
- Outcome: The court held that Derique's evidence was inadmissible as hearsay and given his absence from court, it would carry very little weight even if admissible.
- Category: Procedural
- Sub-Issues:
  - Hearsay evidence
  - Failure to subpoena witness
Quantum Meruit
- Outcome: The court found that Clause 6.4(d) of the Agreement contractually provided for remuneration, without fixing the quantum, thus supporting a quantum meruit claim.
- Category: Substantive
- Sub-Issues:
  - Contractual claim for remuneration
  - Termination of work order

8. Remedies Sought

Monetary Damages

9. Cause of Actions

Breach of Contract
Quantum Meruit

10. Practice Areas

Commercial Litigation
Contract Disputes

11. Industries

Technology
Tourism

12. Cited Cases

Case Name	Court	Affirmed	Citation	Jurisdiction	Significance
Zimerick LLP v Tan Peng Kwang t/a Europe Mini Holiday	District Court	Yes	[2020] SGDC 248	Singapore	The current judgment is an appeal of this case. The High Court affirmed the District Court's decision.
Gimpex Ltd v Unity Holdings Business Ltd and others and another appeal	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2015] 2 SLR 686	Singapore	Cited regarding the admissibility of hearsay evidence under s 32(1)(j)(iv) of the Evidence Act. Distinguished because the appellant did not attempt to procure the witness's attendance at trial.
Rabiah Bee bte Mohamed Ibrahim v Salem Ibrahim	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2007] 2 SLR(R) 655	Singapore	Cited regarding claims for quantum meruit in the presence of a contract. The court found that the claim was contractual in nature.

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

Mobile app
Customer Services Agreement
Work Order
User Acceptance Test
UAT
Quantum meruit
Material breach
iPhone app
Android app
iPad app

15.2 Keywords

contract
mobile app
breach
quantum meruit
appeal
Singapore

17. Areas of Law

Area Name	Relevance Score
Contract Law	80
Breach of Contract	75
Quantum meruit	65
Evidence Law	60
Admissibility of evidence	55
Evidence	50
Hearsay	45

16. Subjects

Contract Law
Mobile Application Development
Commercial Dispute