Ian H.C. Chin J:

This case took us back not only to the 1950's but the subsequent two decades as well and the writ herein was taken out on 15 September 1988 to have two transfers of land, one done on 6 September 1973 and the other on 20 June 1974, declared void on the ground that the transferor, to the knowledge of the transferee, was at that time of unsound mind.

It was only on 2 May 1991 that the plaintiff set this case down for trial.

The Statement of Claim

The claim is by Peter Sim Kon Sang in his capacity as the administrator of the estate of one Chong Yu Tai (f) deceased ("the plaintiff") against the defendant Datin Shim Tok Keng @ Sim Chok Ken ("the defendant"). The plaintiff's claim is that the said Chong Yu Tai when she was alive on two occasions transferred to the defendant certain undivided shares of her land constituted in Country Lease No. 105097274 ("the land") when she was, as the defendant well knew, of unsound mind at the time of executing the transfers and incapable of understanding the same. The first transfer took place on 6 September 1973 and was in respect of 96/135 undivided share while the second transfer took place on 20 June 1974 and was in res