Art expert rubbishes ex-tour guide’s claims about cost of works he had bought for Madam Chung.

A painting which Yang Yin claimed he had bought for $500,000 was dismissed by an art expert yesterday as nothing more than a cheap fake that would have cost $200 in a night market.

Madam Lim Sew Yong, chairman of Raffles Fine Arts Auctioneers, also rubbished a set of five other paintings the former tour guide from China said he had bought on behalf of a widow for $600,000.

Madam Lim valued them at $2,000 to $3,000 altogether, and told the court that it would be “stupid” for anyone to pay much more.

Madam Lim was taking the stand on the third day of Yang’s trial, in which the 42-year-old is fighting charges that he dishonestly misappropriated $1.1 million from Madam Chung Khin Chun, a wealthy widow he met in 2008, and a year later moved into her Gerald Crescent bungalow.

Tussle over widow’s $40m assets turns ugly

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The Straits Times, Madam Hedy Mok, Lianhe Wanbao, Madam Chang Phie Chin, Court Documents

He claims that he used the money to buy paintings for Madam Chung, a known art lover.

But yesterday, as he stared on impassively, the court heard that the paintings were worth far less.

The prosecution called on Madam Lim, who set up Raffles Fine Arts Auctioneers in 1992. She had been asked to look into the paintings bought by Yang Yin.

One was titled Horse Drinking Water, which Yang claimed was by renowned Chinese artist Xu Beihong and cost $500,000. It had been folded several times and stuffed into an envelope, which was found in Yang’s luggage during a police search.

Madam Lim said it was an imitation based on two original works by the artist. “If this were to be sold in the pasar malam, China night market, it would be worth about 1,000 yuan – equivalent to $200,” she said.

Madam Lim said she knew the artist’s wife, who told her that the original paintings were done on double-layered paper. The painting Yang had was not, and it also appeared “relatively new”.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Sanjiv Vaswani asked if an original would have been “folded up like a roti prata?”. Madam Lim said no, adding it should have at least been rolled up and kept in a box.

“As a collector I would not treat the painting in this manner.”

As for the other pieces, Madam Lim said they were neither masterpieces nor coveted by high-paying collectors. Two were original while the others – including one of a woman lying on a couch, were either lithographs copied by machines or of “not very high quality”.

Yang’s lawyer Irving Choh argued, however, that value of art is not a science and it is up to the buyer to decide how much he is prepared to pay. In the market, it is “willing buyer, willing seller”.

Tussle over widow’s $40m assets: A look at Madam Chung’s bungalow

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The Straits Times, Raymond Tan

Mr Choh also highlighted the testimony of Mr David Fu, director of auction house 33 Auction, who said the painting of the woman lying on the couch was bought by Yang for $8,960 at an auction in 2011.

But when DPP Vaswani asked Madam Lim if she would believe anyone claiming to have bought the paintings for $600,000, outside of an auction, she said no. And if someone did, “that person would be stupid”.

Also taking the stand yesterday was Madam Chung’s relationship manager at OCBC for the period 2009 to 2010.

Mr Huang Yi Yao, 34, told the court how the widow, now 89, had asked, in August 2009, for Yang to be made a joint holder of her accounts.

He said Madam Chung did this because she was getting old, and wanted someone to help run her financial affairs. That did not mean Yang had any share in the money, he added. “The accused can only operate the account as Madam Chung sees fit,” said Mr Huang.

Her accounts included unit trust investments, which were “substantial”, he explained. He told the court that as he went through the investments with Madam Chung and Yang, he noticed how the latter seemed interested in them.

He “leaned forward”, recalled Mr Huang, and he “opened his eyes bigger”.

The trial continues tomorrow.

This article was first published on July 6, 2016.
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Risk of latent TB infection becoming active is higher for the elderly or those with medical conditions, say doctors.

Seniors living in the Ang Mo Kio block where a drug-resistant TB cluster was found should keep a close eye on their health, even if they do not feel ill.

This is because latent TB infections become active in only 10 per cent of healthy people but the risk goes up for the elderly or those with medical conditions, said doctors.

Many seniors happen to live in the Ang Mo Kio block where the discovery of a “highly unusual” cluster of six drug-resistant TB cases triggered a four-day precautionary screening exercise for residents.

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The four households that make up the cluster said they did not know each other and never interacted with each other before. However, the disease usually requires “close and prolonged contact” to spread.

Results from the screening, which were made public on Monday, showed that 45 residents may have latent TB infections. Another two could have the active, infectious form of the disease.

Dr Ong Kian Chung, a respiratory specialist at Mount Elizabeth Hospital, said: “If a patient has other medical conditions that can affect the immune system, the chances of reactivation are higher.”

Infectious disease expert Leong Hoe Nam, from Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital, said a diabetic, for instance, has a 30 per cent chance of developing active TB.

If it is a person who has the human immunodeficiency virus or HIV, the rate could be 50 per cent. Older people, whose immune systems are generally weaker, are also at risk.

See also: Different kinds of TB infection

Geriatrician Nur Farhan Mohammad Alami, from the Raffles Internal Medicine Centre, said it is critical that seniors monitor their health closely. “Sometimes, an elderly person with active TB may have symptoms that are not typical,” she said.

“If there is an unexplained loss of weight or other symptoms like unusual tiredness or lethargy, they should seek medical advice.”

About 223 residents and former residents were tested in the first round, which ended on June 19. Another round of house visits was conducted last Saturday to encourage more people to come forward.

Some residents, like customer service executive Farrah Yap, 28, felt screening should have been made compulsory for everyone in the block. “I think it’s very unfair if people don’t get tested, and I think it’s very irresponsible not to get screened.”

But infectious diseases specialist Paul Tambyah said making screening compulsory could have unintended consequences.

He said: “While superficially attractive, compelling people to go for screening without taking steps to eliminate stigma and potential discrimination may not work that well, as people may ‘go underground’ or avoid screening.”

This article was first published on July 6, 2016.
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SINGAPORE – Earlier this year, British lawyer Isabelle Claisse shaved her head to raise nearly $63,000 for her Filipino maid’s son, who had bone cancer.

Dave Caba, 11, has now gone through two operations to replace a cancerous bone in his leg with an implant, and completed chemotherapy. But he has since contracted an infection in his leg after a minor corrective procedure, and will need to be put on IV antibiotics, which cost $200 a day, for six weeks, in addition to hospitalisation bills.

To help raise funds for these additional medical expenses, Ms Claisse, 38, aims to pull off another feat this month: She will be running 17km to and from work every day, putting in extra distances over the weekends to clock a total of 500km by the end of the month.

Read also: Lawyer going bald to raise funds for maid’s son

“We were hugely blessed to have been able to raise a very substantial amount of money through the enormous generosity shown by people during the original fund-raiser,” she said .

She and her family, who are based here, have decided to pay for the treatment themselves, but donations will be able to help them cope financially with the constant cash outflow requirements.

She aims to raise $12,000 for Dave, who is now in the Philippines, and is appealing for people to sponsor her for every kilometre that she runs. Alternatively, she hopes that the reach of the fund-raiser can be extended by getting people to pledge to run distances, and get corporations to sponsor amounts based on the total aggregated distance that has been run by the whole group.

“Every little amount will help. It will be a gift that will keep on giving for the next 10 years,” she said .

She has set up a Facebook page to document her 500km attempt: www.facebook.com/runfordave/

This article was first published on July 5, 2016.
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