KUALA LUMPUR: A 44-year-old Singaporean, who lost his mental capacity after a road traffic accident in Malaysia six years ago was awarded $4.75 million (RM15.7 million) by the republic's High Court in June.
The Straits Times reported that Lim Chun Yong sustained severe brain damage following a multi-vehicle collision near the Kempas toll plaza, Johor Baru on Feb 12, 2018.
The case went to court and following a 12-day High Court trial in Singapore, Judicial Commissioner Alex Wong found that five defendants were jointly and individually liable for Lim's injuries.
Lim's lawyer Raj Singh Shergill said the case might be the highest sum awarded so far by a court in the republic to a Singaporean victim of an accident in Malaysia.
Lim was 38 at the time of the accident, and since then, he requires full-time care, reported the Straits Times.
The three-vehicle accident in 2018 happened at a spot 270m from the Kempas toll plaza.
The vehicle in front of the pile up was a semi-trailer, while the vehicle in the middle was a Toyota Innova, in which Lim was the front-seat passenger. The vehicle in the rear of this chain was a BMW X3.
ST said none of the vehicles were Singapore-registered.
Lim had been unconscious after the crash and rescuers extricated him from the wrecked vehicle.
He was taken to the Sultanah Aminah Hospital in Johor Baru before being transfered to the Singapore General Hospital's intensive care unit the following day.
Lim has lost mental capacity owing to severe brain damage.
His wife, Janet Fung, had initially cared for her husband with help from a domestic worker.
Although Lim recuperated and regained his physical strength, he became harder to manage with behavioural disorders, the Straits Times said.
Eventually Fung was unable to cope and suffered caregiver burnout. She admitted her husband to a nursing home after consulting doctors.
She filed a suit for negligence, personal injuries and losses sustained and five people were initally named as defendents.
The insurer for the Toyota Innova, in which Lim was a passenger was later added as a sixth defendant, with the court's approval.
On June 10 this year, Judicial Commissioner Alex Wong found the five defendants jointly and individually liable for Lim's injuries.
In a reserved judgment, he placed 50 per cent of the blame on the driver of the semi-trailer, Mohd Jafri Abdul Hamid, and his employer, Syarikat Continent Lorry Transport.
The judge also found Toyota driver Jeffrey Yap, together with car owner Liew Loy Sang, to be 30 per cent liable, and placed the remaining 20 per cent of the blame on the BMW driver, Low Woon Hong.
The judge awarded a total of more than S$4.7 million in claims, which included S$1.87 million for the cost of full-time care at a nursing home for Lim.
Rejecting the defence's claim that Fung had a legal obligation to look after Lim in his own home, he cited a precedent case in 2022 which made clear that family members should not be seen as a "free of charge caregiver" whom defendants can take advantage of to reduce the sum that they ought to pay as fair compensation to the plaintiff.
"The risks of Lim doing harm to himself or others outside the controlled confines of permanent nursing home care are too significant to ignore," Wong said.
He awarded nearly S$1.6 million for loss of future earnings on the basis that Lim could have worked until the retirement age of 70, and was unlikely to ever work again after what happened.
Lim has a degree in finance from an overseas institution and had an office job at the time of the accident in 2018.
"This case is one where a loss of future earnings award ought to be given, and not an award for loss of earning capacity," said the judge.
The award included compensation for pain and suffering, medical expenses and future occupational therapy.
The defendants are appealing the case.