PRACTICE EXPERIENCE
Minghao focuses on commercial disputes, with particular
expertise in construction and engineering disputes. He
regularly represents clients in the construction
industry at different stages of the project cycle,
ranging from front-end consultation and advisory work,
to back-end work when disputes have arisen.
Minghao has considerable
experience as lead counsel in adjudications under the
Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment
Act. He also regularly represents clients in the
Singapore courts, both as lead counsel and as assisting
counsel, where his work often involves setting aside
and/or stay of enforcement of adjudication
determinations, injunctions to restrain calls on
performance bonds, construction-related disputes,
setting aside of arbitral awards, restructuring of
companies in distress, amongst others. Besides appearing
in the Singapore courts, Minghao has considerable
experience in both domestic and international
arbitrations.
Some of the notable matters
which Minghao had been involved in include:
- Construction &
Engineering
- Frontbuild Engineering & Construction Pte
Ltd v JHJ Construction Pte Ltd [2021] 4 SLR 862:
Acted as lead counsel in successfully resisting an
application to set aside an adjudication determination,
where the court considered a novel issue of law, i.e.
whether a clause in a construction contract which
purports to suspend further payment to a contractor
post-termination can be rendered unenforceable in that
it amounts to a “pay when paid” provision.
- Orion-One Residential Pte Ltd v Dong Cheng
Construction Pte Ltd and another appeal [2021] 1 SLR
791:
Assisted in a case before the Court of Appeal where the
court had to decide whether there was a contractual 42
entitlement to serve further payment claims after the
termination of a construction contract. The Court of
Appeal also considered for the first time whether there
was a contractual entitlement to serve payment claims
under the REDAS Design & Build Conditions of Main
Contract (3rd Ed, July 2013), in a scenario where the
contract in question was terminated for default.
- Ng Tze Chew Diana v Aikco Construction Pte Ltd
and another matter [2019] SGHC 258; [2019] SGHC 259:
Assisted in an application to set aside an arbitral
award made in relation to a dispute over defective works
and delays in the construction of a dwelling house, and
for leave to appeal on a question of law arising out of
the same award.
- Ryobi Tactics Pte Ltd v UES Holdings Pte Ltd and
another and another matter [2019] 4 SLR 1324:
Assisted a main contractor in resisting an application
by a sub-contractor to injunct a call on 4 performance
bonds.
- Ng Tze Chew Diana v Aikco Construction Pte Ltd
and another matter [2019] SGHC 258; [2019] SGHC 259:
Assisted in an application to set aside an arbitral
award made in relation to a dispute over defective works
and delays in the construction of a dwelling house, and
for leave to appeal on a question of law arising out of
the same award.
- CMC Ravenna Singapore Branch v CGW Construction
& Engineering (S) Pte Ltd [2018] 3 SLR 503:
Assisted in successfully defending an application to set
aside an adjudication determination in respect of a
construction project for an MRT station.
- AUI Pte Ltd v AUJ Pte Ltd [2016] SCAdjR 137:
Assisted in successfully defending an application to set
aside an adjudication determination in respect of a
construction project for an MRT station.
- AUK Pte Ltd v AUL Pte Ltd [2016] SCAdjR 166:
Assisted in an adjudication application to successfully
claim for payment for work done under a contract for the
supply and construction of pre-cast concrete components.
- Eng Seng Precast Pte Ltd v SLF Construction Pte
Ltd [2015] 5 SLR 948:
Assisted in resisting an application to set aside an
adjudication determination. The High Court gave guidance
on whether the supply of prefabricated materials falls
within the definition of “construction contract” or
“supply contract”.
Assisted in applying successfully for a stay of
enforcement of an adjudication determination on the
basis that it was tainted by fraud.
Assisted in applying successfully for an injunction
against a contractor to prevent service of further
payment claims, on the basis that the parties have
signed a final account in respect of the project in
question.
Assisted in resisting an application for stay of
adjudication proceedings in favour of arbitration in
respect of a DBOO Contract for a NEWater Plant.
Advised a main contractor of a project involving the
construction of a runway at Changi Airport, in respect
of claims of over S$150m submitted by the sub-contractor
for variation works and loss & expenses.
Advised the ACMV sub-contractor in the construction of
the Changi Airport Terminal 4 building in respect of the
merits of the ACMV sub-contractor’s claims of more than
S$17m against the main contractor.
- Civil and Commercial
disputes
Acted as lead counsel in successfully applying for a
multi-million dollar claim in the Singapore courts to be
stayed on grounds of forum non conveniens, in favour of
proceedings in Papua New Guinea.
- Management Corporation Strata Title Plan No.
3405 v Smile Inc Dental Surgeons Pte Ltd [2017] SGDC
288:
Assisted in successfully defending an application for a
mandatory injunction on the basis of alleged breach of
by-laws of a management corporation.
Assisted in a successful claim in the Singapore High
Court against a director of a BVI company for fraudulent
misrepresentation involving an agreement for the sale of
shares, where the court allowed the corporate veil to be
lifted and found the director in question to be
personally liable.
- Lim Koon Park v Yap Jin Meng Bryan and others
[2015] SGHC 284:
Assisted in an account of profits hearing where the
Court had to determine the quantum of interest due to a
junior lender for an unsecured loan of S$22.5m where
there is an existing senior secured lender.
- Gajentheran Marimuthu (by his mother and next
friend Parai A/P Palaniappan) v Joo Yong Co (Pte)
Ltd and another (Mohd Paqmi bin Arifin and another,
third parties) [2015] SGHC 11:
Assisted in a successful claim for beneficial ownership
of shares where complex legal and factual issues
concerning the law of resulting and constructive trust,
proprietary estoppel and gifts of property were raised.
- Columbia Asia Healthcare Sdn Bhd and another v
Hong Hin Kit Edward and another and other suits
[2014] 3 SLR 87:
Assisted in a successful claim against an Indonesian
hospital for the repayment of a loan and breach of
contracts for sale of goods.
- Insolvency and
Restructuring
Successfully obtained a stay of winding up proceedings
notwithstanding the existence of a judgment debt
exceeding S$300,000, where it was successfully argued
that the judgment debtor has a cross-claim exceeding the
said judgment debt which should be determined in
arbitration.
Advised on an asset sale involving a Waste-to-Energy
plant as part of the restructuring of a group entity
which owned various Waste-to-Energy plants around
South-East Asia.
EDUCATION
LL.B (Hons). University of Nottingham, 2012
BAR ASSOCIATIONS AND QUALIFICATIONS
Advocate & Solicitor, Singapore
Member, The Singapore
Academy of Law
Member, The
Law Society of Singapore
Member, Society of Construction Law (Singapore)
CITIZENSHIP
Singaporean
LANGUAGES
English, Mandarin and Hokkien
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