A few months back, cats at Laguna Park were in danger of being culled....here is the truth!

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A few months back, cats at Laguna Park were in danger of being culled....here is the truth!

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Quote: Ex—chairman of Laguna Park charged with vandalism Channel NewsAsia - Wednesday, January 7 SINGAPORE : When the possibility of a collective sale for Laguna Park was announced in December 2007, some residents held back, hoping it would drive up the estate’s value. But matters turned ugly later at the East Coast condominium, which was hit by a spate of vandalism after several residents opposed the sale. Cars belonging to residents against the sale were splashed with paint or scratched, while mailboxes were found with glue in their keyholes. Still, many residents of the 667,000 square foot estate were shocked to learn that their estate management committee chairman, Mr Lee Kok Leong, had been arrested last August on suspicion of perpetrating these acts. During a brief appearance in court on Tuesday, the 62—year—old businessman — who was dressed in a white long—sleeve shirt and black jeans — stood emotionless as he was charged with two counts of mischief. According to court documents, Mr Lee is accused of inserting glue into the padlock, rear gate keyholes and main wooden door of a flat at Block 5000E of Laguna Park at 12.44am on August 25 last year. He also allegedly vandalised the front and rear wooden door keyholes of another flat on the same floor. The damages amounted to S$590. The case was adjourned after defence lawyer Ramesh Tiwary said he needed time to make representations. Mr Lee will reappear in court again on February 3. If convicted, he can be jailed for up to one year or fined, or sentenced to both on each charge. He made a quick exit after the hearing, avoiding residents who had turned up to witness the proceedings. The businessman also declined attempts to be interviewed, getting into a waiting car to avoid photographers. A spokesperson for the management committee told TODAY that new chairman Reggie Chew took over last October following Mr Lee’s resignation in August. While they declined to comment on the matter as the trial is still ongoing, the spokesperson said they have increased patrol around the estate and are looking into installing close—circuit television cameras (CCTV). Despite the gloomy economic outlook, the 528—unit condominium crossed the 80 per cent threshold last month, enabling the en bloc sales process to proceed to the marketing stage. Residents of the 30—year—old estate can expect to pocket between S$1.8 million to S$2.3 million for their units, down from the over S$3 million some were hoping for last year. Most of the units are between 1,500 and 1,700 square feet. — TODAY/ms I remembered some time back I received an email with a scanned photocopied notice containing the picture of a cat being pasted all over a condominium estate stating that the cats there were in danger of being culled because they were accused of scratching cars. I was just emailed the above report by a friend of mine today - the scratches were confirmed to be the work of vandalism by a disgruntled management committee member of the condominium because the whole place was undergoing an en-bloc proposal process which means that a property developer had proposed a lucrative developing deal to the management of the condomium to buy over the place. That area is in one of the most expensive housing districts in Singapore at Marine Parade area and has a beautiful sea view. The current condo management committee back then needed 80% of the residents to vote in order to go ahead with it. The returns were good - I got a cousin who received SGD $2.16 million from the enbloc sale. His father (my uncle) bought the unit there about 20 yrs back at only SGD $300k. As such when there were cases of residents who refused to sign the agreement to go ahead with the enbloc, the management committee became very angry and went on vandalising cars etc in which the blame was then pinned on the stray cats lurking in that area. So now we know the truth. End of the day, cats are always the first victims when it comes to pin pointing fingers to car scratches. This is examplary case is solid proof to even prove that such a claim is a myth and that the cat's claws is not strong enough to scratch through car paint. Anybody received the email before? (i already deleted mine ) The email of the scanned photocopied notice pasted all around Laguna Park alerting residents that cats were responsible for scratches found on cars there. We can use this as comparison with this report from CNA to prove our case for useful future reference when such similar cases occur again anywhere in Singapore - thats cats DO NOT scratch cars and ARE NOT capable of it. Appreciate if anybody can come up with any records of the issue back then? (especially of the scanned photocopied notice pasted all over Laguna Park back then addressing this issue). This is just for constructive comparison with this criminal case and for future usage of education if cats in other areas are blamed for car scratches again. __________________ Mr Tan Tuan Khoon, proud killer of more than 300 cats lives at 47 Jalan Redop, Singapore 808593