Benny is a Partner in the firm’s International Arbitration, Construction, and Projects Practice.
His practice encompasses both contentious and non-contentious work related to building, construction, engineering, and infrastructure projects. Fluent in business Mandarin, Benny frequently provides legal advice to Chinese enterprises and has experience appearing before the Singapore Court of Appeal and High Court, as well as in international arbitrations under various rules (SIAC, ICC, and LCIA). He is also actively involved in adjudication proceedings under the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2004.
Recently, Benny has been appointed as Young Independent Counsel on two occasions by the Singapore Court to assist in its determination of novel and complex issues of law.
In Bloomberg, Johan Daniel v Khan Zhi Yan [2023] SGHC 238, he submitted on the ambit of the Court’s power to set aside a contractual consent order. The Singapore High Court agreed with Benny’s recommendations and commended “[Benny’s] submissions to be of considerable assistance to [the Court’s] analysis and determination of the issues raised in this appeal”.
In Public Prosecutor v Randy Rosigit [2024] SGHC 171, which was the first High Court case to address sentencing for offences under Section 377BK of the Penal Code (relating to access and possession of child abuse materials), Benny’s proposed sentencing framework was substantially adopted by the special three-Judge bench of the High Court. The Court expressed their “appreciation to [Benny] for the thorough and comprehensive submissions he made before us [which] we derived significant assistance”.
EXPERIENCE
Construction & Projects
- Acted for a major Japanese trading house in an ICC arbitration regarding engineering and construction issues over a railway project. The disputes were governed by Taiwanese law and related to complex technical, delay, and quantum issues involving sums exceeding US$140 million.
- Acted for a Singapore government-linked entity in an SIAC arbitration concerning design issues over a waste-to-energy plant in Singapore. The disputes were governed by Singapore law and involved sums exceeding S$14 million.
- Acted for the defendant, a Singapore construction company, in Singapore court proceedings regarding the construction of an HDB development, involving a liquidated damage and delay-related claim exceeding S$7 million.
- Acted for an architectural firm and an architect in a dispute with the owners of a good class bungalow development in Singapore concerning alleged breaches of the architects’ statutory duties and negligence, involving sums exceeding S$2 million.
- Acted for the defendant, a Singapore construction company, in court proceedings related to the construction of worker dormitories, involving various breaches of director’s duties and sums exceeding S$1.7 million.
- Advising a state-owned Chinese entity regarding various aspects of engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning contracts in Singapore, including drafting the EPC contract and various supplemental ancillary contracts, along with undertaking due diligence and a detailed review of the procurement and regulatory regime in Singapore.
- Acted for a Singapore developer in court proceedings related to claims for common area defects by the MCST of a freehold condominium development.
- Acted for a Singapore company specializing in oil and gas products against a Singapore construction company in court proceedings arising from various diesel supply agreements, involving sums exceeding S$1 million.
- Regularly acting for Singapore developers, landlords, and hotel owners/operators in relation to various tenancy and lease-related disputes, including early termination, rental arrears, and negotiations for settlement. For example: Hoi Hup Sunway Tampines Pte Ltd v Ng Hwee Chuah and another [2023] SGMC 39.
- Acted for the defendant, a Singapore construction consortium, in resisting an application by the counterparty to injunct its call on a performance bond exceeding S$1 million: Chian Teck Realty Pte Ltd v SDK Consortium and another [2023] SGHC 210.
- Acting for a Chinese state-owned EPC contractor in an ICC arbitration arising from the construction of Vietnam’s largest provincial wind farm project. The disputes are governed by Vietnamese law and seated in Singapore, and relate to delay-related claims including alleged acts of prevention, COVID-19 supply chain disruptions, extensive variation claims, and a significant loss of profits claim, involving sums of approximately US$200 million.
- Acting for a Chinese state-owned EPC contractor in dual ICC arbitrations arising from the construction of a coal-fired power plant in Pakistan valued at approximately USD 1.18 billion. The disputes are governed by English and Welsh law and seated in Singapore, and involve claims for wrongful withholding of retention moneys and unpaid customs duties under interrelated FIDIC-based EPC contracts, involving sums exceeding USD 20 million.
- Acting for a construction project owner in an ICC arbitration arising from the design and construction of a smart warehouse facility at the Hong Kong International Airport. The disputes are governed by Hong Kong law and relate to substantial additional cost and delay claims, including COVID-related delays and significant contract interpretation issues regarding gross floor area, involving sums in excess of HKD 5 billion.
- Acting for a Chinese state-owned EPC contractor and its joint venture partners in an LCIA arbitration arising from the construction of an LNG receiving facility in Cyprus. The disputes are seated in London and relate to claims for outstanding contract sums, delay, variations, and counterclaims for defective and incomplete works, involving sums of approximately EUR 80 million, with related proceedings exceeding USD 1 billion.
- Advising a Chinese EPC contractor and its Saudi branch in connection with three LCIA arbitrations arising from the construction of a major mining infrastructure project in Saudi Arabia. The disputes arise from a suite of EPC project agreements covering onshore, offshore, and bridging aspects, and involve complex technical, performance, delay, termination, and quantum issues under Saudi law, with claims estimated at approximately USD 1.2 billion and counterclaims exceeding USD 300 million.
- Advising a Chinese state-owned EPC contractor on the design, procurement, and construction of a gas separation plant project in Thailand valued at approximately US$400 million. The engagement includes claim strategy advice, claim analysis, performance bond protection, and related advisory work arising from an EPC contract with a Thai state-owned enterprise.
Statutory Adjudication
- Acted for a major Japanese group of construction companies against a Singapore entity in bringing a successful claim in excess of S$62 million against its upstream EPC main contractor for works related to a waste-to-energy plant involving a listed company and its subsidiaries.
- Acted for the respondent, a Chinese state-owned enterprise, in defending a claim in excess of S$10 million related to the construction of solar farms in Singapore. The matter escalated to an Adjudication Review proceeding before senior members of the adjudication circuit.
- Acted for the respondent, a Singapore company, in successfully defending a claim in excess of S$5 million related to addition and alteration contracts for an iconic office development in Singapore.
- Acted for the respondent, a state-owned Chinese entity, in successfully defending a claim in excess of S$1 million related to the construction of the Thomson-East Coast Line in Singapore.
- Acted for the respondent, a Singapore construction company, in defending a claim related to bored pile and secant bored pile works done for an HDB development, involving sums exceeding S$2 million: BAL Pte Ltd v BAM Pte Ltd [2019] SCAdjR 124.
- Acted for one of Singapore’s leading crane suppliers in bringing a successful claim against a Singapore construction company in excess of S$1 million.
- Acted for the respondent, a Singapore construction company, in defending a claim related to soil improvement and bored piling works done on a major road and sewer in Singapore, involving sums exceeding S$1 million.
- Acted for the judicial managers of a Singapore piling specialist contractor in relation to various adjudications, complex construction-related contracts, and disputes involving more than 10 parties, commencing adjudication proceedings against creditors of the said company.
- Acted for the applicant, a Singapore construction company, in setting aside of an adjudication determination: Hiap Seng Building Construction Pte Ltd v Hock Heng Seng Contractor Pte Ltd [2024] SGHC 50.
Various International Arbitrations & Court proceedings
- Acted for the claimant in an SIAC arbitration in resisting an application by the respondent for a further award from the tribunal: Voltas Ltd v York International Pte Ltd [2024] SGCA 12; and York International Pte Ltd v Voltas Ltd [2022] SGHC 153.The Singapore Court of Appeal clarified that a concluded arbitration cannot be re-opened by way of an implied reservation of jurisdiction by the tribunal, and that a conditional arbitral award does not, in and of itself, affect its finality.
- Acted for the claimant, an Indonesian oil and gas company, in an ICC arbitration against a Singapore company concerning disputes arising from various liquefied natural gas sale and purchase agreements, with the sum in dispute exceeding US$100 million.
- Acted for the defendant, an Indonesian national who headed a savings and loan cooperative in Indonesia, in defending a claim exceeding S$10 million.
- Acted for the defendant, an established fitness group, in defending a claim for unjust enrichment and money had and received against: Lee Yeow Peng v Fitness First Singapore Pte Ltd [2020] SGMC 37.
PUBLICATIONS
- Fair and Equitable Treatment. Lexology (25 June 2024)
- Singapore Court of Appeal Determines: How Final is a “Final Arbitral Award”? Can There Be a Conditional Reservation of Jurisdiction by an Arbitrator? Lexology (23 May 2024)
- Just Business: Is The Current Regulatory Framework An Adequate Solution To Human Rights Abuse By Transnational Corporations? German Law Journal (2017), Vol 18, Issue No.3, 533-558)
