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By K.c. Vijayan Senior Law Correspondent A FLAT owner's bid to challenge the HDB's move to take back his five-room unit ended yesterday when the Housing Board told the High Court it will withdraw its notice of intent to acquire the flat. Mr Chew Teck Fatt in return agreed not to proceed with his judicial review application. Justice Woo Bih Li, who made no order on the application, ruled that HDB pay Mr Chew's legal costs at the closed-door hearing. Yesterday's turn of events staved off a potential landmark case on whether the decisions of the HDB and the office of the Minister of National Development can be the subject of judicial review. When contacted last night, Mr Chew, a 38-year-old company director, said he was about to leave for Taiwan in the morning with a "heavy heart" as this matter had caused him stress for about two years. But "I felt very relieved and happy when my lawyer Kirpal called me and said the case was withdrawn, just as I was about to board the plane". An HDB spokesman The Straits Times spoke to warned that the board "takes a serious view of any unauthorised subletting as HDB flats are primarily meant for owner occupation. "In this particular case, as additional information had surfaced after Mr Chew had filed his court application, we decided to give him the benefit of doubt... "This avoids unnecessary litigation in court and will save both time and costs for the court and all the parties concerned." Mr Chew had bought the resale flat along Bukit Batok Street 25 for $480,000 in 2010. The next year, he let out a room to a couple and then a second to a Taiwanese man whose child went to school here. In both cases, he had HDB's approval. But a probe by HDB officers, which included surveillance of the flat and interviews with the tenants, found that he was not living there. It is a longstanding HDB policy that where an owner does not stay in his flat during the period of subletting, this would be evidence that the whole unit was being rented out. Subletting an entire flat without approval is against the rules, and can lead to the HDB compulsorily acquiring the unit. But Mr Chew denied renting out the whole flat and claimed he kept the third room for his use. He also said that there were times when he worked late or stayed at his mother's place at Jalan Bahagia in Balestier. At issue in the case would have been whether there must be continuous physical occupation of the flat before Mr Chew can be said to have abandoned his interest in the unit and was wholly subletting it illegally. At yesterday's hearing, the court was informed that both HDB and the minister would notify Mr Chew in writing that they would not pursue their notice of intent to re-acquire his flat made in December 2011 and January 2012 respectively. The minister's decision is made after any aggrieved party appeals to his office in a compulsory acquisition notice by HDB. [email protected]

Geely edges closer to acquiring Volvo Volvo looks set to fall into Chinese hands, after it emerged that Geely is the sole bidder for the Swedish carmaker, currently owned by Ford 02 Sep 2009 | Foreign News: China Viewed : 341 times http://www.sgcarmart.com/news/article.php?AID=2526 Several anonymous sources has reported that Geely has signed a letter of intent to purchase Volvo from Ford, and revealed that Geely and Ford were still ironing out the details of the deal, including the transfer of technology, Volvo's marketing and market position and possibly layoffs. If successful, Geely hopes to start producing Volvo cars in a new factory in the Guangdong Province of China and will also invest US$10 billion in building the Volvo brand. The first model to be designed and engineered under the new ownership is expected to be the next XC90 SUV, due in 2011. Previous reports suggested that Chinese automakers Dongfeng Motor Group, Beijing Auto and Chongqing Changan Automobile Co, as well as a European consortium, were among the final bidders, but it appears that Geely is the sole remaining party interested in the troubled Swedish carmaker. The Swedish government has announced that it will offer US$572 million in loan guarantees to entice any company to takeover Volvo, and the acquisition could be seen as a coup for Geely, who could stand to benefit from Volvo