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Club pays up after court seizes gear
The Arena denies it's in financial trouble after pay row with UK band
By Hedy Khoo
January 25, 2009
--TNP PICTURE: HEDY KHOO
WITH labels bearing the courts' logo stuck on various pieces of equipment to go on sale, it would seem that The Arena at Clarke Quay may become a marketplace.
This was after $50,000 worth of items, including the sound system, keyboards, a laptop and bar equipment, were seized by a court bailiff on Wednesday morning.
The club had failed to pay its former employees, The Toni James Band, a 12-piece band from the UK, £30,499 ($66,650), as ordered by the High Court on 19Nov last year.
Was the club defaulting on its payment and on the verge of bankruptcy?
Not at all, according to its managing director, MrMike Lim, 28, who said he had made the payment on Thursday.
He showed The New Paper two payment vouchers for cheques of $77,750.61 and $1,584.87. The total amount includes the legal cost incurred by the band.
But the stickers remain on the club equipment and are more than an eyesore.
The seizure of the goods was reported in the press on Thursday, and worried suppliers and patrons of the club have been inundating MrLim with calls.
Said MrLim: 'My phone has been flooded by calls and messages. My suppliers and clients are worried that our club is in financial trouble.
'Given the current economic situation, people can easily get the wrong impression when they hear that our items have been seized.'
Why then had The Arena not made the payment for so long after the judgment?
Mr Lim said the delayed payment had not been intentional.
'I had every intention to pay up as I want to put this matter behind us and move on,' he said.
But he had initially wanted to pursue the case further and had applied for leave from the court to appeal against the 19Nov judgment.
His current headache is a result of a contractual dispute with the band, which he hired in June 2007 and fired two weeks into their original eight-week contract.
He had paid them £11,032 for the two weeks on the termination of their contract, but the band wanted the remainder of £41,431 they were to have been paid under the contract.
Mr Lim said he got news from his lawyer that his leave to appeal had been rejected on 12 Jan.
As he had to leave for the US on a business trip that day, he said he instructed his lawyer to send a written request to the lawyers representing the band to ask for an extension of the payment date.
'I am the only person authorised to sign cheques for payment, and it was stated in the request that the claims and payment would be settled on 22 Jan upon my return,' said Mr Lim.
He was upset when the court bailiff turned up at his club to enforce a writ of seizure and sales.
'The monetary cost to me is secondary. What annoys me most is the damage to my club's reputation,' said Mr Lim.
'I want the public to know that operations at The Arena are as per normal and we have even more events lined up for the year ahead.'
Cheques cleared
When contacted, lawyer Jason Lim, who represented The Toni James Band, said the cheques received from The Arena were cleared yesterday afternoon and his clients were grateful to be paid finally.
He said he would apply for the writ of seizure and sales to be lifted and for the seized items to be released.
He said that although he had received the written request for delaying the payment, he had not acceded to it as the payment was so long overdue.
He pointed out that The Arena paid up only after the writ of seizure had been executed.
'We sent them a winding-up notice on 15 Dec 2008,' he said. 'They should have paid up the judgment debt sooner.'
Club pays up after court seizes gear
The Arena denies it's in financial trouble after pay row with UK band
By Hedy Khoo
January 25, 2009
--TNP PICTURE: HEDY KHOO
WITH labels bearing the courts' logo stuck on various pieces of equipment to go on sale, it would seem that The Arena at Clarke Quay may become a marketplace.
This was after $50,000 worth of items, including the sound system, keyboards, a laptop and bar equipment, were seized by a court bailiff on Wednesday morning.
The club had failed to pay its former employees, The Toni James Band, a 12-piece band from the UK, £30,499 ($66,650), as ordered by the High Court on 19Nov last year.
Was the club defaulting on its payment and on the verge of bankruptcy?
Not at all, according to its managing director, MrMike Lim, 28, who said he had made the payment on Thursday.
He showed The New Paper two payment vouchers for cheques of $77,750.61 and $1,584.87. The total amount includes the legal cost incurred by the band.
But the stickers remain on the club equipment and are more than an eyesore.
The seizure of the goods was reported in the press on Thursday, and worried suppliers and patrons of the club have been inundating MrLim with calls.
Said MrLim: 'My phone has been flooded by calls and messages. My suppliers and clients are worried that our club is in financial trouble.
'Given the current economic situation, people can easily get the wrong impression when they hear that our items have been seized.'
Why then had The Arena not made the payment for so long after the judgment?
Mr Lim said the delayed payment had not been intentional.
'I had every intention to pay up as I want to put this matter behind us and move on,' he said.
But he had initially wanted to pursue the case further and had applied for leave from the court to appeal against the 19Nov judgment.
His current headache is a result of a contractual dispute with the band, which he hired in June 2007 and fired two weeks into their original eight-week contract.
He had paid them £11,032 for the two weeks on the termination of their contract, but the band wanted the remainder of £41,431 they were to have been paid under the contract.
Mr Lim said he got news from his lawyer that his leave to appeal had been rejected on 12 Jan.
As he had to leave for the US on a business trip that day, he said he instructed his lawyer to send a written request to the lawyers representing the band to ask for an extension of the payment date.
'I am the only person authorised to sign cheques for payment, and it was stated in the request that the claims and payment would be settled on 22 Jan upon my return,' said Mr Lim.
He was upset when the court bailiff turned up at his club to enforce a writ of seizure and sales.
'The monetary cost to me is secondary. What annoys me most is the damage to my club's reputation,' said Mr Lim.
'I want the public to know that operations at The Arena are as per normal and we have even more events lined up for the year ahead.'
Cheques cleared
When contacted, lawyer Jason Lim, who represented The Toni James Band, said the cheques received from The Arena were cleared yesterday afternoon and his clients were grateful to be paid finally.
He said he would apply for the writ of seizure and sales to be lifted and for the seized items to be released.
He said that although he had received the written request for delaying the payment, he had not acceded to it as the payment was so long overdue.
He pointed out that The Arena paid up only after the writ of seizure had been executed.
'We sent them a winding-up notice on 15 Dec 2008,' he said. 'They should have paid up the judgment debt sooner.'
