TENGKU ABDUL KADIR BIN MOHAMED v NEW EASTERN (1971) PRIVATE LIMITED & Anor

[2026] SGHC 96 High Court (General Division) 6 May 2026 HC/OA 49/2026

6 cases cited (4 SG, 2 foreign)

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Key facts

Court	High Court (General Division)
Decided	6 May 2026
Judge	Chua Lee Ming
Charges / claim	Companies
Counsel	Centurion Law LLC, Covenant Chambers LLC, USP Law LLC, Chua Wei Rong, Hewage Ushan Saminda Premaratne, Kang Kok Boon, Favian (Jiang Guowen), Khelvin Xu Cunhan, Rebecca Soh Jia Qi, Tan Liqi Joseph

Source: [2026] SGHC 96, High Court (General Division), decided 6 May 2026 — eLitigation. Updated 10 July 2026.

Catchwords

Companies — Members — Meetings Companies — Directors — Resignation Companies — Members — Meetings — Whether chairperson has right to disallow votes

Practice Areas

Companies

Judges (1)

Chua Lee Ming Delivered

Counsel (9)

Centurion Law LLC Firm Covenant Chambers LLC Firm

USP Law LLC Firm

Chua Wei Rong Counsel for the defendant

Hewage Ushan Saminda Premaratne Counsel for the plaintiff Kang Kok Boon, Favian (Jiang Guowen) Counsel for the defendant

Khelvin Xu Cunhan Counsel for the defendant

Rebecca Soh Jia Qi Counsel for the defendant

Tan Liqi Joseph Counsel for the plaintiff

Parties (3)

New Eastern (1971) Pte Ltd Defendant

Lim Sing Yong (Lin Xinrong) Defendant

Tengku Abdul Kadir bin Mohamed Plaintiff

Case Significance

In Tengku Abdul Kadir bin Mohamed v New Eastern (1971) Pte Ltd & Anor [2026] SGHC 96, decided on 6 May 2026, Justice Chua Lee Ming of the High Court General Division ruled on a shareholder dispute within a company incorporated in 1971 whose primary business is the wholesale of food, beverages, and basic goods. The claimant, Tengku Abdul Kadir bin Mohamed, successfully obtained a declaration that the second defendant Lim Sing Yong's decision as EGM chairperson to disallow the claimant's proxy vote on 11 September 2025 — on grounds of alleged conflict of interest — was invalid; the court also ordered a new general meeting to consider the removal or appointment of directors. The Company has since appealed both orders.

Summary

A shareholder of New Eastern (1971) Pte Ltd challenged, among other things, the chairperson Lim Sing Yong's decision at an Extraordinary General Meeting to disallow the claimant's proxy vote against a resolution to commence legal proceedings against a former director, on the ground of alleged conflict of interests. The court held that the chairperson had no right to disallow the vote on that basis and declared the disallowance invalid. The court also ordered the company to convene a general meeting to consider removal or appointment of directors, while dismissing most other reliefs sought.

Can an EGM chairperson in Singapore disallow a shareholder's vote on conflict-of-interest grounds ([2026] SGHC 96)?

In Tengku Abdul Kadir bin Mohamed v New Eastern (1971) Pte Ltd [2026] SGHC 96, Justice Chua Lee Ming declared that Lim Sing Yong's decision as EGM chairperson on 11 September 2025 to disallow the claimant's proxy vote was invalid, establishing limits on a chairperson's power to exclude votes under Singapore companies law.