A man who tripped and fell over a concrete hump at a Hougang void deck and sued a building contractor for negligence was found to be 75 per cent responsible for the accident. The Straits Times reported that in District Judge Sia Aik Kor's Mar. 11, 2026 judgement, she apportioned responsibility for the accident at 75 per cent to the man, Choo Mee Hua, and 25 per cent to the contractor, HPC Builders. According to the judgment available online, the contractor claimed the accident was caused by Choo's own negligence since he had failed to keep a proper lookout or take adequate precautions for his personal safety. Funeral wake This comes after Choo tripped over a concrete hump at the void deck of Block 542 Hougang Avenue 8 on the morning of Mar. 14, 2023, when he was leaving a funeral wake. The fall saw Choo sustaining injuries to his face, hand and shoulder, as well as damage to his watch and phone, which had been flung out of his hands. His age was not stated in court documents. Upgrading works Choo argued that the company was responsible for ensuring the works did not pose a danger to those at the void deck. HPC Builders, contracted by HDB for upgrading works in the area, put up temporary toilets at the void deck, with a pipe connecting the toilets to a sewerage manhole. A concrete hump, which was painted yellow and constructed over the manhole, was also connected to the pipe. Bulk of responsibility The judge, who noted that the accident occurred in broad daylight with no visible structure obstructing Choo's view, said: "The claimant should have already been aware that there were temporary toilets in the area and that the block was having upgrading works. "He should therefore have been more alert to the possibility of hazards as he emerged from the passageway." Choo should thus bear the bulk of responsibility for the accident, she said. Lacking credibility The judge also did not find Choo to be a particularly credible witness. This is because he stated that he had driven to the wake but later claimed a friend dropped him off, and claimed he made a police report on the day of the accident, but the report revealed it was made three days later. A referral letter from Sengkang General Hospital, where Choo sought treatment, stated that he fell in the carpark, while his police report stated he tripped over a cement structure. "If he had tripped over the pipe, which was his version of the events, he could not have also tripped over the cement and it was unclear how he then rolled to the carpark, given that the hump itself was measured at 2.5m by 1m," said the judge. Fallen below degree of care She noted, however, that HPC Builders had fallen below the degree of care demanded of a reasonably careful and skilled contractor and breached its duty of care to Choo. "The existence of the hump presented an unexpected variation in the level of the passenger walkway, and it was reasonably foreseeable that a member of the public who may not have noticed the hump despite the yellow marking or expected the height of the hump may trip over it and suffer injuries," she said. As such, the area should have been cordoned off from public access because of the tripping hazard posed by the pipe and the hump, she added.

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