Yes. It’s exactly as it sounds like. In fact, the reality might be even spicier and weirder than our title.
Involving a Ms Serene Tiong and a Dr Chan Herng Nieng she is suing, it’s a story with affairs, a S$150K extortion, and drugs. (To save you a click, that’s an ST premium article.)
Dr Chan was a senior consultant psychiatrist at Singapore General Hospital (SGH).
Apparently, in the high SES world, real life is more exciting than the movies.
But here’s the thing: the story is entirely gotten from both of their point of view, so we don’t know what the hell really happened either.
Ms Serene Tiong’s Reasons For Suing
Now, the reason for her suing Dr Chan is as the title says.
Dr Chan had allegedly promised that they would have an “exclusive relationship” but he had no intention of keeping his word.
She’s seeking damages for psychiatric harm caused by Dr Chan, for allegedly inducing her into the above arrangement that he later breached.
Huh? Can sue for this meh?
Or at least, that’s half the reason. The other reason is negligence, causing her to be addicted to anti-anxiety drugs.
Ms Serene Tiong’s Side Of The Story
In Jan 2017, she entered into a serious relationship with Dr Chan. This was just after the aftermath of her own marital problems, which had caused her anxiety and depression.
What this “marital problems” mean isn’t explained, so we don’t know this means whether a divorce or what happened either.
Towards the end of her and Dr Chan’s relationship, he prescribed Xanax (a drug used to treat anxiety), which was originally obtained in his name for his own use, to her.
Ms Tiong’s claim is that this makes her his patient, and this means he was responsible in ensuring that she would not be addicted to Xanax.
Then, they broke up.
She was helpless, yet he neglected her.
She suffered from slurred speech and long-term cognitive difficulties due to the drug use and had to undergo psychiatric evaluation for her addiction to Xanax.
Now, why did all this shit happen?
In April 2018, she discovered he was having affairs with other women (yes, S in affairs and E in women). After this, she suffered from anxiety and looked for psychiatric help somewhere else.
But wait, everything in this section are her claims. Meaning, everything above could be bullshit. We will never know.
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Dr Chan Herng Nieng’s Side Of The Story
Needless to say, Dr Chan wasn’t going to accept everything she said as the truth.
Firstly, he met Ms Tiong socially, and she was never his patient. During the time they met and kept in close contact, she did not show any of those side effects.
Their intimate relationship was consensual, but he did not agree to commit to a long-term and exclusive sexual relationship with her.
Which… simultaneously sounds like an asshole and also technically the truth when put that way, since there are no contracts for boyfriend-girlfriend.
He took Xanax himself.
When Ms Tiong asked for the drug, he gave it to her out of concern, along with 14 tablets of Venlafaxine to reduce anxiety for short-term use and told her to consult another doctor.
Note that he is doing this “unofficially”, so his claim is that he didn’t breach his obligation as a doctor.
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Now, as for the breakup, he claims that the cause was the S$150K extortion that Ms Tiong initiated.
Ms Tiong had allegedly threatened to publicise screenshots of private WhatsApp messages between him and his close surgeon friend, Dr Julian Ong.
She got these messages from accessing his mobile phone while he was asleep during their vacation to eastern Europe in April 2018.
What the heck? That came out of nowhere.
What was in these messages that makes Ms Tiong think it’s worth S$150K we don’t know, but Dr Chan claims this triggered the break-up.
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Then he shoots the arrow back to Ms Tiong, saying that he suffered insomnia and panic attacks because of her fury and threats.
So, What The Heck Is The Truth?
Don’t know. Maybe everything above is fake. Or maybe everything is true, just not the full story. Gotta wait at least a few months for more answers.
Here are two additional things. Ms Tiong was apparently issued a warning by the police in Jan 2020 for attempted extortion.
Dr Chan and Dr Ong were also asked by the Singapore Medical Council in April to stop contacting female patients outside of work after Dr Ong lost a defamation case against Tiong.
Wait, there’s a prequel to this?
According to another Straits Times article, a Ms Serene Tiong had sued a Dr Julian Ong for colluding with a Dr Chan Herng Nieng for taking advantage of vulnerable female patients and colleagues for sex.
That’s right. Unless it’s all just a huge coincidence that everybody happened to have the same names, the defamation case and this “exclusive relationship” case are related.
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