It was supposed to be a lovely Christmas lunch at the Serangoon Gardens Country Club (SGCC) with her family.
But Jorene Cheong received a rude shock when she went to retrieve her car.
The heavy rain had flooded the car park, and her car was submerged in water that reached halfway up its wheels.
Photo courtesy of Jorene
Photo courtesy of Jorene Cheong
By the time the flood subsided, her five-year-old BMW's engine had died.
The car had been damaged enough that her insurer declared it a "total loss", citing non-economical repair costs.
But when Cheong reached out to the club for compensation, they denied responsibility.
A letter by SGCC's loss adjuster seen by Mothership claimed that the flooding incident was "due to exceptionally heavy rainfall which is beyond the reasonable control of [SGCC]".
"There is also no evidence suggesting negligence on the part for causing or contributing to the occurrence," it added.
Only an hour and a half
But Cheong pointed out to Mothership that the rain — which took place on Dec. 25, 2023 — had only lasted around an hour and a half.
The flood began at 1:50pm and ended at 2:40pm, according to SGCC's incident report.
According to the National Environment Agency, there had been "widespread moderate to heavy thundery showers" in the afternoon.
The rain also led to the drains overflowing at a Marine Parade coffee shop.
However, no flash floods were reported by PUB that day.
"Logically thinking, how would the flood be this bad if the drainage was clear?" Cheong asked.
Furthermore, the club also did not give any instructions to the members to drive their vehicles away from the flooded region, she said.
As a result, the whole area was "in complete chaos".
"Internal drainage issue"
As SGCC denied responsibility, Cheong wrote to PUB to complain about the issue.
In response to Cheong, PUB said that it was SGCC's responsibility to ensure effective flow discharge into the public drains.
PUB added that it has been providing assistance to SGCC since 2011 to alleviate the flood risk at its car park, advising them on how to resolve their "internal drainage issue".
However, Cheong said SGCC insisted that the flooding was "beyond [its] reasonable control" and that there was "no evidence suggesting negligence".
In the correspondence, the loss adjuster also said that unless Cheong was able to "furnish compelling evidence proving the failure on the part of" the club, their stance "remains unchanged".
According to PUB's Code of Practice on surface water drainage, the ones responsible for maintaining, operating, and monitoring storm water drainage systems within their premises are the developers, owners, managing agents, MCSTs, or Town Councils of these premises.
"Unfair"
Cheong, whose vehicle was registered in SGCC under her mum's club membership, said that the whole affair has been "very disappointing".
"This is very unfair on our part as the flood would not happen in their car park if drainage is maintained," she added.
She pointed out that SGCC has to date not provided evidence of drainage maintenance — something she asked about following PUB's email to her that it had advised the club on the matter.
Instead, when she asked for the supporting evidence, they allegedly did not reply, "which is an irresponsible act", she said.
Cheong said that she now hopes to link up with other members affected by the flood so they can take action against the club together.
Mothership has reached out to SGCC for comment.
Top image from SGCC/Facebook and Jorene Cheong