I .O.U. , BUT NOT THAT MUCH

Money is a sensitive topic even among friends and relatives - we will all do well to remember that.

Over a long period of some 30 years, Li Yong had been lending money to his friend Peck Seah, who needed funds every now and then to keep her small food business going. For some years Li Yong simply handed the cash over to his friend, whom he had no problem trusting. It was only when Peck Seah’s repayments started coming in late that Li Yong began making her sign IOUs.

As Peck Seah had started to make her repayments much later in recent months, Li Yong began to become worried. In fear that Peck Seah would default on the payment of the sum loaned to her, Li Yong decided to approach her to collect back the $5,000 he believed she still owed him. Peck Seah refused to do so, insisting that based on her memory the outstanding balance due to Li Yong was only $3,000. Unable to settle this discrepancy on their own, the two decided to seek mediation.

During the session, Li Yong produced some IOUs to support his claim regarding the amount that Peck Seah still owed him. However, his claims were refuted by Peck Seah as some of the IOUs had never even been signed by her. As the purpose of mediation is to help individuals reach a compromise on their dispute, the mediators put aside the “evidence” produced and instead worked with both parties to generate possible options to narrow their differences.

Peck Seah highlighted to the mediators that it was not that she did not want to pay Li Yong back the money loaned to her, it was only that she could not agree with the amount he demanded. Helping Li Yong weigh the possibility of getting some of his money back from Peck Seah versus prolonging the dispute over the actual amount owed, they eventually got him to agree to a compromise with Peck Seah on an amount of $4,000, to be returned by her in instalments.

While the resolution may not had gotten Li Yong all the money he loaned to his friend, the mediators’ assistance did help both of them bring closure to this money issue and allow Li Yong to recover a bigger amount than might have otherwise been the case.

[Names and other identifying details have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals whose stories are portrayed in this article.]