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SINGAPORE: In her complaint letter about court-appointed psychiatrist Francis Ngui, she described herself as an "outspoken" person who is helping her ill mother to carry on the lawsuit against OCBC over its refusal to close the older woman's account.
But seemingly worn down by the trial - now into its ninth day - Ms Amy Hsu Ann Mei broke down outside the courtroom on Thursday.
Dr Ngui, a senior consultant psychiatrist appointed to determine Madam Hwang Cheng Tsu Hsu's mental capacity, had said that Ms Hsu hindered his work by being uncooperative.
Halfway through the hearing, Ms Hsu, 44, left the courtroom and cried uncontrollably for almost five minutes. Her husband and a woman tried to comfort her.
Questioned by OCBC's lawyer Adrian Wong, Dr Ngui related on Thursday that Ms Hsu had called him a day after his interview with Mdm Hwang on 15 January 2009, to complain about his having asked her mother how she wanted to manage her finances.
She also wanted to postpone a second interview to be conducted on video in Mdm Hwang's house in February.
When Dr Ngui wrote to Ms Hsu's lawyer to inform that he was unable to complete the interviews, Ms Hsu then sent Dr Ngui a complaint letter.
In it, she said she was only trying to speak up on her mother's behalf to ensure that the interview would be conducted properly. Her mother would never be comfortable with a stranger in her house and is upset with having to record the interview, wrote Ms Hsu.
But Dr Ngui told the court that Mdm Hwang had kept quiet when Ms Hsu agreed to his suggestion then of the video interview.
Asked by Mr Wong what he thought about Ms Hsu's character - based on her letter - Dr Ngui said: "It sounds like she is a very meticulous person, very careful and she covers every base".
He also said that Ms Hsu is "reactive emotionally" and gets upset about events, "especially those concerning her mother" and that "she is close to her mother and she feels for her mother's plight during this difficult time with the banks".
The trial continues.
- TODAY/sc
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