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Go in 9 months get 8 stroke. Extra by 3, ask govt for 3mil... yao gui. http://news.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNew...0820-83316.html Did he get less than he asked for? A dispute between the Government and an ex-inmate has been settled after a mediation yesterday, the Straits Times reported. Mr Dickson Tan, 21, was caned three times more than the five strokes imposed on him when he was convicted last year of helping an illegal moneylender harass a debtor. He was also sentenced to nine months in jail. English daily reported that the settlement cannot be revealed as part of the agreement. The Straits Times said, "It is believed, however, that the compensation is much lower than the $300,000 Mr Dickson Tan initially sought." The settlement, which brought to a close a year-long dispute, came seven hours after Mr Tan arrived at court yesterday morning with his lawyer, Mr Joseph Chen, and his mother. According to The Straits Times, the $5,400 mediation fees were borne by the Government. The extra strokes apparently came about when a court clerk wrote down the wrong number on the warrant commitment issued to the Prisons Department. The Straits Times reported that the clerk has since resigned. The judge who signed the warrant without spotting the error was also no longer allowed to carry out judicial duties related to such matters. The Straits Times wrote that Mr Tan and the Government went through several rounds of talks to reach a final agreement on the amount of compensation he would get for the extra caning. Mr Tan had initially asked for $3 million. The sum was subsequently lowered to $300,000, but it was apparently still too high. The deadlock led to Mr Tan filing a lawsuit in the High Court in March. But he later asked for the matter to be settled by mediation instead of going to trial. It was understood from the Tans opted for mediation in order to avoid reliving the unhappy experience, The Straits Times reported.