David, an expatriate living in Singapore and working as a Software Engineer, drove

his car to ABC Hotel in Serangoon Road to attend a wedding reception.

In front of the ticketing machine, and before entry to the open-air car park, there

is a board with a notice in large red letters. The notice also appears in small print

on the front of the paper ticket which is issued by the ticketing machine.

The notice reads, "Park at your own risk. The owners and management of this car

park accept no responsibility for any loss or damage suffered by any vehicle or

person who use or park their vehicle in this car park, regardless how such loss or

damage is caused, whether by any act, omission, negligence or otherwise on the

part of the owners, management or their employees and agents".

As David was late and he did not want to miss the pre-dinner cocktails, he does

not bother to read the notice or the ticket and simply enters the car park and

parks his vehicle.

After the wedding reception, David returned to his car. At the parking lot, a huge

tree branch had fallen onto his car and caused the car to be damaged.

David decided to seek full compensation for the damages to his car from ABC

Hotel which operates and manages the car park.

a. Advise ABC Hotel as to whether they can rely on the

exemption clause to defeat David's claim.

b. Assuming the tree had fallen when David was inside the car

and he had suffered personal injuries, can ABC Hotel rely on

the exemption clause to defeat his claim for compensation

for the injuries?