Tycoon loses defamation suit

GEORGE TOWN: Tycoon Tan Sri Tan Kok Ping has to pay RM50,000 in costs to Chow Kon Yeow after he lost a libel claim against the Penang Chief Minister.

High Court judge Justice Quay Chew Soon ruled that Tan had failed to prove his claim of defamation and that Chow’s statements were neither defamatory nor malicious, but constituted fair comment.

The Penang Chinese Chamber of Commerce (PCCC) life honorary president filed a defamation suit over Chow’s statement about his (Tan’s) resignation as the trustee of the Silver Jubilee Home for the Aged published in Chinese newspapers last December.

Tan, who was a trustee of the home then, had resigned alongside two others following a dispute with Chow, who is the board chairman by virtue of being the Chief Minister.

Chow had claimed that the home was planning to build a workers’ hostel on land that it owned without an open tender, adding that any development must go through an open tender.

The proposed project was the construction of five blocks of workers’ hostel and an amenity block on the now unutilised portion of vacant land which also houses the home.

Justice Quay said the court found that Chow’s remarks were not defamatory, but a statement of fact made without malice.

“Chow’s remark about why a tender was required, since the Jubilee Home was not owned by the state government but a public organisation and not Tan’s personal property, was a statement of fact.

“It is my finding that the impugned statements do not bear the defamatory meanings or innuendos as pleaded by Tan.

“I find that the defence of justification, fair comment and qualified privilege has been successfully proven,” he said in his judgment yesterday.

Justice Quay added that Chow’s comments lacked malice and were appropriate, given that Tan had publicly criticised him in two separate press conferences.

He added that Tan’s resignation letter as a trustee of the home included harsh criticisms of Chow, accusing him of making false promises and failing to take any action to support the home.

He said the accusations made required a response from Chow, who is the Chief Minister and ex-officio chairman of the Penang and Province Wellesley Silver Jubilee Fund (“Corporation”).

“The statement by the defendant was simply to advocate for good governance by appointing a contractor through open tender,” Justice Quay said.

Tan was represented by Datuk K. Kirubakaran and Kek Boon Wei while Chow was represented by Cheah Eng Soon.

Prior to the trial, both parties had attempted a court-ordered mediation session in May but it failed to reach a settlement.

The home occupying 9ha of space in Gelugor was founded in 1935 to commemorate the silver jubilee of King George V.

It was established under the Penang and Province Wellesley Jubilee Fund Ordinance of 1935 by the colonial Straits Settlements government and later replaced by an Act of Parliament in 1969.