LIM HUN SWEE v CHEW HON CHOY

wa-12bncvc-84-07-2024 High Court (Mahkamah Tinggi) 4 March 2026 • WA-12BNCvC-84-07/2024 • 22 min read

35 cases cited (0 SG, 35 foreign)

Catchwords

The Plaintiff is Lim Hun Swee (P), the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Tomypak Holdings Berhad (Tomypak), a public listed company. The Defendant is Chew Hon Choy, a Tomypak shareholder - P’s claim arises from Tomypak's 25th Annual General Meeting (25th AGM). P alleges that D uttered the following words at that AGM - D denied making that statement. He asserts that those words did not originate with him; they were composed by the company secretary who took the 25th AGM minutes, and the minutes were approved by Tomypak’s own Board of Directors. D further raised the defences of justification, qualified privilege, and fair comment - The Sessions Court dismissed P's libel claim. She found that P had failed to plead the Alleged Defamatory Statement verbatim (in exactly the same words); that the published words belonged to SP1 and the Board, not to D; and that the statement in any event conveyed no defamatory meaning. The Sessions Court also found that D had proved justification and fair comment -P appeals to the High Court against the Sessions Court’s judgment. Should his appeal be allowed?

Judges (1)

Kenneth Yoong Ken Chinson St James Delivered

Counsel (5)

Ang & Co. Firm Mastura Partnership Firm Ang Boon Heng Counsel Appellant Goh Wan Ping Counsel Respondent Sivabalan Counsel Respondent

Parties (2)

Chew Hon Choy Respondent Lim Hun Swee Appellant

Statutes Cited

Evidence Act 1950 (Cap 56)

s 114(g)

Cases Cited (35)

UK (1)

[1907] 1 KB 502

MY (34)

[1988] 1 MLRH 653 [1989] 1 MLJ 315 [1995] 4 MLRH 877 [1996] 1 MLJ 393 [1999] 1 AMR 753 [1999] 1 CLJ 461 [1999] 1 MLJ 371 [2000] 2 MLRH 333 [2000] 3 MLJ 1 [2000] 6 CLJ 390 [2000] AMEJ 0070 [2005] 2 CLJ 645 [2005] 3 AMR 1 [2005] 3 MLJ 485 [2013] 10 CLJ 771 [2013] 5 AMR 594 [2013] 6 MLRH 630 [2014] 9 MLJ 363 [2016] 2 MLJ 428 [2016] 4 CLJ 665 [2016] AMEJ 0743 [2017] 2 MLJ 629 [2017] 6 CLJ 129 [2018] 1 AMR 517 [2018] 2 CLJ 641 [2018] 2 MLJ 177 [2020] 10 CLJ 1 [2020] 12 MLJ 67 [2020] 8 AMR 227 [2022] 3 MLJ 758 [2022] 4 AMR 695 [2022] 5 CLJ 487 [2024] 3 MLJ 937 [2024] 4 CLJ 657

Judgment

Read the full judgment on the official Malaysia Courts portal.

Read on eJudgment

Source: eJudgment (wa-12bncvc-84-07-2024)