The Court of Appeal has unanimously dismissed Penang tycoon Tan Sri Tan Kok Ping’s defamation appeal against Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow, upholding the High Court’s decision to throw out the suit.
A three-member bench led by Court of Appeal judge Datuk Alwi Abdul Wahab ruled on 26 August that the High Court made no error of fact or law warranting appellate intervention, FMT reported. Justices Datuk Shahnaz Sulaiman and Datuk Amarjeet Singh Serjit Singh were also on the bench. The court ordered Tan to pay Chow RM50,000 in costs.
Tan, the Penang Chinese Chamber of Commerce (PCCC) life honorary president, had filed the suit in January 2024 over statements made by Chow that were carried by the press in December 2023. The remarks concerned Tan’s resignation as a trustee of the Silver Jubilee Home for the Aged, KLSE Screener reported.
At the material time, both Tan and Chow were trustees of the Penang and Province Wellesley Silver Jubilee Fund, the corporation established to maintain the home. Tan resigned from the board together with two other trustees following a dispute with Chow, who is the board chairman.
The dispute centred on the development of the home’s unutilised portion of vacant land into a workers’ hostel and the subsequent awarding of the project via open tender. Chow had claimed the home was planning the development without an open tender process. “The land belongs to the Silver Jubilee Fund, not Tan Kok Ping. The board must decide on the tender process, which did not happen,” he was quoted as saying.
Alwi said Chow successfully established the defences of justification, fair comment and qualified privilege. “The defence of justification was successfully established because the core substance of the statement was generally true, and the doctrine of half-truth does not apply as no material facts were concealed,” he said. The appellant also failed to prove malice when the statement was made.
Last year, High Court judge Datuk Quay Chew Soon dismissed Tan’s suit on similar grounds. In his ruling, Quay found the impugned statements were substantially true and not half-truths as claimed by Tan. He also found that Chow’s remarks were fair-minded and made in response to press conferences held by Tan containing criticisms against the chief minister.
The Silver Jubilee Home for the Aged, which occupies about 9ha in Gelugor, was established in 1935 to commemorate the silver jubilee of King George V. It is overseen by the chief minister as chairman, together with three other trustees.
Lawyers K Kirubakaran, Kek Boon Wei and Lee Wen Qian appeared for Tan, while Cheah Eng Soon represented Chow.
