Peguam Muda

1.    A statement is defamatory ‘if it tends to lower him in the estimation of right thinking members of society generally or if it exposes him to public hatred, contempt or ridicule or if it causes him to be shunned or avoided’ - [ see Halsbury Laws of Malaysia, Vol. 2, [2004] Reissue pg 400 . 2.    In deciding whether those passages were defamatory, a judge has first to rule on two related questions of law: whether, upon the evidence, the words complained of are reasonably capable of referring to the plaintiff and whether they are reasonably capable of bearing a defamatory meaning in the minds of reasonable persons in the circumstances of the particular case. [see Halsbury Laws of Malaysia, Vol. 2, [2004] Reissue pg 540.   3.    In Kian Lup Construction v Hong Kong Malaysia Bhd [2002] 7 CLJ    32 , it was held:- “In other words, the plaintiff must prove (3) elements of the tort of defamation, which are: a)    the ...