The Edge owner wins RM1.2m compensation in defamation lawsuit over book on Daim

KUALA LUMPUR, June 6 — News organisation The Edge Media Group’s chairman Tan Sri Tong Kooi Ong today won RM1.2 million in compensation in his defamation lawsuit against British writer Michael Backman for damaging his reputation through a book on former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin.

According to financial publication The Edge, High Court judicial commissioner Roz Mawar Rozain ordered Backman to pay RM600,000 in general damages to Tong, which she viewed to be a “reasonable” sum for the compensation of harm caused by the defamation and in light of Tong’s business standing locally and globally.

The High Court also ordered Backman to pay an additional RM600,000 in aggravated damages due to his conduct, where he did not enter an appearance in this court case as he feels he does not fall under the jurisdiction here, The Edge reported.

Based on court documents sighted by Malay Mail, Tong had previously asked the High Court to grant compensation of £200,000 (RM1.14 million using today’s currency rate), based on reasons such as having a sum to vindicate his reputation and in line with Backman’s earning of his income in the UK and having a business in an upmarket part of London.

In seeking for such an amount, Tong had also told the High Court that he would donate all the money that he obtains from Backman in this defamation lawsuit to charity.

Apart from the RM1.2 million compensation, the High Court also ordered Backman to pay RM100,000 in costs and also maintained a prohibitory injunction since last March to stop him from repeating the defamatory statements in the book, The Edge said.

The High Court had in March already entered a judgment in default against Backman who chose not to defend himself in this case, and today was the High Court’s hearing to decide the amount of compensation to be awarded to Tong.

On September 28, 2022, Tong filed the defamation lawsuit in the High Court in Kuala Lumpur against Backman over the latter’s book Daim Zainuddin: Malaysia’s Revolutionary and Troubleshooter, which Tong said was published in 2018 and claims was a “hagiographic biography” of Daim.

Tong is a businessman who also sits on the board of companies in Malaysia, Singapore and Canada, and in court documents said he had filed the lawsuit to protect his reputation and legacy.

Based on court documents, Tong was the founder of the PhileoAllied Berhad group, which fully owned the bank PhileoAllied Bank Berhad as a subsidiary.

As the CEO of the PhileoAllied Bank’s holding company, Tong said he was chairman of the bank’s executive committee and was seen as heading the bank.

He told the court that the PhileoAllied Berhad group was at its height a RM2.49 billion company by market capitalisation on the local stock exchange, and was “very successful” with a RM214 million in after-tax profits in 1999. He also described the bank as very successful with a 26 per cent return on equity, a 38 per cent non-interest income ratio, and 204 per cent growth in share investment income.

Under then finance minister Daim’s plan in May 2000 for consolidation in the banking industry with chosen banks acting as “anchor banks” to take over smaller banks, the PhileoAllied bank was not chosen to be an “anchor bank” but had to be sold to and be merged into Malayan Banking Berhad.

According to Tong, Backman’s book had contained defamatory statements by suggesting that the PhileoAllied bank was not chosen to be an anchor bank in the consolidation exercise, due to purported reasons of a previous investigation of possible breaches of lending limits.

But Tong in court documents claimed that Backman’s allegations were false, and highlighted a May 1999 Business Times article that had cited then second finance minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed as saying the investigation on PhileoAllied bank was a normal procedure to monitor the banking sector.

In court documents, Tong said the PhileoAllied bank was never penalised for any breach after the investigation, and said he believes Daim’s decision not to select the bank as an anchor bank was not related to the investigation.

Saying that the PhileoAllied bank was performing well at that time, Tong in court documents said Bank Negara’s February 14, 2000 official statement then did not give any reason on why it was not selected as one of the anchor banks. He also claimed that no one could say for sure the reasons for Daim’s choosing of the six anchor banks then.

Among other things, Tong told the court that his reputation had been affected by Backman’s book, as he was the “face” of the entire Phileo group including its bank — both of which he had founded.