Prelusion

[1] The Defendant: Oh Tong Keong (OTK) is a politician. He held a press conference. He invited the media to come to his press conference. He talked about the Plaintiff (P). P is a well-known politician. A press statement about the press conference was emailed out to various persons in the media.

[2] A "China Press" journalist attended the press conference. She wrote an article about what OTK said at the press conference. It was published in both print and online forms

[3] P sued OTK and the "China Press" for libel, for the allegedly defamatory words and statements in the press statement and the "China Press" article.

[4] Should P succeed in his cause for libel? In other words, does OTK and the "China Press" have defences to P's suits for defamation?

Preliminaries

[5] P filed two libel suits—one against OTK vide Suit PA-23NCVC-1-01/2021 (Suit 1), and the other against China Press Berhad vide Suit PA-23NCVC-2-01/2021(Suit 2). Both Suit 1 and Suit 2 arise out of OTK's press conference on 25 September 2019.

[6] In Suit 1, OTK applied for, and (I was informed) with the consent of P and China Press Berhad, obtained an Order dated 20 October 2021 to "consolidate" Sui