Mohamed Dzaiddin FCJ:

This appeal is concerned with the interpretation of s. 218(2)(a) of the Companies Act 1965 (the Act) which reads as follows:

(2) A company shall be deemed to be unable to pay its debts if

(a) a creditor by assignment or otherwise to whom the company is indebted in a sum exceeding five hundred ringgit then due has served on the company by leaving at the registered office a demand under his hand or under the hand of his agent thereunto lawfully authorized requiring the company to pay the sum so due, and the company has for three weeks thereafter neglected to pay the sum or to secure or compound for it to the reasonable satisfaction of the creditor;

Leave to appeal was granted by this court to the appellant on 20 March 2000 for the determination of the following questions of law:

(a) Whether section 218(2)(a) of the Companies Act 1965 is to be interpreted literally and strictly or widely and liberally.

(b) In the event it is the literal and strict interpretation that ought to be adopted whether the section 218 Notice must quantify and specify the exact and actual sum due as at the date of the demand and leave no further sums/amounts to be calculated/qua