Defamation requires proof of truth for defenses; failure to substantiate claims leads to liability for damages.

Alice Loke Yee Ching J:

Introduction

[1] The Plaintiff's suit is premised on the publication of three articles, two of which appeared on The Star Online, owned by the 1st Defendant, and the third in the Facebook account of the 3rd Defendant. He claims the contents have defamed him, for which he seeks to be compensated in damages.

Material Facts

[2] The Plaintiff is a Malaysian artist, radio announcer, and television talk show host. He is known by the name 'Jason Lo', and is no stranger to fans of the music industry.

[3] At the material time, he was also the Director and former Chief Executive Officer of a telecommunication company known as Tune Talk Sdn Bhd. He has his own record label and event promotion company known as 'Fat Boys Record'.

[4] The 1st Defendant is the proprietor, publisher, printer, and distributor of a daily newspaper, 'The Star.' It is common knowledge that The Star is one of the mainstream newspapers with a wide circulation in Malaysia. The 1st Defendant is also the owner, host, and administrator of a website known as 'The Star Online', the address of which is 'http://www.thestar.com.my'. At all material times, The Star Online could be assessed by any user of the World Wide Web.

[5] The 2nd Defendant is the Chief Content Officer of the 1st Defendant and is responsible for all its publications. The 3rd and 4th Defendants are journalists for the 1st Defendant.

[6] On 16 May 2019 at 9.10pm., the 1st Defendant, via The Star Online, published an article titled "Ex-telco CEO arrested for alleged death threats against ex-wife and family, trespass" ("16th May Article").

[7] The article was authored by the 4th Defendant. Amongst others, the gist of the 16th May Article states the following:

"A former telco CEO and local musician has been arrested by the police for allegedly trespassing his ex-wife's house.

It was understood that the individual was arrested between 5:30pm and 7pm, after he was called in for questioning at the Hulu Kelang Police Station on Thursday (May 16).

A source close to the case said that the police were investigating the individual under s 448 of the Penal Code, after he had trespassed into his ex-wife's home and issued a death threat.

There have been violent outbursts from the individual, a father of three, where he had broken the front door of his ex-wife's house, and began a verbal spat.

...

The individual has, reportedly, a history of drug and domestic abuse problems.

...

It is learnt that the individual is being remanded for four days by the police to assist the investigation."

[Emphasis Added]

[8] On 25 May 2019, the 1st Defendant published, on the front page of its publication, The Star Exclusive, a title "In Public Company CEO in Private Accused of being a Molester." At page 4 of The Star Exclusive was the article titled "Ex-CEO allegedly molested own kids." Both the titles on the front page and the article on page 4 of The Star Exclusive are collectively referred to as the "25th May Article".

[9] Amongst others, the 25th May Article states the following:

"The arrest of a former telco Chief Executive Officer last week for alleged trespass and threats against his ex-wife and her family was just the tip of the iceberg. The Star has learnt that his ex-wife has lodged at least 15 police reports since 2015, after the couple had divorced, alleging that he had also molested and outraged the modesty of their children.

...

Bukit Aman Sexual, Women, and Child Investigations Divisions (D11) Principal Assistant Director Asst. Comm, Choo Lily, confirmed that D11 had conducted investigations into these previous reports.

She said the cases were classified as NFA (No Further Action) after consultation with the Deputy Public Prosecutors (DPP) involved.

...

Some of these cases were classified as NFA by the DPP due to lack of evidence.

...

The earlier police reports, copies of which The Star has obtained, contained allegations by the mother that their children had been molested by their own father.

Based on one of these repo