Lee Swee Seng JCA:

[1] This appeal explores the issue of how to assess damages for breach of a contract when it was terminated after three months into the contract that was agreed to be for five years. The contract was for services to be provided consisting of rental of ten used storage containers and two other items consisting of a forklift and a crane to be operated by the plaintiff's workers.

[2] The plaintiff was in the business of letting out used storage containers and machines and had fixed rate of rental for the containers and the machines in a forklift and a crane with even a minimum use expressed in the number of times the machines are to be used per month.

[3] The defendant is a cooperative of the Royal Customs of Malaysia. The plaintiff said its loss is not just the amount invoiced for the first three months for which payment had not been made but also damages calculated based on the whole of the contract period of five years, being the rental it would have received had the contract being performed to its expiry date.

[4] The defendant said that while it is liable to pay for the amount invoiced for the first three months of the contract, the plaintiff must prove it