Mohamed Azmi J:

This is a claim for damages for libel contained in Utusan Melayu newspaper, of which the first defendants are the proprietors, printers and publishers, and the second defendant is the editor. It is admitted in the pleadings that the plaintiff is and was at all material times a lecturer of the University of Malaya, and that Utusan Melayu is an influential Malay daily newspaper having a wide circulation throughout the country. The plaintiff complains that the defendants had published a certain news report in the Utusan Melayu of 1 January 1965, which contained defamatory imputations against him.

The events leading to the publication of the news report appear to be as follows. Some time in December 1964, the plaintiff was invited to address a meeting of the Johore Muslim Association in Muar. According to the plaintiff's testimony, he was asked to speak on a subject entitled "Backwardness of Malays in economic and educational fields". It is not seriously in dispute that at that time the country was in a state of armed conflict with Indonesia which is popularly known as confrontation period. The plaintiff's speech was published the following day in Utusan Melay