Ong (Malaya) CJ:

At about 9 a.m. on 21 February 1969 three small Tamil boys were on a lonely stretch of the Kampar-Teluk Anson Road when one of them was knocked down by a motor-cycle driven by the defendant. His right leg was fractured and had to be amputated at the knee. Suing by his father, he was awarded damages by the High Court at Ipoh on the ground that the accident was entirely due to the negligence of the defendant. The object of this appeal is to seek apportionment of blame between the parties.

The defendant as well as the Tamil boys were proceeding in the same direction. The road was 18 feet wide and clear of other traffic. The plaintiff's case was that he was walking two feet away from the left edge of the road, along the grass verge- as were his two friends following about 12 feet behind him when the defendant came on to the grass and knocked him down. He and his friends were positive that they were two feet inside the grass verge when the accident occurred.

The defendant's insurers, who defended the case on behalf of their assured, were unable to produce him at the trial to give evidence on his own behalf. His disinterest in the matter hardly needs explanati