S Nantha Balan JCA:

Introduction

[1] This is an appeal by the plaintiffs against the decision of the learned judge of the High Court ("the judge") dated 11 June 2018 dismissing their claim (after a full trial) in Civil Suit No: TWU-22-18-5-2013 ("the 2013 suit"). The 2013 suit was filed on 10 May 2013 and has been deliberately described as such so as to distinguish it from an earlier suit, which was registered as High Court at Tawau Civil Suit No: T-22-12 of 1997 ("the 1997 suit") involving the same parties and which dealt with the same subject matter. The judge's decision in the 2013 suit is reported as Lin Wen-Chih & Anor v. Pacific Forest Industries Sdn Bhd & Anor, [2019] 9 MLJ 227.

[2] For convenience and brevity, we shall refer to the parties according to their respective capacities in the High Court. Hence, the 1st and 2nd appellants shall be referred to individually as "1st plaintiff " and "2nd plaintiff " respectively, and collectively as "the plaintiffs". The 1st and 2nd respondents shall be referred to individually as "1st defendant" and "2nd defendant" respectively, and collectively as "the defendants".

[3] The plaintiffs' claim in the 2013 suit was for the sum of RM