Lord Ackner

(delivering the judgment of the court): This appeal is from a judgment of the Court of Appeal of Singapore (Wee Chong Jin CJ, Lai Kew Chai and Chua JJ) dated 19 August 1986 reported at [1987] 1 MLJ 176 dismissing an appeal from a judgment of Thean J which dismissed the appellant's claim against the respondent for damages for slander. That claim arose out of certain events which took place in 1981. At 6.30pm on 21 September 1981 the Singapore Democratic Party ('the SDP'), a registered political party in Singapore held its inauguration meeting at the Singapore Conference Hall auditorium. At that time the appellant was the secretary-general of the Workers' Party ('the WP') which was another registered political party in Singapore. The secretary-general of the SDP, Chiam See Tong, accorded to the appellant, in the words of Thean J, the 'unusually high honour' of being invited to this ceremony as the first main speaker and the only guest speaker, taking precedence over the speeches of all the leaders of the SDP. Such an honour was a clear indication that at the material time the relations between these two political parties were friendly.

On receipt of the invitation, the ap