FORMER Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng told the Penang High Court today he stopped communicating with the Chinese press in the state after an attempt to “correct” the title of an article was met with hostility.

Testifying in his defamation suit against China Press and Guan Ming Daily, Lim said he was “maligned and attacked maliciously for trying to control the press” after he tried to correct the title of a story published in Sin Chew Daily.

Lim did not say when this happened, only that the experience made him stop his attempts to “correct the press”.

“The press was prejudicial against me. But I stopped communicating with them, and just swallowed any wrong against me.

“If the wrong is too extreme, I will file a suit,” he said when examined by his lawyer N. Mureli today.

Lim is suing the two titles over their articles on May 29, 2017, “Jason Loo: One man decides, Pakatan Harapan DAP-led state government run by rule of man” and “Jason Loo urges Lim Guan Eng to explain why sell Lebuhraya Peel land prior to gazette”.

Loo, who is a state Gerakan leader and the first defendant in the suit, had questioned Lim and his administration on the Lebuhraya Peel land sale to Island Hospital via a direct negotiation.  The land was for the private hospital’s RM2 billion expansion project that would make Penang a medical city. 

After several exchanges over the media, Lim sued Loo for intentionally, recklessly, falsely and in absolute bad faith making defamatory statements against him “in its natural and ordinary meaning and by innuendos understandable by any ordinary reasonable person”.

Lim, who is now finance minister, also sued the China Press and Guang Ming for publishing Loo’s remarks without seeking verifications from him.

Referring to questions asked during cross examination earlier in the hearing, Mureli said it was put to Lim that the two papers had “never failed” to carry reports of his press conferences and statements in response to the issue.

Lim said even though there were reports, they were “slanted negatively” in many cases.

He also said the two dailies did not seek his verification before they published the two articles.

“They just regurgitated lies and did not check facts. They were negative and slanted coverage of me,” he said.

Mureli asked if there was any truth to the claim that the two Chinese dailies were controlled by Barisan Nasional, which was still the ruling federal government at the time.

Lim said other than the Printing Presses and Publications Act, there was also money from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).

He was referring to how three media organisations had received money from the 1Malaysia Penang Welfare Club, which was reportedly run by a friend of runaway businessman Low Taek Jho, the alleged mastermind of the 1MDB scandal.

Lim is blaming this money for his souring relationship with the Chinese media since the beginning of 2013.

“I objected and a war broke out between me and some (Chinese media) reporters. A Guang Ming reporter even sued me. No reporter had even sued a government leader. It was the first time.

“With 1MBD money, the climate and scenario with the Chinese media changed. So, I refrained from communicating with them until I had no choice but to take legal action,” he said.

The Guang Ming reporter Ong Beng Siang, who sued Lim for defamation in 2017, dropped his suit in February and was ordered to pay RM40,000 in cost to the minister.

Ong had sued Lim after the latter used words like “unprofessional” and “unethical” against him and claimed he wanted to topple the Penang government in a Facebook post in response to news reports written by the reporter.

Earlier during the hearing, Lim also repeatedly stressed that even though the media must report on public interest, reporters should seek verifications or at least attempt to get them.

He said he believes the press must be free, but it must also observe ethics and be professional.

“Regurgitating lies is not responsible journalism. They should try to verify, (especially) when it is a serious allegation against the chief minister,” he said, adding that reporters could also apply to the state under the Freedom of Information Enactment to get access to information.

“We can accept if we are criticised based on facts and figures, but not on lies…freedom of the press does not mean freedom to lie.”

Lim also said the media are not mere messengers, as they too can influence public opinion.

Judge Rosilah Yop set June 17 for hearing to continue. Loo will take the stand for cross-examination.  – May 13, 2019.