Its okay to call politicians who jump parties ‘political frogs’, rules court

Tanjong MP Ng Wei Aik (right) smiling as he exited the courtroom with his lawyers Lee Khai (left) and Tham Shien Shyong. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Looi Sue-Chern, September 23, 2014.

In the context of Malaysian politics, it is not defamatory to refer to a politician, who hopped from party to party, as a "frog" or "political frog", a Penang High Court ruled today.

Judicial Commissioner S. Nantha Balan said while the words were not complimentary, they were also not defamatory.

He said this while ruling on former Bukit Gelugor PKR division chairman Lim Boo Chang's defamation suit against Tanjong MP Ng Wei Aik for calling him a "frog" three years ago.

He dismissed the suit and ordered the plaintiff to pay the defendant RM30,000 in legal cost.

"The plaintiff (Lim) has failed to prove that the impugned words were defamatory.

"There is no evidence that the defendant had any vendetta against the plaintiff," he said, adding that the remark was made by Ng when he had to defend his party, DAP, from being maligned by the plaintiff.

"I do not see this as a manifestation of malice. It showed that he (Ng) had to do it out of necessity to counter allegations that the DAP was bullying its partner (PKR) in the coalition.

"As such, there was no intention to do harm to the plaintiff, but was instead done to prevent harm inflicted on DAP and Pakatan Rakyat in general," he said in his decision this morning.

Nantha Balan said the term "frog" or "political frog" was merely a moniker or label for politicians who keep changing parties, which was not actionable defamation.

"The plaintiff brought it upon himself by leaving PKR," he said.

Lim joined Gerakan in 1984, MCA in 1999 and then PKR in 2008. He quit PKR in 2011 and tried to rejoin Gerakan but was unsuccessful in his application.

Lim was suing Ng over a Kwong Wah Yit Poh article headlined “Wanting to go can go, don’t find excuses – Pakatan Rakyat leaders refute Lim Boo Chang’s allegations for leaving the party” on December 18, 2011.

Lim claimed that Ng had referred to him as a person without any “human character” but had “a frog character” in the Chinese article.

The same remark by Ng was also reported in other articles in online news portal Malaysiakini in English and Chinese, and another Chinese daily, Nanyang Siang Pau.

Lim said Ng’s statement was not backed by facts, and his allegations were completely unfounded. Lim also called the attack against him bitter and unjustifiable.

He had demanded Ng, who was Komtar assemblyman and the chief minister's political secretary at the time, to publicly withdraw his remark and apologise for slandering him. He also demanded RM10 million in damages.

The exchanges between Lim and Ng was sparked when Lim allegedly accused the DAP of bullying PKR in Penang.

Outside the courtroom, Ng said he was glad the case, which had dragged on for three years, was finally over.

"Justice has been returned. I only wanted to defend my party," he said.

Ng was represented by counsels Lee Khai and Tham Shien Shyong while Lim was represented by M. Thayalan.

- TMI