Composed outlook: Chow arriving early at the Penang High Court. — LIM BENG TATT/The Star
GEORGE TOWN: The proposal to build a workers’ dormitory at the site of the Silver Jubilee Home for the Aged at Sungai Dua, Penang, was the brainchild of businessman Tan Sri Tan Kok Ping and two other trustees of the board of the non-governmental organisation managing the home.
The trio consisting of Tan, Bernard Kok and Datuk Loh Yeow Boo quit the board of trustees of the home run by the state government last December.
Tan was responding to the cross-examination by lawyer Cheah Eng Soon, who was representing the home’s board chairman Chow Kon Yeow, on who had proposed the construction of the dormitory.
Cheah also asked who the two trustees at the time were, to which Tan identified them as Kok and Loh.
Cheah further enquired whether the idea came from Chow, to which Tan replied that everything was in its infancy and admitted that Chow was not involved at that stage.
The case heard before Justice Quay Chew Soon yesterday at the Penang High Court stemmed from Tan, who sued Chow over alleged defamatory remarks related to Tan’s resignation from the home earlier.
Tan, who is also Penang Chinese Chamber of Commerce life honorary president, is represented by Kek Boon Wei.
Chow, who is also Penang Chief Minister, is represented by Cheah.
Earlier in court, Tan had requested for the compensation amount to be raised to RM2mil from RM250,000 before beginning his examination. He said the original sum of RM250,000 was set based on his lawyer’s advice.
However, following Chow’s demand of RM2mil in another defamation case where Chow is suing Tan, Tan decided to revise his claim to RM2mil as well.
Tan said he would respect the court’s decision and accept the court’s ruling with regards to the compensation amount.
Meanwhile, Cheah, during Tan’s examination, stood up to object to Tan’s translator, who had referred Chow as “an accused” (OKT).
Chow had alerted Cheah that he should not be addressed as an accused as this is not a criminal case but a civil suit.
The trial is set for three days, which is scheduled to end tomorrow.
It was earlier reported that Chow had claimed that the home was planning to build a workers’ hostel on its land without an open tender, with him maintaining that any development must go through an open tender.
In another unrelated development, Chow also filed a defamation suit against Tan over remarks the latter made concerning a state land sale in 2023.
Chow claimed that Tan had intentionally made several slanderous remarks about him over a land sale to Umech Construction Sdn Bhd in Batu Kawan, even though the deal had been dropped.
In October last year, the Penang state executive council unanimously decided that Chow should initiate legal proceedings against Tan for his statements, which purportedly humiliated and degraded the Chief Minister.Tan had reportedly accused Chow of being “incompetent” for evading questions about the controversial sale of land owned by the Penang Development Corporation in Byram to Umech Land Sdn Bhd.
