PETALING JAYA: The Kuala Lumpur High Court today awarded The Edge owner Tong Kooi Ong RM1.2 million in damages against author Michael Backman for defaming him in the controversial biography “Daim Zainuddin: Malaysia’s Revolutionary and Troubleshooter”.
Judicial commissioner Roz Mawar Rozain also ordered Backman to pay costs of RM100,000 and granted a prohibitory injunction against him repeating the defamatory posts in his book, reported The Edge.
The book was published in 2018 by Backman’s Thai publisher.
In March, Roz Mawar entered judgment in default against Backman for his non-appearance in court proceedings.
Various media reports state that Backman, 55, is an Australian-born writer who now resides in London. Much of his writing relates to Asia’s economies, business, culture and politics.
Tong is the founder and former CEO of PhileoAllied Group, including PhileoAllied Bank, the entity at the centre of the defamation suit filed against Backman in September last year.
PhileoAllied Bank was sold to Malayan Banking in 2000 in what was regarded as a “forced merger” of Malaysian banks after Bank Negara Malaysia identified some 10 banks as anchors to take over a number of smaller banks.
In his statement of claim, Tong said Backman chose to sensationalise an investigation into PhileoAllied Bank by citing that the investigation was the reason for the bank’s exclusion from consideration as an anchor bank.
“A letter of demand dated July 21, 2022, was sent, seeking (that) Backman apologise over the matter. But the author refused to issue an apology,” he said.
Links with Anwar Ibrahim
In the book, Backman wrote that PhileoAllied Bank was not considered to be an anchor bank, but was instead forced to be merged because it was under investigation for possible breaches of legal lending limits to a single customer.
Backman also wrote that local banks with owners perceived to be close to former finance minister Anwar Ibrahim were not selected as anchor banks because of those links.
Testifying before Roz Mawar today, Tong said Backman had damaged his reputation by suggesting he had mismanaged the bank in a serious way as to cause it to be investigated in 2000.
He said Backman was defending then finance minister Daim’s scheme and his choice of anchor banks, stating that PhileoAllied Bank was under investigation for breaches of lending limits at the time.
“The impugned words suggest that it was because of this investigation that the bank was not chosen (as an anchor bank), and not for any other reason.
“As the founder of the Phileo Group and therefore founder of the bank, I was the ‘face’ of the entire group, including the bank. Therefore, to impugn Phileo is to impugn me.
“This is shown by the impugned words themselves, where the defendant (Backman) acknowledges that many believed the reason Phileo was not chosen was that I was perceived to be close to Anwar Ibrahim,” he said.
Tong, who is also the executive chairman of The Edge Media Group Pte Ltd, Singapore, said that in the end, PhileoAllied Bank was never penalised for any breach after the investigation, and he believes Daim’s decision not to select it as an anchor bank had “nothing to do with the investigation”.
PhileoAllied Bank was quite a successful bank back in the day. The bank cleared RM214 million in profits after tax in 1999, he pointed out.
Tong, who started The Edge Malaysia in 1994, first made his mark when he acquired Perak-based CS Securities in the early 1990s. The company would go on to become PhileoAllied banking group.
In 1994, PhileoAllied Bank was formed via the licence of UOB Bank Kota Kinabalu and the rescue of a failed cooperative, the Co-operative Central Bank Ltd (CCB).
After the divestment of his banking interests in 2000, Tong focused on the media sector.
In the same year, he acquired a stake in Gemtech Resources Bhd, which was later renamed Nexnews Bhd and is now known as Berjaya Media Bhd.
It became the holding company for two publications – The Edge and theSun, which were injected by Tong and tycoon Vincent Tan, respectively.