NGEH
KOO HAM IS FOR FREEDOM OF PRESS BUT NOT THE FREEDOM TO SPREAD FALSEHOOD. NGEH
TO TAKE LEGAL ACTION AGAINST NEW SUNDAY TIMES AND REPORTER FOR REPORTING FALSE
NEWS.
I have today
instructed my lawyers to take legal action against Sylvia Looi Lee Phing and
the News Sunday Times as no apology or correction was forthcoming from them
with regard to a defamatory article titled ‘DAP is danger of losing Beruas’ written
by Slyvia Looi and published by the New Sunday Times on 25/11/2012.
The said article
contain many falsehoods which include the following:-
(i)
I
hardly show up in my Beruas Constituency (I stay in the Beruas Constituency and
am in the Constituency almost everyday).
(ii)
I
was chased away by villagers when I visited an India Estate.
(iii)
I
do not attend religious events organized by temples.
The said article
greatly damages my reputation as the Member of Parliament for Beruas.
They have
presented me as a irresponsible Member of Parliament who does not visit my
Parliamentary Constituency, does not care for my constituents and that I am a
religious bigot.
I have lodged a
police report against them on 20the December 2012 as they have committed an
offence under Section 8A (Offence to publish false news) of the Printing
Presses and Publication Act 1984 and Section 499 (Criminal Defamation) of the
Penal Code.
Section 8A of
the PPPA 1984 requires that the writer and the New Sunday Times to take
reasonable measures to verify the truth before writing the said article.
I am in full
support of press freedom but not the freedom to report false news. Media has
the responsibility take reasonable measures to verify the truth of a matter
before publishing it as it will cause great damage to the person(s) who is/are
wrongly accused.
I felt duty
bound to lodge the above said report and to take legal action against Sylvia
Looi and the New Sunday Times to ensure that the public is fed with truth and
not falsehood.
Dated this 16th
day of
January 2013.
NGEH KOO HAM
MP FOR BERUAS
&
STATE
ASSEMBLYMAN FOR SITIAWAN
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