GEORGE TOWN, April 22 — The words “stupid and recalcitrant” are ordinary expressions, the High Court here ruled today when it dismissed Jelutong MP Jeff Ooi’s defamation lawsuit against Gerakan deputy secretary-general Dr Thor Teong Gee.
High Court Judicial Commissioner Nurmala Salim also ordered Ooi to pay costs of RM20,000 after she threw out the case.
“The words ‘stupid and recalcitrant’ are commonly uttered by most Malaysians when they are angry or arguing so these words are not defamatory in this case,” she said when reading out her decision today.
She also said Ooi, in his statement of claim, had failed to state the exact words used by Dr Thor as he had spoken in Chinese.
“The words used were ‘Ming wan bu ling’, which meant stubborn, and ‘yu chun’ which meant stupid, but the plaintiff did not state these words in his statement of claim,” she said.
She also pointed out that the words were not uttered in the context of a personal attack against Ooi but made in relation to his involvement to an issue about radiation waves from telecommunications tower.
As for Ooi’s claim that the words uttered had damaged his reputation and tarnished his image, she said he had gone on to win the Jelutong parliamentary seat in 2013, three years after the words were uttered against him.
“The plaintiff had failed to state how it had tarnished his reputation,” she said.
Ooi sued Dr Thor for defamation for uttering the words “stupid and recalcitrant” against him in a press conference on May 21, 2010.
He sought aggravated and exemplary damages, a retraction and an apology by Dr Thor, as well as costs and other relief deemed fit by the court.
Outside the courtroom, Ooi and his counsel, RSN Rayer, said they will file an appeal against the decision.
“We will also file a stay of the proceedings pending the appeal,” Rayer said.
Dr Thor was represented by Baljit Singh.
