By Lian Cheng
KUCHING, Oct 21: Amanah Saham Sarawak Berhad (Assar) former non-executive director Dato Idris Buang has accepted former Pujut assemblyman Dr Ting Tiong Choo’s expression of regret and has withdrawn the suit against the latter to pave the way for Assar’s restructuring plan.
After a zoom hearing in his counsel Shankar Ram Asnani’s office to enter consent judgement today, Idris said he did not file for any damages but willingly put an end to the case following Dr Ting’s expression of regret because he wanted Assar to move on with the restructuring plan as soon as possible.
“One thing I agreed to this statement of regret was that I am not seeking any monetary compensation in the first place. I would rather get my reputation back as soon as possible.
“Another thing is, Assar is now rolling out their restructuring plan. But because of this case, the Securities Commission and Assar could not do it. In view of the welfare and wellbeing of Assar and its employees, who are looking forward to their rolling out of the restructuring plan, I conceded to Dr Ting’s request to put up his statement of regret,” said Idris.
Idris, who is also Muara Tuang assemblyman said he even sought to resign from Assar last year, thinking that by his resignation, the restructuring plan may be able to take place while he continued with the defamation case.
Despite his resignation, the Securities Commission maintained that the case was to be settled first before Assar may embark on its restructuring plan.
“I hope with the new business model, Assar can move on,” said Idris.
He said it was his initial plan to continue with the trial which he foresaw would take years, and that would delay Assar’s restructuring plan, making it “the victim of circumstances”, he thus chose to put aside his personal interests before that of the company.
“Assar concerns the State, the people, the investors, so I sacrificed my interests in this case. I believe I could win (the defamation case) because there is no way he (Dr Ting) could prove that his statements are true as they are all baseless.
“Whatever it is, he came in to offer his regrets. It was timely. With the roll out plan of Assar (in sight), I had to make a decision,” said Idris.
Assar and Idris had brought Dr Ting to court for four separate defamatory postings on the latter’s social media page on Feb 8, 2109, May 7, 2019, May 9, 2019 and May 10, 2019.
In Kuching High Court today, Dr Ting expressed regrets and retracted the defamatory remarks made against Assar and Idris, putting an end to the defamation suit that was brought against him.
He issued a statement of regret indicating that he retracted all the allegations and the Facebook posts which had resulted in the suit. — DayakDaily
