Think before you act

Satay Burger is out in Burger King

 

Click image to read more about the case

This is one interesting case that I’ve been following for the past months because of the magnitude of the lawsuit and the involvement of the Indian community in Brunei Darussalam. Recently the Indian Chamber of Commerce lost an appeal by the Court of Appeal. It was regards to the libel action filed by businessmen Ramesh Jiwatram Bhawnani and Abdul Hamid Abas of YMRM Galleria.

 As written on June 16, 2014 in The Brunei Times, the plaintiffs (Ramesh Jiwatram Bhawnani and Abdul Hamid Abas ) sued a registered society Indian Chamber of Commerce and the 25 defendants as members of the society for libel (refer to the names below at the illustration). Ok, libel means a published false statement that is damaging to a person’s reputation or in other words, a written defamation. So in this case, the Indian Chamber of Commerce has written a defamation on both Ramesh Jiwatram Bhawnani and Abdul Hamid Abas.

The society and 24 of its members, according to court documents, are being sued by plaintiffs Ramesh Jiwatram Bhawani and Abdul Hamid Abas for libel on grounds that between April 5, 2010 and November 29, 2010, the Indian Chamber of Commerce wrote letters allegedly containing libelous statements to the Indian High Commission.

The Indian Chamber of Commerce had applied to court to “strike out” the case against them because they said the letters having been sent to the Indian High Commission were subject to immunity. The court said no such immunity applied.

In the recent, publication of The Brunei Times, “The appeal is dismissed,” the Court of Appeal said. “There will be an order that the respondents’ costs of this appeal be taxed if not agreed and paid by the appellants.”

For previous news and updates of the case, you can click here, here and here from The Brunei Times.

Representing the Indian Chamber of Commerce is Siva Sankaran from Sankaran Halim & Associates while representing Ramesh Jiwatram Bhawani and Abdul Hamid Abas is Pengiran Izad of Pg Izad and Lee which won the case.

The names illustrated by The Brunei Times.

Let this be a learning lesson for all of us that “libel” is a serious offense. You can seriously land yourself into huge trouble and even at a very high cost. There was one case where a legal firm demanded $3 million compensation in the High Court against a local printing company for libel by calling the lawyers “piranhas, vultures and scavengers” back in 2002. In the end, the Brunei High Court in a landmark defamation suit awarded a prominent legal firm and the lawyers BND 673,488 in damages against the local printing company. Source: [Borneo Bulletin, 2002].

So do be careful what you type or write before posting and even I’m being careful in my blog posting as my intention is to help create awareness to the public especially matters like this.

 

The Jerudong Park Medical Centre (JPMC) in collaboration with Brunei Press Sdn Bhd will be organising a photo contest in conjunction with the World AIDS Day event that is celebrated globally every 1st December.

The theme of the World AIDS Day this year is “Getting To Zero” and the photo contest will also signify the theme and represent ‘Healthy Lifestyle’ images.The event is supported by Manning Jaya Trading (B) Sdn Bhd, Interhouse Company, Mc Quipp Technisell Marketing Sdn Bhd and Medicorp Sdn Bhd.

“The photo contest aims to boost participation from the members of the public and encourage them to present their creativity in the field of photography. We believe that in this age where social networking is at its peak, there are a lot of photography enthusiasts who are waiting for their time to flourish in this field. I believe this will be a great platform for them to present their skills to the world,” said AK Danny, JPMC Marketing Officer.

“We are delighted to partner with JPMC in conjunction with the World AIDS Day Photo contest 2014. Through this event, I believe it well help to create awareness of this global pandemic and at the same time educate people on its prevention,” said Hazizah Osman, Deputy General Manager of Brunei Press Sdn Bhd.

Ak Danny, JPMC Marketing Officer and Hazizah Osman, Deputy General Manager of Brunei Press Sdn Bhd.

Awesome prizes include a brand new Canon EOS 700D Kit (18-135mm), BND500 cash prize, one year JPMC gym membership as well as a Canon branded cap and power bank for the top prize. Second place will receive BND300 and six months JPMC Gym membership, while third place will receive BND200 and three months JPMC Gym membership.

The photo contest is open to all Brunei Residents except JPMC and Brunei Press staff. The contest runs from 26th November and the last day to submit entries if by 10th December 2014. Entries should be sent to marketing@jpmc.com.bn and all entries should be a minimum resolution of 300dpi.

Recently, JPMC also launched the sales of its commemorative Red Ribbon pins to collect funds for the Brunei Darussalam AIDS Council. The annual charity project is still ongoing and the Red Ribbon pins will be available at all JPMC counters at $3 each.