KUALA LUMPUR, March 16 — Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng has been ordered by the High Court today to pay a total of RM2 million in damages after allowing a defamation suit filed against him by e-commerce firm Monspace (M) Sdn Bhd and its founder Datuk Seri Jessy Lai.

The decision, delivered by High Court judge Datuk Akhtar Tahir, also directed the DAP federal lawmaker to pay RM250,000 in costs to the company as well as Lai.

When contacted, lawyer Guok Ngek Seong confirmed the outcome of today's hearing which was conducted through Zoom.

In today's verdict, the lawyer said the court also ordered Lim to make "a public apology within seven days from the judgment or order being perfected” and to pay RM500,000 in damages to Lai and RM1 million in damages to Monspace respectively.

Guok added that the court ordered the defendant to pay RM500,000 in aggravated damages to both Lai and Monspace.

When asked if an appeal will be sought, Guok said the appeal was immediately filed following the court's decision this morning.

The plaintiffs were represented by lawyer Ivanpal Singh Grewal.

After today's decision, Lim responded by taking to Facebook and expressed his determination to fight the case in the Court of Appeal.

"2017, I stood up and spoke out. 2023, I was defeated in High Court. Undeterred. Appeal filed. Fight we must," he said in a posting.

According to the statement of claim, Lai is seeking to claim general and aggravated damages for over 15 allegedly defamatory remarks made by Lim in five media publications between 2017 and 2018.

In the lawsuit filed back in June 2019, Lai had accused Lim of making allegedly defamatory remarks against the company and her by speaking to the media to purportedly severely disparage their reputation and image in the eyes of the public during a visit to MonSpace’s headquarters in Bukit Jalil on May 23, 2017.

Lim, Sungai Pelek assemblyman Ronnie Liu Tian Khiew and 19 Chinese nationals, who claimed they were victims of the MonSpace investment scheme, had gone to the headquarters of the multinational company to demand a refund or at least an explanation as to why their investment had not materialised.

She claimed that Lim’s remarks implied she was running an illegal business, cheated its Chinese investors, dishonest and untruthful and not law-abiding.