KUALA LUMPUR: Fashion entrepreneur Christy Ng has stressed that an ongoing defamation suit against a social media account owner is about protecting the livelihoods of nearly 500 employees, not just her personal reputation.
The social media influencer expressed regret over the individual's refusal to issue an open apology over extreme defamatory allegations directed at her business.
Christy said the individual remains active on Threads despite failing to attend court proceedings related to the case.
"If he were truly remorseful over his mistake, he should have come and apologised. Instead, he continues posting on Threads without showing any regret.
"He can post continuously on social media, yet fails to appear in court for proceedings," she said when met outside the court here today.
The High Court was scheduled to hear a committal application against a man who allegedly failed to comply with a court order to publish a public apology in newspapers.
Christy and her company, Christy Ng Sdn Bhd, as plaintiffs, filed the application in the High Court against J. Vikneshvra Rau as the defendant.
This follows claims that Vikneshvra failed to publish an unconditional full-page apology in Malay and English newspapers as ordered by the court.
However, the High Court fixed Oct 26 for the new hearing date after the defendant failed to attend the proceedings.
Elaborating further, Ng said this was her first time taking legal action for defamation, describing the allegations as crossing the line and damaging her company's reputation and staff.
She added that the defamatory post, written in English, was read by international clients, including those in the Philippines and Indonesia, while causing distress to her family.
"He damaged the company's reputation and affected the livelihoods of nearly 500 people working for my company across Southeast Asia.
"My parents were also deeply affected when reading those defamatory remarks.
"So this is not just about me, but a responsibility toward employees who rely on this company for their living," she said.
Ng said legal action was pursued to defend the company's standing and safeguard the welfare of her workforce.
Meanwhile, Ng's lawyer Foong Cheng Leong said the individual has yet to pay any of the RM180,000 in damages awarded by the court in the case.
He added that a bankruptcy notice against the individual was filed in court last week.
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