Tiong’s lawyer Prem Ramachandran said his client withdrew the case following testimony of a journalist who said he did not interview Ong prior to the publication of an article which alleged Tiong and another former MCA president, Chua Soi Lek, were working together to remove Ong who was then the MCA president.

High Court judge Lau Bee Lan struck out the suit with no liberty to file afresh and awarded costs of RM40,000 to Ong.

Ong, who was present in court today, said he was shocked that Tiong withdrew his suit at the 11th hour.

Nevertheless, he felt vindicated for the second time, as a similar suit filed by Tiong earlier was also dismissed by the court with costs.

“It is a New Year gift,” he said in reference to the Chinese New Year which falls on Saturday.

Tiong had originally filed the suit on Oct 12, 2009, naming the New Straits Times Press (NSTP) Bhd, its former group editor Datuk Syed Nadzri Syed Harun, journalist Joseph Sipalan and Ong as defendants.

However, Tiong later withdrew his suit against the publisher but called Sipalan as his witness.

Sipalan, who wrote the article, said he did not speak to Ong and also refused to disclose the source.

Lau held that it would be in the interest of the public if the court did not order Sipalan to reveal his source.

Tiong then took this matter on appeal, whether a journalist should dislcose his source

On Aug 29, 2014, the Court of Appeal dismissed Tiong’s appeal after ruling that it was incompetent and not appealable.

The Federal Court last year also dismissed Tiong’s appeal.