Esther Hong Hui Jun
Associate
Esther is a commercial litigator. She works on commercial and corporate disputes, regulatory enforcement and data privacy disputes.
Her experiences in commercial and corporate disputes include assisting in a contractual claim against the Government of Malaysia and acting for a leading Malaysian credit reporting agency in an oppression action.
On regulatory enforcement matters, she has worked on a claim brought by the Malaysian securities regulator to recover an unlawful pecuniary gain by using manipulative and deceptive devices in a public listed company.
She also has experience in obtaining an injunction to refrain a news portal in Malaysia from publishing private information.
She graduated from the University of Malaya.
Commercial Litigation
- Assisted counsel in securing leave from the Federal Court on the issue of the relief sought in a shareholders’ dispute.
- Assisted counsel in defending a tort claim against the Malaysian national electricity supplier for alleged trespass and damage caused to a submarine cable connected between Malaysia and Singapore.
- Assisted counsel in a contractual claim against the Government of Malaysia for for terminating a concession agreement for a national system integrated project by way of expropriation. Successfully obtained a judgment from the High Court against the Government of Malaysia to make payment of around RM231 million of compensation sum. See Prestariang SKIN Sdn Bhd v Government of Malaysia [2024] MLJU 1698. Acting as junior counsel in the appeal against the High Court’s decision.
- Assisted counsel in an oppression suit brought by a leading Malaysian credit reporting agency against the majority shareholders.
- Acting as a junior counsel in resisting a claim for payment of commission / referral fee for one of the reputable global accounting firms.
- Acting as junior counsel in defending a tort claim against the Malaysian national electricity supplier for alleged trespass and damage caused to a submarine cable connected between Malaysia and Singapore
- Acting as junior counsel in a contractual claim for breach of an acquisition agreement. Successfully wound up the defendant companies upon obtaining the High Court’s judgment.
- Acting as junior counsel in a claim for the return of investment sum and profits pursuant to a joint venture agreement.
- Acting as junior counsel in an international arbitration dispute for failure to provide material specifications that are in accordance with the international standard when constructing a hydrogen plant.
Regulatory Enforcement
- Assisted counsel in a claim brought by the Malaysian securities regulator to recover an unlawful pecuniary gain by using manipulative and deceptive devices in a public listed company.Successfully secured an inter partes world-wide Freezing Injunction against the Defendants. Acted as junior counsel in successfully opposing an application filed by one of the defendants (who is a fugitive) to participate in the trial via remote communication technology, the appeals brought by the defendant to the Federal Court were also successfully opposed. See Securities Commission Malaysia v Wong Shee Kai & Ors [2023] 7 CLJ 825.
- Acted as junior counsel in successfully opposing an ex parte leave application brought against the Malaysian securities regulator.
- Acting for the Malaysian securities regulator to recover payment of penalties for breaching the securities law.
- Providing the Malaysian securities regulator advice on insider trading.
Data Privacy Disputes
- Assisted counsel in obtaining an injunction to refrain a news portal in Malaysia from publishing private information.
- Assisted counsel in obtaining a mandatary injunction to hand over a government-linked company’s storage machine which contains information relating to expatriates.
Fraud and Asset Recovery
- Advised a multinational company to bring an action against its former employees who misappropriated funds in the company.
- Acting as junior counsel in an action brought by a cargo aviation company against its employee and customers for conspiracy. Successfully obtained ex parte Mareva and Anton Pillter Order.
Qualifications
- Advocate & Solicitor, High Court of Malaya (2021)
- LL.B. (Hons), University of Malaya (2020)
Publications and Talks
Authored the following article:
- A Malaysian Perspective on Internet Privacy Protection: The Right to be Forgotten, University of Malaya Law Review, Volume 4, 2020.