Lawyer VK Lingam continued with Day Two of his testimony before the royal commission into the scandalous judge-fixing video clip, enduring a day-long grilling by counsel from the Malaysian Bar.

Apart from counsel Ranjit Singh, Lingam was also questioned by the commissioners during the hearing this afternoon on his repeated denials.

Below are highlights from the hearing this afternoon which was filled with a number of Lingam’s ‘quotable quotes’:

Ranjit: You said you talk rubbish when you drink too much. Knowing that, why did you still talk on the judges’ appointment?

Lingam: That was in my house. That was in the privacy of my room. My house is my castle. I am the king there. I can talk whatever rubbish in my house as long as I don’t get drunk outside and misbehave.

Ranjit: Why did you choose the topic of judges’ appointment in the presence of (businessman) Loh Mui Fah?

Lingam: I can choose whatever topic I like. I can even pretend to talk to President Bush if I like.

Ranjit: Why did you tell Loh Mui Fah that you were talking to Ahmad Fairuz (Sheikh Abdul Halim, then chief judge of Malaya)?

Lingam: I don’t recollect I said that but even if I did say it, I am sorry to use the word, I was bullshitting and bragging.

Ranjit: Are you suggesting that you were also bullshitting and bragging in the transcript (of the phone conversation) too?

Lingam: It could be bragging, it could be bullshitting.

Ranjit: Are you relying on the photos to say that you were slightly intoxicated?

Lingam: With (the late lawyer) Manjit (Singh) in the photo, it looks like there were 7-Ups, two bottles of wine, two boxes of whisky, a whisky bottle - that is quite a lot to drink for two, three people for that night.

Ranjit: When you say ‘it looks like’, are you saying it was not real alcohol?

Lingam: As I see it, there were wine bottles and I was seen sipping it from my glass and drinking the wine.

( Ranjit then said he had completed the questioning. Commission chief Haidar Mohd Noor sought clarification from Lingam at this juncture).

Haidar: We have two witnesses Loh Mui Fah and his son (Gwo Burne) ( photo, below ) who have come forward and testified that it was you (in the clip). Why would they want to come forward (if it was not you)? Can you suggest a reason?

Lingam: I can’t think of a reason.

Haidar: You said they are your social friends. Why would they suddenly go against you?

Lingam: Can I say something Tan Sri (Haidar)? If they believe the clip is true, they wouldn’t have kept it for six years. They would have gone to the ACA (Anti-Corruption Agency) and the police and said, ‘Charge him, investigate’. But they have kept it for six, seven years.

Haidar: Alright, alright, alright...

(Mui Fah’s lawyer Americk Singh Sidhu, then posed a few brief questions to Lingam after which commissioner Mahadev Shankar sought clarification from Lingam).

Mahadev: You don’t dispute the person in the (two) photos (taken by Gwo Burne) is you?

Lingam: I don’t dispute that.

Mahadev: But when it comes to the video taken at the same occasion, you said the person ‘might not be me, it could be me and it could be somebody else...’

Lingam: No, no, no, my learned commissioner you didn’t get me right. I said it looks like me, it sounds like me. I didn’t say it was not me. I don’t want to say it’s 100 percent me because the authenticity of the clip has to be established by my two experts first.

Mahadev: So how many percent looks like you? (Laughter around the room)

Lingam: I don’t want to get into a mathematical debate with my learned commissioner. My experts said the report by the local experts is fundamentally flawed and it’s defective. Let my experts first be called. I am not denying it’s me. If my experts said it’s 100 percent me, I will be the first one to say it.

Haidar: We have an expert’s report and two witnesses here who gave direct evidence (related to the recording of the video).

Lingam: I am not saying it’s not me, please don’t get me wrong. I said it looks like me, it sounds like me. There should be no dispute. I make myself very clear.