The man who recorded the controversial video on alleged judicial fixing took the stand today as the 12th witness before the royal commission of inquiry into the Lingam tape.

Loh Gwo Burne, 34, was identified by his father, businessman Loh Mui Fah, last week as the person who had secretly recorded lawyer VK Lingam’s conversation with then chief judge of Malaya Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim.

Gwo Burne arrived at the Jalan Duta court complex in Kuala Lumpur early this morning, accompanied by his father and younger brother, Gwo Tynde (photo).

Appearing nervous at times during his testimony, he told the commission that he had recorded the grainy 14-minute video with a Sony 707 digital camera (below) which has video-recording capacity.

The father and son had gone to Lingam’s Kelana Jaya home for dinner on Dec 20, 2001 "to discuss legal matters".

Gwo Burne said he had the camera with him to take photos of the dinner and house, as Lingam had given him prior permission to do so.

He confirmed that the two photos shown to the commission last week were taken by him - one shows Lingam, the lawyer's younger sister and Mui Fah, while the other shows Lingam, Mui Fah and another lawyer, the late Manjit Singh.

When questioned by Anti-Corruption Agency deputy public prosecutor Nordin Hassan, Gwo Burne said he had recorded the video because he was "bored and fed up" while Lingam was attending to other matters.

He explained that Lingam was at that time talking to his sister. When Lingam finally sat down to speak to his father, the lawyer was "almost immediately talking on the phone".

"It was not the first time...it is like that all the time," said Gwo Burne.

He said he had wanted to take a photograph of a vase but had not realised that the camera's video mode was on.

But when he was aware of the slip-up, he chose to let it run for the fun of it.

'Lingam not drunk'

He dismissed a suggestion posed by his counsel Alex de Sliva that Lingam was drunk or play-acting during the conversation.

"He didn't drink that much anyway (and) even by the end of the evening, I don't think he was drunk."

On whether Lingam was play-acting, Gwo Burne said: "No. Sometimes I could even hear a male voice on the other end."

On how the clip had became public, he said he initially thought Manjit was responsible as he had 'burned' a copy of the recording for him "but then I found out that he was dead so I have no idea (who did it)".

Explaining the circumstances under which he had passed over the copy, Gwo Burne replied: "I was with Manjit and we both were complaining about Lingam. I said (Lingam) was always attending to other matters, while Manjit said he had not been paid for work done for Lingam... this guy always likes politics, politics, politics."

He then offered Manjit a copy of the tape on the basis that the latter might find it "interesting to check out".

Gwo Burne, who positively identified Lingam today as the person in the clip, is working in Shanghai. He had returned to Kuala Lumpur last week after his lawyer said he was "willing and able" to testify before the commission.

During his testimony, he was intensely questioned by Lingam's lawyer R Thayalan and Sallehuddin Saidin, who is representing Ahmad Fairuz. They wanted to know about the authenticity of the footage and whether Gwo Burne had edited it.

He confirmed that it was the same footage that he had transferred from his camera to a computer and denied having tampered with it. At one point, he appeared to be agitated, telling Sallehuddin: "If you don't believe I'm telling the truth, you can get the expert to check."

To another of Sallehuddin's questions as to how he could hear the 'male voice' on the phone' - when Mui Fah, who was seated closer to Lingam could not hear it - Gwo Burne said: "I wouldn't know, but I might have better hearing." This drew laughter from those in the room.

Thayalan asked how Gwo Burne could distinguish the gender of the person with whom Lingam was talking, he hesitantly responded "I think through my experience...?".

Asked by Thayalan if Lingam and Mui Fah had noticed him filming them, Gwo Burne said: "I (had hung) the camera around my neck with a strap... it was visible at all times."

This morning, the inquiry started today with a heated exchange between commissioners Haidar Mohamed Noor and Mahadev Shankar and lawyer Wee Choo Keong.

Wee was rapped for having suggested to the media on Friday that the commission was reluctant to call Lingam's brother VK Thirunama as a witness. However, he said he could not remember what he told the media.

To this, panel chairperson Haidar said: "I would like to advise you... don't simply make insinuations (that could lead to our taking) action against you."