Slip of the tongue

IF the bottom of the barrel had already been scraped by some of our recalcitrant Members of Parliament spanning racist to sexist remarks, then Kepala Batas MP Siti Mastura Muhammad’s claim has bore a hole right through.

The debutant PAS lawmaker ludicrously claimed that DAP leader Lim Guan Eng is related to deceased Communist Party of Malaya leader Chin Peng and late Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew.

Speaking at the recent PAS convention, she said Chin Peng – whose real name is Ong Boon Hua – was cousin, or sepupu, to Kit Siang, Guan Eng’s father.

She also erroneously referred to Kuan Yew’s surname as Lim instead of Lee in her outrageously ignorant attempt to link Kit Siang to Kuan Yew.

If that didn’t do enough to put us in stitches, she accused Guan Eng’s wife, Betty, of being related to other DAP leaders including Anthony Loke, Teresa Kok and Nga Kor Ming.

Well, the “Lim Dynasty” accusation on many DAP family members has been bandied about for a while, but the family tree certainly hasn’t extended to the CPM and People’s Action Party founder.

Thanks to social media, Malaysians now get to see the viral video of the MP parading her utter stupidity.

Her constituents must be cringing in embarrassment for voting this politician in who, for some miraculous reasons, has managed to wrest the Kepala Batas seat, once an Umno stronghold. It was long held by Tun Abdulllah Ahmad Badawi, our affable former premier.

It’s stunning how she could have made the claim, and with such bravado, too. No doubt she wanted to link Guan Eng to two historic figures unpopular among some Malay factions, but the logic or lack of is simply incomprehensible. It surely must take some talent to do that.

It’s obvious she has little to zero understanding of her fellow Malaysians. Yes, we may be ethnic Chinese, but we are Malaysians first.

The Chinese community comprises many dialect groups and most times, we don’t understand or try conversing with each other.

Likewise, there are Malays who come from Javanese, Bugis, Minang, Achehnese and even Thai descent.

Let’s clear her haze by starting with the three names Siti Mastura mentioned – Chin Peng was a Foochow born in Sitiawan.

Kit Siang was born in Batu Pahat and Guan Eng in Johor Baru. They are Hokkien, while Kuan Yew was Hakka.

If she’s reading this, I believe Siti Mastura is now even more confused. Since the video went viral, she has evaded the media at the Parliament House.

The outspoken one has opted for radio silence, believing it will be forgotten, and is likely hoping she can hide behind the age-old “the video was edited and taken out of context” spiel spewed by politicians.

Well, let’s educate her further since we’ve already begun. Surnames among the Chinese can be complicated. Most of us are not Lee or Nguyen, unlike Koreans and Vietnamese.

So, Wong, like my name, is Cantonese. The Hokkien equivalent is Ooi and among Mandarin speaking Chinese, it’s Huang. Both the common denominators are derived from the grassroot word “yellow”, where the genealogy begins.

In Indonesia, it’s spelt Oey, especially among the Chinese community in Kalimantan, while the Lim is altered to Liem.

Then, there’s Tan, which means magnificent in ancient Chinese. Most are Hokkien but among the Cantonese, it’s usually Romanised to Chan, exemplified in the popular Hong Kong movie star, Jackie Chan’s name. Some Teochew even spell it as Tang.

The Lim surname is certainly one of the most prevalent in the Chinese community with an estimated 20 million people worldwide with it, roughly 800,000 of whom are in Malaysia alone, reveal reports.

The Hakka, Hokkien, Teochew and Hainan communities Romanise it to Lim while the Cantonese speaking community, especially in Hong Kong, uses Lam.

By the way YB, not all Lees are Chinese. As is common knowledge, Lee is a popular surname in South Korea, too. But there are also many Caucasians with the Lee surname.

Kung fu star Bruce Lee is not related to Baywatch star Pamela Anderson’s ex-husband and rock band Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee, or Christopher Lee, who famously played the fanged vampire Dracula in many horror movies.

I can forgive Siti Mastura for this one since she wasn’t born yet and likely lacks exposure to popular culture. She unfortunately missed these Lees or else she wouldn’t have her Lees and Lims all mixed up.

For sure, these "Lees" can't be "sepupu" of Kuan Yew.

As a Penangite, I’m grossly embarrassed by her blunder. We thought Doraemon, the MP, not the cartoon character, was comical, but this Kepala Batas MP has etched her name in the annals of Malaysian Parliament for the most absurd claim so far.

We may come in different colours and creeds, but ultimately, we’re one and the same, if that’s still news to our honorary voices of the people. And in Malaysia, we wish everyone for our festive seasons. So, Happy Deepavali to those celebrating and the rest of our great country. May the light shine upon us.