Wanita Umno chief Sharizat Abdul Jalil has denied insulting MCA vice-president and BN candidate for the Kajang by-election Chew Mei Fun with her "find a husband" remark.

She claimed that it was merely a "family chat".

"I know her (Chew) very well. It was a family chat and we were just joking. I was teasing her as a sister, this is not an insult," she said, lashing out at Pakatan Rakyat for playing up the matter.

"To me, when (the) opposition makes this a big deal, it shows that they (are) really desperado," she added.

It was earlier reported that Shahrizat said many men were queuing to marry Chew, but she would only find a husband after the by-election, which would be held on March 23.

Though Chew had defended Shahrizat by saying that she took it as a joke, the BN candidate nevertheless refused a joint press conference with Shahrizat after they attended a programme in Kajang today.

Despite two requests by Shahrizat, Chew merely waved her hand and left the scene in a hurry, without saying a word.

As for Shahrizat, she had initially sidestepped several questions posed by Malaysiakini regarding her remark, and only entertained requests from the Chinese press to comment on International Women's day.

It was only when Malaysiakini asked if the opposition had misunderstood the remark, Sharizat changed her mind and responded.

'Chew has double standard'

While the MCA vice-president was not offended by Sharizat's remark, she, however, saw red with DAP Taiping parliamentarian Nga Kor Ming over his tweet and demanded an apology.

Nga had tweeted, "Fried beehun (Chew Mei Fun) yesterday posted a (photo of) herself as a sweeping aunty, today she held iron, it seems she wants interview as maid..."

Commenting on this, DAP Kulai MP Teo Nie Ching questioned Chew over her double standard.

“Why does she think it (Shahrizat’s remark) is a joke but at the other side, she interprets it as an insult?” she said.

            

Teo chided Shahrizat for humiliating all single women in the country.

However, she did not defend Nga on his controversial tweet either. “Let Nga to answer by himself...But definitely I will ask him personally for a reason,” she said.

Nga had in his press statement yesterday, that he refered the role of maid just to tease MCA for being inferior to Umno.