As the multinational search and rescue mission for MH370 continues, both Lim Guan Eng and MCA chose to trade insults instead after the former used the incident to launch the first strike.

In a below-the-belt swipe at his political nemesis, Lim said it was fortunate that MCA president Liow Tiong Lai did not assume the transport minister post before the plane disappeared.

According to China Press , the Penang chief minister said in a speech that Liow, with his poor command of English, would not have been able to handle the international media.

"Luckily, Liow is not the transport minister," Lim quipped at a function.

In an equally childish response, MCA's publicity chief Chai Kim Sen described the DAP secretary-general as being "brain damaged".

Chai noted that Lim had admitted that he ,too, did not dare converse in English with the older generation whose command was "too good" but yet had the audacity to criticise Liow's language skills.

He conceded that Liow might not be well-versed in certain English phrases such as "you print, I sue", in a sarcastic reference to Lim's penchant for defamation suits against newspapers.

He also said that Liow had a proven track record as health minister before this and that the people could judge his language skills without Lim's help.

Liow dodged bullet?

Liow, who is no stranger to gaffes, is set to become transport minister after MCA on Feb 23 approved a resolution in a hastily put together extraordinary general meeting (EGM) for the party to rejoin the government.

The party had refused to accept cabinet positions following a resolution to stay out of the government if it performed badly in the 13th general election.

Just 13 days after the EGM, Flight MH370 vanished from the radar over the Gulf of Thailand, with 239 passengers and crew.

The country has been   plunged into an international crisis and the task of managing the crisis fell to Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein ( left ), who himself has drawn flak from the international media.

The plane remains missing after two weeks of extensive search, which has now extended to the far south of the Indian Ocean and the borders of Kazakstan and Turkmenistan.