The prime minister's wife Rosmah Mansor has been told to emulate Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng's wife and to step down as Permata patron.

Damansara Utama assemblyperson Yeo Bee Yin said this today in the ongoing verbal volley with Rosmah's aide Rizal Mansor, in which Rizal made Lim's wife Betty Chew the latest target.

"Rizal once again dragged a non-related person into the Permata discussion.

"It is amusing that he compared Chew with Rosmah Mansor.

"Didn’t Rizal know that Chew rejected the proposal to be appointed into the committee of Penang Chinese Chamber of Commerce (PCCC)?

"In addition, PCCC is a trade organisation, and not even a government agency (like Permata)," Yeo said in a statement.

Rizal last Saturday claimed Chew's role in PCCC was similar to Rosmah's in the controversial Prime Minister's Department programme for children, Permata, which has come under scrutiny for a failure to reveal its books.

"Are you aware that the chief minister's wife has been elected as the head of the PCCC?

"I am not sure if she received any allowance or gratuity, but who is she to be elected as someone important in the PCCC, if she were not the chief minister's wife?" Rizal asked in a statement.

"And what's the story with Yayasan Anak Warisan Selangor (Yawas) and the Damansara Utama constituency? Jeng...jeng...jeng," quipped Rizal.

In the latter case, he was referring to Sungai Besar Umno chief Jamal Md Yunos’ claim that Selangor Harapan had abused funds from Yawas.

'Ignorant or lying?'

In January 2015 the mainstream media made an issue of Chew being named on the committee of the Chinese trade organisation, following which Lim explained that his wife had rejected the offer.

Yeo ticked Rizal off for not revealing the whole picture on the PCCC matter.

"It’s either that Rizal did not do his homework, or he is shamelessly telling a lie to defend his boss.

"In any case, now that Rizal has brought Betty Chew into the discussion, may I suggest that Rosmah learns from Betty Chew and resigns from Permata?" Yeo said.

Yeo and Rizal have been engaged in a public verbal spat over Rosmah's role as patron of the government-funded Permata.

Yeo has been questioning the need for the government programme, which she said should be handled by the relevant ministries in charge of children or education, instead of being placed under the Prime Minister's Department and having a patron.