Higher Education Minister Mustapa Mohamed today apologised for his deputy Ong Tee Keat's public disclosure that government officers had allegedly misappropriated funds meant for vernacular schools.

In a statement faxed to Bernama , Mustapa gave his assurance to Education Minister Hishammuddin Hussein that such incidents will not recur.

He also apoloised if Ong's remark had hurt the feelings of officials from the Education Ministry, who were accused of pocketing the funds.

On Saturday, Ong, during a dinner with teachers from a Chinese school in Johor, said government officials had embezzled the special allocation meant for several Chinese schools in the state.

This received prominent coverage in the Chinese media.

Inappropriate move

Yesterday, Hishammuddin and Ong locked horns over the issue. Among others, the education minister accused Ong of trying to be a hero for the Chinese community.

Ong, who is also MCA vice-president, criticised Hishammuddin, who is the Umno Youth chief, of playing up racial sentiments.

He also took the minister to task for launching a personal attack instead of focusing on the allegation.

Meanwhile, Mustapa said the issue was raised during today's cabinet meeting and it was decided that it was inappropriate for a government official to openly criticise other ministries.

"If there are specific issues which needs to be raised, they should be forwarded to the relevant ministry.

"In this case, the deputy higher education minister should have conveyed the information to the education minister in order to get further clarification," he said.

Mustapa said since he became the higher education minister, he has been trying to create good relations between his ministry and Hishammuddin's since their functions overlapped.

"We have successfully handled several issues and problems together. I hope the deputy higher education minister's statement will not affect the close cooperation between the two ministries," he added.