My mum used to say, “If you call someone idiot, you are a bigger idiot.”

That was the first thing that came to my mind upon hearing Tourism and Culture Minister Nazri Abdul Aziz call billionaire Robert Kuok ‘pondan’ (effeminate).

As mind-blowing, jaw-dropping and eye-rolling as it was for me to hear a leader like Nazri degrading someone much senior to him, forgetting all the calls to practice a lifestyle full of sopan santun (politeness), budi bahasa (manners) and hormat-menghormati (respect) which the Malay culture is so rich in, I have to say it was equally funny as well.

For those living underneath the tempurung (coconut shell), having no clue of what’s this all about - well, it all began when Raja Petra Kamaruddin accused Kuok of funding DAP to topple BN in the forthcoming general election on his blog, Malaysia Today.

Kuok is a 94-year-old Malaysian who resides in Hong Kong, minding his own business and spending his own wealth in his own ways.

For Nazri to lash out at the senior tycoon, demanding that he stops being a coward with no balls and returns to Malaysia to face the government, while sitting comfortably in his air-conditioned office is, I must say, quite an “aiyoh kadavule” (Oh, my God) moment...