The local media has been toasting Malaysian-born model Sarah Marbeck over her alleged affair with soccer superstar David Beckham and this has irked Deputy Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin.

Zainuddin today said the media should not project Marbeck as the "nation's pride" and what she had done as a "good thing".

"It is very unfortunate that our media has joined the frenzy. The girl has been exposed for money and has claimed to have slept with Beckham and yet we project it as a good thing.

"Some newspapers even 'shouted' she was Malaysian-born, perceived as something that we are proud of," he told Bernama .

Marbeck, the daughter of a prominent Malaysian lawyer who now resides in Australia, has been in the international spotlight over the week followig her revelation.

Lurid details of her romps with the England captain and Real Madrid midfielder first appeared in the UK tabloid News of the World .

Following this, the media here also gave prominence to the scandal and observers were shocked by the decision of some conservative newspapers to carry the report on their front-pages.

Yesterday, the UK Sun tabloid claimed that Marbeck had been working for an escort agency based in Sydney in 2001, the year she had claimed to have slept with the football star.

Exercise caution

Meanwhile, Zainuddin said the media should exercise caution and not over-react as there were some moral issues which were not good for the younger generation.

He said the media should be aware of the negative values and not make her "a hero" for what she had claimed to have done.

Marbeck is the second woman to go public with claims of an affair with the former Manchester United captain.

Former personal assistant to Beckham, Rebecca Loos (photo left), was the first to claim that she had had an affair with the soccer idol, insisting that she had no reason to lie.

Beckham, 29, has fiercely denied both women's claims and has referred the matter to his lawyers.