Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has been through the cycle of having his appointment scrutinised and speculated on.

Therefore, Zahid said, he knows how Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein is feeling about those questioning his appointment as a Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of special functions.

As for him, the deputy prime minister said, he chose to just concentrate on his work when faced with such a situation.

“I did not care about the matter (the things said), I carried out my duties and responsibilities. As long as you have not committed wrong in the eyes of Allah and the law...

“My work ethic is to continue (with the tasks entrusted) regardless of what people say,” Zahid added.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak announced his cousin Hishammuddin's additional portfolio, sparking off a slew of speculations.

Among them is that Najib is attempting to sideline Zahid and prepping Hishammuddin for the top post, or could be using the latter to keep Zahid in check.

There were also those who claimed Hishammuddin is being empowered in order to boost his chances of defending his Umno vice-president seat in the next party elections.

Hishammuddin has dismissed such speculation, claiming that his appointment was to help the prime minister in certain administration-related tasks.

Commenting on the opposition's claim that the appointment does not bode well for his political future, Zahid replied: “That is the work of the opposition... nothing surprising. Let's just do our work.”

He added on a cyptic note: “We must be sincere when entrusted with a responsibility and implement it in full, not just to take care of the feelings of one or two individuals. We want to be seen as the best in the eyes of the people, but we are not sincere... This is not directed at anyone in particular.”

On another matter, Zahid, who is also home minister, weighed in on the controversy surrounding a cartoon published by Nanyang Siang Pau, which depicted PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang and Dewan Rakyat Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia as monkeys.

Zahid advised against using knowledge in a particular field to run down or insult others, even in the form of political satires.

“Use the intellect to share with others, not insult or belittle others. This is called intellectual egoism,” he said.

Nanyang Siang Pau had apologised and retracted the cartoon, which lampooned the speaker's decision to defer the debate on Hadi's motion to enhance syariah courts to the next Parliament meeting in July.

Seeing red over the cartoon, some 100 PAS members and supporters protested outside the daily's office in Petaling Jaya, while the Home Ministry slapped Nanyang Siang Pau with a show-cause letter.