Tourism and Culture Minister Nazri Abdul Aziz pointed out that the orangutan was used as a logo during the first Visit Malaysia Year when Dr Mahathir Mohamad was prime minister.

“I just followed him," he told Malaysiakini.

The minister was commenting on Mahathir's remarks regarding the Visit Malaysia Year 2020 logo.

“It looks like a kera (monkey) or is that a human? This is how they attract people to Malaysia. To me, there are a lot more designs which look nicer and more attractive," said the former premier in a blog post this morning,

An unfazed Nazri pointed out that the critical comments regarding the logo only served to create awareness about the campaign.

"I used the monkey to get monkeys like him (Mahathir) to make comments like this,” said the minister, who is known for not mincing his words.

“Then, as a result, my logo is trending and it will create awareness among Malaysians that there is a Visit Malaysia (Year) in 2020," he added.

According to Tourism Malaysia's website, the orangutan was used as a mascot named Wira in the Visit Malaysia Year 1990 campaign.

The logo for Visit Malaysia 2020, which features images of two cartoon orangutan, a proboscis monkey and a turtle, has drawn brickbats on social media.

However, Nazri has insisted on using the logo.

Grafik Malaya, a Facebook page for local designers, curated dozens of alternative logos in the hope that the authorities would change their mind.

"This is how (designers) are speaking up. We believe the Visit Malaysia 2020 logo [...] is inappropriate and weak.

"A logo is of paramount importance to the image of a country," said the anonymous Facebook page curators.