Tourism and Culture Minister Nazri Abdul Aziz continues to draw flak over his hard-hitting remarks regarding billionaire Robert Kuok and MCA, this time from across the South China Sea.

Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) president Tiong King Sing accused the Umno minister of being “arrogant and ungrateful”.

The Bintulu MP criticised Nazri for going against the BN spirit and cooperation.

Tiong said the minister must respect the Chinese representatives in the ruling coalition and not forget that Chinese-based parties in BN had helped Umno during its time of crisis.

“Nazri said DAP won most of the Chinese-majority seats in the 2013 general election and therefore only DAP and (party secretary-general) Lim Guan Eng can represent the Chinese community.

“Did Nazri realise the reason why Chinese voters rejected Chinese-based parties in BN? Who were Chinese voters against then?” he asked in a statement.

Although he did not mention it, Tiong's remarks appeared to hint that the Chinese voters turned their backs on BN because of Umno.

Instead of introspection and assisting his allies, the Sarawak politician claimed Nazri (photo) chose to add insult to injury.

“...He teased these BN allies who remained beside Umno during its split. This is typical of an ungrateful person,” he added.

Tiong also claimed that if Nazri's logic is applied, it would mean that Umno does not represent the Malays in Selangor and Kelantan since support for the party among the Malay electorate is low in the two opposition-held states.

The Sarawak politician also criticised Nazri for not taking Sarawak's Chinese voters into account, especially when they had returned to BN in the 2016 state election.

“Not all Chinese voters in Sabah and Sarawak turned to DAP. In fact, during the 2016 Sarawak polls, BN won eight out of 16 significant Chinese seats,” he said.

MCA leaders and Gerakan president Mah Siew Keong had reportedly engaged in a heated exchange with Nazri during yesterday's weekly cabinet meeting.

Nazri had lashed out at Kuok following an article in Malaysia Today which accused the billionaire of funding DAP.

Both the 94-year-old business tycoon, who is currently in Hong Kong, and DAP have denied the allegation.