Lim Guan Eng is a name that kind of sounds like Lee Kuan Yew. But that certainly is not enough for someone to claim that the two are related, without hard evidence.

For some reason, a Member of Parliament (MP) from the Malaysia Islamist Party (PAS) claimed that Lim, the former finance minister of Malaysia, is a relative of both former Singapore prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, and also Malaysian communist leader and militant Chin Peng.

A claim of cousins

Evidence is what Siti Mastura Muhammad, who represents the federal constituency of Kepala Batas in Penang, failed to produce when she made her startling claim.

According to New Straits Times, Mastura made the wild claims during a speech in Terengganu.

A clip of her speech can be found online, where she claims that Lim, Lee and Chin Peng (real name Ong Boon Hua) are cousins.

Dengar sendiri penipuan dan fitnah yang disebarkan oleh ahli Parlimen PAS ini.

Menipu tanpa malu hanya untuk menabur kebencian antara kaum dan mendapatkan undi. Bila orang tanya lari.

Apa benda kualiti PAS begini? Fitnah jadi perjuangan parti!! pic.twitter.com/cJfiIyWeOe

— aku/saya 🇲🇾 (@bumilangit) November 7, 2023

Ong, better known as Chin Peng, was the leader of the Malayan Communist Party. In World War II, he waged a guerrilla campaign against the forces of Imperial Japan who occupied Malaya.

Following the war, the MCP led another armed campaign of terror against the British in Malaya, and later the Federal government of Malaysia, a time known as the Emergency.

Lee Kuan Yew is a former prime minister of Singapore.

"Dirty political game"

Lim, who is from the Democratic Action Party (DAP) and a former cabinet minister in the first Pakatan Harapan government, called Mastura's remarks a "dirty political game" and "baseless slander".

He said that it was not only a "personal attack", but one that has "racial undertones" as well, Malaysiakini reported.

Mastura had also claimed that Lim was related to other prominent members of the DAP, including current Transport Minister Anthony Loke. Lim said he isn't.

He challenged Mastura to come up with evidence for her claims, and if she did not do so, he would take further action, without going into specifics.

On Nov. 7, Mastura reportedly attempted to dodge reporters when asked about her shocking claims of family ancestry, according to Malaysiakini.

She told reporters to watch the full video and said she does not want to answer questions without knowing the context.

This is not the first time that Mastura has come under controversy, after she counted attending weddings and funerals as part of her accomplishments of her role as MP.

You may be interested

@mothershipsg In Aug. 2023, Taiwan warned of a surge in tensions, as a record number of Chinese fighter jets crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait. #sgnews #tiktoksg #taiwan ♬ original sound - Mothership

Top image from bumilangit/X and Lim Guan Eng Facebook.