Tourism and Culture Minister Nazri Abdul Aziz’s persistent refusal to apologise for his remarks to billionaire Robert Kuok has once again courted the wrath of tycoon Lee Kim Yew, this time through a Malay poem.

In his second open letter today, Lee wrote:

'YB tidak YB, tapi kasar sangat kasar;
Mulut kotor kurang ajar,
Lupa diri penting seorang menteri budaya;
Makan gaji besar, kasi orang susah.

(An ‘honourable’ MP who is not honourable, but very rough;
Rude and uncouth,
Forgetting that he is a culture minister;
Earns a big salary but makes life hard for others.)

Lee, who is Country Heights Holdings Bhd founder and major shareholder, said that it was imperative that the Umno minister apologised to all Malaysians.

“Not only are you a tourism minister, but you are also a culture minister. An apology from you will not only be good for the Chinese but also for people of all races.

“For Chinese like us, you scolded an elder whom we respect during a Chinese festive period. After hearing it, how can we not have a response? If we don’t respond, are we still Chinese?

“I am proud to be Chinese and to me, being Malaysian Chinese is my greatest joy,” he wrote in Mandarin.

He also said Nazri had “trampled on Chinese dignity” through his comments because Kuok represented Chinese dignity, reported local Mandarin-language daily China Press.

In his first open letter yesterday, Lee reprimanded Nazri for behaving dishonourably and reminded the latter that the country did not belong to him.

"Perhaps you have enjoyed too many terms (as a minister), a business venture that does not need capital.

"You have forgotten that you need to balance what you receive and what you have to give back. You have forgotten what is a democracy, and believe that this country is owned by the party," he wrote.

On Monday, Nazri did not mince words when he challenged the Hong Kong-based Kuok to return to Malaysia and contest in the coming general election.

The minister rained insults on the billionaire, calling him, among other things, a “pondan” (effeminate) and “coward with no testicles”.

The outburst was related to blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin's claim that Kuok was funding DAP to overthrow Umno and BN in the polls.

Both DAP and Kuok have denied the allegation.