INTERVIEW |Tourism and Culture Minister Nazri Abdul Aziz will not apologise to MCA, a major partner of the Umno-led BN coalition.

In an interview with Malaysiakini, Nazri, who is also an Umno supreme council member, defended his remarks as a sign of a "matured relationship" among BN component parties.

"I can only do this thing if I am confident whatever I said would not affect our brotherly relationship," he said in reference to several MCA leaders who were upset over his brash attacks against billionaire Robert Kuok.

For example, Nazri said while he would take offence if a stranger were to use a derogatory word against him, it would, however, be acceptable in a conversation among close friends.

"If you don't know these fellas, suddenly you said ‘bastard’. Surely, they will get angry.

"But you can say this to your friend: 'Bastard, where did you go?' This is like me with MCA," he explained, laughing off concerns raised over strained ties between him and MCA...