Media statement by Teo Nie Ching in Serdang on Thursday, 10^th March 2011:

Chua Soi Lek should explain to the public what he means by his "secret 4 letter word", failing which he should tender an open apology

If one goes through the tweets of MCA President, Dr Chua Soi Lek, one will see the following disturbing tweets:-

@johnnywongsgt yes I like 2 give a 4 letter word 2 your mother n sister n u look after your back. (3 Mar)

@dhppsa put a video in your parents room n they hard at (work 2 produce u what sort of star do u have (3 Mar)

@fendimalik put a video camera in your father n mother room and they will be known as mr and mrs........otherwise u can never see the light. (25 Feb)

@fendimalik u better ask your mother n she will share with u the meaning of 4 letter word (25 Feb)

@azrifickry a presence of four-letter word to you, your mother, father, wife and family. (23 Feb)

@FendoTorres 4 letter word 2 your mother n wife. (16 Feb)

@mattblacqkk another 4 letter word 2 u n wife (4 Feb)

@mattblacqkk tq 4 letter word 2 your father n mother as u are the son n the product.of 4 letter word. between your father n mother ha ha (4 Feb)

@bmahendran 4 letter world to u n family pulak (29 Dec)

MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek in an article on online news portal Free Malaysia Today was quoted saying that:

"People on Twitter are calling me names. They are hiding behind screens, pretending to stand on a moral high ground... It's they who pour vulgarity on me - all I said was 'four-letter word'."

It can mean love, it can mean any amount of things. If one draws a vulgar conclusion, it means they have a crooked mind."

Any Twitter user would probably wonder why the4 MCA President opted to use 13 characters (including the 2 spaces) in place of a "4 letter word", seeing as Twitter has a limit of 140 characters for each tweet.

Of course the "4 letter word" can mean "love" (as he claims) and any amount of things, but if the word "love" or any other non-vulgar word was what Dr Chua had in mind, why couldn't he just spell it out plainly? The Dr Chua Soi Lek we know has never been shy in expressing his opinions on most issues.

Even if the now-renowned "four letter word" meant "love4", I must say it is equally disturbing for Dr Chua to rampantly send his love to the mothers, wives and sisters of people he doesn't really know.

Acknowledging the fact that there are people who "pour vulgarity" on him, I wish to remind Dr Chua that this does not give him the right to "greet" other people's female relatives with his mysterious "4 letter words".

As we celebrate the 100^th anniversary of International Women's Day on March 8, Dr Chua should learn how to respect women. He should refrain from venting his anger on women or make women his punching bags.

When I pointed out his rude tweets and demanded that Dr Chua tender a public apology to all women on March 5, 2011, Dr Chua dtook my demands lightly and asked me to "improve my English". Dr Chua Soi Lek claimed that only unscrupulous people would associate his tweets with obscenities.

I would like to alert Dr Chua to the Wikipedia definition of four-letter word:

"The phrase four-letter word refers to a set of English-language words written with four letters which are considered profane, including common popular or slangexcretory functions, sexual activity and genitalia, and (depending on the listener/reader) sometimes also certain terms relating to Hell and damnation when used outside their original religious context, and/or slurs. The "four-letter" claim refers to the fact that a large number of English "swear words" are incidentally four-character monosyllables."

"Common four-letter words (in this sense) that are widely considered vulgar or offensive to a notable degree include: cunt, fuck (and regional variants such as feck, fick and foak), jism (or gism), jizz, piss, shit, twat and tits. "

I wonder whose English really needs improvement? And who is the one being insensitive and twisting the facts?

* Teo Nie Ching, DAP Assistant National Publicity Secretary & MP for Serdang