KUALA LUMPUR, July 9 — DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke made a gibe today, telling Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia’s former information chief Wan Saiful Wan Jan to be less sensitive.

Loke also questioned Wan Saiful’s Malay comprehension and ability to know when he is being mocked.

"Hello Wan Saiful, don’t be so perasan,” Loke posted on his Facebook account in Malay, using a colloquial term that roughly means being hypersensitive or overly conscious.

"No one invited you to join DAP, much less to be SG,” he added. The initials are short for secretary-general.

"Can’t be that your level of understanding of BM is so weak?” he continued.

He said that when Wan Saiful was asked if he was the DAP secretary-general, it was meant as a joke.

Loke and Wan Saiful have been trading barbed remarks this past week as the politicians on both sides of the divide step up their criticism of each other ahead of the August 12 six state elections.

Yesterday, Wan Saiful claimed on Facebook that he had heard rumours that Loke would be replaced as DAP secretary-general by Bukit Mertajam MP Steven Sim would be fielded in a Penang state seat.

The Bersatu politician added that is Sim wins, the latter would be appointed the next Penang chief minister, taking over from the caretaker Chow Kon Yeow who is also contesting in the state election.

In his rebuttal, Loke was reported by news portal Free Malaysia Today to have said: "I want to ask him... is he the DAP secretary-general?”

"Can he determine who our candidates are? I think he shouldn’t meddle in others’ affairs. He should just focus on his own matters,” the Seremban MP was quoted as saying.