She said a text message to her staff had been leaked and widely circulated on social media, suggesting that she had dismissed all her staff for not showing their support in the elections.

Lasimbang said she did express her disappointment but that had nothing to do with her closing the office and telling the staff to go on leave until further notice.

Lasimbang said she had intended to close the office for some time, and would be setting up a mobile office.

“I closed my office to do some renovations (to turn it into a creativity and innovation centre for entrepreneurs in her constituency),” said Lasimbing, who is assistant state minister for education and innovation.

“I am setting up a mobile office to better serve the people”, pointing out that the Moyog constituency covers a wide area, and comprises scattered communities.

The switch would reduce duplication of roles between the six staff in the constituency office and 10 in the Community Development Leaders Unit office.

In the chat message to staff, Lasimbang had said she was disappointed, not because she had lost the election for deputy Wanita leader, but that only a few of the staff had bothered to come and support her.

After the election, she said only two or three staff had sent her messages to lift her spirits.

“Saya dengan ini memberikan semua staff cuti sehingga dimaklumkan kelak (I hereby grant leave to all the staff until further notice),” the chat message said

It is the second time that Lasimbang has been in the spotlight for remarks she made on social media.

In March, Lasimbang drew brickbats for a Facebook posting in which she said she was “getting sick and tired” of messages from parents asking her for jobs for their children, who are unemployed graduates.