Penang DAP organising secretary Phee Boon Chee said the party hoped to resolve misunderstandings and myths related to Chinese family names through these courses.

“Penang DAP is prepared to secure funds and support from cultural figures to organise these courses, given the frequent inaccurate statements made about non-Malay communities,” he said in a statement.

“If PAS truly understands the customs and culture of non-Malay communities, it would not issue statements that offend other ethnic groups, particularly the Chinese community.”

Earlier, PAS information chief Ahmad Fadhli Shaari criticised academic Tajuddin Rasdi for suggesting that certain parties conduct courses for PAS members to educate them on Chinese names.

Fadhli argued that the suggestion implied that PAS was ignorant of the customs and culture of the country’s non-Malay communities.

However, Phee said that PAS’s rejection of the suggestion was unreasonable considering the party frequently issued statements that offend other ethnic groups.

He cited a recent statement by Perak PAS chief Razman Zakaria, who linked youth and sports minister Hannah Yeoh to the Yeoh family of the YTL Corporation Bhd conglomerate.

He also pointed out that Kepala Batas MP Dr Siti Mastura Muhammad had claimed that DAP veterans Lim Kit Siang and Lim Guan Eng were linked to the late Communist Party of Malaya leader Chin Peng.