Education Minister Maszlee Malik should stop talking about socks and shoes to not fall into the "trap" by Umno propagandists and the party's former president Najib Abdul Razak to paint him as a mediocre minister.

This was said by DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang, who added that Maszlee should focus instead on proving that he is a better education minister than Najib, who held the portfolio from 1995 to 2000.

In a sarcasm-laced Facebook post yesterday, Najib lauded Maszlee for the latter's "farsightedness" over an Utusan Malaysia report, in which the minister said that there would soon be a decision on the colour of schoolchildren's socks.

In response, Maszlee lamented that his "trivial" comment about the socks – which he only touched on for less than a minute – was played up by Utusan, while his more important point about university hospitals was "ignored."

Lim, the Iskandar Puteri MP, called Najib's jibe at Maszlee a "low blow" meant to deflect attention from his involvement in the 1MDB scandal.

The DAP leader also recalled that this was not the first time Maszlee had been given "shabby treatment" over his remarks.

Lim cited the backlash over the minister's remark on black shoes for students, which he said made up just one percent of an interview with Sinar Harian, while the rest of his statements on education reform were "completely ignored".

"Maszlee is not a member of any kakistocracy but a person of substance, and the Mahathir cabinet is definitely superior to all the Najib cabinets.

"This is why Maszlee must quickly learn from the lessons of modern communications and focus his energies on proving that he is a better education minister than Najib himself," said the DAP supremo.