PETALING JAYA: DAP national vice-chairman Dr Tan Seng Giaw (pix) has hit back at his detractors, saying that the current kecoh (fuss) created by former DAP member Hew Kuan Yau is not worth bothering with.

Asked if he had seen the latest online salvo by Hew, popularly known as “Superman”, Dr Tan said he does not usually look at jabs or comments made online.

“What sort of ‘Superman’ is that? We don’t usually bother with him, he’s irrelevant to the country,” Dr Tan, who is Kepong MP, told The Star on Thursday.

“Leave him alone. Why should we give him importance?” he said, adding that he believed the whole issue was started by DAP secretary general and Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng.

“You should go and find out!” Dr Tan added.

Earlier, Hew had posted on Facebook a picture of Dr Tan, telling the latter to resign and not bring shame to the party.

“If there comes one day that I become Mr Bean, Ooi Leng Han, please remind me (no matter what method you use), should retreat when it's time to retreat and not bring shame to us,” Hew had said.

The ‘Mr Bean’ he refers to is most likely Dr Tan, while Selangor DAP member Ooi is the chief designer of Ubah, DAP’s hornbill mascot.

On Sunday, Dr Tan criticised the Penang government on Facebook. In his post, which was written in English, Malay, Chinese and Jawi, he said Balik Pulau had become "less green" of late.

"Going round Penang Island today, we find the coast is changing and Balik Pulau is less green. The population of 850,000 require houses and employment. The priority is to preserve the forest and the green," he wrote.

On Wednesday, Lim told a press conference at Komtar that the party had not been able to contact Dr Tan since early this year.

Dr Tan has denied that he has been incommunicado, and said he can be contacted unless he is talking on his handphone.

Hew resigned from DAP in July last year, after he made a series of allegedly racist statements that found the party coming under attack after he wrote on Facebook: “South China Sea is China’s. Don’t oppose China just because you are anti-Communist.”

He was also investigated earlier this year for allegedly insulting Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor in a Facebook post.

Dubbed ‘Superman’ for his fondness for wearing T-shirts with the superhero’s crest at DAP events, Hew was a superstar on the party’s ceramah circuit and was almost picked as the candidate for the Teluk Intan by-election.