DAP secretary-general lim Guan Eng and Taiping MP Nga Kor Ming would do well to take a leaf from former party-member Hew Kuan Yau, popularly known as Superman, who quit after being criticised for a Facebook posting insisting that the South China Sea belongs to China.

They both should learn from Hew who took responsibility over the matter and resigned from the party, Gerakan Youth said today.

"While we (Gerakan) do not agree with Hew, we think that the DAP (leaders) could learn from him," the Youth wing's chief Tan Keng Liang said at a press conference at Gerakan headquarters.

Tan bemoaned that while the lower rungs in DAP had to let go of their posts and membership when faced with scandals, those in the higher up seemed to be protected from doing so.

"In cases involving the lower rungs of the leadership, they (DAP) urge for resignations, while higher ranking ones in DAP are protected.

"I think this is something that will have to be looked into by the DAP," Tan said.

Hew announced his immediate resignation from the DAP, for the good of the party and to head off further controversy, after he was hit with brickbats for his South China Sea-belongs-to-China posting.

Hew also claimed that the matter was being used by his political enemies to blackball him and edge him out of the party.

He was accused of being unpatriotic by both sides of the political divide, as his statement seem to go against Malaysian sovereignty as one of the countries claiming some of the territories in the sea that China says fall inside its nine-dash line, which it claims to historically own.

Hew earlier defended himself by saying that patriotism is a narrow view for historians, such as himself, when looking at the matter in terms of global and regional stability.

Meanwhile, Tan reminded the DAP that while all should respect freedom of expression, the party and its leadership should be more sensitive when issuing or posting statements.

"They are the leaders of a political party. They should not be making statements that go against the sensitivities of Malaysians," Tan said.