It’s like father crab telling baby crab to walk straight.

That is how Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang described Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s advice to government leaders to “behave themselves” so as not to embarrass the ruling coalition.

Najib was reported today telling Barisan Nasional politicians “to learn a lesson” from the resignation of Dr Chua Soi Lek, who was embroiled in a video showing the former health minister having a sexual romp with an unidentifiable woman in a hotel room.

According to Lim, Najib’s advice, which was reported in New Straits Times, would elicit a common reaction from most of its readers on whether the deputy premier was the right person to give such an advice.

“Had Najib set exemplary standards in his political career as to qualify him to issue warning or is he akin to father crab teaching baby crab to walk straight?” said Lim in a press statement today.

“Or was Najib saying that the real lesson to be learnt was not to be caught with the pants down?”

Although Lim did not elaborate further, it is likely he could be referring to the persistent rumours going back more than a decade of Najib’s own sexual indiscretion.

Meanwhile, Lim slammed Muar police chief Mohammad Nasir Ramli for carrying out a door-to-door searches of residents suspected to have possession of Chua’s sex video.

“By all means, go all out to bring to book those responsible for the crime of invasion of privacy and for distributing the sex DVDs – but the police would be turning the populace against the government for any trespass to private property in a house-to-house search...

“I am sure Chua would not agree to any such house-to-house trespass by the police purportedly to search for his sex DVDs,” said Lim, who like Chua hailed from Batu Pahat where the recording was said to be done.

Go after the hidden cam culprits

Lim urged the police to focus their investigation on the individuals who installed hidden cameras in the hotel where Chua had sex with his ‘personal friend’.

Chua, 61, had yesterday accused his ‘political enemies’ of orchestrating the release of a video.

“This is definitely part of a conspiracy and not just the work of a single person,” said Lim.

A veteran politician who moved from state to federal politics four years ago, Chua had moved fast up the party hierarchy, where he was elected MCA vice-president and tabbed as health minister.

MCA insiders had expected him to vie for the party’s deputy president post in the near future.

But his political aspiration was dealt a serious blow after Chua admitted on Tuesday that he was the man featured in the video which was being distributed by unknown individuals in his home state of Johor last week.

A day later, he announced that he was stepping down from all party and government posts.