Mastura had claimed during a ceramah on Nov 4 that Kit Siang was a cousin of the late Communist Party of Malaya leader Chin Peng.

She also alleged that Kit Siang and his son, Guan Eng, were cousins of the late Singapore prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, and that Seputeh MP Teresa Kok was a cousin of Betty Chew, Guan Eng’s wife.

“I want to confirm the statement by Teresa Kok that I have instructed my lawyers to institute legal action against Mastura,” Kit Siang said in a statement today.

“This is more than an action to clear my name of defamation, but Mastura has become a national disgrace as a media illiterate being an MP,” he said, noting that she also has a PhD.

Kit Siang said Mastura’s claims were no different from the “wild and preposterous” allegations made previously by PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang.

He said Hadi had claimed that he and DAP were anti-Malay, anti-Islam, anti-royalty and communist.

He suggested that education minister Fadhlina Sidek introduce media literacy in schools so schoolchildren can discern between propaganda, censorship, bias, lies and hate speech from the truth.

Last Thursday, Kok said she had filed a defamation suit against Mastura after she failed to respond to a letter of demand over the allegations made.