PETALING JAYA: After being the target of much criticism, Kulai DAP MP Teo Nie Ching has apologised forposting a picture on Facebook with the crude word “lahabau”, saying she did so without understanding its meaning.

       On Monday, Teo uploaded a picture accompanied by the words “Lahabau Melaka, Jom Undi” in a bid to show her support for the Melaka state election and encourage voters to vote.

       However, according to Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, “lahabau” is a deragatory term meaning “useless” or “unreliable”.

       Teo said due to the strict ban on campaigning, almost all such activities for the Melaka polls had to be done via social media and that many Pakatan Harapan staffers, particularly from her party DAP, had lacked sleep in preparing campaign materials.

       “Because of that, an embarrassing language mistake was made on social media. I only wanted to campaign through the free photo frame on Facebook without understanding what the word meant.

       “I humbly apologise for my mistake in uploading the campaign material using the wrong wording and language,” Teo said in a follow-up Facebook post.

       She promised to be more careful when uploading social media campaign materials for the election.