The tit-for-tat between Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and MCA deputy president Wee Ka Siong over the undersea tunnel issue has taken a scholastic twist.

Lim, an accountant by training, had said that if he was Wee's lecturer, the latter would fail.

"He does not seem to understand my lectures properly. He would surely fail in his exams," he told Malaysiakini yesterday.

Responding to this, Wee, a civil engineer with a PhD in transportation planning, said he was glad that Lim was not one of his lecturers.

“In response to Lim's sarcasm thrown at me, I wish to say 'Amithabha' (a Buddhist expression), I’m glad I didn’t have a lecturer like you Lim (photo).

“Argue what you like, hope you sleep well at night,” Wee added in a Facebook post today.

The chief minister had lashed out at Wee over a video clip in which Wee questioned Lim on the payment made for the 7.3km undersea tunnel mega-project, which is slated to link the island to Butterworth.

The MCA deputy president also questioned Lim on the “Acknowledgment of commitment” agreement signed between the Penang government and Chinese firm China Railway Construction Corporation Ltd.

Wee did not mention, though, that the contents of the “Acknowledgment of commitment” also appeared in the actual agreement signed between the Penang government and Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd, the contractor for the RM6.3 billion project, in 2013.

The tunnel project, slated for construction from 2023 till 2027, is currently subject of a major probe by the MACC.

Lim insisted that the project was above board as it was awarded via an open tender process headed by state secretary Farizan Darus.

He maintained that only RM208 million was paid to Zenith for work done to obtain environmental impact assessment (EIA) approvals for the three major roads linked to the tunnel.

Last week, mainstream media reports quoted MACC sources as claiming there were kickbacks paid to state political leaders in the awarding of the project.