He said that SM Lee would apologise after hurting Malaysians, only to continue making other hurtful comments and mistakes later.

The minister was quoted in Mingguan Malaysia, the Sunday edition of Utusan Malaysia, as saying: "This Lee Kuan Yew ... every time he says sorry to the family concerned ... but he continues to do so."

Datuk Syed Hamid's father, the late Mr Syed Ja'afar Albar, was a former Umno secretary-general.

He was also one of the party's leaders named by Mr Lee in his just-published memoirs, of arousing racial passions in Singapore leading to the 1964 riots.

The Singapore Story: Memoirs of Lee Kuan Yew, was launched last Wednesday. On Friday, SM Lee said that he stood by his accounts of former Malaysian leaders, including that relating to Mr Ja'afar Albar.

He added that his account of Mr Ja'afar Albar's part in the communal riots in July 1964 was supported by documents presented to the commission of inquiry set up to investigate the riots.

He also said that the statements in his book were not directed at the families of those he had named.

"It is natural for families, especially sons, of those named to feel hurt," he said.

"I am sorry this had to be. I had to write the truth because it was crucial to an understanding of what happened."

On Sunday, Datuk Syed Hamid was quoted by The Sun as saying that SM Lee's claims should have been debated while his father was still alive.

He also argued against banning the book: "If someone talks about our history, we can also show that he talks only from his own perception and has diverted from the truth."