Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has warned the state think tank Penang Institute not to tarnish the image of the state government which funded it.

Lim had reminded the institute to "bear in mind that you are working for the institute that is funded by the state government.

"Do not forget you also are part of the Penang state government and your action should not be seen to tarnish or affect the image of the Penang state government, and the state government would not compromise such basic principle because we arefundingyou."

A video of the speech of the chief minister, made at the soft launch of the Penang Institute's new office building on June 28, was uploaded on YouTube.

Lim, who faces two corruption charges, said he expected the think tank to put the state government in good stead and also burnish its image.

Lim, who is the DAP secretary-general, also said: "I may understand when you say that one cannot bite the hand that feeds you. But I think you should allow some barking," he said.

His statementonusing the term usually referred to dogs, that is 'bite and bark', were seen by some parties as being disrespectful to the researchers at Penang Institute.

But Lim, as reported by a news portal, later denied it, saying his use of the term 'dog' was not meant to denigrate them.

He said the Western world deemed dogs asloveablecreatures butthose in the Eastern world may think otherwise.

The Penang Institute is the public policy think tank of the Penang state government that was established in 1997 as thesocio-economicand environmental research institute.