All eyes on DPM as Namewee grilled more than 7 hrs by MCMC

Namewee in trouble with his Nah video

Malaysia Chronicle

Controversial rapper Namewee was grilled by Internet regulator Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission for more than 7 hours over his Nah video tape that lambasted two Malay headmistresses for hurling racial slurs at their Chinese and Indian pupils.

This is the second time this week that Namewee, whose full name is Wee Meng Chee, has been pulled in for questioning. Last week, he spent several hours giving his statement to the police at the Taman Tun Ismail post in Kuala Lumpur.

“They did not give me any warning or threaten me with action. They only wanted to gather details on the video that I posted and I answered all of their questions,” Bernama reported Namewee as saying.

“I answered truthfully because I have nothing to fear since my intention for posting the video was to voice out against racism and not because I am racist.”

Khairy - I was never a racist

Namewee entered the MCMC headquarters in Cyberjaya at 12.30pm on Friday and emerged after 8.00pm. He has previously said he fears he will be arrested soon.

Victimized

Indeed the matter has gathered tremendous steam due to an attempt by Umno, the Malay-based ruling party, to play up the issue although Namewee has already taken the clip off YouTube and clarified he had not meant to hurt any particular community.

While Namewee’s 3-minute clip was vulgar and contained the obscenity favored by his genre of musicians, pundits said it did not contain racial slurs or was it seditious in nature as claimed by top Umno leaders, including Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin.

In particular, Khairy has crusaded against Namewee, urging the stiffest punishment for the 27-year old musician cum film director.

“He didn't flirt with being racially offensive, he was beyond the line at being racially offensive," Malaysiakinireported Khairy as saying.

Yet many others in the Malay community were more even-handed in their views. While they were shocked at his profanity, they admitted he was attacking the two headmistresses for their racist remarks and not because they were Malay. Neither did Namewee attack the Malay race as a whole, they acknowledged.

Nasruddin - 'kurang ajar' but provoked

“Namewee’s video is kurang ajar (uncouth), but I think the video would not have been out if swift action had been taken against Siti Inshah (one of the headmistresses) and without racial provocation. Namewee is against racism and has become a victim of racial provocation in the country,” Harakahdaily reported Nasruddin Tantawi, the PAS Youth chief, as saying.

Manipulated

There is growing speculation that Muhyiddin, who is also Education minister, was behind the Namewee lynching to deflect pressure from his ministry to take action against the two school principals – one in Kedah and another in Johor.

Muhyiddin - deflecting pressure?

The pair told their Chinese pupils to go back to China and one of them even likened Indians to dogs. But till now, no action has been taken despite numerous police reports lodged by outraged parents and community groups. While both teachers have apologized, the public wants the government to either sack or at least demote them as their wrongdoing was serious. There are even calls to charge them for sedition.

“This is typical Umno politics of manipulation and double-speaking. Sad to say, Muhyiddin has earned himself a reputation for being a racist because he has failed to act neutrally despite the fact that he is not just the Umno deputy president but also DPM of all the races. It is a personal failure and he should confront it,” Batu MP Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.

“As for Khairy, let this be a lesson to him. As political leaders, we should remain committed to our stance. He has tried to change into the clothes of a liberal but he is just being an opportunist. The moment he thinks there is a good chance to replenish his Malay credentials, like in the Namewee case, he shows his true colors. There is no moderation in his views on Namewee, it is just a one-sided attack to make the Malays angry with Namewee.”