College students protest at the concert's cancellation Controversial rapper and film-maker Namewee's scheduled visit to the New Era College in Kajan

College students protest at the concert's cancellation

Controversial rapper and film-maker Namewee's scheduled visit to the New Era College in Kajang tonight has been cancelled as it fears disturbances.

A statement issued by New Era College said it had to cancel the event due to the unhappy events at Namewee's function at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (KLSCAH) on Tuesday night.

"In order to prevent any untoward incidents and to protect the college's safety and security, Namewee's event, which was supposed to be held at 7.30pm tonight, is cancelled," the statement said.

Students protesting for Namewee

However, about 100 students are protesting on campus (top photo) and demanding the administration revert its decision to cancel the event.

The students, made up of members of the New Era College Students Association and the Media Studies Association, said that the event was jointly organised by the latter association and the Media Studies Faculty.

As such, they should have a say on whether or not it gets cancelled. They claimed that the college did not inform them of their decision before announcing it through a media statement.

It is understood that the students leaders are currently trying to negotiate with college officials.

No reason to cancel

The rapper's manager Fred Chong confirmed with Malaysiakini that the event, the third in the tour, had been cancelled.

"New Era College is afraid of Perkasa. The function is cancelled and Perkasa has succeeded," he said when asked for the reason behind the cancellation.

He added that while demonstrations can be held because it is a democratic country, there was no reason to cancel the function.

Namewee (real name Wee Meng Chee), 27, had kicked off his tour by going to a college in Penang, and this was followed by the event at KLSCAH, with the New Era college function set for tonight.

On Wednesday, about 50 Perkasa demonstrators burnt Namewee's picture, calling him a traitor and a pig.

Perkasa had also declared war on the rapper yesterday, when its youth chief, Arman Azha Abu Hanifah said its members are ready to act as panglima perang and hulubalang Melayu (Malay warriors), and are willing to tail the rapper throughout his upcoming promotional tour.

"We accept news (of his tour) with open arms. If he performs inside (a hall), we will 'perform' outside too," Arman had said.

The controversial rapper announced in his Facebook page, that he had cancelled his promo tour.

Meeting sought

Chong also said Namewee is seeking a meeting with the government in order to resolve the controversy surrounding the rapper's song 'Nah!'.

"Police is still investigating Namewee under the Sedition Act. If they announce the investigation result, at least it's an official answer from the authority."

Namewee had announced on Facebook that the promo tour is cancelled and announced it as a victory for Perkasa.

"I congratulate Perkasa for their success! All my following promo functions have been cancelled. I would like to tell all the organisers that cowed to Perkasa, Perkasa has won, but Malaysia has lost!"

The latest posting sparked shows of support from his fans which led to at least 450 comments within an hour.

However, he said he won't blame Perkasa for the cancellation of his tour, but it is the media's inaccurate reports that had caused this disappointing development.

"The demonstration on Tuesday was ok, and I think everyone has the right to protest. But the media's inaccurately made out that the demonstrating crowd was larger than it actually was," he told Malaysiakini.

However, he said he did not agree with the way Perkasa demonstrated, with a lot of racist remarks and actions.

The blogger had came up with the 'Nah' video where he used obscene language to bitterly criticise a headmistress who is accused of making racial slurs against her ethnic Chinese and Indian students.

Yesterday Information Communication and Culture Minister Rais Yatim, announced the investigation paper on the 'Nah' video had been submitted to the Attorney General Chambers last week.