Namewee swears no Malaysian, China politics in HK concert

The notorious singer-songwriter was made to sign a contract that he would keep politics out of his concert upon his arrival in Hong Kong.

PETALING JAYA: Organisers of a concert in Hong Kong have insisted singer-songwriter Wee Meng Chee, better known as Namewee sign a declaration that his concert tonight will contain no reference to the Malaysian or Chinese governments.

Taking to Facebook, Namewee, notorious for his harsh language when criticising the government in his material, posted a picture of the declaration and asked: “It’s just one concert in Hong Kong, is it necessary…”

He also clarified that it was “the Hong Kong side which had me sign [the declaration]”, a report on the South China Morning Post said.

The contents of the “declaration notice” read: To whom it may concern: With all due respect, I, Wee Meng Chee, hereby promise and declare that I will not make any comments or say anything about the Malaysian Government or Chinese Government during my visit to Hong Kong starting from 19/10/2015 to 20/10/2015.

Speaking to the Post, Henry Lau Tao-hung, concert and events manager, said he hoped that Namewee’s decision to post the declaration on Facebook would not cause any misunderstanding with any party.

“I hope this won’t create misunderstanding. We are not suppressing his (Namewee) freedom of speech, but we are cooperating with many units in Hong Kong and everyone feels sensitive and nervous (about how vocal the performer can be)”.

Lau, a Taiwanese in Australia, also stressed that everyone he had dealt with so far were from Hong Kong and that no governments were involved.

He also said that being unfamiliar with the political scene in Hong Kong, he could not say for sure if having to sign the declaration in itself would cause Namewee to politicise the issue during his concert tonight.

Namewee became infamous in 2007 for his recording of “Negarakuku”, a rap he performed to the tune of Malaysia’s national anthem but which contained strong anti-government statements.

However due to a technicality, the Malaysian government was not able to prosecute him in court under the Sedition Act.

Wee’s concert, called Namewee Asia Killer Live In Hong Kong 2015, will be held in Kowloon Bay E-Max tonight at 8pm.