The Straits Times (Singapore)
Aug 11, 2007
YOUTUBE RAP VIDEO
Student 'sorry' for rap video of anthem
He says he had no intention of mocking the national anthem
MUAR - THE Malaysian student who enraged ministers and the man in the street alike with his allegedly seditious rap video on YouTube has apologised, the Utusan Malaysia newspaper reported yesterday.
Utusan quoted Mr Wee Meng Chee, 24, as saying: 'I had not expected that this video clip would hurt Malaysians' hearts and if they are wounded by the lyrics of this song which I had translated into Bahasa Malaysia, I am sorry.'
At the same time, Mr Wee asked that Malaysians take time to understand his rap, originally in Mandarin, before judging him.
His father, popular song contest judge Wee Ann Chee, 47, had on Thursday told Nanyang Siang Pau that he was deeply contrite for what his eldest son had done, and appealed to the authorities to let him off with a warning.
Yesterday, Utusan quoted his son as claiming that he had not intended to mock the national anthem, Negaraku (Malay for My Country), but had made the video clip just for fun.
He even said that he had shot the clip, titled Negarakuku, in honour of Malaysia's 50th Independence Day on Aug 31.
In the 5 1/2-minute clip first aired on video-sharing website YouTube last month, Mr Wee raps about racial discrimination against the Chinese, corrupt cops and indolent civil servants, most of whom are Malay.
He does so against the Malaysian flag, with the Negaraku melody playing in the background.
It triggered torrents of invective from Malays, and support from some Chinese. 'Don't repeat 13th May!', said one web surfer's YouTube posting after watching the clip, referring to the country's bloodiest race riots on May 13, 1969.
Mr Wee's clip has garnered more than 500,000 hits to date.
His apology came a day after Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar ruled out extraditing him for alleged sedition, saying it was up to the police and the Attorney-General's Chambers to decide whether or not to investigate and prosecute the rapper.
Sedition carries a maximum jail term of three years.
Police have since said that they could not act against the Taiwan-based rapper because he had been allegedly seditious only outside Malaysia.
As the final-year mass communications student at Taiwan's Ming Chuan University told Utusan: 'I myself live in Muar and my house is near two mosques. I also have many Malay friends, so why would I want to insult other people's religion?'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NczMNH0dbEQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vp9UYc6K6Tk&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwind%2Ewahlaoeh%2Ecom%2F
