Namewee is going to jail because he's written a song stating his opinions. How come UMNO leaders never go to jail for seditious behavior? Double standard in Malaysia? Faham-faham lah.
Wee Meng Chee[1] (Traditional Chinese: 黃明志; Simplified Chinese: 黄明志; Pinyin: Huáng Míng Zhì; Hainanese Pinyin: Wee Meng Chee) (born 1983 in Muar, Johor[1][citation needed]) is a Malaysian university student currently majoring in Mass Communication at Ming Chuan University, in Taipei, Republic of China. He is also commonly known under the alias Namewee.
In addition to studying abroad, Wee vested interest in composing and performing hip hop music in various languages, releasing several songs with complementing music videos on YouTube. Songs released by Namewee include Muar's Mandarin (麻坡的华语) and Kawanku, directed at Malaysian Chinese, Singaporean and Malay people. However, Wee gained notability after releasing a controversial song fused with the national anthem of Malaysia, Negaraku, which describes the state of the country and its government. In the following weeks, the song increasingly drew both praise and criticism from various quarters of Malaysian society, and prompted the government to voice the possibility of action against Wee. Despite the controversy surrounding Negarakuku, Wee had announced the release of his new album in Malaysia, due out on September 2, 2007.[2] The album was completed in May.
Negarakuku
Wee's sudden rise to stardom is the result of his highly publicized piece - Negarakuku. Its Chinese title reads 我愛我的國家 Negarakuku (2007大馬觀光年主題曲) translated as "I Love My Country Negarakuku (Visit Malaysia 2007 Theme Song)".[4]
The structure of the song consists of two major components: the rapping, which is exclusively composed and performed by Wee, and Malaysia's anthem, Negaraku, which is split into three segments between the rapping and sung out in groups of two or three verses. While the national anthem is fragmented and sung in an "R&B" tone, Wee did not alter the melody and lyrics of the anthem, as the song would still retain its original theme and meaning. The arrangement used by Wee follows one of the iterations of the national anthem as the Malaysian government has altered the anthem three times previously.
He also stated that he had no intention to alter the anthem.[5] The rap lyrics are uttered in Mandarin with occasional Hokkien passages and words, while verses of the national anthem are sung in their original, Malay form.[6] This form follows the original arrangement of the anthem prior to the first change by the Government of Malaysia.
Negarakuku covers elements of daily lives in Malaysia from Wee's perspectives, [5] including police corruption, inefficient public services and biased government policies. Two other portions of his song reference to Muslims' call for prayer and layback lifestyle of Malay people; one segment mentions the azaan to Fajr, the earliest of the five daily prayers by Muslims, described as a "morning call" that would wake Wee up at 5 a.m. ("早上五点, 还有 MORNING CALL 会叫我起床") and sung like a love duet with a voice that ululates like an R&B song ("有时几间一起唱, 听起来好像情歌对唱, 声音拗来拗去像唱 R&B 一样"). Two other verses describe people who "cover their heads" and walk slowly ("他们把头包起来, 慢慢走慢慢过马路"). In the beginning of the song, Wee dedicates the song to "all Malaysians, especially the Government." Nevertheless, the rap lyrics were only intended to describe without bias, leaving listeners determine on their own the right or wrong of any observation Wee raised in the song.[5]
A music video for the song was uploaded to YouTube by Wee on July 15, 2007, which featured a montage of photographs of Malaysia, a Visit Malaysia 2007 video and a video of Wee rapping against the backdrop of a Malaysian flag. The video ends depicting both a Chinese caption thanking unnamed parties for videos and images provided for the montage, and a Manglish caption asking not to be sued as he has no money ("please don't sue me, saya takde duit"). The video was removed by Wee on July 23, 2007,[7] but copies of the video, including one with Malay subtitles of the song's Chinese lyrics, are still made available on the site.
The video, with more than 3 million views is the most viewed Youtube video by any Malaysian Producer.
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4:24阿牛也曾经相当明志,一念之差没有当成, 只能做阿牛by chiewly95,236 views
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