Namewee banned from Weibo over Taliban remark

Compiled by RAHIMY RAHIM, FATIMAH ZAINAL, C. ARUNO and R. ARAVINTHAN

MALAYSIAN rapper Namewee was banned from Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, after making a post criticising the Taliban, reported China Press.

The 38-year-old from Muar poked fun at the Taliban regime, which recently took control of nearly all of Afghanistan, by posting “suggestions” on how they should consolidate their rule.

“First, block Facebook, YouTube, Google and all these evil websites such that the citizens will not be able to communicate with the outside world.

“Second, set up your own official news portals, create your own social media apps, and broadcast only official news. Convince the people that foreign media which criticise them are all evil and are fake news,” he wrote.

Namewee, whose real name is Wee Meng Chee, also “recommended” that the Taliban write songs such as “Without the Taliban, There Will Be No New Afghanistan” to promote patriotism among its people.

Namewee’s post sparked outrage among Chinese Internet users, many of whom believed that he was poking fun at China indirectly.

It is a fact Google, Facebook and Twitter are all blocked in China and can usually only be accessed with the help of virtual private networks.

It was also reported that “Without the Communist Party, There Would Be No New China” is a popular communist propaganda song.

The rapper has courted many controversies in his 13-year career in the entertainment industry due to his use of provocative themes in his work.

> A pedigree cat in China’s Guangdong province meant to enter cat shows and be used as breeding stock was mistakenly neutered during a routine checkup at a veterinary clinic, reported China Press.

The owner, Guo, claimed that the cat’s father was a Norwegian Forest Cat which earned the moniker “King of Cats” in China after winning prizes at prestigious cat shows.

Originally meant to extend the prize-winning father’s pedigree and to also enter cat shows herself, the veterinarian’s mistake abruptly ended six-month-old Xiao Xiao Ke Le’s career as a show cat.

According to Guo, the Norwegian Forest Cat was native to Scandinavia and had a thicker fur coat and a stronger build.

When asked to comment on the matter, the veterinary clinic replied saying that the mistake was made because the owner did not make it clear what he wanted.

The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.