Namewee hints at shadowy forces threatening him

Compiled by TEH ATHIRA YUSOF, C. ARUNO and R. ARAVINTHAN

RAPPER Namewee is said to be in hot water again after he was forced to cancel a press conference at the last minute, China Press reported.

The 41-year-old, who had wanted to explain the reason for cancelling his Big Bird world tour last year, was forced to call off the press conference on Tuesday.

“We have been under immense pressure from forces beyond our control. We are still in the middle of negotiations and we will give everyone an explanation soon,” his record label said.

The label apologised to journalists, adding that it was unable to give an explanation for the concert tour’s cancellation.

Namewee started the concert tour at the Taipei Arena on April 1 last year. However, right after his first show, his 15 subsequent shows in other cities were cancelled after organisers were threatened by unnamed groups.

As a result, Namewee was estimated to have suffered more than RM1.3mil in losses.

He had earlier implied that someone very powerful had threatened to kill him unless he dropped two controversial songs from his setlist: It Might Break Your Pinky Heart and People of the Dragon.

The two songs allegedly poked fun at Chinese nationalists and Chinese President Xi Jinping, respectively.

Namewee had wanted the press conference to be a “no-holds-barred interview” on what had transpired, but it was called off just hours before it was to start.

Namewee, whose real name is Wee Meng Chee, has been involved in many controversies in his 16-year career in the entertainment industry due to the use of provocative themes in his work.

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.