A Singapore-born stand-up comedian mocked Malaysia and made fun of the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 during a skit at Comedy Cellar, a comedy club in Manhattan, New York in the United States.
Jocelyn Chia then proudly posted her act on social media, sparking an angry fussilade of intense outrage in Malaysia.
So much so that the Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan had to take to Twitter on Thursday to apologize. He said he was appalled by Chia’s “horrendous statements” and that Chia doesn’t speak for Singaporeans.
Chia had made crude remarks about Malaysia, which she said lagged far behind Singapore which is already a first world country, after the two separated in 1965.
And not at all satisfied with insulting Malaysia, she happily joked about Malaysian airplanes not being able to fly. Chia continued: “Why? Malaysian Airlines going missing not funny, huh? Some jokes don’t land”.
She was referencing Flight MH370 that was carrying 239 people from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Beijing, China when it vanished on March 08, 2014, and is presumed to have crashed in the far southern Indian Ocean.
Jocelyn Chia is crass, coarse and churlish. An un-funny clod, who thinks a plane crash where hundreds perished is funny enough to turn into a “joke”.
Listen to her belittling Malaysia here:
Malaysians know full well that we have many things to improve. But Singapore is not a paradise either.
This lawyer-turned-comedian should remember that a Silk Air plane crashed on December 19, 1997 killing everyone on board; Lee Kuan Yew’s family is split with one son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren living overseas, fearing to come back to the country their father and grandfather built; they have scandals like Oxley Road and government bungalows rented to their well-paid ministers, they have “unexplained” monies flooding the country (including our own funds from 1MDB which their “efficient” system overlooked)... . But these are not things we should find funny.
No country is perfect. So, my point is, what’s the point of comparing?
As for Jocelyn Chia, she is clearly enjoying her one-and-a-half minutes of notoriety. She even challenged her critics: “Tragedy plus time = comedy. It’s been long enough man”.
At the time of writing, her Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook page have been shut down after it was mass reported for hate speech. While her TikTok page can still be viewed, the video is no longer available.
Downright objectionable, obnoxious and offensive – that's her alright!
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