Copyright scmp
Malaysian rapper Namewee was detained by Kuala Lumpur police on Wednesday in connection with the death of Taiwanese influencer Iris Hsieh, in a stunning twist to a tale that has gripped the country. Namewee, whose real name is Wee Meng Chee, took to his social media on Tuesday night to confirm his voluntary surrender to city authorities after returning from his southern home state of Johor, vowing to fully cooperate with the police investigation. “I will not run away. I voluntarily reported to the authorities for the previous seven arrest warrants. I have never run away,” he said in a social media post, sharing a video outside a police station. Wee’s lawyer Joshua Tay told This Week in Asia that his client had presented himself at the police station. “He made a report and was later arrested,” Tay said. When asked if his client may face murder charges, Tay batted away the question. “Let the investigation take its course,” he said. “And I hope that the investigation will be carried out thoroughly and with the utmost objectivity and fairness to all parties concerned.” Hsieh’s body was found in a Kuala Lumpur hotel room on October 22, two days after arriving in Malaysia reportedly to discuss a film project with Namewee. In the room, police discovered nine blue pills suspected to be Ecstasy. The 42-year-old Malaysian entertainer, who was also in the room, later tested positive for amphetamine, methamphetamine, ketamine and THC. He was released on bail on October 24, after being charged with drug use and possession. Namewee has denied the drug allegations on his social media. Police confirmed the recent arrest and said they would hold Namewee for several days. “Namewee was remanded this morning at the Dang Wangi police station with the remand order starting today and ending on November 10,” district police chief Sazalee Adam said on Wednesday. Sazalee did not confirm if the rapper faces charges for murder. Death of a ‘goddess’ Hsieh’s death has shocked Malaysians, who were riveted by the links to a celebrity actor, director and rapper with millions of followers and notorious for courting controversy with stinging lyrics that have riled authorities over the decades. Initially, police classified the case as “sudden death”, but on Tuesday changed track, saying they had opened a murder investigation. Her friends had pressed Namewee and Malaysian police to look deeper into the case, refuting rumours that the influencer – who was also known as “nurse goddess” due to her nursing background – had ever taken drugs. The entertainer is known for his provocative and politically charged works that have touched sensitive issues in Malaysia. As he said in his latest post, he is no stranger to arrest warrants, having been detained multiple times because his songs and music videos were deemed insulting to other religions and races. Namewee has acted in films including Friend Zone and Nasi Lemak 1.0, and holds a writer-director credit for the banned 2020 film Babi. He lived in Taiwan in 2003 while pursuing higher education at Ming Chuan University, rising to fame in 2007 after posting his music videos on social media. In 2021, the Johor-born rapper released “Fragile”, a song poking fun at Chinese nationalists. The track, which touched on sensitive subjects including Taiwan and the Uygur community in Xinjiang, went viral among Mandarin-speaking audiences but was banned within days by Chinese authorities. It also led to him being boycotted in the country for his “anti-China stance”.
