Monday, August 20, 2007

Namewee Should Sue Those Who Defamed Him

Malaysiakini reported: Cabinet rejects apology from rapper Namewee for his infamous (or famous depending on individual preference) rap song Negarakuku.

ISA Which Part?
In the beginning there were calls from many politicians to utilise Internal Security Act on Namewee. Seriously, when those threats were made, I was not surprised. After all, it has become a norm of an abnormal democracy to utilise draconian acts on a common disgruntled citizen of Malaysia. How much of "security" damage can a 24-year old man who has no known links to communist or terrorist organisation do? I recall Internal Security Act was meant to counter such organisations. Namewee is just a dissatisfied Malaysian student completing his studies in Taiwan.

Seditious? Who is Seditious?
Other than that, there were calls for the execution of Seditious Act. It was claimed by several politicians and spunned or perceived by several newspapers that Namewee sang about corruption and insulted Islam. I have seen the Youtube MTV. I do not recall any mention of bribery or illegal transaction of money or materials to settle matters. There was of course, a mention of fostering good relationship between a citizen and the police over a cup of coffee or tea. Is this a form of corruption? Come on, be serious! How much can a cup of coffee or tea cost?

Then there was a mention that he insult Islam by his descriptions on azan:
" Pukul 5 pagi, Ada morning call akan suruh aku bangun
Kadang-kadang beberapa ‘buah’ nyanyi sama-sama
macam tengah duet lagu cinta R&B
Suara tinggi rendah macam tengah nyanyi R&B
Walaupun kadang kala sebahagian daripada mereka out of tune
Walaupun kadang kala sebahagian daripada mereka pecah suara
Ada juga suara yang macam kokokan ayam tetapi dia bangun lagi awal dari ayam
Macam ini baru kite tahu mase untuk bersiap ke sekolah dan kerja
"

I wonder in which sense did he insulted Islam? He is merely describing azan as how he views it. Indeed azan is around 5 a.m. in the morning. Due to the timing, when "azan" is being broadcasted through the speakers, the non-Muslims would have heard it and know it is time to wake up and prepare for the day. There is nothing negative about this statement. When "azan" is recited, it can be heard that there are certain accompanying melodies, rhythms and tempo. He is merely describing how azan sounds like. He did not say azan is bad or Islam is evil. Which part of the lyrics is insulting Islam, may I ask?

As for insulting Malay, so far I have only heard people making this claim this but could not pass a proper argument to stake it.

Then there are those who say the word "Negarakuku" is negative. The basis is "kuku" means "cuckoo" and the nation was said to be insinuated by Namewee as "gila" or crazy. I did not read it anywhere that Namewee agreed to this interpretation. Why didn't the mainstream media mention that "kuku" can mean "nails" in Bahasa Malaysia? The song is sung in rap, the mixing hip hop, a popular song genre among the young these days. There are times when the word "ku" which is an abbreviated form of "aku" is repeated twice. So, the title can also be perceived as "Negaraku,ku".

The rap, hip-hop single of Chingy's Right Thurr peaked at #2 on the U.S. Hot 100 and #17 on the United Kingdom pop charts. The song is a good example of the fur-fair merger (merging "there" and "thurr") that is becoming prevalent in African American Vernacular English. It is also an exaggeration of AAVE accents in St. Louis where Chingy is from. Another song in the single is titled "Mobb Wit Me". Now, what was that supposed to mean? Frankly, I do not see anything negative with Chingy's usage of words.

There are those who say "kuku" also means "penis". Shahnon Ahmad, a famous author who released the famous book "Ranjau Sepanjang Jalan". The book is not banned. Can we perceive the word "Ranjau" as "penis"? I do not find that logic or applicable in law.

Perhaps, Namewee should sue politicians and papers who slandered him under the Defamation Law in Malaysia.

A police report can also be lodged if Namewee finds the slanders made by those people are
seditiously disrupting to national harmony.
_____________________________________

Negaraku or Mamula Moon?
Finally, almost after a week of intimidating calls to use draconian acts, some so-called "great minds" have changed their decision. Instead of ISA or/and SA, National Anthems Act would be used. How come? I thought some people screamed and shrieked of those "powerful" ISA and SA laws?

A search through the net landed me in this spot. This is what National Anthem Act is all about. Endorse it:
http://www.agc.gov.my/agc/oth/Akta/Vol.%208/Act%20390.pdf

The public now is waiting in bated breath on how the government is going to persecute Namewee as some quarters in the internet claimed that Namewee is using the Mamula Moon melody instead of national anthem "Negaraku". This is what I get after a search through Google :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IG96eaqfra8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPcNnHEsFM0

Mamula Moon is a Hawaiian song sung by Felix Mendelssohn and the Hawaiian Serenaders

You can buy Felix's CD in CD Universe online. There are other Hawaiian songs beside Mamula Moon. Songs recorded before Merdeka (between 1939 to 1947).
http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=2035578&BAB=E
_____________________________________

Apology and double standards
In a tolerant move, Namewee apologised to the nation for those who feel offended by his rap song. I support Namewee's move. We thought the issue would be laid to rest. No, the cabinet is not ready to let him go with that.

What about these? The government should pay attention to these matters first. To date, there are no official apologies from KPMU yet:
Malaysia, a land of double-standards
http://malaysia-today.net/blog2006/index.php?itemid=7324

KPMU's (U of UMNO) Shocking View on Christianity
http://sagaladoola.blogspot.com/2007/08/kpmus-u-of-umno-shocking-view-on.html

Dr. Ng Seng's Seditious Posting on Office of the Prime Minister's Office Site
http://colour-blind.org/?p=715

In terms of politics, Khairy Jamaluddin also hasn't apologised for his racial slurs he made against the Chinese last year [incidentally, Rustam Sani mentioned KJ's refusal to apologise in his posting; read here]. Leadership should be "by example".

Namewee's apology should be accepted and the case should be closed if the government intends to preserve the "honour" of the country.
_____________________________________

Additional links
Namewee's rap song "Negarakuku" with English translation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyiBvJtJ5Z4

Namewee appears on Taiwan TV
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thxvvLnhSMc&NR=1

Namewee: a song on his potential arrest : Green, Green Grass
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-s7dw7jmTo8&NR=1

Apology Announcement & Metro News : KENYATAAN MEMINTA MAAF OLEH WONG MENG CHEE ATAU NAMEWEE
http://namewee.blogspot.com/2007/08/apologize-announcement.html

Negarakuku Lyrics Script by Namewee
http://namewee.blogspot.com/2007/08/hello-semua-orang-melayu-sila-tengok.html

9 comments:

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Unknown said...

There's such a thing as being at the wrong place in the wrong time, or commonly known as wrong timing.

Namewee's song, can and should only be interpreted at face value that best describes a day in the life of Malaysian and nothing more.

Of late we know that Barisan is in desperate need of a "SMOKE SCREEN" to elude the Malaysian public of deeds of mismanagement. PKFZ is one, Augusta is also another one, desgrunted Malaysians on the high cost of living, corrupt allegations with the government agencies, the unfair distribution of NEP both to the bumis and non bumis, these are some of the reason a desperate shift of public attention is needed.

Using smoke screen to difuse situation is nothing new, animals uses it, and to use this song to fan racial sentiment is expected to elevate MCA as champion of Chinese and UMNO as the both the guardian and protector of Malay and Islam in Malaysia.

All this hoo haas is deem necessary to help Barisan in the comming election, but it might not help further as voters are getting more impatient of slow changes and misappropriated promises, voters are getting smarter by the day, same trick just does not work twice or thrice, as the boy who cries wolf found out in the bitter way.

Get a life Barisan, if you have, or had govern this country effectively and managed all resources wisely, there can be no dissapointing Malaysians, and a young man would not have to come up sith a song to embaress you.

Think on it, chew on this.

It's time for you to wake up and look at your surrounding, wake up Mr. PM and put a rest to this issue.

Anonymous said...

The government is tryng to divert the attention of misdeed and corruption such as allegation against PKFZ,police, public servants,crime rates, inefficientcy,poor economic,etc so dont be fooled into argued with them or debate with them. Let the issue dies of natural death

Anonymous said...

ranjau is a malay word for thorn...why should the book be banned?

it is not lancau sepanjang jalan

Anonymous said...

hei morons,

the country is crumbling -
violence crimes everywhere,
massive corruptions,
sinful bailouts,
highway to hell for road users & etc

pls get your priorities in order or get a life

Anonymous said...

All in all, an apology is better than no apology at all. I have to say the song has insult a bit for my point of view, but if an apology isn't do it well, it's got to be something wrong with the politicians liaw...

Oh, Namewee can sue some one who said he revive that Negaraku song was copied, cause he did not even mention it...

Anonymous said...

Freedom of expression. An ironic and sometimes ambiguos ideal. If one wishes to 'pour his guts out' he seeks freedom. But when someone says something he dislikes, he shouts discrimination or blames someone for his misfortunes. If its not because of race, it would be religion or some other god-given difference. No one can make everyone happy. It will never end.

For those who blame others for their inability to fulfill their own ambitions will never be free from their own weaknesses. The spirit of learning ends the moment one claims that they already know.
We can never live in peace if we habitualy seek to publicly air our frustrations creating tension and sowing the seeds of hate when what we should be doing is to work our way around the obstacles that lay between our self and the success that we seek.

Building a peaceful home takes a lot of patience and sacrifice. No body is chaing anybody away. What we need now is maturity and an eye for problem solving. No matter how bad is the problem or how bad is a situation, lets strive to overcome the odds rather than to find fault or to throw blame on each other

Anonymous said...

Those MCA n Umno-putra managed to twist namewee song out of context to shift the media attention away from the various political corruption scandles,rising crime rate and other important issues facing the country recently, i am sure their dirty cheap shot is definitely going to earn them some votes among Malays in the coming election.Well done.....

Anonymous said...

What is the use of suing a "rapper" for the content,as the politicians should know that you cannot silent every Malaysians who want to express his opinions through various means available, it is alot better for our country future if our government can see it in a positive way, correct any faulty perception or improve on the existing facts.