M'sian rapper Namewee turns himself in to police, vows not to "bow to the media"

'I'm not afraid because I believe Malaysia has justice.'

Sulaiman Daud | February 23, 2018, 11:36 AM

The Namewee saga has taken another twist.

On Thursday, Feb. 22, the 34-year-old rapper showed up in person at the Bukit Aman federal police headquarters.

He posted a picture of himself outside the building on Facebook, which you can see below:

His translated message (both in Mandarin and Malay) reads:

"I came to the police headquarters. I believe that Malaysia has fair justice. Thank you all for caring.

Good morning KL! I am now in Bukit Aman to give a statement. I'm not afraid because I believe Malaysia has justice. Thanks to all those who support Namewee. I will not bow to the media."

Malaysian CID Director Comm Datuk Seri Wan Ahmad Najmuddin Mohd confirmed in a statement that the rapper was arrested at 2:45pm on Feb. 22.

"He was detained under Section  298A of the Penal Code and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act."

What happened: a recap

The whole ruckus kicked off after Namewee uploaded a music video on Feb. 10 that stirred plenty of controversy online and also got Malaysian police in pursuit of him.

It featured dancers in dog masks performing "vulgar" moves outside the Perdana Putra building in Putrajaya, which houses the Malaysian Prime Minister’s office.

This allegedly hurt the religious sensitivities of the Malay community in Malaysia, which is an offence there.

No stranger to controversy & brushes with law

But as you might know, this is not the first time Namewee was arrested for his art.

In 2016, he was detained for four days, before being let out on bail, following the release of his music video "Oh My God".

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News of him surrendering himself to police (well, via the photo of himself at the police HQ) has been greeted with mixed reactions, with several fans, including Malay-Malaysians, expressing support on his Facebook post.

Pic from Facebook.

"May this brother stay strong. Don't give up expressing yourself creatively."

Pic from Facebook.

"We support you from Kuching, Sarawak. We do not see what's in your heart, but we support you. We have your back."

Pic from Facebook.

However, there are others who expressed little sympathy for him:

Pic from Facebook.

By the way, mari wang means "come, money", and refers to a lyric in Namewee's dog video. Cari pasal means "to provoke someone".

Pic from Facebook.

No matter what happens to him, though, Namewee has certainly not lost his ability to draw a reaction from his audience.

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Top image from Namewee's Facebook page.