Following her joke about the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 during a stand-up set earlier in June, comedian Jocelyn Chia has received significant backlash from Malaysian social media users, fellow comedians, Singapore politicians, Umno Youth, and most recently, the Malaysia police, who is seeking the help of Interpol to locate Chia in the United States.
But amidst the sea of haters, one particular response to Chia's faux pas takes the cake.
'Father' disowns Jocelyn Chia
On July 27, a Twitter user claiming to be Chia's father made a shocking announcement, that he and his wife were disowning their daughter "till the day of their death".
The user "@achiawhyeliang" also wrote, "Her doing was my total failure in raising her to be a better person for society. The public deserved better then (sic) this."
I publicly announce here for the first time, me and my beloved wife Shirley will disown our daughter @JocelynChia from here onwards till the day of our death.
Her doing was my total failure in raising her to be a better person for society. The public deserved better then this.
— Anthony Chia Whye Liang (@achiawhyeliang) July 22, 2023
And as if the point couldn't be made any clearer, Chia was also tagged in the tweet.
The post has since gone viral, and has been viewed more than 363,000 times as of July 27.
Mixed reactions from social media users
In the comments on the post, a few users expressed their sympathy for the user, and acknowledged the frustration of a parent who has been disappointed by their child's behaviour.
However, a number of users also questioned if the post had actually been made by Chia's father, with a few pointing out that his previous tweets had been supportive of her.
So proud of my daughter https://t.co/t2d5Y99VRh
— Anthony Chia Whye Liang (@achiawhyeliang) July 17, 2023
A few suspected that the post had been made by Chia herself to gain "clout", or attention.
Chia's response
Four days later, Chia responded to the original tweet.
She said the account that posted the tweet was fake, and implied that it was not made by her father at all.
Chia also suggested that it was a joke made by a "Malaysian" user.
lol these m'sians damn funny lah. Twitterers pls report the account @achiawhyeliang for fake identity. thanks! https://t.co/pi7mOetYXZ
— Jocelyn Chia (@JocelynChia) July 26, 2023
As such, she called for fellow Twitter users to report the account @achiawhyeliang for impersonation.
Based on the account’s profile, the user only joined Twitter in July 2023.
Conversely, on her father, Anthony Chia's Facebook page, he had posted from as early as 2012.
He had also made largely supportive posts about Chia, sharing a number of her comedy videos and articles about her.
Top image from chiacomedy on Instagram / screenshots from Twitter.