Wee Meng Chee, a Malaysian student studying Mass Communications at Ming Chuan University, Taiwan has gained instant notoriety for mocking the national anthem.His self-made six-minute video of a rap version of Negaraku - or rather in his case 'Negarakuku'- posted on the video-sharing site YouTube.com has come under fire.
He now refuses to apologise and instead demands that the government 'through proper laws prove to him' what wrong he had done by parodying the national anthem. He claims that his lyrics do not criticise anyone but merely narrates how he saw his country. He blames the Malay papers for maligning him and causing stress to his family.
What a load of codswallop! Instead of apologising and quickly bringing the issue to a close, he is now belligerent. Having viewed the video, I find it most offensive when Ming Chuan does a rap of the national anthem. For a start he raps Negaraku as 'Negarakuku' implying that Malaysia is insane.
The national anthem, Negaraku, is not the anthem of the government in power but is the anthem of Malaysia and Malaysians. As such it calls for respect and reverence by all Malaysians irrespective of race, creed and political divide.
Some have defended him by saying that it was his reflection of present day Malaysia. If Ming Chuan (or any other like-minded Malaysian) has an issue with the country or believes that he has been hard done by, there are many other ways and avenues for him to express his views. Definitely not by deriding the 'Jalur Gemilang' or the Negaraku.
Even more disappointing is to hear some politicians from PKR and DAP coming to his defence for his bravado and giving perverse reasons including that his rap version of NegaraKu was very creative. I, for one, cannot accept such reasoning. I believe that whatever the shortcomings Malaysia has, as citizens of Malaysia we owe it to ourselves to be loyal to Malaysia and that includes respecting the flag and the national anthem.
Some politicians on the other hand, have already demanded that Ming Chuan be charged and punished under the Sedition Act or the ISA or that his passport be revoked. There is not a need to go that extreme when there are already provisions under the National Anthem Act.
In the interim, Ming Chuan must know that his action is unacceptable and his justifications untenable. He has insulted the national anthem for which he owes an open and unconditional apology to all Malaysians.
