She later apologised on Facebook on the same day, acknowledging she had misheard the song and removed the video shortly after posting it.
Political activist and social media personality Syarul Ema Rena Abu Samah, known as Ratu Naga, has been detained over a video alleging that pupils at a Chinese school in Teluk Intan sang the national anthem, Negaraku, in Mandarin.
Her lawyer, Zaid Malek, confirmed that Syarul Ema was arrested by Perak police at around 12pm in Petaling Jaya on Thursday (10 April). She is being investigated under the Sedition Act 1948 and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act.
Zaid described the arrest as “unlawful and high-handed”, insisting that no offence was committed in the video. He noted that Syarul Ema removed the video from TikTok within 10 minutes after realising her mistake regarding the language used in the anthem. However, the video was reuploaded by others and circulated widely.
He called on the police, the Attorney-General, and the government to immediately drop the investigation.
Authorities confirmed that three police reports were lodged over the incident. Hilir Perak OCPD Asst Comm Dr Bakri Zainal Abidin said the case is being investigated under Section 505(b) of the Penal Code for public mischief and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act for misuse of network facilities.
ACP Bakri stated that the three-minute 40-second video was first reported on Friday (4 April) at around 7pm. It begins with children singing the Perak anthem, followed by commentary from the activist which sparked controversy.
“She raised an issue about the national anthem being sung in a language other than Malay and claimed it was a breach of protocol,” he said in a statement on Saturday (5 April).
Syarul Ema later apologised on Facebook on the same day, acknowledging she had misheard the song and removed the video shortly after posting it.