Insensitive and inhumane.
The comedienne from Singapore, Jocelyn Chia, who belittled Malaysia using the tragedy of the loss of Flight MH370 as the brunt of her jokes in a comedy show in New York, United States, recently, was widely condemned in Parliament today.
At today’s Dewan Rakyat sitting, RSN Rayer (PH-Jelutong) asked all Members of Parliament to join together in condemning Chia’s actions which are considered extreme and offensive to Malaysians.
Rayer said that although Singapore’s High Commissioner to Malaysia, Vanu Gopala Menon had apologised following Chia’s insolent actions, he hoped the issue would not recur.
Yesterday, Chia’s video went viral when she performed a comedy show entitled “Singapore vs Malaysia”, belittling the tragedy of MH370 in addition to making ugly statements about Malaysia which got Malaysians riled up.
Following that, the Singaporean government apologised and insisted that Chia’s statement did not at all reflect the views of the Republic and informed that the woman that she was no longer a citizen.
According to Singapore daily The Straits Times, Chia is now a naturalised US citizen.
Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan took to Twitter early this morning condemning Chia over her insensitive and expletive-laden remarks about Malaysia.
“I am appalled by her horrendous statements. She certainly does not speak for Singaporeans.
“We treasure our ties with family and friends in Malaysia, and are sorry for the offence and hurt caused to all Malaysians,” he tweeted.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke has slammed Chia who used the MH370 tragedy as a joke.
“What the comedian said was rude, insolent and inhumane because she used the tragedy as the brunt of her joke. The tragedy involved more than 200 lives and nobody in their right mind would do such a thing,” he said.
Loke said that even though Chia felt it was a joke, every joke should have its limits and should not exploit any tragedy.
“This matter should be used as a lesson to all parties, including comedians, in our country.
“We welcome stand-up comedians, but we mustn’t turn tragedy and national relations into a joke,” he said.
Loke said following the issue which also received negative reactions from various parties, he had also sent a message to his Singaporean counterpart S Iswaran.
“He also expressed his dismay and Singapore has taken immediate steps to ensure that the matter is not turned into an issue that can be polemised by any party that can affect the relationship between the two countries,” he said today.
Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil also condemned the insensitive action of Chia.
He said local comedians such as Adflin Shauki and Harith Iskander have also criticised and condemned the individual involved for her actions during her performance.
Among other things, the comedian made outrageous remarks about the MH370 tragedy, saying “some jokes don’t land” in reference to the missing flight.
“That is not good material because we (Malaysians) are still sad over the tragedy and to make fun of it is in bad taste.
“I, together with Foreign Minister (Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir), condemn the very insensitive act of the individual involved,” he said in commenting on the issue at a press conference at the World Press Freedom Day (WPFD) 2023 forum, Thursday (June 8).
Meanwhile, Chia has taken to social media to defend her recent jokes about Malaysia and the missing MH370 flight.
According to screenshots taken by netizens, she had replied to a comment by local stand-up comedian Jason Leong who appeared to endorse her performance, by stating “I love this bit”.
“Geez people take jokes way too seriously,” she replied to him on Instagram.
Instagram user @suhvrv86 commented on Jocelyn’s stand-up video saying that tragedy should not be made a joke to which Jocelyn replied otherwise.
“Tragedy plus time = comedy. It’s been long enough man,” she said, claiming that enough time had gone by since the MH370 tragedy occurred.
She added that people have the right to joke about tragic events if they can make it funny.
The clip from Chia’s stand-up performance at the Comedy Cellar club in New York, saw her making crude remarks about the Malaysia-Singapore relationship and referenced flight MH370 that had gone missing on March 8, 2014, as Malaysian airplanes “can’t fly”.
The video became viral on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok at about 2pm yesterday (June 7) but subsequently sent offline.
However, the lawyer-turned-comedian earlier today reuploaded the “offensive” MH370 joke clip to her TikTok page.
She shared the video on TikTok with the caption: “The funniest part was after my set the host asked the Malaysians how they got to NYC and they replied ‘Singapore Airlines’ ”
Chia, however, disabled public comments on the post.
“Comments aren’t available because you’re not mutual friends with Jocelyn Chia,” a message read.
Prior to this, Chia’s Instagram page in particular had been flooded with comments condemning her poor choice of joke material.
The TikTok video has garnered 300,000 views and 729 likes so far.
Checks on Chia’s social pages on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook found them inaccessible, with users seeing blank pages instead of the usual content.
However, Chia’s website remains active.
It remains unclear whether Chia’s social media accounts were suspended or if she deactivated them herself.
As of now, Chia’s YouTube account @JocelynChiaComedy, with 2.09K subscribers and 41 videos, and her active TikTok account @jocelynchiacomedy are still accessible.
Chia is reportedly a regular performer at renowned comedy clubs in New York City, including the Comedy Cellar and Gotham Comedy Club.
The venue where the stand-up routine happened – the Comedy Cellar in New York – has seen a sudden surge in people giving it a one-star rating on Google.