Namewee has recently posted a new video on social media to respond on the issue of the police report filed by the Malaysian Artistes Association (Seniman) against him for the controversy sparked by his yet-to-be-released movie, “Babi”.
On 3 January, the singer-filmmaker shared a 17-minute video saying that he would be rebutting every single statement made by Seniman, which include their failure to explain in detail allegations that his company has falsified documents by supposedly lying about the title of the movie, which was originally submitted to the National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (FINAS) as “Sekolah”.
“When a film is produced and sold to a film distributor, the film distributor has the absolute right to change the film’s title, to change the poster’s layout, or change and edit the film if they deem it’s not good enough. It’s all within the distributor’s capacity and rights,” he said, stating it was not “falsifying documents” so much as “marketing strategy”.
He also explained the reason why the title change was not submitted to FINAS, saying that it was released in Taiwan by a Taiwanese distributor. Namewee also stressed that his movie did not receive any subsidy from FINAS nor did it need to undergo censorship in Malaysia as it was released in a different country.
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| The movie opened in Taiwan in November 2019 |
As for allegations that he has repeatedly made racially charged movies in the past, Namewee expressed his confusion, saying that his previous films including “Nasi Lemak 2.0” and “Banglasia” were not only recognised internationally but also promoted racial harmony.
“Babi” is about racial discrimination and a riot at a high school, and was made to signify the importance of racial harmony and education system. The filmmaker stated that it has already been nominated at four international film festivals, including the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival.
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| The filmmaker was at the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival |
He also revealed that his new movie, “Nasi Lemak 1.0” has recently completed, and has been nominated at the Jaipur International Film Festival.
Namewee also expressed his anger over Seniman asking the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission to block his YouTube and other social media platforms for supposedly spreading racial disharmony, stressing that only a communist government would be banning free speech on the internet.
“The Malaysian police are already busy with MCO. It has been more than half a year and they can’t rest properly… But these people only like to report dumb incidents without using their brains and call the reporters to take their pictures while not even wearing face masks. They only know how to disturb police work and waste social resources…” he lamented.
Namewee also stated that he is not at all involved with Seniman, accusing the association of only good at “taking money from the government” without doing anything for the artistes using the examples of many actors who had to turn to public charities for help instead of the said agency.
(Photo Source: Namewee Instagram)