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Singapore comic enrages Malaysia with MH370 joke, ‘f*** you’ outburst at New York club

  • Jocelyn Chia has caused outrage with her act at a New York comedy club in which she joked about the missing plane and made fun of Malaysians
  • The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 in March 2014 remains a mystery. All 239 passengers and crew members on board are presumed dead

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Jocelyn Chia in a still from a TikTok video of her performance at a New York comedy club. Photo: TikTok/@ComedyCellarUSA
Malaysian social media erupted in fury on Wednesday at Singapore-linked stand-up comedian Jocelyn Chia after a skit she performed at a New York comedy club featuring gags about missing Malaysian jets and the country’s poor economic performance was uploaded to TikTok and Instagram.
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Malaysians and Singaporeans rarely shy away from banter on the topics of common history, culture, and cuisine. But Chia – an ex-Singaporean who grew up in the city state – has raised the ante, if the response in Malaysia to her New York act is any marker.

Framing the Malaysia-Singapore split in 1965 as two people who broke up from a relationship, Chia joked about how Malaysians cannot visit Singapore because their “aeroplanes cannot fly”, a remark she clarified was a reference to the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

“What? Malaysian Airlines plane going missing not funny huh?” Chia asked after getting mixed reactions from the audience. “This joke kills in Singapore.”

Jocelyn Chia in a still from a TikTok video of her performance at a New York comedy club. Photo: TikTok/@ComedyCellarUSA
Jocelyn Chia in a still from a TikTok video of her performance at a New York comedy club. Photo: TikTok/@ComedyCellarUSA
The skit, which she dedicated to Singapore’s first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, revolves around how the city state emerged as the more successful partner from the short two-year union, with Chia calling it the “best break-up revenge”.
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