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Envoy says comedian Jocelyn Chia ‘not Singaporean’ as Malaysia rages at MH370 joke
- The city state’s high commissioner in Kuala Lumpur apologised to Malaysians for Chia’s ‘hurtful remarks’ made at a New York comedy club
- The Singapore-raised comic reportedly deactivated her social media accounts as foreign ministers from both countries denounced her act
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The outcry over a US-born, Singapore-raised comedian’s joke about missing Malaysia Airlines jet MH370 intensified on Thursday, as the city state’s high commissioner in Kuala Lumpur issued an apology, foreign ministers from both countries weighed in and the performer appeared to have deactivated several social media pages.
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In a statement posted just after midnight on Thursday, High Commissioner Vanu Gopala Menon offered his apology to all Malaysians for Jocelyn Chia’s “hurtful remarks” in her skit made at a New York comedy club and shared over her TikTok and Instagram accounts.
Calling the remarks about the missing airliner as well as Chia’s other comments about Malaysia “gratuitously offensive”, Menon clarified that she is no longer a citizen of Singapore, and the comments she made do not reflect the views of the city state.
“The Singapore government does not condone words or actions that cause harm or hurt to others and Chia, who is no longer Singaporean, does not in any way reflect our views,” he said.
In her skit Chia, a former lawyer-turned-comedian told an audience of New York’s Comedy Cellar Club that Singapore had beaten the odds after separating from Malaysia in 1965 and emerged as the more successful partner from the short two-year union, calling it the “best break-up revenge”.
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She dedicated the show to Singapore’s first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, “without whom Singapore would not be what it is today.”
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