Over the weekend, my FB newsfeeds went crazy with news about Malaysian police investigating the death of Taiwanese influencer Iris Hsieh 谢侑芯 death as a murder and Namewee (Wee Meng Chee 黄明志) being a person of interest. Malaysian news channels, some of which I had not even heard of, starting posting about a possible murder charge and Namewee going missing.
Frankly, I found it a bit puzzling. Iris Hsieh died on 22 October. Certainly, if foul play was suspected then, they would have detained him for investigations into a possible murder charge. Since they released him on bail pending charges for drug abuse and possession , it seemed reasonable to assume that they didn’t suspect foul play in relation to Iris Hsieh’s death.
The next puzzling thing is the autopsy report. The police claimed that the toxicology report will take 3 months! Yao mo gao chor ah. The autopsy and toxicology report should have been ready in a matter of days. Why does it take so long in this case? While all this may remain a mystery, what’s most revealing was the endless stream of “reports” from multiple news channels saying that Wee was uncontactable, speculating that he might have jumped bail. A chain reaction was ignited. Thousands of comments came in, calling Wee a coward. Others pronounced his guilt and some of the more bloodthirsty ones even suggested a few methods for putting him to death.
I can fully understand why some people dislike him, but to say that he had jumped bail and wish death upon him over a weekend? Were they so bored and unoccupied? As it turned out, only two meals had passed when Namewee surrendered at the police station in KL. He put out a statement saying that he would never run away.
Things simmered down a bit after that. A handful of influencers tried to knock a little sense into the lynch mob. One of them is 杨虹玲.
I don’t know who 杨虹玲 is. She’s probably more famous than me, but she’s one of the few who dared to stand up for Namewee. She posted the following on Facebook.
“我和黄明志相识十年，他对人对事一直尊重。
在我多年前出事、几乎无法再站起来的时候
他对我雪中送炭 并且给了我重要的工作机会
他的私生活，我不了解、也不评价。
他已经主动到警察局报道了，我依然respect他。
司法的东西就交给警方 希望一切真相早日水落石出。
在此也为往生者默哀。
我要表达的只有这么多，
我就真的不是那种为了蹭流量就喜欢落井下石的人。”
She said that she has known Namewee for 10 years. She found him to be a respectful person. When she got into trouble years ago, it was Namewee who lent her a helping hand by giving her job opportunities. She said that she would not judge him based on his private life. He had voluntarily reported to the police to cooperate with investigations and she hopes that the truth would soon be out. She mourns quietly for the deceased as she is not one of the opportunistic ones who would kick someone when he’s down.
How did netizens respond? They mocked her, saying that she was not targeted by Wee because she is very “safe” – implying that she is not attractive enough to be Wee’s victim. Funny? But here’s my observation
Isn’t it an irony? People who know him don’t claim to know his private life or judge him based on his private life but people who don’t know him judge him purely based on his private life. I won’t argue that Namewee is an annoying person. I would argue that he is more than just an annoying person.
Finally, I came across the following post by Namewee’s brother:
“如果等到真相出来，希望这些人不要洗掉自己写过的贴文和留言，到时‘他’可以拿来做新MV的素材，这也是这些人活着最高的价值了。”
大马著名艺人黄明志卷入台湾网红谢侑芯命案，今日凌晨现身警局投报后，黄明志的弟弟黄明励在面子书发布逾千字贴文，有感而发道，看到很多人在蹭，也知道很多人还在考虑如何蹭，却又苦无下手之处，怕人家讲自己吃相难看，又或者到时他证实清白后，自己会成为笑话。
他在文中写道，若想要蹭的话，有3个条件都可以轻易去蹭，“他”一定不会理会，包括一般网民对“他”的造谣、抹黑等等，“他”也不会怎样。
黄明励写道，不过，如果等到真相出来的那一刻，希望这些人都不会洗掉自己写过的任何贴文和留言，虽然这些人不会收到任何A4，但至少到时“他”可以拿他们的那些文字来做新MV的素材，这也许就是这些人活着最高的价值了。
He hopes that when the truth is out, he hopes that folks who are convinced of his brother’s guilt don’t delete their toxic comments. Even though no legal action would be taken against their slander, their comments could serve as useful material in Namewee’s next MV. These comments are probably the most useful things they’ve produced in their lives.
Personally, I believe that Namewee had consumed drugs. I believe that it was a drug party and Iris Hsieh unfortunately died of an overdose. However, I can’t imagine that Namewee could have any motive to commit murder. I’ve blocked all the shamelessly opportunistic news channels. May the police is fair and may justice take its course.
