Namewee is a young man who is ‘grossly misunderstood’, says Minister

 Nazri defends Namewee

Reports by LEE YUK PENG, TEH ENG HOCK and YUEN MEIKENG

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DATUK Seri Nazri Aziz has defended Wee Meng Chee, better known as Namewee, by saying that the controversial rapper is not a racist, just “grossly misunderstood”.

The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department said he did not think of Wee as a racist, adding that he was just a young man who was misunderstood and misrepresented.

“He has done nothing which may be considered an offence under any laws in this country,” he told a press conference with Wee present at his office in the Parliament building.

Wee had previously made a video which criticised a headmistress in Kulaijaya who allegedly made racist remarks at a school assembly on Aug 12, using obscene language.

Misunderstood: Nazri listening to Namewee’s explanation of 1Malaysia-themed movie.
 

While many were upset that no action was taken against Wee over the clip, Nazri said he looked into the case and agreed with the Attorney-General that Wee had not committed any offence.

“The only person who can take any action against him is the headmistress as she is the only aggrieved party,” he said.

Nazri said Wee was not even a politician and should not be “dragged into something that he didn’t want to be involved in in the first place”.

“He’s only interested in music and how it can spread messages to his peers,” he said.
Wee, he said, had explained to him about what he had done, adding: “I think he has potential. If we can help him, he will be able to become an artiste one day.”

Nazri further described Wee as a young man who wanted to move on with his life and that he fully supported the 1Malaysia concept propagated by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

The minister said he would inform Najib during the Cabinet meeting today over Wee’s failure to get funding from National Film Development Corporation (Finas) to make a 1Malaysia-themed movie.

“I shall inform the Prime Minister about his visit and Wee’s request to meet him. Once I get a date (of when Najib would meet Wee), I’ll inform Wee,” he said.

Nazri added that Wee, who has the most viewed YouTube account in Malaysia, wanted to promote the muhibbah spirit via his proposed film titled Nasi Lemak 2.0.

“I think Malaysians should always sangka baik (assume what is good first).
“We are multi-racial, so we cannot afford to have the opposite,” he said.

Wee later read a statement to the press, saying that he was a patriot and had even conveyed that Malaysia was the best place in the world through his video “I Want To Go Home”.