Malaysian singer Namewee blocked by Weibo after releasing satirical song

Malaysian singer and songwriter, Namewee, and Australian singer Kimberley Chen have been blocked from Chinese social media and streaming platforms for satirical song that is said to have insulted people in mainland China. A quick search by MARKETING-INTEACTIVE showed that both the artists’ accounts could not be found on Weibo at the time of writing with a message appearing: "We are sorry that the address of the site you are hoping to access is incorrect, or the site is non-existent."  

At the heart of the issue is the song Fragile (玻璃心) which was released on 15 October. According to The Global Times, some considered the song to hold insults against the Chinese people while in the music video a panda is seen dancing in the background of an incredibly pink themed set. The article on The Global Times also said that these symbols are considered by some to be targeted at China and the term "Little Pink" was aimed at youngsters fueled with patriotism for China. The term has been used by the media to describe these youths, according to the article.

Meanwhile, the video caption reads at the start: "Please be cautious if you are fragile pink”. Netizens also took offence to the singers’ mention of “dogs, cats, bats and civets" while the video showed the panda cooking a pot of bat soup. While Namewee's management company has apparently explained the song as one which "just wants to express love for small animals", netizens have scoffed at the idea of this being the actual trust.

Meanwhile, there were also accusations of references to camps with lyrics such as "growing Hami melon and sent to reeducation camp".  At the time of writing, the song on YouTube has over 3.6 million views. 

This is not Namewee’s first brush with controversy. Namewee, whose real name is Wee Meng Chee, also faced a ban in August by Sina Weibo for comments about the Communist Party of China. 

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