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

Singapore

Hadi Azmi

Published: 3:51pm, 7 Jun 2023

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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.

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.”

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”.

She then jokingly goaded the Malaysians in the audience over the diverging fortunes of the two nations since then.

“And you guys, what are you now? Still a developing country. F*** you Malaysia,” Chia said, to laughter.

When the host jumped in telling her she was going to get a bad review from Malaysians, she replied saying Malaysians “don’t have internet”.

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The Malaysian internet was not amused, however, and negative reactions soon flooded her videos across Instagram and TikTok, prompting Chia to disable the comments.

Former Malaysian radio announcer Kudsia Kahar, who shared the video with her 19,000 followers on Twitter, said Chia had crossed the line.

“I draw the line at turning MH370 into a joke. A good stand-up never turns tragedy and deaths into a joke,” Kudsia said.

Her post garnered more than 3,000 responses and was viewed by over half a million people by midmorning on Wednesday.

Popular Malaysian actress Tiz Zaqyah meanwhile said that Chia’s vitriol about Malaysia sounded personal.

“I think she needs major nature therapy, [but] not here,” she said on Twitter.

Elsewhere, people asked Chia to step into the shoes of the victims’ families and try to see things from their perspective.

“I have a friend on that plane who has a 5 months old baby. That baby never got to see his father again,” said a commentator called Ash on the comedian’s Instagram.

Jocelyn Chia in a still from a video of her New York performance after she had made fun of the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. Photo: TikTok/@ComedyCellarUSA

In her response to some of these comments, Chia cited the maxim of comedy being “tragedy plus time”.

“It’s been long enough man,” she said.

The disappearance of MH370 in March 2014 remains among the biggest mysteries in civil aviation. Malaysia officially declared all 239 passengers and crew members on board as presumed dead in 2015.

Malaysia’s own stand-up comedy scene was thrown into crisis last year when authorities shut down a popular comedy club after an open mic session went awry with an audience member using it as a stage to strip and joke about Islam, a taboo in conservative Malaysia.

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Speaking anonymously to This Week in Asia for fear of retribution, a Malaysian comedian said that Chia’s brand of jokes was common on both sides of the border, especially from new comedians trying to figure out what works and what doesn’t.

In this case specifically, the joke was told to an audience in New York where not much might be known about Singapore and likely less about Malaysia.

“Hence the use of MH370 as a punchline was an easy way out – something ‘edgy’ yet widely understood,” he said.

While many would consider that the joke was done in bad taste, he said that calls to ban Chia and the art form in general set a dangerous precedent for an already struggling scene.