Singaporean Comedian Kumar Slams Jocelyn Chia For Joking About MH370 Tragedy
Earlier this month, Singapore-born comedian Jocelyn Chia sparked outrage among Malaysians for her joke about the disappearance of MH370 during a recent stand-up show in the United States.
In the wake of her comments, many, including politicians, have slammed her for her insensitivity.
Singaporean comedian Kumar is one of the latest to do so, taking to Instagram to voice his criticism.
He hopes Chia will learn her lesson following this debacle.
Kumar criticises Jocelyn Chia for MH370 joke
Posting to Instagram on 9 June, Kumar began the video by sincerely apologising to all Malaysians about the MH370 joke.
“I really think people shouldn’t use stand-up comedy as a tool to vent out your anger and hatred. Please learn from this,” he said.
Kumar added that Singaporeans often visited Malaysia for leisure and work. Comparing the countries to “brothers and sisters” in his caption, he noted:
Any animosity created is not good for us.
The comedian also directly addressed Chia in the video, stating, “I really think you [should] seek help, because you really got some issues.”
MH370 joke results in controversy
During a recent stand-up bit at the Comedy Cellar Club in New York, Chia made controversial statements on the differences between Singapore and Malaysia since their 1965 separation.
She described Singapore as a first-world country while Malaysia was still “developing”.
Calling it the best “break-up revenge”, she said Malaysia was trying to come around after not “visiting” the last 40 years.
Chia joked that the reason was that their “airplanes cannot fly”.
In response to mixed reactions from the audience, she said, “Malaysian Airlines going missing not funny, huh? Some jokes don’t land.”
Her comments have since caused many to condemn her for poking fun at a tragedy, including Singaporean politicians.
On 8 June, Singapore’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan apologised to Malaysians on Twitter.
In addition, Singapore’s High Commissioner to Malaysia Vanu Gopala Menon published a statement, saying he was “appalled by the gratuitously offensive comments”.
Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at news@mustsharenews.com.
Featured image adapted from @kumar_comedy on Instagram and @jocelynchiacomedy on TikTok.