Malaysian singer, Namewee caused a storm online for the past couple of nights after sharing his own “obituary” on his social media on Sunday night (March 31).
The post without caption caused concern among Malaysians, especially his fans when the singer posted a picture of himself in black & white, with 1983-2024 written on it. The matter escalated when the admin of his FB page shared the scene at the Nirvana Memorial Center in KL, where the hall was “decorated” with Namewee’s pictures for his “memorial”.
These cryptic posts had caused netizens to wonder if Namewee was no longer among the living, or merely another gimmick for his new song. Before the truth came to light, here’s what happened.
- Sin Chew contacted Nirvana for clarification but unfortunately, Nirwana was unable to disclose further but confirmed that Namewee booked the memorial hall.
- 1 of the agents for Nirvana “spilled the tea” in her now-deleted FB post by saying it was Nirvana’s 1st time holding a memorial for a living person.
- There was even a “leaked” picture of Namewee in the coffin.
- Namewee’s family was present during the memorial service.
“For the 1st time ever, we’re doing a memorial service for a living person. Dead or alive, we’ll do our best to host a stress-free farewell ceremony for our clients.”
The “memorial” was held last night (April 1) on April Fool’s Day. At midnight, Namewee “reemerged” and updated his followers about what happened.
It was a promotional event for his upcoming documentary and new song
In his Facebook post, Namewee admitted that 2023 had been tough on him. Not only his 13-year-old pet had died but also the people close to him had left, not to mention his health condition which was at a worrying state.
“I was in immense pressure. It made me realise the importance of pre-planning before your death. I wrote a song, produced an MV and decided to hold a farewell ceremony, which will be made into a documentary.”
According to BBC, the practise of a farewell ceremony – attending your own funeral has been trending recently. Namewee also assured that it WAS NOT an April Fool’s joke, but the day of his memorial was due to the close gap with the Ching Ming Festival – April 4.
“Put aside all the pantang larang in our culture. Embrace life and death, plan everything ahead and don’t let anyone worry about what to do for you after you’re gone. That was my motive.”
In his post, Namewee also blamed the Malaysian media for the unethical reporting about this matter and pointed out that the news has been nothing but merely rumours.
“I had never given any statement to any media houses. As a Mass Comm studies grad, this saddens me.”
“Goodbye, fake fans!”
Additionally, Namewee also bid farewell to the “fake fans” who decided to cancel him following the gimmick.
“As a content creator, if you stay in your comfort zone and afraid of everything, you’re not going anywhere. If you’re really my fans, you’ll understand this. To my fake fans, wishing you a safe journey!”
Do you think Namewee has gone a tad bit too far in this, or do you applaud him for his creativity and bravery?
Also read: Namewee Spreads Awareness About Gambling in His Latest MV, But Gets Flagged by YouTube
