Local singer and rapper Namewee recently took social media by surprise after he announced his ‘passing’ on social media.
Namewee, whose real name is Wee Meng Chee, shared two posts on his social media account on April 1. The first post was a black-and-white image of the rather controversial rapper accompanied with the numbers “1983 - 2024”.
The second post was of his memorial service. The post even included when could visitors visit his ‘funeral’ and even a venue, Nirvana Centre KL or Nirvana 2, which is an actual funeral home located in Kuala Lumpur.
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Many fans quickly realised that the whole thing was just an April Fool’s joke due to the the date of the postings.
However not everyone found it to be to be funny and felt that the posts were insensitive and called out Namewee for joking about his death.
Some also compared it to the death of Hong Kong star Leslie Cheung, who died on April 1, 2003.
“I understand you have been through a lot, perhaps you’ve come to terms with many things. April Fool’s Day is a day when it’s okay to play small jokes, but joking about life is something that needs to be addressed.
“I don’t have any ulterior motives, I just hope Meng Chee brother will do well in whatever he does but please don’t joke about life anymore,”commented a fan on his Instagram.
Namawee then released a statement on his Facebook page on what had actually happened.
In the Facebook post, Namewee admitted that 2023 had been tough on him.
His 13-year-old pet had passed away, 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.”
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