CONTROVERSIAL comedian Jocelyn Chia recently explained her side of the story regarding her insensitive joke about the MH370 tragedy.
Around a week has passed since the controversial standup session went viral and the former lawyer asserted that her gig has been performed “more than a hundred times” for one and a half years with no problems, according to an interview with CNN.
The Singaporean comedian said that her clip was reportedly taken out of context after a certain segment was taken out and condensed into a short clip to be uploaded on various platforms.
“I do stand by my joke but with some caveat – I stand by it in its entirety, when viewed in a comedy club. Upon reflection, I do see that having this as a clip that gets viewed out of a comedy club context was risky,” she said.
On top of that, Jocelyn cited that her joke was based on Malaysia and Singapore’s long-time “friendly rivalry”, also putting it out there that she “does not bear a grudge against Malaysia”.
Jocelyn added that it was a common practice for comedians to poke fun at or “roast” their audience members.
She even went on to say that Malaysians “often” went up to her and praised her to which she attested that “they clearly didn’t take offense”.
The comedian has since faced a lot of backlash from the Malaysian community and the Singaporean government who have denounced her standup gig.
It was reported that Singapore’s High Commissioner to Malaysia Vanu Gopala Menon claimed the comedian’s bit on the MH370 tragedy as having “gratuitously offensive comments”.
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir said that Jocelyn lacked sensitivity and empathy towards family members mourning the tragic incident and Malaysians.
Jocelyn’s social media accounts, Twitter and Instagram, were no longer available on those platforms as of last Sunday (June 11).
All in all, she explained that a comedian’s jokes never have a touch of spite behind it. The end goal is to “put a smile on people’s faces”.
“We all know in the comedy club context that this is the comedian trying to get a laugh, and there is no actual malice behind it,” Jocelyn said.
