Malay Student Sparks Uproar Over National Anthem Remix at Schema : more than ethnic

Malay Student Sparks Uproar Over National Anthem Remix

National anthems aren't really the best songs to cover if you don't want to start a little controversy -- especially true if you change the lyrics in order to make a political statement. Borat got away with it but it could have turned out differently on a different day. Though it's week-old news now, Malaysian student Wee Meng Chee (who, as the link indicates, has already gotten his own Wikiprofile) has ignited quite a controversy, still burning strongly in Malaysia over his rapped rendition of the Malaysian national anthem Negaraku. He even made a video of it and released it on, where else, the Tube.

It's rapped primarily in Mandarin with bits in Hokkien, and the chorus is apparently sung in Malay. It's Chee's so-called attempt to keep it real and let people know what the state of race relations are like in the country, which takes aim at what he (and many other Chinese, Indians and Malays) sees at the institutionalized preferential treatment of native Malays and not so preferential treatment of the minorities. It also alleged that he pokes at the national Muslim establishment. Chee, however, claims that it's a critical yet ultimately patriotic song. Well, at least political hip-hop lives on halfway around the world.

You be the judge: an English subtitled version of his video is HERE though you must read along quickly.
Canadian Press article

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