Namewee remanded over ‘Oh My God’ music video

Malaysian filmmaker Wee Meng Chee, who goes by the stage name Namewee, speaks about his first film “Nasi Lemak 2.0”, named after a staple Malaysian dish, at his office in Kuala Lumpur September 21, 2011.

“The man was arrested at KLIA and will be brought to Pulau Pinang where he will assist in investigations into the case”.

In it, Namewee and three others appear to sing and dance in front of Buddhist and Taoist temples, inside a church and outside a mosque.

He was charged with “defiling a place of worship with intention to insult religion” over a video for the song “Oh My God”, released in July. Namewee shot to fame in 2007 when he released a music video for I Love My Country Negarakuku, which features the national anthem alongside controversial rap verses.

Namewee, whose song are known for their objectionable content, has dismissed all allegations against him and said that the song, Oh My God, was not meant to hurt anyone’s sentiment but promote religious harmony. If charged and convicted, the artist could face a potential prison term of up to two years, a fine or both.

Namewee defended himself in a Facebook post on Monday, arguing that he wrote the song to “promote religious harmony”.

Malaysia is a majority Muslim country with nearly two-thirds of the country practising the religion.

Race and religion are sensitive issues in Malaysia, where the ethnic Malay majority has generally lived peacefully with large Chinese and Indian minorities since racial riots in 1969 left at least 200 people dead. The new, official video is a much different affair that has none of the costumed characters holidaying and goofing off together, and no longer has any scenes filmed inside or near mosques. He also nearly found himself in jail over another highly criticized video made earlier in his career in which he mocked the national anthem.