Fight the Power (Company)

For those of you who don't know, one of the many dudes along for the ride on the trip I took to Pusan was controversial rapper Namewee who caused a bit of a ruckus with his song "Negara-kuku". The dude also appeared in two of the 15Malaysia shorts, namely 'Potong Saga' by Ho Yuhang and 'Meter' by Benji n' Bahir.

A while back, after the trip, Namewee posted up a video on YouTube and Facebook which featured him giving workers of the local power company TNB a good sounding after a black out caused him to lose songs that he was in the midst of composing as well as effecting his younger brother who was in the midst of revising for an exam the next day.

The video, however, is not the subject of this post. The reaction to it is what I'm concerned about, after reading this article from theStar.com.my:-

CONTROVERSIAL rapper Wee Meng Chee or Namewee, who gained notoriety in 2007 for his rap song, Negarakuku, is at it again.

His latest tirade, which was made into a short film and posted on YouTube, was aimed at Tenaga Nasional Bhd after his home in Muar, Johor, was hit by a blackout last month.

Sin Chew Daily quoted Information, Communications, Culture and Arts Ministry’s secretary-general Datuk Kamaruddin Siaraf as saying the ministry has launched an investigation into the matter.

He said the ministry would only decide on the next course of action once the investigation was completed.

He emphasised that TNB itself could take action against Wee if the utility company feels that the film had seriously affected the company’s image.

In the film, Wee was seen lashing out at several workers at the TNB’s Muar branch office after he was said to have been given the run around.

He claimed that he was composing his new song on his computer when the blackout shut down his central processing unit causing him to lose the file which he did not save.

His younger brother too was affected as he could not do his revision and he was facing an examination the next day, he claimed.

Wee then made at least 10 calls to TNB hoping to get an explanation over but nobody picked up the calls.

He then went to the office and was seen hurling abusive language at the workers before leaving the building.

> China Press quoted Hakka Association chief Tan Sri Ng Teck Fong as saying that the MCA’s current leadership could easily resolve the problems facing the party.

“What is important is that the party must be stable to prevent further cracks,” he was quoted.

The daily also quoted Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia (Hua Zong) president Tan Sri Pheng Yin Huah as saying that the federation would not intervene in MCA’s internal matters.

I don't even know where to begin with this article. First off, what in the name of Odin's nut fur has this incident got to do with the Ministry of Information, Communications, Culture and Arts? What, I ask? Is every video blog posted by someone who's considered an 'artist' or 'celebrity', no matter how big or small, a matter that this particular Ministry has to stick their nose in? What about regular people, do they get the same treatment, or does nobody bother with them? Are they considering the internet as a form of media akin to television, thus making it fall under the same jurisdiction as television and film programming or even live performances?

In what insane, roundabout, fuzzy logic way does this fall under the jurisdiction of this Ministry? Because it's entertaining and informative? Does the Ministry honestly intend to apply the same rules that govern television, film and public performances onto the fucking internet?

Am I in trouble now for writing the word 'fuck'?

Secondly, is TNB seriously considering taking action? Seriously? Regardless of the celebrity status of a person using their services, that person is still a customer. Is TNB seriously considering taking legal action against a customer simply because the customer was dissatisfied with their product? Because if that's the case, why not have Proton and Perodua sue Jeremy Clarkson for every bad review he's given to every locally made car we've sent to England?

Monopoly or not, TNB is still a company offering a service. When a customer, whoever the customer may be, reacts so strongly at the poor quality of the service and in such a high profile way, is the wisest action to sue the guy?

Thirdly (and perhaps this is due to my ignorance of politics), what has MCA got to do with all of it? Do those last three paragraphs play any role in the news above or is it a layout issue, showing other news but placed as if it was related to the same thing? If so, it's frickin' confusing. If not, then I ask again - what has MCA politics got to do with a Chinese rapper giving TNB shit for a power cut? I don't get it. I admit, I'm incredibly ignorant of the political climate in my own country (simply because I couldn't give two poops of a laden calf) so maybe there's a bigger picture I'm not getting. If anyone could explain the relevance of that last part of the article that would be helpful.

Regardless, this makes my head bones weep.