10 Aug – "Nasi Lemak 2.0" director Namewee revealed that his latest music clip posted on YouTube recently was just a way to get Malaysia's national badminton star, Dato' Lee Chong Wei, to attend the gala premiere of his second directorial feature, "Hantu Gangster".
After watching Lee's unsuccessful attempts to net Malaysia their first gold medal in the 2012 London Olympics in his match against Lin Dan from China, Namewee expressed his condolences to the former world champion by dedicating a song to him on the social video site. However, the clip turned controversial when it sparked criticisms among local and Chinese fans about Namewee's support for Lee, claiming that he was going about it in a wrong way by attacking Lin Dan with much too harsh words in the lyrics.
When asked for his side of the story, the "Hantu Gangster" director explained, "As a huge badminton fan, I was just expressing my opinions and disappointment on Dato' Lee's loss in the finals. I did not create the video to promote my new movie with Lee's name. I heard that he went to support "Nasi Lemak 2.0" last year, so this year I wanted to invite him to watch "Hantu Gangster", as I hoped that my movie could cheer him up after losing in such a tight battle. We had called him previously, but I wanted my invitation to be special, so I made the video, but as it turned out, he could not make it to the gala premiere due to his busy schedule."
Nevertheless, the Muar-born filmmaker, who generated a buzz among fans with pictures and videos showing him injured on his Facebook account, once again attracted public attention when he showed up at the gala premiere of "Hantu Gangster" in hospital garments with cuts and bruises on his face. He even walked the red carpet using a pair of crutches.
"Those pictures and videos were part of my promotional activities for my new movie. We designed the gimmicks based on my character's story in "Hantu Gangster", not on shock value. You will understand when you watch the film," replied Namewee, when some remarked that he resorted to cheap stunts to obtain publicity for himself.
Through his film, the controversial filmmaker aimed to promote unity among Malaysians, as it boasts a multi-racial cast, which includes Farid Kamil, Diana Danielle, Amber Chia, Dato' Amurugam and Dennis Lau.
"I want to tell everyone that racial discrimination is not created by the people. There is no problem living together with different races. I hope the movie can lead you to see the truth behind some of the society issues that is happening in our country."
"Hantu Gangster" is now showing in cinemas!