China banned ‘Fragile’, a new viral pop song by Namwee. Namwee’s song makes several references to China’s human rights violations. Read to know why the full story.
Fragile: Why was the pop song banned?
Created by Namwee, a Malaysian rapper, and Kimberly Chen, an Australian singer, the pan is a hit among Mondrian pop and Mands pop fans. The song is also successful in poking fun at little pinks, the county’s nationalist youngsters who defend China from criticism virtually. Namwee’s new hit makes several shielded references to the human rights violations in the country. Currently, Fragile has over 33 million views on YouTube. It also managed to outrage China, with the nation blocking the creators’ accounts on Weibo. According to Global Times, a state-run Chinese newspaper, the song is “malicious” and “insulting” that is related to the “displeasure of Chinese netizens”. Previously China has banned several songs for their “immoral” nature. In 2015 alone, the country banned over 120 songs.
While the song appears to be a sweet melody with a pink theme, it starts with a warning, ‘Please be cautious if you’re a fragile pink’. Additionally, it also mentions the terms ‘pinks’ and ‘fragile self-esteem’ several times throughout the song. Amidst its saccharine theme, it showcases a panda making ‘bat soup’, resending the rumors of the pandemic’s origin. Additionally, it ridicules China’s pink warriors with the sentence “You say NMSL to me when you get angry”. NMSL is an acronym for offensive slang, “ni ma si le”, translating to “hope your mother dies”. The acronym was vital for last year’s meme war between Chinese and Thai netizens.
It also uses ‘Pooh’ from Winnie the Pooh. The Disney character is often used to troll President XI Jinping. After all, China had also banned the movie ‘Christopher Robin’ for censoring posts online that compare the character to the president.
Here’s how the song references human rights violation
The song says, “It is illegal to breach Firewall. You’ll be missed if the Pooh discovers it,” referencing the Great Firewall of China. The term is popularly used to refer to the nation’s laws regarding internet regulations and access. It also refers to the human rights violations faced by ethnic minorities in China. The lyric “Carrying cotton and collecting his favorite honey,” referring to forced labor camps in Xinjiang hits hard. According to claims, over 20 percent of the world’s cotton comes from the camps holding the Uighurs. However, according to a BBC report, the nation claims that the camps are vocational training schools under the “poverty alleviation scheme”. It also makes references to the crackdown on Apple daily, a pro-democratic Hong Kong paper.
“There are many races in Malaysia and I am categorized as Chinese. So, when people say you’re insulting Chinese people, I say – are you saying I am insulting myself? It’s unfair to say “Chinese” can only refer to China’s Communist Party or to the Chinese state,” said Namwee in a BBC interview. The rapper’s real name is Wee Meng Chee. “If some are offended, it means they are the people described in my song.
The ban has now become part of my creative work,” he added. However, this is not the first time he was in the center of a controversy. The rapper was previously arrested twice- once for insulting Malaysian culture and another time for insulting Islam. On the other hand, the Australian singer took to Instagram, mocking China’s move. She sang a song that translates to “I’m sorry for hurting you. It’s okay to delete Weibo. Oh, I hear a sound. Fragile self-esteem has broken into pieces. It’s okay, I still have IG and (Facebook)”.