Malaysian authorities are asking Interpol’s help to hunt down US comedian Jocelyn Chia over her recent joke about Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 that disappeared on 8 March 2014, with all 239 people on board presumed dead. In her stand-up gig at the Comedy Cellar in Manhattan, the Boston-born comedian touched on the subject of Singapore – part of Malaysia once – having become a “first-world” country while Malaysia was still developing.
She joked Malaysian aeroplanes “cannot fly”, and later on added, “Malaysian Airlines going missing not funny huh? Some jokes don’t land.” Singapore has since issued an apology over such remarks, which Singaporean Ambassador to Malaysia Vivian Balakrishnan has said did not represent Singapore or its people. The ambassador further condemned the joke, underlining that Chia “did not speak for Singaporeans”, according to several media reports.
Chia, a former lawyer who became a comedian in 2009, spent some years growing up in Singapore, attending St. Nicholas Girls’ School and the National Junior College.
Photo: A screenshot of Comedy Cellar’s video
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