The Taipei Universiade Organizing Committee might replace local hip-hop trio Jiu Yi Yi (玖壹壹) as the spokespersons for the sporting event, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said yesterday, after the group sparked backlashes at home and overseas over a music video that has been criticized as offensive toward several religions.
Ko made the remark in response to media queries over whether the city government would dismiss the group, who agreed to be the face of the Taipei 2017 Summer Universiade for free.
Ko initially said the committee had not made any plans to replace Jiu Yi Yi, adding: “If something went wrong, just correct it.”
Photo provided by Ainoko Production Inc
When asked how the city would cope with the negative feedback the group has triggered in Malaysia, Ko said the committee would consider replacing the group.
“We will have more discussions about this matter. I do not think knee-jerk reactions are necessary,” he added.
In a recently released music video for a song titled Oh My God, the three Jiu Yi Yi members are seen dressed up as the Prophet Mohammed, Buddhist monk Xuanzang (玄奘) and a Taoist monk.
Malaysian rapper Namewee, whose real name is Wee Meng Chee (黃明志), and who is a collaborator of the group, wrote the song and portrayed Jesus Christ in the video.
In the video, “Mohammed” swaggers about several locations in Malaysia, including a mosque, carrying a rifle.
The four dressed as religious figures later indulge themselves with alcohol and a game of poker, during which they have an argument, prompting “Mohammed” to point his rifle at the others.
The video triggered an outpouring of online criticism almost immediately after its release, with many netizens calling the group “ignorant.”
Citing the Charlie Hebdo shootings in Paris last year, Christopher Hall said in a video uploaded to his YouTube channel Dream Lucid that the video could irritate religious extremists and make Taiwan a target of terrorist attacks.
The video has also drawn fire from Malaysian authorities.
Malaysian police on Sunday last week remanded Namewee into custody for questioning over his “intent to insult a religion.”
Jiu Yi Yi, which in Chinese means “911,” posted a video on Facebook in response to the controversy, saying they were approached by Wee to collaborate on the song, adding that the creative direction of the video and song’s lyrics were Wee’s alone.
The song’s message is about four religions living together in peace, the group said.
However, the group did not apologize for stirring up controversy, as many people had demanded, saying that netizens who criticized them had no knowledge of what had occurred and that the negative feedback only made them more determined to continue writing new songs.
The group has created a song for the Universiade, which they performed in front of Taipei City Hall last week to promote the event.
Jiu Yi Yi was nominated for best singing group at this year’s Golden Melody Awards.
RESPONSE: The transit sends a message that China’s alignment with other countries would not deter the West from defending freedom of navigation, an academic said Canadian frigate the Ville de Quebec and Australian guided-missile destroyer the Brisbane transited the Taiwan Strait yesterday morning, the first time the two nations have conducted a joint freedom of navigation operation. The Canadian and Australian militaries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Ministry of National Defense declined to confirm the passage, saying only that Taiwan’s armed forces had deployed surveillance and reconnaissance assets, along with warships and combat aircraft, to safeguard security across the Strait. The two vessels were observed transiting northward along the eastern side of the Taiwan Strait’s median line, with Japan being their most likely destination,
‘NOT ALONE’: A Taiwan Strait war would disrupt global trade routes, and could spark a worldwide crisis, so a powerful US presence is needed as a deterrence, a US senator said US Senator Deb Fischer on Thursday urged her colleagues in the US Congress to deepen Washington’s cooperation with Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific partners to contain the global security threat from China. Fischer and other lawmakers recently returned from an official trip to the Indo-Pacific region, where they toured US military bases in Hawaii and Guam, and visited leaders, including President William Lai (賴清德). The trip underscored the reality that the world is undergoing turmoil, and maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region is crucial to the security interests of the US and its partners, she said. Her visit to Taiwan demonstrated ways the
GLOBAL ISSUE: If China annexes Taiwan, ‘it will not stop its expansion there, as it only becomes stronger and has more force to expand further,’ the president said China’s military and diplomatic expansion is not a sole issue for Taiwan, but one that risks world peace, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that Taiwan would stand with the alliance of democratic countries to preserve peace through deterrence. Lai made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). “China is strategically pushing forward to change the international order,” Lai said, adding that China established the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, launched the Belt and Road Initiative, and pushed for yuan internationalization, because it wants to replace the democratic rules-based international
WAR’S END ANNIVERSARY: ‘Taiwan does not believe in commemorating peace by holding guns,’ the president said on social media after attending a morning ceremony Countries should uphold peace, and promote freedom and democracy, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday as Taiwan marked 80 years since the end of World War II and the Second Sino-Japanese War. Lai, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) and other top officials in the morning attended a ceremony at the National Revolutionary Martyrs’ Shrine in Taipei’s Zhongshan District (中山) to honor those who sacrificed their lives in major battles. “Taiwanese are peace-loving. Taiwan does not believe in commemorating peace by holding guns,” Lai wrote on Facebook afterward, apparently to highlight the contrast with the military parade in Beijing marking the same anniversary. “We
RSS