Comedian’s jokes about MH370 plane disappearance draw ire

In a video that has been circulating on the Internet since Wednesday, Jocelyn Chia, a former Singaporean and now a U.S. citizen, joked about how Malaysian airplanes “cannot fly” during a stand-up performance at a comedy club in the U.S.

“Malaysian Airlines going missing not funny huh?” she said in the video. “Some jokes don’t land,” she added, seemingly referring to the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines MH370, with 239 people on board now presumed dead.

She also made crude remarks about Malaysia as a country, with quips like “they don’t have Internet.”

The jokes drew quick criticisms from online communities and authorities from both Malaysia and Singapore alike.

“This is so disrespectful and you shouldn’t use the airlines as a joke to those families that had lost their loved ones,” read one comment posted about the video on Facebook.

“She shouldn’t make fun of MH370, that’s just bad taste,” said another commenter on YouTube.

In response to the incident, Malaysian Foreign Minister Zambry Abdul Kadir said Chia’s act “showed a total lack of sensitivity and empathy.”

“This video also clearly depicts behavior that is contrary to the values of Asian countries that are known for their manners and morals,” he said in a statement as cited by the Association Press.

In a reply on Twitter, Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said he was “appalled” by Chia’s statements.

“She certainly does not speak for Singaporeans. We treasure our ties with family and friends in Malaysia, and are sorry for the offense and hurt caused to all Malaysians,” he added.

Following the controversies, Chia initially took to social media to defend her jokes, but later deactivated her social media accounts, The Star reported.

The video of the skits has been removed from several social media platforms, including TikTok, saying the clip fell under the hate speech category, a TikTok representative told the Sinar Daily.

The disappearance of flight MH370 became one of the world’s most famous unsolved aviation mysteries after numerous searches for the aircraft in various regions came up short, nine years after its disappearance on March 8, 2014.

Debris confirmed or believed to be from the MH370 aircraft has washed up along the African coast and on islands in the Indian Ocean, Reuters reported.