PETALING JAYA: Jocelyn Chia, who has become a lightning rod for criticism and public anger in Malaysia, is revelling in her newfound notoriety.
The New York-based stand-up comedian, who rose to infamy after a clip of her making jokes about missing Flight MH370, thanked Malaysians for putting her in the spotlight.
"I'm on the front page of BBC.com now. Interviewed by @CNN, @nytimes, @BBCWorld and going to be on @FoxNews this Sat. So actually, Malaysia, you can keep going," she tweeted on Wednesday (June 14).
"My @netflix special is writing itself. Thank you Malaysia!" she said in another tweet on Thursday (June 15).
Unfazed by public outcry, Chia retweeted a clip of an interview where she laughs at a joke by the host about the number of people who died on Flight MH370.
In the interview hosted by another comedian, Chrissie Mayr, Chia was seen laughing after Mayr said that the 227 people dying was "not that many".
"Honestly, if Interpol did something about this request and things escalated, can you imagine how famous it is going to make me?" Chia said in an interview with the BBC on Wednesday (June 15).
"I just wish I could have seen the face of the Interpol officer who received the request."
Chia also said that her jokes had been taken out of context on social media and that her routine should be seen in its entirety in a comedy club setting.
She added that roasting or poking fun at the audience is part of comedy club culture in New York.
The video clip riled up both Malaysians and Singaporeans and was removed from the TikTok platform, which was cited as a violation of its hate speech guidelines.
Singapore's Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said Chia's joke was "horrendous" and its High Commissioner to Malaysia also said that they did not condone such acts and revealed that Chia was not a Singaporean any more.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani had said the police were seeking Interpol's help to find out Chia's full identity and her current whereabouts.
