Articles by Koh Ewe

Technology

Namewee: Malaysian rapper charged with drug use and possession

"The truth will be out when the police report is released," he wrote. Kuala Lumpur police chief Fadil Marsus said that Namewee was arrested on 22 October in a hotel room, where they found pills believed to be ecstasy - also known as MDMA. Namewee later tested positive for illicit substances - including amphetamines, methamphetamine, ketamine, and THC - and was remanded for two days, Fadil said in a statement. If convicted of drug possession, he could be jailed up to five years and caned. A police official told local media that Namewee had been in the same hotel at the same time as Iris Hsieh, a Taiwanese influencer who was found dead in her hotel room bathtub. Namewee wrote on Instagram that he felt "deeply sorry" about Hsieh's death. The ambulance had taken "nearly an hour" to arrive at the scene, he wrote. He said that he had remained silent as the case was under investigation - though it's unclear if he's referring to his drug charges or Hsieh's death. He also claimed that he has received "blackmail" in recent days but would "fight to the end". Namewee has long courted controversy with his music. In 2016 he was arrested in Malaysia for his music video Oh My God, which was filmed at various places of worship around the country. Critics said the song insulted religious sensitivities. In 2021, he released the song Fragile, which poked fun at Chinese nationalists and touched on politically sensitive topics like the sovereignty of Taiwan and the persecution of Uyghurs in Xinjiang. The song went viral for Mandarin-speaking audiences but was banned by China.

Technology

South Korea: Woman trying to kill cockroach burns down apartment

Blasting cockroaches - with blowtorches or homemade flamethrowers - have emerged as a novel way of getting rid of house pests, made popular by videos on social media. In 2018, an Australian man set fire to his kitchen while trying to kill cockroaches with a homemade flamethrower made from insect spray. The woman who died in the Osan city fire, a Chinese national in her 30s, lived on the fifth floor of the building with her husband and two-month-old baby. When they realised that a fire had broken out, the couple opened their home window and called for help. They handed their baby through the window to a neighbour in the adjacent block, before trying to evacuate themselves. The woman's husband managed to climb over to the next block. She tried to do the same, but fell from the window. She was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead hours later. Police said they believed the couple had tried escaping through the window because thick smoke from the fire had blocked the stairway, local media report. The building houses commercial shops on its first floor and 32 residential units from its second to fifth floor. Eight other residents suffered from smoke inhalation because of the fire.