Illustration: Liu Xiangya/Global Times
Banter, even slightly cheeky banter, often becomes the "elephant in the room" for stand-up comedy, which often tries to justify hurtful speeches by calling itself the "art of offense."
These types of jokes can easily go off track, just like what happened with the recent incident involving Jocelyn Chia, a Singapore-born comedian who now holds US citizenship, after she joked about Malaysia's ill-fated MH370 airline while provoking antagonism between Singapore and Malaysia in a skit from April.
Referring to Malaysia and Singapore's historical ties, a video clip of Chia's early April performance at the Comedy Cellar in Manhattan, New York City was recently posted by the club and herself on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram. For nearly two minutes straight, Chia compares Malaysia and Singapore to a split couple who will never reconcile again since Malaysia's "airplanes cannot fly," a reference to the missing MH370.
Teasing a Malaysian audience member at the club that night, Chia's joke clearly overstepped the bounds of good taste. The video soon sparked a massive backlash on the internet, especially among the Malaysian community, which has accused her of a "lack of sympathy."
Saying Chia lacks sympathy seems too lenient considering her blatant bias toward the two countries' complex historical ties.
Striving to gain a footing in the US comedy scene while clarifying that she is "not a citizen" of Singapore anymore, Chia seems to have indulged too much in her new homeland's "free speech" ideals, seeing it as a sanctuary for all offensive speeches and forgetting how much her words can hurt people close to her cultural roots.
Before 1965, Malaysia and Singapore were one country. Chia referred to this history to describe how Singapore's surging development after "divorcing" Malaysia.
Just like how Chia chooses "diplomacy" and "human crisis" as topics for her routine, stand-up comedians often enjoy discussing controversial topics to gain attention, especially in the US, where "political correctness only survives during the day," cultural sociologist Xu Sang said.
"In the US, it is a way to let out all their discontent for political correctness and what they are not allowed to say every day," he said.
The public condemnation that Chia received after turning the tragedy of flight MH370 into a joke is not the only fallout from her deliberate instigation, it also appears to have sparked a potential political crisis.
The two countries' high-level officials have been nerve-racked. Singapore's Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan denounced Chia's "horrendous statements" on Twitter and clarified the comedian "does not speak for Singaporeans." The tweet was posted on Thursday, a day after Zambry Abdul Kadir, Malaysia's foreign minister, posted a tweet denouncing Chia's "lack of sensitivity."
"This video also clearly depicts behavior that is contrary to the values of an Asian country that is known for its manners and morals," said the Malaysian foreign minister, according to Malaysian news agency Bernama.
Chia doesn't just lack respect for Malaysia's trauma, but also for that of other countries. With 154 Chinese citizens and the rest of 85 victims from other countries onboard the MH370, Chia's joke shows her overt ignorance for the "humanity of the world."
When it comes to this, China stands with the MH370 victims and their families.
Such an "art of offence" can be hard to draw a concrete line to decide to what joke about and what not to. But what it requires is a level of sensitivity to humanity and culture.
"We feel just like someone was scratching at our Wenchuan Earthquake scar [the 2008 earthquake that put millions of people homeless in Southwest China's Sichuan Province]," Zhang Yiwu, a professor at Peking University, said.
Prior to her attempts at comedy, Chia was a lawyer, a profession commonly considered as an elite group that contributes to society's intellectual growth. As a former lawyer, Chia should be familiar with ethical standards, which are necessary for any profession, including her new one.
Chia's poor attempt at humor should be an alarm for the whole industry to more strictly evaluate performers and set higher ethical standards for what is considered "offensive."
Meanwhile, public condemnation of cases like this should continue to play a supervising role that puts pressure on the stand-up comedy industry to learn from its mistakes or at least to know they have crossed a red line.
"This is a triangular effort between the industry, comedian and the public," Xu noted, adding that Chia has basically been "stigmatized." Her accounts on Facebook and Instagram are no longer able to view, yet the unrepentant comedian has still not issued an official apology.
