By Cecilia Adamou
A Malaysian rapper by the stage name Namewee faked his own death, even inviting his parents to his own funeral, as part of an April Fool's marketing stunt.
The 40-year-old music artist, real name Wee Meng Chee, began the trick by uploading a black and white image of himself onto social media, titled "1983-2024".
At 5pm on 1 April, an 'obituary' outlining his music career and achievements was posted onto social media sites Facebook and Instagram, where the star has wracked up a huge 2.8million and 787,000 followers, respectively.
The post, which creatively dubbed Namewee as a 'ghosician' in reference to his 2021 album of the same name, also laid out details for a wake and a separate farewell ceremony - both held yesterday (1 April).
It instructed fans to gather at the Nirvana Center Kuala Lumpur in the Malaysian capital, advising that they should wear "all-white attire" but shouldn't bring wreaths, flowers, money, or any other objects to mark the musician's passing.
The star's Wikipedia page was even updated to include his death.
Another photo was later posted on the rapper's Instagram showing a white coffin, covered in flowers and surrounded by images of his biggest career highlights.
Fans rushed to the comments to commemorate Namewee and share heartfelt messages, while a photo of mourners gathered beside his open casket was also circulated.
However, the entire affair was revealed to be fake and only part of an April Fool's Day marketing stunt.
No longer pretending to be dead, the musician took to his Facebook to share a statement explaining the prank to his fans. He said: “On this day, it was profound for me to see who really cared about me.
"I feel lucky to be able to see my own funeral and experience things no one else can. The ultimate realisation in life is that, no matter how great you do, you will eventually die. We don't have to please anyone, just be brave to do the right thing.
"Last year, many things happened to me, I faced pressure from all sides, health concerns, and I was many times in and out of hospital.
He continued: "This made me realise the importance of ‘life planning’, so I wrote a song, filmed a video, organised a farewell ceremony, and planned to make it a documentary, with the aim of sharing my life plan with the public."
He also bid a 'farewell to fake fans' while announcing the premiere of ‘A Farewell Documentary’ and his latest music video ‘When I’m Gone’ on April 4.
