‘I tried my best to save her’: Malaysian rapper Namewee says Taiwanese influencer died before his eyes

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian rapper Namewee, whose real name is Wee Meng Chee, has said he did everything he could to save Taiwanese influencer Iris Hsieh Yu-hsin but to no avail. 

“It’s my first time seeing someone die before my eyes,” Wee wrote in Chinese on Facebook on Fri (Nov 14).

“I’m very sad, helpless, and shocked. I tried my best to save her, but I couldn’t change the outcome.”

This is Wee’s first public statement since being released on police bail on Nov 13, amid an ongoing probe into the death of Hsieh. 

“After nine days in detention, I’m finally out. This was the longest I’ve ever been detained,” he wrote in the same post.

“Including the first and second days after the incident, I was questioned by six different groups of police officers in total,” said Wee, who added that each session lasted more than eight hours, with the longest one lasting 15 hours. 

He said the police took his statements multiple times using different methods, and employed technological tools for a thorough investigation, describing their work as “meticulous” and “very professional”.

Hsieh - known as the “nurse goddess” by her fans for her looks and background in nursing - was found dead in a hotel bathtub at Jalan Conlay in Kuala Lumpur on Oct 22 while reportedly working on a video project with Wee.

The case was reclassified as murder on Nov 4 after being initially classified as sudden death.

Wee was detained by police in connection with Hsieh’s death on Nov 5. He was released on police bail on Nov 13, effective until Nov 26, pending the deceased’s post-mortem report. 

“The investigation papers will be referred again to the Kuala Lumpur Attorney-General's Chambers once the post-mortem report has been obtained,” Kuala Lumpur police chief Fadil Marsus said in a statement.

A day before Wee's release, Attorney-General Dusuki Mokhtar had said that there are currently no leads in the police probe that could connect him to Hsieh's death.

“Instructions have been given for further investigation to be conducted. So far, there is no evidence that shows the suspect was involved in causing the influencer’s death,” Dusuki was quoted as saying by Malaysiakini.

Malaysian police have said that Wee and Hsieh had a "special relationship".

Wee is a Malaysian rapper and composer who has long courted controversy with his music. His songs have touched on issues such as government inefficiency, unequal treatment and corruption.

Hsieh was an influencer from Taichung city in Taiwan. She had about 545,000 followers on Instagram and 349,000 on Facebook, and often posted provocative content.