PUBLISHED ONNovember 07, 2025 10:36 AMBYYeo Shu HuiWhen Malaysian rapper Namewee reported to the police in Kuala Lumpur (KL) on Nov 5 for investigations into the death of Taiwanese influencer Iris Hsieh, his social media post left some people puzzled.
One of the questions they reportedly had was why the 42-year-old, whose real name is Wee Meng Chee, had earlier travelled from KL to Johor Bahru.
The hosts of Taiwanese news programme 57 Breaking News attempted to trace his tracks in their episode released on Nov 5, speculating boldly that Namewee had planned to enter Singapore illegally.
Reading from Namewee's latest social media post, TV show host Xu Junxiang (transliteration) said: "He went to Johor Bahru. Where is Johor Bahru? It's located in the southernmost part of Malaysia and separated from Singapore by just a river.
"What was he doing there? Isn't this the place where most people say is a common place for illegal immigration and smuggling?"
His co-host then calculated the travelling time from KL to Johor by car is three hours and 50 minutes, while it takes two hours and 20 minutes to travel from KL to Muar, Namewee's hometown where his parents are currently staying.
Xu interrupted saying: "It's your hometown. If you are waiting for the police summon, you should be in Muar, why did you go to Johor Bahru?"
The co-host continued that the travelling time from Muar to Johor Bahru by car was two and a half hours.
They then wondered why Namewee had told his father earlier he was in KL.
The latter had told Malaysian publication China Press on Nov 4 that Namewee had contacted him two days prior to assure them he was safe and that he was in KL.
"Are you in KL or Johor Bahru? And what are you actually doing in Johor Bahru? This is filled with suspicion," the co-host added.
Iris, who was also known as Hsieh Yu-hsin, was found dead in the bathtub of a hotel room on Oct 22 while in Malaysia to work on a project with Namewee.
Malaysian media reported earlier that he had allegedly found her unconscious in the bathroom and performed CPR before contacting emergency services.
The police found nine pills, suspected to be ecstasy, in the room and arrested him. He later tested positive for drugs and was charged in court for drug use and possession on Oct 24.
Iris' cause of death is under investigation and pending post-mortem and toxicology results. KL police has since reclassified her death as murder, with Namewee as a suspect as he was last in contact with her before her death.
In the show, Xu then speculated that Namewee had wanted to smuggle out of Malaysia and the co-host proceeded to talk about how "easy" it is to travel illegally from Johor Bahru to Singapore.
The co-host added: "It's actually quite easy... It's about 850 metres from Johor Bahru to Singapore, just a bridge-length. Even if you don't cross the bridge, it takes two minutes to swim across the Straits of Johor. The borders are also not that stringent."
He gave an example of an Indonesian man who swam to Singapore from Malaysia using trash bag filled with air.
In 2022, a 34-year-old man had travelled from Batam to Johor Bahru, before swimming to Pulau Ubin with an inflated trash bag as a flotation device. He then swam from Pulau Ubin to Changi Beach after a short break.
The man was caught by Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers at Woodlands 10 months later when he was unable to produce legal documents of his stay in Singapore. He was sentenced to 15 months' jail and seven strokes of the cane.
In the show, Xu then recounted that Iris' friend, Taiwanese influencer Vivian Hsieh, had received a private message from a netizen that Namewee had fled to Thailand, after he became uncontactable on Nov 4. Vivian then posted the message on Threads on that same day, requesting verification.
Xu added: "Could it be possible that someone thwarted [Namewee's] plans, so he had to come out in the end and say he was not running away and will surrender for investigations?"
The host's analysis that a person could swim from Johor Bahru to Singapore in "two minutes" had netizens in stitches.
A netizen wrote: "Swimming [from Johor Bahru to Singapore] takes two minutes? Why don't you attempt it for us to see?"
"That's utter nonsense. Singapore is very strict, okay? Even if he wanted to smuggle in, he should go to Thailand, not Singapore. This is more rubbish. This Taiwanese co-host's level of knowledge is too low," another netizen commented.
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