(Un)Popular Opinion | On X (previously known as Twitter), American online personality and YouTuber Darren Jason Watkins Jr., popularly known as IShowSpeed, announced that he would be touring Southeast Asia starting Sept 9.
Of course, Malaysia was included on the list and that set the stage for what would possibly be the most chaotic and disastrous tour he could ever imagine.
let’s goooo turn me up!!!!
— Speed⭐️ (@ishowspeedsui) September 7, 2024
SEPTEMBER 9TH BE THERE pic.twitter.com/IXrb6uxicO
Mayhem from start to finish
IShowSpeed, who usually streams his entire tour live on his YouTube channel, kicked off his Malaysian trip by first visiting a food stall located in Kuala Lumpur before infamously purchasing a fake Rolex watch at Petaling Street while thinking it was the real deal.
It didn’t take long for hordes of people (both locals and foreigners) to catch wind of the YouTuber’s presence in the neighbourhood and they wasted no time in giving chase after IShowSpeed in a bid to get their ten seconds of fame.
Even for a public figure like IShowSpeed, who boasts of millions of followers, the crowd proved to be too much for him, where he could be seen yelling ‘sabar!’ (be patient) and ‘Let me f***ing sit!’ at the crowd who simply wouldn’t give him an inch of personal space.
Things then took a turn for the worse when IShowSpeed made a huge mistake in dropping by Uncle Roger’s newly launched restaurant at Pavilion, where he was literally mobbed by thousands of rabid fans and had to be escorted (or rather dragged) into the restaurant by his bodyguard and local police.
And who could ever forget the now-viral screenshot of the YouTuber’s eyes rolling backwards as he was probably thinking to himself how on God’s green earth did he land himself in such a situation?
In fact, things got so out of control that the restaurant had to be closed earlier just to keep the crowd at bay and give IShowSpeed some time to breathe like a normal person. There was even a rumour that an escalator broke down due to the massive crowd at Pavilion.
I don’t know about you but the sight of police officers struggling to keep yelling fans away from storming into the restaurant really looked like a scene torn straight out from The Walking Dead or similar apocalyptic movies.
Despite the chaos and him nearly getting crushed to death, IShowSpeed ended his Malaysian tour on a good note, where he ended his livestream with him chomping down on a Ramly burger and giving it a ‘9.5 out of 10’ rating.
Can’t we all act like real M’sians for once?
Although I didn’t spend five full hours watching the entire stream, seeing these bits was enough to make me recoil in shame and embarrassment over how my fellow compatriots acted towards IShowSpeed.
My embarrassment wasn’t limited to just me alone, as there were plenty of tweets condemning the crowd’s unruly behaviour. Even our neighbours took the chance to heap scorn on us, with many labelling Malaysia as an ‘L country’ .
To make things worse, a netizen dug up an old video of famed Swedish content creator PewDiePie calling Malaysia “crazy” and saying he would never return again no thanks to misbehaving fans.
🤷♂️ pic.twitter.com/rfDtuXGfxM
— Barça Eleven 💔 (@BarcaEleven_) September 18, 2024
Many also blamed IShowSpeed for choosing to visit KL instead of other states where he would probably be spared from being mobbed by the crowd, but I think this argument grossly misses the point.
When we behave like uncultured individuals who look like they’re seeing a deity for the first time, we are giving a bad reputation to the country, no matter which state a celebrity may be at.
The Malaysians that I know aren’t selfish, unhinged people who would stop at nothing to get a glimpse of or have a selfie with a celebrity. In fact, the Malaysians I know are polite, gentle people who don’t hold back in helping others and showing kindness.
Unfortunately, I saw none of that in IShowSpeed’s stream. All I saw was crazed ‘fans’ who never respected the YouTuber and instead traumatised him all for the sake of obtaining bragging rights.
If we don’t want to be labelled as an ‘L country’ by others or mocked for our lack of civil consciousness, we can start by behaving like real Malaysians — Malaysians who actually know how to act like adults and not petulant children ready to run riot in the pursuit of fleeting moments of fame.
READ ALSO:
