27-year-old Subhas Nair is a Singaporean rapper and musician, brother to Preeti Nair, also known as Preetipls. He recently gained notoriety as most rappers do, with explicit lyrics.
While Subhas has been creating and producing music for a few years, his most popular work to date could undoubtedly be the recent video he released with his sister Preeti Nair, reacting to a controversial E-pay ad that featured a Chinese man in ‘brownface’.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B0e_Dd_lkpw/
He and Preeti were pretty much flashing obscene hand signs and using vulgar language mocking the E-pay ad that featured Dennis Chew. The ad showed Dennis dressed up as a Chinese girl, a Malay lady in tudung, an Indian office worker and a handyman with brown hair (probably representing the “others” ethnic group). The montage was supposed to be a metaphor for how E-pay, like the actor Dennis Chew himself, was multifaceted.
Which is more racist, the brownface E-pay ad or the Preetipls video? Read about both here.
Subhas also wore a white shirt, glasses, and a tie with a lanyard in direct reference to the “K Muthusamy” character in the ad, who was the Indian office worker.
The YouTube video was reported to the police, and has been taken down. The government has also asked netizens to refrain from sharing the video as it has also been re-uploaded by other users on Facebook even after Preeti had taken it down.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B0ieM-olDJR/
He also allegedly issued a statement to The Straits Times when he was asked what he thought about the E-pay ad. According to his Instagram post, the quote was cut from the article.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B0cWKcPlfcA/
Dropped from a Channel News Asia music documentary for National Day
A report from Channel News Asia has confirmed that it is dropping content that features Subhas from its musical documentary ROAR. The documentary was supposed to air this coming weekend, and was to feature four musicians who were making music for National Day.
The statement from Channel News Asia read that the media company, “strongly objects to all such offensive content which threatens racial harmony and will not associate with individuals who intentionally create such content. As a result, CNA has removed Mr Nair from its upcoming musical documentary ROAR and taken down the articles related to his involvement in this programme”.
Subhas has posted about the upcoming show on his Instagram.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B0kW_cjlRaV/
Header image from Subhas Music Instagram.
