Let’s get to know the woman who has been making headlines for all the wrong reasons.

Inside the Jocelyn Chia backlash

Chia grabbed global headlines recently after a video of one of her performances from April caused outrage. The Singaporean-raised stand-up comedian was at the Comedy Cellar in Manhattan performing the same routine she’s been doing for a year. The topic? Historical animosity between Singapore (where she was raised) and its neighbour, Malaysia.

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A clip from the skit was posted on social media. In it, Chia joked about the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight 370 in 2014. There were 239 people on board and the details around the plane’s disappearance remain a mystery.

Her comment that Malaysian aircraft “cannot fly” fell flat and resulted in international political condemnation, with Malaysia confirming it had reached out to Interpol to assist in locating the comedian to facilitate “investigations”. In Kuala Lumpur, protests were held outside the US Embassy and Singaporean officials say they have “revoked” her citizenship.

Chia, however, is standing firm. She said the joke was taken out of context and that she has performed the same routine in Singapore with no complaints. BBC reports she has called the reaction “ridiculous”, saying “poking fun at an audience is part of comedy culture” in the US.

How did Chia become a comedian?

On her website, Chia describes herself as a “lawyer turned comedian”. The New York Times reports Chia held joint American-Singaporean citizenship and left behind a career as a corporate lawyer to pursue stand-up comedy.

She was born in Boston but raised in Singapore. She reportedly left Singapore when she was 19 years old, hoping to make a name for herself as a comic in the US.

How her love for comedy started

In an interview with Mumble Comedy in 2019, Chia said she first developed a love for comedy when she took part in a programme called She Creates For Change. She said that at the end of the programme, people had to sit in a circle and tell each person what they thought their calling was. She said she was told by a woman that, “Every time you speak up, I wait to see if people laugh, and they always do. I want to see you do stand-up comedy.”

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She’s had a somewhat impressive career – until now

Chia opened for famous US comedian Bill Burr in New York City in 2012 and has been a guest on Sirius XM’s Howard Stern Channel. In 2016, Chia won The Ladies of Laughter comedy competition and guest-hosted MTV’s Uncommon Sense with Charlamagne talk show. She made her Comedy Central debut in 2018 and has been a regular at the best New York City comedy clubs, including Comedy Cellar and Gotham Comedy Club.

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She also knows how to relax

In an interview with WeedMaps, Chia said she was introduced to cannabis for the first time during Covid-19 lockdowns. She said, “I got high out of my mind for the first time and I’ve been taking edibles ever since.” She said she takes anything with a good CBD: THC ratio to relax her back and jaw muscles.