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Four years after he shot to fame with a controversial rap video altering the lyrics of the Malaysian national anthem, Malaysian entertainer Namewee has made his debut movie - and it also critiques his country.

Nasi Lemak 2.0, which opens in cinemas in Singapore tomorrow, is masterminded almost entirely by the 28-year-old Namewee, whose real name is Wee Meng Chee (his nom du plume is a transliteration of his Chinese name, Huang Mingzhi). He is the movie's lead actor, director, writer, editor and even songwriter.

"I don't want to say I'm against the government. But there are a lot of problems with the system, and when the system is wrong, people will misunderstand one another," he says.

Speaking to Life!, Wee explains the title of the movie: "You can see sambal, curry, ikan bilis, kacang, rice... they are on the same plate, but they are separated. This is like Malaysia: We live together in one country, but we still have our own cultures."

That said, the movie has become the highest-ever grossing Chinese film in Malaysia with RM7 million (S$2.9 million) since its release there in September. It stars well-known Malaysian personalities such as singer Karen Kong and singer-actress Adibah Noor.

And just like his Malaysian national anthem spoof, cheekily titled I Love My Country Negarakuku, which has been viewed more than five million times on the Internet, Nasi Lemak 2.0 has more than its share of social commentary.

In one scene, a Malay government official fines a Chinese stall-holder for hawking without a licence, while turning a blind eye to the nearby Malay stall.

"This is a reality in Malaysia, a real story that is happening every day," says Namewee, who is single.

I Love My Country Negarakuku has various references to race relations in Malaysia, as well as corruption. For example, the police are said to be hardworking only during the New Year, and 'because they are thirsty, they need to drink tea/Also kopi-O, want to add sugar?', a reference to alleged systemic bribery in the country.

Getting financing to make such a controversial movie was difficult, obviously.

"Even when investors wanted to invest, I didn't want to take more. I told them to give me half of what they wanted to invest, because I was worried that my film would not be shown in cinemas, because I am controversial in Malaysia."

The movie was eventually shot in 23 days in the Klang Valley region of Kuala Lumpur on a budget of RM900,000. Namewee says this is about one-third of the usual budget for a Malaysian movie. He even quips that he wore multiple hats for the movie 'to save money'.

Unsurprisingly, the Malaysian government's response to the film has been less than enthusiastic.

Last month, The Star reported that National Film Development Corporation said the movie was not entitled to a 20 per cent tax rebate under its new incentive for local films. In a statement, its director-general Mohd Naguib Razak said the movie 'has been viewed with prejudice because the producer Namewee had sparked a controversy before'.

While shooting scenes at a traditional Peranakan house, Namewee took to hiding in the toilet when the police happened to come along, to avoid potential trouble.

Namewee, who graduated with a degree in mass communication from Ming Chuan University in Taiwan, says: "I wasn't scared, I was just worried that if they saw me, they would bother us and waste our time."

His expectations of the movie's box-office performance in Singapore are modest, he says, given that Singaporeans are likely to have already seen the movie via pirated DVDs or online.

"I just hope to come to Singapore and see what the market is and meet some film-makers. I hope to work with Singaporeans, because they have more experience in film-making."

Reprinted courtesy of Straits Times Indonesia. To subscribe to Straits Times Indonesia and/or the Jakarta Globe call 021 2553 5055.