SINGAPORE: The death of a Taiwanese influencer in Kuala Lumpur is now being treated as murder by the police, after being initially identified as sudden death.

Iris Hsieh Yu-hsin was found in a Kuala Lumpur hotel bathtub on Oct 22.

Kuala Lumpur police chief Fadil Marsus said on Tuesday (Nov 4) the police are seeking to call in the individual who was last with her to assist in the probe, reported news portal New Straits Times.

Hsieh was reportedly working on a video project with Malaysian rapper Namewee, whose real name is Wee Meng Chee.

Wee, 42, had reportedly found Hsieh, 31, unresponsive in the bathroom and administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation, before contacting emergency services at 12.30pm.

"For now, we regard this person who was last with the victim as being involved in the case," Fadil was quoted as saying.

"We will be calling him in to assist in the investigation... depending on the findings, we will decide whether he should be treated as a suspect," he said.

Several Malaysian media outlets reported that Fadil had identified the individual as Wee. But the police chief did not appear to have done so in his comments to reporters, according to recordings obtained by CNA.

Wee was charged with drug use and consumption on Oct 24.

Checks by CNA found that Wee and Hsieh have crossed paths previously. Hsieh was featured in the music video for"China Reggaeton", a song by Wee released in January 2020.

WHO IS NAMEWEE?

Wee is a Malaysian rapper and composer who has long courted controversy with his music. His songs have touched on issues such as government inefficiency, unequal treatment and corruption.

In 2007, he released a song on YouTube called “Negaraku” that purportedly mocked the Malaysian national anthem. This nearly landed him in jail on a sedition charge.

Two years later, Wee came out with a video in 2009 that criticised Malaysia’s main power supplier Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB).

He was charged in court with insulting a TNB worker and, five years after the video came out, was sentenced to a month in prison or an alternate sentence of three months of social service. Wee chose the latter.

This meant waking up at 5am to wash public toilets and drains, among other things, but he told CNA in an interview in 2022: “As a creator, it was good as it was a new experience.”

In the same interview, Wee said he loved to cook and had picked it up from watching his mother. His cooking skills improved when he went to Taiwan to study mass communications.

In 2016, he was arrested by Malaysian authorities for his music video with Taiwanese group 911 titled “Oh My God”, which was filmed at various places of worship in the country. Authorities said the video was insulting to Islam. He was jailed for four days.

Two years later, Namewee found himself in the crosshairs of the authorities for his Chinese New Year song, “Like A Dog”. Its music video featured people in dog masks in what appears to be the administrative capital of Putrajaya, and was deemed “obscene”.

Police said at the time the rapper was detained to aid in investigations that the video clip had allegedly insulted religion and stoked racial tensions.

In 2021, Wee released a song that poked fun at Chinese nationalists and touched on politically sensitive topics like the sovereignty of Taiwan and the persecution of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, BBC reported. The song, “Fragile”, went viral among Mandarin-speaking audiences but was banned by China.

In September, Wee appeared at the Anugerah Industri Muzik award show held in Genting Highlands. He was a featured artist for the song Dannok by Salammusik, which won for Best Rap/Hip-hop Song.

His last post on Instagram was on Nov 2. Wee expressed condolences for Hsieh’s death and denied using drugs.

WHO IS IRIS HSIEH YU-HSIN?

Hsieh was an influencer from Taichung city in Taiwan.

She studied nursing at the Central Taiwan University of Science and Technology, according to her Facebook page.

She had about 545,000 followers on Instagram and 349,000 on Facebook, and often posted provocative content. Both accounts were last active on Oct 19.

Hsieh also had an OnlyFans account, which she started in 2022. She reportedly claimed to be the Number 1 creator on the adult content social media platform in Taiwan, ranking in the top 0.05 per cent, Malaysian media outlet SAYS reported.

Hsieh also starred in Namewee’s music video for "China Reggaeton", which was released on Jan 23, 2020 and featured Hong Kong actor Anthony Wong. Hsieh was credited with another Taiwanese influencer Vivi Hsu.

In an Instagram story posted on Monday, Hsu, who denied using drugs, said she knew Hsieh but “isn’t clear (about) the situation”. “I only hope that she’s now doing well in heaven,” Hsu wrote.

Hsieh’s accounts on Instagram have previously been suspended for “adult sexual solicitation”, and her latest account was her fifth on the social media app. Her last account, irisirisss168, was disabled in November 2024. Her current account, irisirisss900, was created on Jun 7, 2023.

“I’ve already had two (Instagram) accounts locked, so from now on I’ll be more careful in taking care of this account,” she wrote.

Hsieh reportedly disclosed in July she was once pursued by a well-known chief executive surnamed Wang. Hsieh claimed Wang had pursued her five years ago, but she chose"a different direction".

She described Wang as "very gentlemanly, friendly and kind", rather than the negative image he was associated with. Her anecdote led to much speculation online about Wang’s identity.

Hsieh said she hoped it would help people see the different parts of humanity instead of just the negative labels.