4th November 2025 – (Kuala Lumpur) Malaysian police have issued a nationwide alert for musician and filmmaker Namewee after investigators reclassified the death of Taiwanese influencer Irish Hsieh from a sudden death to a suspected murder. Authorities confirmed that multiple units, including Bukit Aman and Kuala Lumpur police headquarters’ serious crime divisions, have been mobilised to trace his whereabouts.
Law enforcement sources cited immigration records showing no official departure for Namewee since the incident, while attempts to contact him have failed. His mobile phone has remained switched off and his management has not responded to inquiries. After more than six hours of active pursuit without locating him, police placed Namewee on a wanted list and commenced a countrywide search.
The case timeline indicates Hsieh was found naked and unresponsive in a bathtub at a five-star hotel in Kuala Lumpur on 22nd October. Initial hospital findings suggested cardiac arrest, according to her friend and manager. On 31st October, local media reported that Namewee was in the hotel room at the time. He was arrested that day and police seized nine blue pills suspected to be ecstasy.
Police later confirmed that Namewee failed a urine test and had been detained on 22nd October, with a two-day remand obtained for inquiries into drug use and possession. He pleaded not guilty to two drug-related charges and was released on RM8,000 bail, with a court mention set for 18th December. Namewee publicly denied drug allegations and claimed he was the target of extortion. He told officers the pair had spent the night discussing a video collaboration before he found Hsieh unconscious, performed CPR and called emergency services. Investigators said there were no external injuries and no evidence of sexual assault.
On 3rd November, Hsieh’s friend and manager, Chris, questioned discrepancies between Namewee’s public statements and police reports, urging him to clarify the events. Another friend, influencer Shieh Wei An, accused him of evasiveness and shared purported message screenshots showing unanswered inquiries about Hsieh’s whereabouts.
Police upgraded the investigation to murder on 4th November, triggering the formal manhunt for Namewee. Officers said efforts were under way across the country to locate him and urged anyone with information to come forward. The probe continues as authorities examine forensic findings, digital communications and movements linked to the hotel incident.
Malaysian rapper Namewee was charged under the country’s Dangerous Drugs Act with possession and consumption offences and faces possible imprisonment, caning and fines if convicted. He pleaded not guilty at a 24th October court hearing and was released on bail of 8,000 ringgit—an outcome that has sparked public anger given a death was involved and the full autopsy findings were still pending at the time.
Meanwhile, critics argue that allowing bail before the cause of death was definitively established reflects a troubling laxity in law enforcement and prosecutorial risk assessment. With preliminary hospital findings pointing to heart failure in the death of Taiwanese influencer Iris Hsieh, police initially ruled out sexual assault and did not pursue rape allegations. Yet, as the investigation evolved and questions mounted, authorities have now reclassified the case as murder, a volte‑face that highlights concerns over earlier decisions to release a key figure in the probe.
Namewee has publicly denied drug use and castigated Malaysia’s emergency response, alleging that an ambulance took nearly an hour to arrive and questioning the effectiveness of the 999 hotline. His claims stand alongside police disclosures that he tested positive for amphetamine, ketamine, cannabis and methamphetamine, and that officers seized nine blue pills suspected to be ecstasy weighing 5.12 grams at the scene on 22nd October in a five‑star Kuala Lumpur hotel room where Hsieh was found unresponsive in a bathtub.
The shift to a homicide inquiry has intensified scrutiny of the initial handling. Observers say that releasing a suspect on relatively modest bail—before comprehensive forensic results and cause‑of‑death analysis—projected an appearance of complacency. That perception has only deepened as Kuala Lumpur police moved to list Namewee on a wanted roster after failing to locate him for more than six hours during an attempted arrest, triggering a nationwide manhunt. Although immigration data show no recorded exit, some note that porous overland routes make it relatively easy to slip across the northern border into Thailand, heightening fears he could abscond undetected.
