There have been several instances (three reported cases) where foreign celebrities were mocked by Malaysians for using words in their native languages that resemble Bahasa Malaysia words. Interestingly, all three instances involved the word ‘Babi’. You can check them out here, here, and here.

Many Malaysians felt that those who mocked these celebrities failed to understand that foreign languages can have words that look similar to ours but have different meanings.

Now, Malaysians are calling out a netizen for claiming that a Korean singer’s real name, Nabi, which means butterfly in Korean, is disrespectful. The netizen argued that in Malay, Nabi means Prophet, referencing Nabi Muhammad SAW.

Responding to a Twitter post by pannchoa, which shared that American singer (with Korean heritage) Ella Gross’s Korean name is Nabi, the netizen commented, “Nabi means prophet in Malay, so I don’t know if it’s kind of disrespectful.”

Malaysians were quick to shut this down, urging the netizen to delete the comment, as it brings embarrassment.

It’s heartening to see so many Malaysians standing up for others' right to their native languages, especially after similar past incidents.