SINGAPORE — Singapore-born stand-up comedian Jocelyn Chia, who is now a naturalised American, has been the talk of the town this week after her joke about missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 went viral on social media.

In a video clip posted to Ms Chia's Instagram account on Tuesday (June 6), she was seen on stage performing a series of jokes about Malaysia — including comments about MH370, as well as statements about Malaysia being a developing country that was once "abandoned" by Singapore.

On Thursday, Singapore officials apologised to Malaysians for Ms Chia's "gratuitously offensive" comments. TikTok removed the viral video from its platform, citing a violation of its hate speech guidelines.

Many Singaporean and Malaysian netizens have also criticised the comedian for her "distasteful" jokes, while others took the opportunity to debut some of their own gags instead.

Malaysian Twitter user "Dafrosty", for instance, tweeted on Wednesday a thread of his own jokes poking fun at Singapore's high cost of living and land constraints, among other things.

"Living in Singapore is so expensive, not everyone can afford to be funny," read his initial tweet, which has received 1.1 million views, 5,100 retweets and 830 comments.

In another, he used Ms Chia's own words: "Singapore jokes can land but you'll have to queue in Malaysian airspace."

One joke referred to smoking prohibition in Singapore: "Perlis is the smallest state in Malaysia and it's still bigger than Singapore.

"There are only eight people in Perlis, but there's only one smoking corner for every 8,000 Singaporeans. During peak hours, the queue for smoke breaks reaches Muar."

Dafrosty also made fun of "Singaporeans having no taste", a common theme in Singapore-Malaysia jokes, and the lack of support for local musicians and actors in Singapore.

One Twitter user responded: "If you Google 'best restaurant near me' in Singapore, Google Maps will bring you to Johor."

"Jocelyn Chia tried to roast Malaysia by poking fun at MH370 and fell flat," read one top comment on Dafrosty's Twitter thread. "This one hilarious thread is cooking Singapore alive without once saying anything similarly disrespectful."

Another agreed: "These tweets are funnier than the funniest Singaporean 'comedian' to (have) ever lived."

Not missing a beat, Dafrosty responded: "I learned from the best Singapore has to offer, then applied it here in Malaysia.

"You know, like how their comedians do it."

Malaysian actress and media personality Kudsia Kahar said in a tweet on Wednesday that the MH370 joke was unacceptable.

"A good stand-up (comedian) never turns tragedy and deaths into a joke," she wrote.

Malaysian actor and comedian Harith Iskander, known as the "the godfather of stand-up comedy" in Malaysia, also took to social media on Wednesday to post a video response to Ms Chia's viral clip.

"As a comedian, I respect the freedom of expression that we comedians require need to do our job," he said in the video. "But it is equally important to exercise some level of sensitivity and empathy when doing certain material, especially topics that are deeply personal or tragic."

He ends his video with a message to Ms Chia: "Malaysia, we may be still a developing nation, but when it comes to kindness and thoughtfulness, we are definitely first-world.

"Don't know about other countries, though. Wink, wink."

S'POREANS 'DISGRACED' BY MS CHIA'S JOKES

Singaporeans are also taking their turn to mock Ms Chia, with one Twitter user saying: "Imagine being the a****** who leaves Singapore to work overseas and ends up causing a diplomatic incident."

Another remarked: "Crying because Jocelyn hates Singapore so much she abandoned her citizenship... Only to abuse Singapore's brand for flop-a** jokes... The irony."

Some suggested that she should "do her homework", referring to a statement she makes in her stand-up bit about late first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew crying on television over the country's separation from Malaysia in 1965.

Classified documents have since revealed that the separation was a mutual decision, rather than an expulsion of Singapore as Ms Chia suggested.

Other Singaporeans have also spoken out about feeling "disgraced" by the video, demanding that Ms Chia herself make a public apology to Malaysians.

One Singaporean Instagram user wrote: "Where is her apology...?

"No remorse from someone who's not even Singaporean any more, but we Singaporeans have to answer for her words to our brethren across the border."

Another said: "I feel the need to apologise too. This was absolutely crass and uncalled for. We love you Malaysia!"

An old video of a routine by Singaporean stand-up comedian Kumar has also been making its rounds on social media in the wake of the incident.

Many Singaporean and Malaysian netizens have cited the comedian as an example of someone who is able to tread the line between comedy and insensitivity well.

It appears that Ms Chia's viral clip has even made its way to Chinese social media, where it is drawing criticism from Chinese netizens as more than half of the passengers on MH370 were Chinese nationals.

As one Twitter user put it: "Jocelyn Chia achieved something that nobody could. She made Malaysians and Singaporeans agree on the same thing."