The Malaysian student who composed the controversial rendition of the national anthem blamed the Malay daily Harian Metro for landing him in trouble.

Johor-born Wee Meng Chee, 24, claimed the report by the daily was "unethical, subjective and misleading" and had created negative perception about him to the public.

"I was victimised by Harian Metro . The news report is too much.

"My lyrics do not criticise (anybody), I'm just narrating (how I saw my country) but they misreported all my statements," said Wee in a phone interview with malaysiakini yesterday.

On Wednesday, Harian Metro headlined that Wee's Negarakuku had insulted Islam and the national anthem sparking a heated debate in the country over the song.

Rude questions

Sounding upset, the media studies student currently based in Taiwan said Harian Metro has maligned him and caused stress to his family.

"Now the messages posted in Youtube say the Malays want to bomb my family, burn my house, kill my family members and others.

" Harian Metro said I'm instigating (the people), instead I think it is the daily instead that is instigating the people,"

Known as Namewee on the Internet, Wee has developed a cult following of sorts among young Malaysians after airing a six-minute rap video on YouTube that has been viewed by over half a million people.

Wee revealed that he had quarreled with Harian Metro's journalist over the phone twice because the journalist had posed questions in an incriminating way.

He said he was asked, 'you had insulted the nation anthem and religion, how are you going to explain it?' by the journalist.

"He kept scolding me and asked what will I do if he had insulted my religion. I kept reiterating that I did not criticise the (Muslim) religion," Wee explained.

He also said the journalist had accused him for not understanding religious principles because Wee had told him he did not have a religion.

The government alleged that the Negarakuku rap sung in a mixture of Mandarin and Bahasa had racially sensitive and seditious lyrics. It also portrayed Malaysian police as corrupt extortionists.

On Friday, Malay language daily Utusan Malaysia reported that Wee had apologise to the public and Muslims over the rendition but the student had denied issuing the apology.

Show me where I'm wrong

"If they (the government) want me to apologise, they have to show me what I've done wrong and it must be proved through proper laws.

"I won't apologise to the powers that be, I will only apologise if the law says I'm wrong. I will not regret because my intentions (for making the video) are good," stressed the determined student.

He explained that the song - which took him more than a month to compose - was written to let other countries know more about the real picture of Malaysia.

Wee, who is currently occupied with a summer job at Taiwan, said he would not be afraid to return to Malaysia and plans to return home after finishing his final year.

He had translated the lyric into Bahasa Malaysia version, to let people understand the real content of the song.

Meanwhile, the Society Research Institute, an organisation that claims to promote unity within youths, has lodged a report at Dang Wang police station yesterday over the song.

Its spokesperson wanted Wee's nationality to be stripped as a punishment.