PETALING JAYA, Sept 22 — Graphic artist Fahmi Reza’s clown caricature of Datuk Seri Najib Razak, a popular symbol of dissent against the former prime minister for corruption, has now entered pop culture.

While variations of his artwork have grabbed the imagination of many, including American comedian and actor Kal Penn who visited the man behind it in June, it appears that even K-Pop has taken on to the pop art illustration.

 

A sharp-eyed Twitter user by the name of @Safwankp9 spotted the placement of a full-sized print that would be enough to inspire coulrophobia in a K-pop music video, to the surprise and delight of Malaysians on social media.

 

The caricature was in a music video for the single Falling In Love co-starring labelmate Yoohyeon from K-Pop girl group DreamCatcher, Woo Jin Young and Kim Hyun Soo from MIXNINE, a South Korean idol reality show.

The video, which was released on July 14, has garnered more than 450,000 views to date.

Amused, Fahmi or Mohd Fahmi Reza Mohd Zarin, 40, wondered aloud if the K-Pop act were aware that the illustration was a “symbol of anti-corruption protests in Malaysia.”

He was found guilty by the Sessions Court in February under Section 233(1)(a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 and sentenced to one month's jail pending appeal, and fined RM30,000.

 

Fahmi was charged with spreading online content deemed "obscene, indecent, false, menacing or offensive in character with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass another person".

The graphic artist took to social media for a crowdfunding campaign and managed to raise the amount in just 18 hours.