Singapore — Haiyaaa! Better watch out, better not cry, niece and nephew, because Uncle Roger is coming to town! But not until June of next year.
Malaysia-born and London-based stand-up comedian Nigel Ng burst into everyone’s consciousness at the beginning of the pandemic when we were all home bored out of our skulls, when his alter ego, the orange-shirt clad Uncle Roger was appalled at the way Hersha Patel cooked egg-fried rice on BBC Food.
The video, “Uncle Roger DISGUSTED by this Egg Fried Rice Video (BBC Food)” racked up millions of views on YouTube, and a Covid celebrity was born.
He later ended up on BBC with Ms Patel, and later cheerfully took aim even at celebrity chefs such as Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Oliver and Rachael Ray on other reaction videos.
And now he’s bringing his brand of comedy to Singapore with the HAIYAA World Tour on June 15, 2022, at the Capitol Theatre. Tickets, which cost between $98 and $129, can be booked here.
Earlier this year, however, the comic got into some hot water after he deleted a video he shot with Mike Chen, an American food personality and critic of the Chinese government.
He had filmed a video with Chen where they reviewed another content producer making what they called the “ugliest dumpling ever”.
There had been no mention of politics in the video. Nevertheless, Ng chose to remove the video before posting an apology on Weibo on January 12.
Ng’s decision has led some to accuse him of pandering to China.
Chen is well-known for voicing out against human rights violations in Hong Kong and against the treatment of the Uighur Muslim minority in China.
Ng, however, wrote a statement of apology, writing, “Taking into account the seriousness of the situation and the possible negative effects of the video itself, after discussion, we decided to delete it…
During the process of working with (Chen), I wasn’t aware of his political thoughts and his past incorrect remarks about China. This is my negligence, and I will be more careful when I make content in the future.
I hope you can give Uncle Roger, who has just entered China, a chance to improve!”
While some Chinese netizens praised him for “reacting even before he got criticised” some have called for him to upload the apology in video form to prove his sincerity.
On the other hand, followers on Twitter have decried Ng’s actions, with the bulk of them criticising Ng for “bowing to the CCP” and “doing things against his conscience for money”. /TISG
Read also: Uncle Roger loves Gordon Ramsay’s egg fried rice & netizens call for a collaboration