China cancels Uncle Roger, a popular stand-up comedian and YouTuber who is Malaysian-born. Uncle Roger has been blocked on the well-known Chinese social media platform Weibo, purportedly as a result of a video that criticized China’s so-called surveillance state and its policy towards Taiwan.
The Foodie Icon
His parody video of famed chef Jaime Oliver’s version of fried rice helped him gain notoriety. He overdoes the Chinese-English accent in his stand-up comedy performances and online videos. As soon as you hear “HAIYA!” Uncle Roger will be the one person who most likely comes to mind when I say this. Ng has, however, dealt with China’s stringent media climate before. He worked with YouTuber Mike Chen, who is well-known for criticizing Beijing on Twitter, to create a video in January 2021 where they dissected a dumpling recipe.
In Hot Water
Later, the 32-year-old comedian took down the video and apologized on Weibo. In response, he said that he “wasn’t aware of his political thoughts and his previous inaccurate remarks about China.” He is the most recent victim of what seems to be Beijing’s campaign against comedians. After making a joke comparing his pets to a military slogan last week, Chinese comedian Li Haoshi was taken into custody. The employer was also hit with a heavy fine of 14.7 million yuan ($2.1 million), an excessively high amount that has led to worries that stand-up comedy may be extinct in the nation.
Following the discovery of earlier comments made by the Strictly Dumpling host against China’s human rights situation, Ng removed a video in 2021 that included YouTuber Mike Chen. Ng later issued an apology, explaining that the film “had made a bad social impact” and that he was unaware of Chen’s “political thoughts and incorrect comments about China in the past.” His actions at the time sparked intense resentment among activists, who charged that he was caving in to Beijing. As with Nigel’s similar experiences, he might have landed himself in hot water, but hopefully he gets around it easily with his influence and some back up from his fans and peers.