The character, portrayed by Nigel Ng, has quickly found himself deep in hot water once again, following the recent developments in his long term feud with celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay.
During a stand-up set, Uncle Roger asks an audience member if they’re from Boston. They answer that they’re from Guangzhou, a Chinese city located northwest of Hong Kong.
This leads the Malaysian comedian into a series of jokes poking fun at the country’s reputation for keeping close surveillance on its citizens. He repeats “good country” as he twists his face in disgust.
Uncle Roger references the Chinese technology company Huawei, stating that they have to be careful as their phones are all listening. He taps his pocket before going into the mantra, “long live President Xi,” referring to the nation’s leader, Xi Jingping.
Comedian Nigel Ng then asks if there’s any “nieces or nephews”, the nickname for his fanbase, from Taiwan present tonight. The question invites cheers of confirmation from the crowd. Making light of the tense relations between China and Taiwan, he states that it’s not a “real country”, once again appeasing the phones listening.
In the ten days since this short was published, it’s amassed an impressive 6.9 million views. But not all of its reception has been positive. Seeing what was to come, Uncle Roger posted the bit onto his Twitter with the anticipation of being cancelled.
It was Beijing that took offense to the content shared on the mrnigelng channel. In the days after the YouTube short Ng posted went viral, his Chinese social media presence was frozen.
His Weibo account, a microblogging platform similar to Twitter, has the message, “due to violation of relevant laws and regulations, this user is currently banned.” His channel on Bilibili, a video sharing platform like YouTube, has also been banned.
Comedian Uncle Roger turns it all around
Comedian Uncle Roger isn’t letting this backlash get him down. On a video titled UNCLE ROGER CANCELLED, he quickly runs down the controversy he’s now in.
He chastises himself for “talking too much shit” about anyone and everyone, and throws in a dig towards long-time rival Jamie Oliver.
If anything, the Malaysian comedian is a great marketer who knows that any press is good press. He uses the minute long run time to its maximum, promoting his Haiyaa stand-up special that’s releasing on June 4.
He walks back the joke he made in the video clip where he said his credit score was going up, and begs for his audience to buy the special, as it has dipped so low.
Uncle Roger has a change of heart
His fanbase loved his jokes about China, and are glad he isn’t backing down.
Roger’s fans have realised this is a departure from prior behaviour.
Previously, he released a classic Uncle Roger video titled Uncle Roger Reviews Ugliest Dumping Ever. In it, he criticised a dumpling recipe with food YouTuber Mike Chen.
Chen, who was born in China but has lived in the United States since childhood, is an outspoken critic of the Chinese Communist Party.
Nigel Ng’s Chinese audience were shocked he would collaborate with they considered distasteful and inappropriate. The video was quickly taken down, and Ng posted an apology on Weibo. In it, he states that he wasn’t aware of Chen’s “political thoughts” and his “past incorrect remarks about China”.
There was no bad blood from Chen, who understood what it was like to work under the pressure of the Chinese authorities. Chen told the South China Morning Post, “I hold no animosity towards Nigel for what he did”. However, he thinks that Roger needs to educate himself on the “human rights abuses” committed by the CCP as they both live in countries where they have the freedom to do so.
The Malaysian comedian’s focus on financials
Nigel Ng must have known that making jokes about China would lead to backlash, with being banned from posting on the country’s platforms a predictable outcome. Fans are wondering what sparked the extreme change of heart.
This Reddit user may be correct, with Chinese comedian Li Haoishi facing potential jail time for appropriating a CCP slogan in a performance. The group who hired him have been hit with a multi-million dollar fine.
Some fans are furious with how Nigel Ng has flipped his stance around after not seeing worthy financial gains from appealing to Beijing. Twitter user Debby Chan sees the banning on Chinese social media platforms as deserved punishment after Ng apologised for giving Mike Chen a platform.
Uncle Roger corners new markets
Uncle Roger now has his sights sets on markets he considers more lucrative. His popularity is on the up and up, with his closeness to reality TV legend Gordon Ramsay.
Recently, Ramsay challenged Roger to follow along an Asian-inspired recipe from the Michelin star chef’s new cookbook. Clearly happy with his work, Roger has made an appearance on Gordon Ramsay’s Future Food Stars series.
In a recent Twitter video, Nigel Ng thanks his fans for the support he’s received, suggesting that this controversy isn’t putting too big of a dent in his popularity.
