Around 2 years ago, Malaysian comedian Nigel Ng only had 6000 YouTube subscribers when he was just starting out. Last night, on Thursday, 16th June 2022, the 31-year-old (who hails from Kajang) proudly announced that he has reached 6 million subscribers on his YouTube channel.
It doesn’t surprise us to see Nigel achieving this milestone in a short duration – after all, who can resist his signature expressions of Haiyaa (disappointment) or Fuiyoh (approval) phrases when he speaks in Manglish (Malaysian English). Plus, we can all relate to his over-the-top Chinese Uncle portrayal – better known as Uncle Roger.
“Maybe I’ll retire Uncle Roger once I reach his age, then it’ll hit too close to home. Uncle Roger’ is all my Asian-ness personified in a character. He may have been me if I hadn’t left Malaysia and was 20 years older,” said Nigel during the media press conference in KLCC Convention Centre. Just like the Haiyaa World Tour in America, Australia and Singapore, his gig in Kuala Lumpur has also been sold out.
During our short session with him, Nigel brought up his recent controversy when he stated that Malaysian food tastes better than food in Singapore. His quote saying, “I think there are more similarities than differences, but Malaysia has better food, especially in Penang” (when comparing the bak kut teh dish), apparently angered many Singaporeans. “We all know Malaysia has better food. Singapore’s food is just a lower level of Malaysian food,” he told us.
Speaking of comparison, Nigel is also no stranger to being compared to other Malaysian stars who have made it big in America. “I remember The Star wrote an article about me. June HL Wong posted an article that for some reason, celebrating Michelle Yeoh…and then complaining about how I’m not as successful as her,” he expressed.
In her article titled “The action queen and the comedian”, June Wong (who contributes to The Star column every 2 weeks) did not hide her biasness towards Nigel and even declared that she’ll never buy a ticket to come watch him live. Ouch! In response to June on his HAIYAA podcast episode, Nigel said, “I’m already coming to KL to perform. What do you want me to do woman?” while zooming in on her face.
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The panel also discussed other successful Malaysians such as Ronny Chieng (who not only has 2 Netflix stand-up specials but also starred in Marvel’s “Shang-Chi”) and Henry Golding (the star of “Crazy Rich Asians”, “Last Christmas” and “Snake Eyes”). When the general manager of Live Nation brought up that Ronny doesn’t seem to relate as a Malaysian homeboy, Nigel quipped, “Yeah, he’s in Australia. F**k that guy, who cares.”
Of course, being Uncle Roger makes Nigel Ng easily recognisable when in public. “I get stopped for photos more. It happens a lot in UNIQLO because most of my audience are usually Chinese. They love shopping at UNIQLO. Every Chinese person I know has a UNIQLO shirt,” he shared. Perhaps another fan might bump into Nigel at a UNIQLO store while he’s in Kuala Lumpur ;)
Watch the session here:
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