Nigel Ng on Uncle Roger criticism, opening a fried rice restaurant and scope for a Dubai branch

Ahead of his Haiyaa show at Dubai Opera, the Malaysian entertainer discusses his controversial character and says it 'lifts up' Asian culture

The Malaysian comedian is making his regional debut with a stand-up show at Dubai Opera. Photo: Nigel Ng

Uncle Roger, the online persona created by Malaysian comedian Nigel Ng, is known for his signature orange polo shirt, exaggerated Cantonese accent and the catchphrase "haiyaa" – a slang term in Chinese often used to express disappointment.

He embodies the archetype of a "middle-aged Asian uncle" who humorously (or controversially, depending on who you ask) critiques cooking videos, particularly those centred on Asian cuisine.

Beyond the character, Ng is a stand-up comedian who is bringing his Haiyaa world tour to the region with a show at Dubai Opera on October 7. While he is best known for Uncle Roger, Ng was inspired at a young age by watching clips online of comedians such as Eddie Murphy, Russell Peters, Louis CK and Chris Rock. And as he prepares for his regional debut with a stand-up gig, this wasn't always the path he envisioned for himself.

"I never, for once thought I could do it for a career," Ng, 33, tells The National. "It was after I moved to the US for university, I joined this stand-up comedy group, and I performed a few times. I said: 'Oh, this is pretty fun.' So I just kept doing it. Eventually, I got good enough to get paid. And slowly got paid enough to kind of just make ends meet, living on ramen, paying rent. And I was like: 'Okay, let's give this a shot.' So that was September 2019, I went full-time stand-up."

Although Ng experienced some success as a comedian – including being nominated for the Best Newcomer Award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2019 – his breakthrough came in 2020 when he went viral on YouTube. In a video showcasing his character Uncle Roger, he provides a bewildered critique of a BBC chef's unconventional method for making egg fried rice. This video has since garnered more than 38 million views.

While this character has helped introduce the comedian to a wider audience, it has also sparked some backlash, with critics arguing that it reinforces Asian stereotypes, especially through the exaggerated accent.

“I wouldn't say [the backlash] bothers me," Ng says. "I try to understand and empathise with their perspective. My perspective is that I grew up in Asia, and I was of the majority race. We all sounded like that. We all speak like that.

“But I also understand that Asians who grew up in the West, British-born Chinese or Asian-American, maybe they've had bad experiences with other people of other races making fun of their food, the way they speak, the way their parents spoke. So, I get it.”

He acknowledges that some people might feel triggered by past experiences, such as bullying, and the pressure to assimilate into western culture, which can make it difficult to hear someone deliberately exaggerate or fake an accent. However, Ng reassures that when he puts on the accent, it’s not for the reasons some might assume.

“They feel like: ‘Oh, you're just allowing people to laugh at us. You're just allowing people to make fun of us again.' I understand where they're coming from, but I think they also need to understand where I'm coming from,” he says. “My mom speaks with an accent like Uncle Roger’s. I don't think she's allowing people to make fun of her. To us, an accent is just how people speak sometimes, and an accent is not a stereotype.”

Ng hopes to reclaim some power by using his character to challenge stereotypes and advocate for Asian culture. Rather than allowing others to mock the accent or view it as a caricature, he wants to flip the narrative, showing that Uncle Roger is a celebration of Asian identity and a way to stand up for the culture with humour and pride.

He says: “If people watch my videos and listen to the words Uncle Roger is saying – he's always lifting the culture up, he's making fun of western chefs not respecting our dishes. There are a lot of western chefs I've reviewed who have restaurants in Asia, so they're making money from Asian people. But they don't bother to learn how to do it properly."

He wants to continue championing Asian culture and has even opened his own fried rice restaurant, Fuiyoh!, in Kuala Lumpur, where he aims to showcase authentic and delicious Chinese food. Even before the success of Uncle Roger, Ng had always been passionate about cuisine.

“In Asia, growing up here, we eat out a lot because food is so plentiful, abundant," he says. "You can live in a Malaysian suburb, a Kuala Lumpur suburb, and you can just go to the strip mall, and there's like 50 different restaurants. There are so many different varieties of food, and they're all good. So we have that pride and that hunger always to explore and have good food.”

He says it wasn’t until he went to study at Northwestern in the US that he realised that not everyone had the same experience with eating out. He recalls how many of his friends would cook at home because eating out was more expensive and that food wasn’t as delicious and even sometimes lacked flavour.

In university, he had to learn to cook out of necessity because he was “broke and good food was hard to come by”, and that was something he hadn’t had to deal with in Malaysia. He says it wasn’t until he went out and finally discovered some delicious food that he realised what he had been longing for since landing in the US.

“In Asia, when it's so cheap, you go to a stall, a hawker stall or some street food stall that an old uncle has been cooking the same dish his whole life," he says. "So why would you ever learn to make it yourself? You can't compete against an uncle.”

Ng says he's always had an interest in cuisine, but when the character of Uncle Roger took off, especially through his focus on food-related videos, it encouraged him to further explore and deepen his passion for cooking and culture, which he hopes shines through with his new restaurant.

And although it’s still early, are there any chances that an Uncle Roger-themed eatery could come to Dubai?

He says: “Dubai is a very cosmopolitan city, an international city. I think they will be very welcoming of the restaurant and our restaurant is halal, so it will travel well in the Middle East. Dubai has a lot of tourists and a lot of local people who love good food, so hopefully one day.”

Nigel Ng – The Haiyaa World Tour is coming to Dubai Opera on October 7; doors open at 9pm, show starts at 9.30pm