'Rice critic' bowls netizens over with his parody of a Malaysian Chinese uncle with an Ah Beng accent

Comedian Nigel Ng's YouTube critique of a BBC cooking video has racked up more than 14.5 million views

Nigel Ng as Uncle Roger (left), the Malaysian Chinese uncle persona who uses "haiya" liberally to denote his disgust and displeasure. Malaysia-born and London-based comedian Nigel Ng and BBC Food presenter Hersha Patel, who has taken his criticism of
Malaysia-born and London-based comedian Nigel Ng and BBC Food presenter Hersha Patel, who has taken his criticism of the way she cooks rice in her stride. PHOTO: NIGEL NG/INSTAGRAM
Nigel Ng as Uncle Roger (left), the Malaysian Chinese uncle persona who uses "haiya" liberally to denote his disgust and displeasure. Malaysia-born and London-based comedian Nigel Ng and BBC Food presenter Hersha Patel, who has taken his criticism of
Nigel Ng as Uncle Roger (above), the Malaysian Chinese uncle persona who uses "haiya" liberally to denote his disgust and displeasure. PHOTO: MRNIGELNG/ YOUTUBE
June H.L Wong
Updated
Published
September 25, 2020 at 5:00 AM
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How did a comedian in Britain become a huge YouTube sensation with his parody of a Malaysian Chinese uncle with an Ah Beng accent?

With one lucky strike, that is how. By now, you might have watched Nigel Ng's "Uncle Roger Disgusted By This Egg Fried Rice Video (BBC Food)" on YouTube, which has racked up more than 14.5 million views with more than 50,800 comments.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on September 25, 2020, with the headline 'Rice critic' bowls netizens over with his parody of a Malaysian Chinese uncle with an Ah Beng accent. Subscribe

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