London-based comedian Nigel Ng better known as Uncle Roger has had his social media account suspended amidst a crackdown by Beijing authorities on comedians.
The incident occurred on May 16 when Ng tweeted a promo clip for his upcoming show which poked fun at China’s government. He has said that his personal account Uncle Roger was about to get cancelled.
True enough Ng’s (or Uncle Roger) Weibo and Bilibili accounts (China’s equivalent to Twitter and You Tube) were subsequently frozen on the weekend.
Uncle Roger Banned?
His Weibo account carries the following message; “The user has been banned from posting as he has violated relevant laws and regulations.” He has 400,000 followers on Weibo. All he had said in the video when someone asked if he was from Guangzhou, China was, “Good country, good country. We have to say that now.” After that he spoke about being monitored by smartphone. “They [are] all listening. All our phones tap into it. Long live President Xi. Long live President Xi.”
Ng, 32 later apologized on Weibo saying that he “wasn’t aware of his political thoughts and his past incorrect remarks about China.”
Another Comedian Banned
Earlier this month another Chinese comedian, Li Haoshi was arrested after making a joke comparing dogs to a military slogan.
The company that hired Li to perform was fined $2.1 million, Li whose stage name is House has also since apologized for his comments but still faces up to three years in prison.
Ng who was born in Kuala Lumpur to Malaysian Chinese parents of Hokkein ancestry rose to fame when he made fun of Hersha Patel’s BBC Food video on cooking egg-fried rice in his Uncle Roger persona. Uncle Roger basically speaks with a pronounced Cantonese-like accent and is stereotypical of Southeast Asia.
After the video went viral Ng and Patel appeared on BBC together. He also collaborated with her on a YouTube video.
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The photo above is from a YouTube screen grab