'Uncle Roger' Nigel Ng's insensitive joke about Ukraine angers netizens and he hasn't apologised

He made his name and built his fame as his alter ego Uncle Roger, poking fun of famous chefs and saying inappropriate things.

But Malaysian comedian Nigel Ng is finding out there's a limit to how much political incorrectness the public can take from him. And despite a few days of brickbats from netizens, the 30-year-old — who's in the midst of his stand-up comedy world tour — hasn't apologised.

On Feb 24, after Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine, Nigel posted a tweet saying: "Adding some Ukraine dates to my Haiyaa world tour! Stay tuned…"

He also added the emoji of a laughing face with tears of joy.

Naturally, people on Twitter criticised him for his insensitivity.

Nigel removed his tweet on the same day but posted this: "Oops! Sometimes what's funny in your head isn't that funny in real life."

Oops! Sometimes what’s funny in your head isn’t that funny in real life ?

— Nigel Ng (Uncle Roger) (@MrNigelNg) February 24, 2022

It didn't go unnoticed by netizens that he didn't apologise. (As of writing, Nigel has yet to apologise as well.)

"The least you could do is apologise and not whatever this half-a**ed tweet is. Also how is this funny at all in your head, care to share with the class? Also to others here if you are not directly affected by the war, it is not up to you to 'accept' this 'apology'," one user chastised.

When someone asked him to be "careful" and to make sure there's "no next time", he replied: "There definitely will be a next time. If you listen to @haiyaapod you know I say some crazy shit."

It triggered another round of criticisms.

A netizen tweeted: "Ugh. This is really upsetting. Really enjoyed this dude but not only does he not apologise, he uses this to promote his podcast? This is very messed up. Hope you eventually see why this is wrong and apologise to those who have been affected."

kwokkarpeng@asiaone.com