SINGAPORE — Shots were fired when Malaysian comedian Ronny Chieng said online that Singaporeans are “Karens” with “main character syndrome”.

The comments posted on his Instagram stories last Thursday (March 21) resonated with some Singapore online users.

Chieng is host of The Daily Show, a popular American satirical news programme where its lead anchor used to be host Jon Stewart.

Prefacing that he was not referring to a specific incident, Chieng began his tirade by saying that it would be a “mistake” for anyone to listen to Singaporeans talk about current affairs, though he made an exception for Singapore's founding ​​prime minister Lee Kuan Yew.

Taking it up a notch, he remarked: “They are just a country of small town 'Karens' with main character syndrome who literally think they have all the answers despite having zero perspective on the world.” 

Ouch, that one hurt, Ronny. 

“Karen” is slang for middle-class white women who exhibit behaviours that scream entitlement and privilege.

In Singapore’s context, a “Karen” would be akin to an auntie (a colloquial term for middle-aged women) who, say, demands to see a manager to nitpick about service standards in a restaurant.

Singapore's saving grace, though, was the “great chilli crab”, Chieng said.

The 38-year-old New York-based stand-up comic is born in Johor Bahru, Malaysia and studied in Singapore for 10 years.

He attended Fuchon Primary School, Pioneer Secondary School and Pioneer Junior College in Singapore before earning his bachelor's degree at the University of Melbourne in Australia.

Besides comedy, Chieng has also acted in superhero film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and raunchy comedy Joy Ride.

‘HE’S NOT WRONG THOUGH’ 

You would think that most Singaporeans would jump to the defence of themselves against Chieng’s statement. 

Instead, many agreed with his observation in a thread posted last Friday on online forum Reddit that carried Chieng’s remarks. It has received more than 200 comments as of Monday afternoon.

One Redditor wrote: “He's not wrong. On my latest trip back home to Singapore, I saw a couple of 'Karen' meltdowns in public that literally proved his point.”

Another pinpointed that “main character syndrome” was rife in Singapore. “He didn't state anything wrong. You all can pretend to disagree, but take a step back and you will observe how most people treat everyone else like they're non-player characters (NPCs).”

NPCs are characters in a video game that are controlled by the computer rather than by a player.

"Main character syndrome" is a popular term used to describe a tendency towards self-centredness, where individuals view themselves as the main character in every situation.

A third comment on Reddit read: “We do sort of live in a bubble on this island and it is true that many of us have little to no perspective of the world. That said, I think the same can be said for most people.

“Since he's now based in the United States, does he know that 52 per cent of Americans do not even have a passport?” 

The statistic is based on a 2023 poll of 1,000 adults in the US by online market research company YouGov.

A few also pointed out that Chieng's brand of humour, like most comedians, relies on jabs at others to get laughs: “Plus, he's a comedian, so is it not normal to just take a dig at everything just for laughs?"

Some people merely countered Chieng with equal sass: "That's outrageous and preposterous. Where is his manager, I need to speak to him or her."

However, there were others who did not find humour or relevance in his comments.

One Redditor felt that Chieng’s comments were unfounded: “This is apropos of nothing, but the first step to getting your argument curb-stomped is to make sweeping statements and baseless claims.”

A second Redditor wrote: “He's a funny dude (sometimes), but I don't get why he hates Singapore so much and (there's) so much vitriol about Singapore.”

The popular comedian, who last performed in Singapore in 2019, had joked before that Singaporeans get caned if they spit gum on the floor, a jab at the supposedly strict laws here.

"Like in Singapore, if you spit gum on the floor, someone just runs up immediately behind you and just canes you," he said in Speakeasy, released in 2022 on entertainment streaming site Netflix.

In 2022 as well, Chieng countered host Trevor Noah's joke about Singapore not covering Covid-19 treatment for unvaccinated citizens during an episode of The Daily Show.

"In Singapore, the healthcare system just works," Chieng said.

"Essentially, it takes like free market principles and socialist principles and combines them together. All they care about is efficiency in Singapore."

However, there is a caveat: "In Singapore, you'll live forever, but you'll have way less fun."