Malaysia and Singapore has had a longstanding rivalry for decades ever since both countries came into being, be it over who has better food or standard of living.
Malaysian-born comedian Ronny Chieng recently ruffled some feathers among Singaporeans with an Instagram story, where he described the city-island with a term that’s usually associated with entitled and snobbish individuals.
Ronny Chieng: S’pore is ‘a country of small island Karens’
In an Instagram story shared by the Johor-born comedian and enior correspondent of the hit US talk show ‘The Daily Show’ on Thursday (Mar 21), Chieng sharply criticised Singapore with this stinging statement:
“This is apropos of nothing but it’s a mistake to listen to any Singaporean about current affairs other than Mr Lee Kuan Yew.
They are just a country of small island Karens with main character syndrome who literally think they have all the answers despite having zero perspective on the world.
He then ended the statement by praising a particular Singaporean dish, writing, “Great chili crab though.”
For the uninitiated, the term ‘Karen’ is commonly known to be a derogatory word to describe an individual who demands to have things done their way and would throw a tantrum if it’s not met.
Fair or an uncalled for statement?
Chieng’s statement was later shared to the subreddit r/Singapore and it unsurprisingly caused a lively discussion in the comment section.
Some said that Chieng was a prime example of Malaysians suffering from “inferiority complex” and would jump at any chance to talk bad about Singapore.
One netizen even claimed that it putting down Singapore was a “Malaysian thing” and that “to be Malaysian is to hate Singaporean(s)”.
However, some agreed with Chieng’s comments, saying that certain Singaporeans treated others as “non-playable characters” (someone who is perceived as lacking independent thought).
Another wrote that Chieng’s job as a comedian was to basically make jokes out of certain countries for entertainment purposes.
Do you agree with Chieng’s thoughts about Singapore? Let us know in the comments!
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