“I don’t know if I can feel safe walking back to my own place now,” Nigel Ng said in an Instagram story on Friday (Oct 30).
The 29-year-old Malaysian comedian, better known as online sensation Uncle Roger, had been on his way home from the dentist to his London apartment earlier that afternoon when he was assaulted in an alleged racial attack.
“I have no idea who he was. I was just walking home and then he just parked his bike on the street and then started coming at me with his fists,” Ng recounted.
The encounter left him bleeding from his lip and a bruise forming at the corner of his mouth.
When questioned who he was, the attacker said: “You know what you did!”
“I… I don’t know what I did,” said Ng.
He’s since filed a police report, believing it was a “random Covid racism attack” and that the perpetrator was “just trying to punch an Asian face”.
All seriousness aside, Ng cracked a few jokes about the incident, lamenting about how the police officers had stepped into his apartment with their shoes on when they came to take his statement.
He bemoaned: “Come on, I’m already a victim, please. I got punched in the face. I don’t want to have to vacuum after you leave.”
One of the officers turned out to be a fan of his too, who admitted to having watched one of his critiques on an egg fried rice recipe — a staple since his critical review of BBC’s recipe as Uncle Roger shot Ng to international fame and over 800,000 followers on Instagram.
Uncle Roger, a caricature of a sassy, condescending East Asian uncle who complains about everything, is known for giving blow-by-blow commentary on videos, ranging from violin performances to, of course, egg fried rice videos. More often than not, he’s seen shaking his head groaning “Haiya” in disappointment.
In an update the next morning, Ng was still rather chipper, showing off the bruise (which got noticeably worse).
“I was thinking, you know what I should have said to the perpetrator. When I got punched I should have went ‘Haiya’.”
