So I reiterate here, the bill is dead. The story of this great city is about the years before this night. Hey everyone, this is Ho Ho Hong Kong with me, Vivek Mohabani. And today there is no MO which means the quality just upgraded by 200%. But instead I have myself a guest coming all the way from Singapore, which means he was just four and something hours away from Hong Kong. It is Jackie or Jackie Ung, depending on which way you want to say it. I usually say ung. Ung Yeah.
We'll be respectful on this podcast and call you Jackie Ung just for the sake of it. Just call me Jackie. You don't say my last name every single time, Mr. Ung. So, Jackie, just in case you missed out, he actually came to Hong Kong, did his headline show at Base Hall. Yeah. Just a couple of days before you recorded a part of the backstage headliner show nights. Secondly, Mohammed, however, after seeing the show, probably for some reason decided I don't want to hang with Jackie
anymore. He's a guy, you know. I got what I needed him for you for. Why are we still talking? He's done the show. I haven't paid him, so yeah. He's like you. Can go roam Hong Kong now. Exactly. You figure it out now, you know, help my GDP, then we'll talk about helping your GDP as well. But Jackie just gives everybody a bit of background. You based in Singapore, obviously, and I've known you for many, many years.
Because of course, when we have the Singapore scene, what would happen is a lot of times I would come down there to do shows on a weekday or whatever and we'll meet the Singapore crew. You're one of them. And I believe in the last year or two years ago you came down to Melbourne as well for the Melbourne International Coming Festival. So that was the first time I met you in Melbourne? It was my first time in Melbourne was two years ago.
Exactly. Yeah, Yeah. So we we met up and I believe you didn't have your show at that time. However, you did something a lot of Hong Kong comedians don't do, which is you actually decided I'm gonna go there purely for educational purposes and go check out how the Melbourne Comedy Festival is. Yeah, so I mean, Jason Leung was the guy that really encouraged us to do that. He was just like, come down to
Melbourne, he'll give us his. Crew pass yes yes yes and the crew pass means you can watch any show as long as they're. Any sheets? Exactly. Yeah. And that is honestly that is just so valuable Like if a comedian if you just show up and you just have that pass, you feel so powerful. Absolutely because there's just so many amazing shows to watch and. But also at the same time, it's, it's not like there is no stage time.
As long as you're hanging out, stage time comes your way because it's such a massive festival. Yeah, there's 600 shows happening throughout the month. It's insane. And you get, you get 5 minutes, 10 minutes. You, you, it's, it's a great time. So you should really, you're saying no, none of the Hong Kong communities are doing this. I haven't, they haven't flown themselves down or just to go
check it out. I've offered like the crew passes, but I understand, you know, Hong Kong rent is very high, blah, blah, blah, all that stuff. Yeah. That hasn't happened much there. However, was there a, is the Singapore comedy scene something encouraging where you're like, man, I, I want to go explore this place. Or did you go to Australia just because you're closer to the Australia than Hong Kong is to Australia? Like what?
What? What made you want to go other than Jason Leung telling you hey, hey, hey, hey, I'm famous, you know? But Jason Leung told me to do that. I'm like, OK. And I think when we first start out doing comedy, we hear about the Melbourne Comedy Festival and you're like, I like to check it out. Sometimes, yeah, sure. Yeah. Yeah, right. And it's just, and so when, when the opportunity came up, I have enough money saved up that I, I can't afford to go on this trip.
I found out I have friends living in Melbourne so I can crash on. It I like how you like I found out I have friends living in Melbourne. It's like, yeah, you know, I not, I realized not I connected, but I found out. Oh shit, I have friends over there. Yeah, that some of my friends that's. Usually not the not the order of of things that happen. You have friends who happen to be there. Not I found out I have friends
who are there. Well, it's I in Singapore, you go through school, you go to NS, the army, Yeah. And then, you know, over time you just lose track of all of them. That's very true. Yeah. And then and then you go on Instagram and you're like, oh, this guy is actually here. It's same thing happened in in Hong Kong. Oh, yeah. Like when we started promoting for the show here, I, I have Singaporean friends from the
army. He was like, oh, you're coming to Hong Kong. I'm like, what you you're living in Hong Kong. I'm like, yeah, I've been here since COVID. I'm like, oh, that's where you were because I haven't seen you since the Army and things like that. So yeah. And so with Melbourne, when I found out my friend was there, he was like, yeah, come and live on my floor. And I'm like, fuck yeah, yeah, yeah, let's go for it. Whatever, man, he was going to save me some rent.
Why not, right? It's just a flat surface. I need to be honest. With you exactly, because honestly, flights to Melbourne from Singapore are fairly affordable if you fly on Scoot, yeah. Right. So for anybody now we have some listeners who are a bit, let me put it this way, they're a bit classy, like as in they're like a little scoot as in like get away from me. Fair enough. Yeah. Right.
And so yes, that is one of the budget airlines that all comedians in Asia have at some point flown, whether you think you're famous or not, because you must understand the promoter. The Asian promoter will tell you it is not about your fame level. I will fly you on Scoot. And you will only find out when you're about to get to the airport and be like ah shit it's a Scoot flight. Man, it's a Scoot flight. But sometimes Scoot will put you on a Singapore Airlines flight. Yeah, right.
Once in a while, yeah. Every now and now, this is the question I've always had. So if you're a Scoot passenger, you bought a Scoot flight with a Scoot pay and they upgraded the Singapore Airline plane, do you get the food included? I think so. You do right? Because I think once you're on a Singapore airline, they. Don't care. Yeah. So I believe they can't do it the other way. You can't be a Singapore Airline guy and like, what the hell am I
on school? Yeah, then you get dropped to school with food, but even with food you'll be like fuck off are. You seriously there was a reason I buy Singapore Airline. Man, you can't be doing this shit to me. But they are like a sister airline. Yes, yes, yes, right. So yeah, they work together. And if you fly Singapore Airlines regularly and you're like trying to chop up your mouse and stuff like that, you get mouse on Scoot as well.
Yeah, that's the smart move. So yeah, and sometimes they actually kind of encourage you to do that. Like on this trip, my girlfriend and I, we we flew out to China on Scoot, but we're flying back on Singapore Airlines. Yeah. And then they actually gave us some bonus miles. Oh, because you went on Scoot and all that stuff. Yeah, they were like, yeah, thanks for. Supporting we, yeah, like most people will be like, wait, you could afford Singapore Airlines?
So we see one leg of your flight to do Singapore, but yet you chose not to. Well, I just want to say good on you, man. You know, however you diversified your, you know, funds and everything, good on you Do we needed that. We needed that to happen. We we just I also Full disclosure, this is the first podcast I'm doing as Engage men. Oh, hey, there we go with the announcements out already. Just tell everybody how the the great Jimmy Eng decide. Sorry, Jimmy.
Oh my God, Jackie Young dude, I it is way too late, man. Like it is very rare we record the podcast like at 10:00 PM Yeah, however. Jimmy is on his way to Hong Kong too. He's. Already here. He's already. Here you should get here. Try and get him here. Hey, hey, hey, Mr. Jimmy. Oh, Yang. Yeah. Oh, Yang. If you ever have a chance, you know, I'll give you. You know what? I'll let you have 10 minutes over here. Yeah, you know I will. Without you come into this beautiful studio.
Check it out for yourself. Yeah, I'll let you plug your show if you need to. I mean, I mean, you sold that five shows, but maybe the 6th 1. You comedy sell tickets. You never know. No, but OK. OK, So as an engagement, we're going to go there. All right. All right. I was going to let you let the cat out of the bag for that one. So tell us everything. You decided to come to Hong Kong
and do a headliner show. Now, how much of that headliner show was actually like, look, I need reason to be in Hong Kong. I need to do this thing that I want to do on a Sunday in a specific place, but I don't want to find myself there without making some money. Can I somehow. You know, because let's be honest, OK, after doing comedy enough, when you travel a lot, every time you go somewhere like maybe I could just book. You can gig.
And get the flight covered. And then I just go travel on my own, you know? Yeah, I mean, I wish I had the foresight, but it was the other way around. When Muhammad or when, when I somehow it was actually true. Chrissy in Malaysia. Chrissy. Yeah, Yeah, right. She was like, oh, you want to go and do this show in Hong Kong? And then they put me in touch with Muhammad and then he gave me the date. Yes. And then it was close enough to
my, my now fiance's birthday. And so I was like, I am going to Hong Kong. And she said, Oh my God, we can go to Disneyland. I'm like, yeah, let's go to Disneyland. And then she, she took like a long leave from work so that we could also go to China and everything. And then so we in Singapore, if you want to buy a house, you, you have to be married. Yeah, I heard that right. So if you're married, it's beneficial for like property purchasing and stuff like that? Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
So, so the, the, the joke in Singapore is you, you don't propose to your partner, you, you just ask if you want to apply for a flat. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And we and we have applied for the flat. We have a flat coming in three years time. All right. Wait, hold on a second. When we talk flats and all, we can't just say I have a flat, I have to get specifics. Do they tell you like when you apply for a flat over there, do you get to choose?
I wanted this size flat with that number of rooms and everything. All right, So what have you got? Like what's the number like here in Hong Kong? We have a four room flat so there's three bedrooms. Oh my God, first of all, hold on a second. Let me let's take a let's take a step back, Jackie. A4 bed, 4 room or four bedroom. So the hall is considered OK, That's a. Room. OK and so we have 3 bedroom. Kitchen, Yeah, Kitchen Hall.
Kitchen is 2. Oh no, the kitchen is not counted in OH. Yeah, yeah, look at you, Singapore and say, oh, we know this is not a room to us here in Hong Kong, like anything that has like a three walls at least where I guess the room. Dude, take it, man. Like even right now, like like this little room, this is technically supposed to be the kitchen of this planet. This was actually the original designated kitchen area.
Fair enough. We decided to switch it up and make it in our little city studio. Slash like writing desk slash hanging of the clothes. Yeah, for like on a on a wet day. You say you say writing desk, but it's there's no way you can do writing. Oh no, I I haven't had ever since Australia, I haven't decided that at all. This is always. This is OK. There's a lot of pens on that desk. Yeah, a lot of pens. There's a lot of pens. It's the potential writing desk. Fair enough.
Yeah, the potential energy over this. Very high. The kinetic energy. Very low. Low. Yeah, high potential. Yeah. So OK, so 4 rooms. Do you get to choose which area? Yeah, So they, So what they do is they'll be like, OK, there are some flats coming up in this area, this area, this area, this. Area so they get like the then. You can apply for this area and each time you apply be like 10 bucks. Oh, OK, yeah, yeah. Handling. Right. So you don't just apply for 20 different places.
Yeah, yeah. So do do you get to do like, OK 'cause like this sounds like one of those like multilayered pyramid schemes. OK then like, you know, like they we got this one. This is the new thing in the hot on the block. Everybody come on here and apply somewhere. So our flat, so like the, the property market in Singapore, it's, it's going the way of Hong Kong. It's, it's not, it's not as bad, but it's, it is rising quite crazy. Yeah. And people are just flipping it.
And, and so our flat like it's like a new thing by the government. They've launched this thing called the prime location flats. Oh, nice. OK, So this is the first prime location flat the government has launched in Singapore. And the old flats, you have a minimum occupancy period of five years, so people will just. Flip and flip it right? Yeah. 5A day, yeah. Yeah, yeah. For our case, our flat minimum occupancy period is 10 years. Are you allowed to rent it out
though? We can rent out bedrooms, we can't rent out the whole unit. So actually some people do his they. Just. They just lock the master bedroom and then they rent out the whole. Yeah, yeah, Yeah. OK. That's fair. Yeah, that's fair. Yeah. Because that's technically one room that they still living in.
Yeah, yeah. Wow. Let me, first of all, I really appreciate the fact that you have a different problem that we do where you're like, I got too many rooms, I got to rent something and like, Oh my God, I don't want to do this room. We have so many rooms. You can rent the place out and still lock one room and be like this is a very feasible space. Some people rent out the bedrooms to try and help cover the mortgage. Pay for the mortgage right? Which is what my parents did
when they first got married. All. Right, fair enough. Yeah, a lot of people here as well. They'll buy a flat and then the mortgage and they use the rent to cover the mortgage. But this again comes back to the question is where the hell do they, let's say they rent that place for the mortgage. Where do they stay? So they can live in the master bedroom, right? So. So if they lock, if they lock, yeah, then they or sometimes people are just rich, like if their parents.
Or the other two. Flats. Their parents are living in a nice big bungalow. But you know this, it is the right of every Singaporean that if you get married, you can go and apply for. A public flat, Yeah. I've heard of those snobs that have like, say, 2 flats in the same building. Exactly. They're just separated by a lift and stuff and you're going to go visit and stuff like that. They're the asshole, dude. You know, everyone on the podcast knows that now. Once in a while all.
Right. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. So let me understand this because this is very fascinating to me. I know we probably tuned that 20 other people are like, we don't need to know about master bedrooms. But the question is, you lock yourself in the master bedroom, right? You can rent the rest of the flat out. How do you leave fire escape? No, you can. Just go through the main door. What's wrong with?
No, but master bedroom coming connected to the main door directly there must be like a little hallway or something. Yeah, yeah, you can just walk out the main door. Why? Why? Why? But then like, you're renting the space to someone else. They're like, what the hell? Like why are you in my hallway? Yeah, but. It's like an understood thing. It's like an understood thing. That's so weird man. But also, I think most times they are like old people and they don't really leave.
And if you're in a master bedroom, you have a toilet. Yeah, that's true. Old people. Now the question is this, when they do get, let's say, Food Panda or delivery service and stuff, does the delivery person have to go all the way to the master bedroom? You get like 5 stars. Yeah, you didn't walk all the way here. I'm not going to the door for that. Shit, I guess if you if you leave a. Comment to tell him to come into the master. That's so weird, man, to do
that, man. Like you have like a yellow line for the yellow line. The green line is for the the son. The red line's for the daughter. Yeah. Wow. This is bizarre, man. I've never heard like someone who. Well, fair enough. If you like. You say if you're old enough, you'd say, look, I'll leave my house maybe three times a week Max. I've also seen people that in they they convert the hall into the master bedroom. OK. So they will put a bed in there in front of the TV. OK.
And then they put like maybe just install like a plastic sliding door. Oh yeah, yeah. And this is this is where the master of the house is living in. And then they cut up the rest of the room. Yeah, yeah. Into many tiny. Cubical kind of big spaces. Oh yeah, yeah. Because like we have some of those here in Hong Kong where they take that main house and they cut it up enough where everyone's got their own door. So it's like as it was another apartment.
But the door just leads to another person's. Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, exactly. Yeah. But, I mean, So what it is like, sure. I believe it's what we call, like the Hong Fong is like, they take your apartment, OK. And then they redesign the lining of the walls. So you enter your door, and then you enter, like, little hall just like you would, let's say, imagine you come out of the hotel. Lyft. Yeah. You know, you have that hallway. All right? You have the three rooms. Yeah.
That's what they did. They divided the space in the three rooms. Just essentially just a bit when you open the door, I mean. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah, one of those yeah, yeah. So a lot of those ways like I, I just have my space and that's good enough. I have one small window. I'll take it you.
Know yeah like if like when I was still living in my parents I would be happy to be like, yeah if I can just get out my my parents place and just live in in Oh yeah a bit like I'll be I'll be happy to. Do that. That's true. I just want that your own space, right. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah, I totally understand that. But the good thing is that Jackie has gone to the point now that he no longer has to try to afford that one bedroom space. Yeah. You know, he now is.
And in the the the pathway to property ownership, ownership to home ownership for 10 years. For 10 years, yeah. Yeah, well, you know, I'll own it for 10 years. Fine, whatever, you know, I have to do that. However, let's take a step back to how you even got to this place. Now, having this ability to do these things, for example, coming to Hong Kong, owning homes, proposing girlfriends and not getting rejected, stuff like that, right. Let's go to the original.
OK, so Singapore comedy, like, let's be honest, worldwide, it is not exactly one of those like, oh, you got to do it, got it. Singapore comedy, you got to go there, right. However, recently I have noticed that Singapore comedy has grown a lot, as in like the homegrown talent has grown so much that when you travel the world and you will see less people like yourself, let's say fuzz, fuzz and everything representing and trapping the world
internationally to do shows. Tell us a bit more about the Singapore comedy scene where it was, because I remember Singapore comedy was more like, let's say, comedy of Salah. I found a Tuesday morning on Tiger Airways. That's right, Right. I remember that one. Oh, my God, that. And then, like, arriving there. Do the show fly on Wednesday? I'm out. It was like one of those, like, 24 hours in. That's it. Yeah. Yeah. And that was the scene.
I think that's actually like the strength of being in Asia. Yeah. That we that we are well connected enough and flights don't take that long that you could do that, right? Like it's less than 24 hours. You could do a show and be back home. Yeah. But the Singapore scene has grown quite a bit, I would say, before COVID. Have you ever been to the Mary Lion in Singapore? No, I have not been to the Mary Lion.
No, no. Yeah, so the Mary Lion was the first full time club that we had, but it shut down during COVID. And then today we have a new comedy club called The Lemon Stand. Lemon stand. I heard about that one which. Is I think it's around for like two or three 2 1/2 years now all. I heard about from everyone one is that the spotlight is too bright. The spotlight's too big. That's all I've heard everyone of the others say you gotta do so.
But dude, I'm gonna tell you now, man, you're gonna leave the room and you're gonna have that black spot in your eyes. I'm like, what? Why do you have a black spot in my eyes? Like the spotlight's too bright. I'm like, what is with the spotlight dude? If we don't have a dimmer like what's going on over here the. Spotlight is very bright. The owner of the club, God bless him. He's a lovely man and he books shows and he actually sells them out these days, right?
But he, I mean, he's a stubborn man and he doesn't really like to take our advice on maybe tell him to turn down the light. But other than that, it's still a pretty good room. And now I think he's actually pumped in so much money with marketing that when you Google for comedy in Singapore, he's #1. Wow, that is there's. A lot of money to pay Google and. That's a good thing. If you're, for example, anyone that says comedy and you're the first thought, this is it.
Yeah. I mean, I think that's one of the things that if you read any of those business books, they say you need to be the first association people have with that item, then you've won. Then you've won. Yeah. And Singapore is a tiny market. Yeah, right. So he he's essentially done that. But so now in Singapore we have that, we have Masala still going strong. Yeah, we also have East Coast comedy. That happens. I love it. I love it. I must say.
Like Singapore being so small, but we're from the East Coast. It's like, buddy, you're 20 minutes away. Like relax. Like I could have walked there within an hour. It is, but I would say it's actually a very different vibe if you do a comedy show in the East and a comedy show in the West and Singapore. It is a tiny country, but people are still different. I can just imagine that like in the in the show in the East, like man, back in the West, you know, you know, we wouldn't do
it that way. It's like, wait back in the what? They will talk shit. They'll be like, you know, fuck those people in Jurong in the West. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. They will talk shit like that. Oh, yeah. It's like Hong Kong with Kowloon inside. You know, it's like, oh, you went to Kowloon there, you know, one of those things. Yeah, yeah, there's a lot of those where people are like, oh, I would never cross. Why would I need to, you know? Right.
I mean that growing up like like I guess the example is football people. Like, why the fuck does Singapore have a professional league when we ask like 40 minutes east to West? Like, what's the difference between this place and that place? But actually there is some kind of minute differences in the way people just see things. And it's, it's interesting.
If you do have the time, next time you come to Singapore and you have more than 24 hours before you have to come back, yeah, I could take you around and you could see the different sides of Singapore. I'll be honest with you. I can imagine that. Because here in Hong Kong, that's actually one of the things when I go to school is I talk to kids. And I said honestly, like different areas of Hong Kong is a completely different vibe.
I have this whole joke about how I'm taking the train as the train stops change, the racism differs as well. You know, like they look like, oh, this guy must be doing this, you know, 3 stations. Oh, you must be doing that right? It just changed like this guy, I, I go from central, they're like, oh, this guy's a banker. OK, You know, 5 stations later, oh, this guy's, you know his construction site. I'm like, wait, what? I didn't do shit, you know, but I was like that's and I believe
that. Same with the Singapore, like once you go in a few stations like alright, this area for sure. You're gonna feel it, yeah. You have that now. The thing though is that I do remember, like Singapore having a lot of, you know, comedians and a lot of the comedy was more about, you know, Singapore, Malaysians, Indians, Chinese and everything. I have noticed though, that the more seasons comedians are doing
less of that. Yeah. I feel is it. Would you say it's the evolution of Asian comedy or even Singapore comedy in general 'cause like, I feel maybe over there every open mic or does that right? Yeah. So typically, hey, there's some high Indian friend, right? He does. It's like, we get it. That's an open mic level. Yeah. Do you find like I saw your set? At Base Hall as well. And a lot of it has to do just with your general daily life. Have you found the maturity that you have as a comedian?
Did that come from because you traveled as they went to Melbourne and saw all these comedians like okay, so it's not just about new people, 20 people and you're like, okay, just tell in your life, I get it. Was it that or did you outgrow it? For me, I remember I kind of outgrew where I'm like, oh, OK, I don't want to still see talk My oh, I'm Indian. I speak and he's like, really, I'm still doing that, right? Like that that's way overdone. Like what's happening with my life as well.
What, what, what? What do you think? I think for me, like even starting out it, I've never felt super comfortable talking about race. OK, OK. Because like as a Chinese in Singapore, like like I'm the majority race. So if I'm talking about Indians in the Malays, then I'm kind of like punching down. Yeah. So it is a bit more. I mean, it's not that I don't do it at all, but I've never been super comfortable doing that.
I've always just I felt more comfortable talking about myself, my family, my my observations. But it's it's it's nice that when I start travelling, then this jokes actually translate much easier. Yeah, when I travel. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. As opposed to if I was talking about some very specific race nuances in Singapore that maybe can crush really hard in Singapore. It's just harder for people to accept when you're especially in like a western country like Melbourne, people would really
pull back at things like that. I'm going to ask you this, yo, when you went to Melbourne, the first time I watched show and when you did like spots over there, did you get the cultural shock? I wouldn't, I wouldn't say cultural shock, but like more of the shock of like the level of
political correctness. We're like, whoa, OK, whoa, this isn't OK. We're not allowed to go there, you know, or like you won't go there or you feel awkward about that because like my first time ever, I'll be honest with you, when I went to the US and I did shows at the Laugh Factory, I was coming from Hong Kong and all I knew was like, you know what, you know, So India, right? I mean, right. And over there I remember like I think I was doing the the funniest person in the world competition.
Richard Lewis was one of the judges, all right. And now I'm like, Oh my God, Richard Lewis. And I remember I went up there, I did some, oh, I had this, this, this joke in the beginning. I'm like, oh, I'm Indian. I'm not what was it? I'm not oh, Indian, I'm na na na na na Indian, right, right. I now here in Asia and stuff, it's hilarious, right? Dude, I went there and I went on there. I I believe I opened with that. And I remember seeing Richard Lewis face go like, right, right, OK.
And I was like, does he don't get it? Like this is this is America, they should get it even more right. You know, I mean, I'm not like, don't you know the Indians that you guys took over and everything? And then later on, as I grew and I went to Melbourne, I was like, in this world, they're like, yeah, we don't do that, Yeah. Well, with Melbourne, so I don't have that much experience in the West, right? It's really just Melbourne and I've been to Perth this year.
Yeah. So this year Melbourne was interesting because I got to host a show out in Collingwood. There's the suburbs and it's all white people, right? And I think they're actually less politically correct the further you get out from the city. Yeah, No one's trying to be too proper over there. They're like, aren't Chinese people this way? Yeah. So in the city is where it's really, I guess people are more cautious about how they're perceived. Yeah, yeah.
But once you start getting into the suburbs, it's not as sensitive. So it's interesting the way that even in a place that we think or is, you have to be PC, there are still places where different types of comedy can thrive. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, right. Whereas I think in Asia, because the scene is still so young, where I think we all kind of look at comedy and we think, like, OK, there is a certain set of rules that we have to abide by. Yeah. And that's how we progress as a
scene. But I think we're hoping that we can get to a point where any type of comedy, any type of comedian can find their own space to thrive. And then as a whole, we can all grow together. Yeah, Yeah. I think that's the one thing I've learned over time is that you may grow as a comedian, but there's still an audience who may be newcomers. Yeah. Just like, let's say, a wine drinker. You're always going to have the bunch of people who just want to get drunk. Yeah. Right.
So like, and you're like, why would you waste this wine? Just get drunk. Like, that's what I want, you know? So in the same with the comedy, no matter how you grow. And I've noticed this like over the years that when I see commies, I'm like, OK, I I see what you're doing there. Yeah, I get the joke, you know, la, la, la. However, there's always gonna be an artist who's like, that is so funny. Yeah, I've never. Oh, my God, That's, that's genius. Like, dude, that is like such a
hack. Yeah, like such a hacky joke. But yeah, there's that as well. Do you, how do you quality control yourself in general now that you've travelled more? And you also your, would you say you have to represent Singapore a bit as well when you're travelling and doing shows around? Like, do you feel that pressure? I don't feel the pressure, but it is something that I would like to do. Yeah, right. Represent Singapore or. Up your game.
I don't know about Rep, I don't know about representing Singapore, but like, this is my, my first exposure to stand up is, is me watching all these American comedians. Yeah, right. And I, I learned so much about American culture listening to them. And so when it, when it was when I had the opportunity to do opportunity to do stand up, then it, it feels, feels to me like I should try and show the world Singaporean culture. Yes, through my stand up. Yeah.
And so that's what I, I try to do as much as I can. I think a lot of comedians in Singapore, they get very self-conscious. They be like why? Why would why would why would anyone want? To, yeah, that's my point, yeah. But that's what people that watch comedy is watching you for. Yeah. Right. No, like then they're no, nobody's watching you to try and pretend to be an American. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
If somebody's coming out to watch you as a Singaporean comedian or a Hong Kong comedian, then they want to hear about what Hong Kong is like. They want to hear about what Singapore is like. And I think that is something that we should be more proud of and try to push as opposed to trying to emulate some kind of comedian that you idolize.
Yeah, true. I mean, that would be quite silly, like being a cover band, you know, like, we don't really need cover band comedians, although there are many cover band comedians. I would say something like, I know you're probably heavily influenced by that person, but that's literally their joke. Exactly. Literally said the exact same joke. It doesn't work that way over here. Yeah. OK, Now you, you let's understand a few more things. So Singapore comedy scenes
growing a lot. Would you say now you are at that point where the new kids in Singapore, they coming on to the comedy scene? Like, Oh my God, that's joking. That's joking. Oh my God. Some of them do that, but I, I, you know, I'm in the same green room as them. We're in the same backstation. If you're, if you're talking to me, I'm not, I'm not trying to like. Yeah, be all be like, yeah, yeah. But I, I guys, guys, keep it down, OK, Keep it down. All right?
You know, I mean, you know. But sometimes they come up to me and they be like, do you have some advice? Yeah. And what the fuck do you want me to say? Oh yeah, yeah, that's the hardest man. Yeah, just get funny. Yeah. Yeah, it's funny. The I just will tell you if you're good or not. That's all. You know, I can't tell you how to improve it. Let them tell you how to. Exactly. Yeah.
All right. Now let's take a few things because I'm I'm very curious because we've known each other for long enough now that we've seen each other as you could even be like amateur level or semi professional level to the point that now I could say that we are strong enough comedians that we can create our destiny in our careers, right?
So in other words, like same for you is that technically you have the power to be flown or even go overseas to do shows, hence why you have the power to create a destiny. Now, whether you create it or not, that secondary and also whether or not there are other people approve of your destinies
to another point. However, now that you have that freedom or ability to create it, what is usually the driving force for you as a comedian to, you know, travel the world, do shows, you know, what's the motivator? Because like a lot of you know, every, I'm sure every newspaper interviews like so you know, how do you find your inspiration? But I'm I'm not about inspiration. I don't care about that because like that's anywhere, right? Everyone, I'll use daily life, right.
But what is the drive to keep doing? Is it peer pressure? You see, like, oh, he's doing that. I better do something like that as well. Is it you go where I wanna show these new kids I'm the shit? Is it fear, for example? Oh my God, if I don't do it, I'm gonna be forgotten. I better get my shit straight. Or is it simply trying to, I don't know, the 4th or whatever it is for yourself?
But this is what I love to do is my favorite thing to do going on stage doing stand up. I've tried, you know, doing improv and it's kind of fun, but I don't like, I don't really like sharing the stage with anyone else. I've been saying this to everybody. I'm very selfish on stage. Yeah, exactly.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, so that's this is, this is what I love to do. And I, but I guess there's a big part of me that's also afraid that if this doesn't work out, if I, if I don't get to travel as much doing this or I don't get paid as much doing this, then I'm going to have to go and go back into the office. Yeah, right. I was working in a, in a content company during COVID. And the moment COVID ended and we could fly, I was like, I'm fucking done with this. I don't want to, I just don't
want to do this anymore. And so there's a big part of me that's like, oh, if I, if this doesn't work out, then I'm going to have to go back into working for someone. Yeah. And that is just not. I don't. Think you could ever go back, man? That's the one thing. I think as a comedian, now that you've experienced this and also you've seen the world, you're like, yeah, yeah.
Because I think this is 1 freedom that like Jerry Seinfeld, once I read stand up comedy is kind of being on a surfboard with just you in the waves. Yeah. And once you've experienced that, you really it's really hard to go back to a big boat. Yeah. Have to deal with like the captain and this that you're like, I want to go surf now. Yeah. You know.
And just the idea that you can create your own destiny, you know, that's that's the beauty of stand up comedy is like, well, write a show and do a show. That's it. Yeah, try and sell something. Yeah, that's pretty much that Someone will buy it whether or not the enough numbers to make ends meet the secondary. But you have that. But what's the like, what's what's the what's the downs down time, Jackie, like what's you
generally on a daily basis? Like, for example, right, MO always makes the joke about how I'm like a psycho with work where I will keep myself busy, right, You know, like I will. I will not be single. Like, oh, you know what, I'll take a day off like a day off. The hell you mean day off, you know, so what's the down time you because it usually what I find is when I talk to comedians is that the down time version of them Co relates to their style of comedy.
So, for example, with myself is that a lot of my comedy is like high energy. I'm talking about this. If that happened over there, I'm going to lose my shit and everything, but that's because that's my downtime. Me, I'm losing my shit when I'm in my downtime, you know, I mean I'm going some places. What about yourself? Like what's your downtime version of of Jackie? I like to think I'm pretty chill, you know?
Actually, this year when I was in Melbourne, in the house that I was living in, I, I mentioned my, it's my friend's house, but my friend wasn't in Melbourne. He was, he was back in Singapore, but I was living in his house. Oh. Wait, hold on a second. So you are one of two things. You're either like those renters in Singapore when the master bedroom's locked, or you're the equivalent to, like, a ghost haunting his house, isn't it?
Like technically, Yeah, right. Kind of, but also so he had another guy living in the house, but the other guy was actually living in a van behind the house. Whoa, this is in Melbourne? This is in Melbourne dude, this is so. Melbourne right there. Yes, yes, I'm gonna I'm I'm a guest system. I don't want no, I'm I don't know the. Accent but this guy is 60 years old and his RIP his fucking rip.
And he wakes up in the morning. He does 100 push ups, Okay, He does more than 100 push up. He does like some calisthenic workout and shit, yes. And so I was living there with him for the whole month and he's influenced me. So now I at least I wake up in the morning. I do 100 push ups. Really. Yeah. Damn. Dude, I do 100 push ups like in three sets maybe like 403525, yeah. That's what I is there, music playing in the background. No, actually.
Is this pre brushing teeth or post brushing teeth? This is pre brushing teeth. Pre brushing teeth. I make my coffee and I have it in between my sets in. Between the sets, you have a coffee. All right, so you're doing those sets now. Do you count downwards 100 and 9998 or do you count upwards? You count upwards all right? Are you allowed to, for example, do less than 33 each set? Kind of. I mean, it's really up to me. It's.
Just as long as you hit 100 you don't care if you like 10/10/10, 10:10 or. So that's how I started, right? Like when I, the first day I was with him when he was doing push, I couldn't do five. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then like throughout the week, it got me up to five. And then like, OK, let's do four sets of five to get 20. And then now I can I can do 100 in three sets. Yeah, have you, have you ever considered like having like an only fans page? Where it's just me doing
pushups. You do pushups. There must be an audience who's into that kind of stuff. I mean, I'm not against it. Yeah, I could try it out. Because all you have to do is like if you can set a fixed time all right, so this is my business proposal to you, right? You have a camera. The camera is always live streaming, but only like faces one particular wall. You can't see nothing that's happening in the room, no audio. So you don't have to worry about capturing a sound.
All it knows is that every everyday 9:00 AM Singapore time. I'm there doing this. Camera will have someone doing push ups. Now if you're travelling, you will find an equivalent body double or whatever to do that, OK And that guarantees that we're 9:00 AM and the idea is you've got the the only fans creeps, OK And you've got the only fans people who really want to be motivated, OK, you get it.
And they're like, and basically, and then what you do, you do your push ups, you do 100 of them and then you have to be out of it. Do the whole day, you know, breath and then give them a speech, right, my friends? Zoom give up, you know. I go every day. I mean, I could be here. I could be in my bed. Yeah, but I decided to chase another day. Yeah. And today you did it as well, right? You do one of those things, dude. I'm not.
I'm not against it, but I think the problem with only fans, honestly is that it's a it's a slippery slope, yes. Like, it's maybe if you can have a bunch of people that want to be motivated and then maybe a few creeps. Yeah. But I think the law of averages suggests that there will be an equal amount of these two people. But creeps are always more willing to pay money than people that want to be more people.
So what you can do, because it kind of works your advantage, like you're doing pushups every day. OK, you're starting to get ripped. You're getting ripped. You feel more confident in your body. You show a little bit more arm, right? Creeps are donating more money, You get more ripped. You can buy protein powder, you get all the creatine, all that kind of shit. Now you're feeling even better because you have the six pack.
You take the the top off, then you get more ripped because now you're going to throw in some squats as well because I mean, push the fake, make the money anymore. You got squats, you got those legs of steel. Now you're wearing the little tidy kind of bodybuilder thing. Yeah, you see. So that's when it when it becomes a bit iffy for me. So it's. It's like if I'm, if I'm just working out and doing my thing
to get money, sure. But if I am actually selling my body now, then it becomes and then and then at what point do I say no? Because they're just going to keep asking for more. True, right? And then one day we're like, could you do your push ups naked? And I'm like fuck. Yeah, otherwise I will not donate. Anymore. Yeah. So that's the slope that I'm kind of afraid of. All right, OK. But my only fans, I heard they're actually producing comedy specials in LA.
Well, for some, I'm sure some channels. Yeah, like they're being like Frankie Marcos. Have you met Frankie Marcos? Frankie Marcos, he comes to Singapore quite often. He I think he's recording a special for Only Fans. Oh, wow. And they're doing that with a bunch of comedians because I think Only Fans just wants to diversify them, like. They need to, man. Yeah, of course. Because like everyone's like, I'm not going to sign up for that shit. I'm in trouble.
Like I have to sign up for that shit if this guy's on it. Yeah, dude, that would be so crazy if like, let's say people didn't read the fine print. And they subscribe, Yeah. And then just your. This guy just talking. I was like, I get he's talking, but like when's the you know the actually I'm the only fan here that's listening, dude. Wow man, that would be the day dude. Yeah, I mean, if only fans is is out in Asia and you want to do some comedy, you can get his pockets on there, Yeah.
Yeah, yeah. Not fair enough, man. I mean like for the right price, you know, I might, I don't know where Speedos. If I actually they can't see what we're wearing below our shit. Well, actually already in Speedos. That's very true. I'm showing like, I'm showing a lot of like, but I'm not only fans there for no leg viewing. Maybe the day will come and I am really on only fans and trust me, there'll be a lot of hair. There will be one more camera
pointing from below exactly and. Let me just say it will be a wide angle lens. I'm making an extra. Everything is extra wide, extra long, man, dude, Okay, so now can we get into the the the thing that you mentioned your engaging thing today. All right, Can we get into that right. This is because I'm sure everyone's kind of like we don't care about your comedy life. We're not comedians. We don't care about everything. That's for me only all right, so you woke up today.
Yeah, All right, you were like, all right, today's the day, man, today's the day. This is the day I'm going to do all that shit. It's going to be magical. You know, we're going to go over there, me and my girlfriend over here. You know my girlfriend for the last time, you know, I'm trying to sing this word. You know anybody refers to it as girlfriend. I'm an unfriendly motherfuckers. They don't know shit right?
You woke up. Did you have to okay, let's compare it to you doing a headline to set for the first time right? New material. You kind of worked it out. You workshopped it a bit additional where you talk to your friends about it, Like, okay, you I have to put it on that game page. So like, yeah, no big deal. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Honey, you want some coffee? Yeah, yeah, we went for breakfast. All that shit, no big deal. She's just eating. You're like, you're like, you
have no idea. Yeah, actually that's what I've been doing. I've been taking like, did you ever use Telegram, the messaging? Oh yeah, yeah, you get to send Telebubbles. Yeah, yeah, I would. I would send a bubble of her to to my like our mutual friend, but she has no idea. Yeah, she has no idea. It's it's like, it's like when you have the solid show, yeah, And you're behind the curtains watching the I just come in. They're like, you have no idea.
Yeah, there's no clue. You came in here like, oh, let's look at the program. Oh, he's, it says he's a comedian in Hong Kong. OK, this is interesting. And the best part is like when you know, you've done a bit and you're like, this bit kills every time. And you're like, oh, we're going to get there, man. These guys are sitting there listening to me. You have no idea. In the next 5 seconds, bitch, you're going to be laughing. Yeah, right. You will not see this one coming.
So you left your house, all the stuff, having breakfast, everything is good. Setting those telegram bubbles every now and then. All right, you get into Disney. Yeah. All right. You did the whole boring lineup. And did you have to? So before that when we were having breakfast in the chat, something I I make sure I grab a bunch of napkins because I know that when I pop the question, she is very likely she's going to cry. OK, OK. Yeah. So that will be ready for that.
Be smart move. Don't buy your own. Don't. Buy my own? Yeah. Yeah, because I'm already paying for breakfast. I'm going to get something. Yeah, exactly. It's fair enough, you know. All right, so now at what point did you find yourself trying to over normalize, for example, you know, like you're lining up right? And and you, you know, in your heart you're like nervous but also excited. You know, you've got that feeling right where you're like,
this could be good, man. It's all right, right? Yeah, but you're lining up waiting to get in and you, you can't be all like, OK, let's we're gonna have a good time learning. This could be great. You know, you just gotta go like, Oh my God, look at this line. No. So this is the one smart thing that I think I did is I bought early access. Oh, OK, OK, OK, so you. Get to you can buy it like I think it's like 30 bucks. You get to enter Disneyland an hour early before before the
normal people. That is such a genius Disney plan thing. Yeah, you open at 9:00, but we're getting even early access. Yeah, that means you open at 8:00. No, no, no. For this price you do. Yeah, no, it's like I think if you live in a, if you're living in a in a Disneyland property in one of the hotels, then you get earlier, you get an even earlier 1, you get 15 minutes before early entry. 15 minutes, buddy. 5 minutes, yeah. And do let it go.
Yeah, so, so we technically even didn't even fully utilize that one hour pre entry. We went for breakfast. Yeah, that's something. So we got there, they opened at 10, we got there at 9:30. So they were like, OK, you have 30 minutes extra, you can just enter right now. And we enter in there. And I'm just like, I know that like we are not we are not massive Disney fans, but like the opportunity was there for us to just go and check out Disneyland. So sure.
And then so I was like leading up to the tremor, like do you have any characters you like? Is there any place in Disneyland you like? Whatever. And she was like, she only like, the only character that she kind of really likes is Mr. Potato Hit from Toy Story. Right. And you're like, that's a bit specific, right? It's very specific and so I'm like, it's either I wait until I can find Mr. Potato hit. And then do. It and then do it in front of
him. But I'm and I saw I tried Googling, I don't think he's he's ever going to show up. And then I'm like, OK, I'm just going to have to fill it out. Like if I feel it, I'm just going to do it. And then when we entered it and I just saw the castle and I'm like, just this is it, this is it. And then I'm just like, Nah. So I went up to one of the staff and I'm like, hey, can you just take a picture for us? And then I whispered to him, I'm actually going to propose and
just take a video. She's like, now I'm like, yes. And then and then I did it. And so it was, it was nice because the castles and the view is not crowded. Yeah. You know, I think both of us, we, we, we do get panicky when it's too crowded. Yeah. So it was just it was perfect. And the fact that it happened at the beginning of the day means we can enjoy the rest of the day without me. Yeah, thinking about it like, oh God, you know, she, she stumbled over. Oh shit.
Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And so, and this is the other thing, though. So the friend that I was consulting, he's actually, his name is Sam, Sam Shin. He's a designer. He's my friend from the ARMY. And he's he's he's homosexual. Yeah. And he knows he's just like, OK, this is one thing you got to consider, Jackie. You can do it at night where the fireworks is up. It's going to be very crowded. It's going to be very messy. But also her makeup won't be as good.
Yeah, I see you if you do. It first thing in the morning, the makeup is. Perfect. Everything's good. The video will look good and last. OK actually, Yeah, it's perfect. And I think from the men's perspective, it's just that you got to think that proposing is one of your few trump cards where you can actually play and then have a good day. Yeah. Nothing can go wrong after you propose. If you propose at 9:00 PM, yeah, sure. Maybe you go home and have sex.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But if you propose in the morning, this is the one day you can say whatever you want and you can fuck up whatever. Yeah, it would be fine. So I like to think that it was well played by me today. Nice, smart movement before everybody goes in. This is what I tell people, man. Early bird catches the worm. You know, that's why ladies wake up early. That's right. You never know that, but that might be the day your man walks out with you together and he's
like oh, hey, hey, hey, hey. You know what I mean? Yeah, it could be. Oh, there you go. First of all, congratulations. Well done. Thank you. That happened. All the stuff now that happened. You did the whole ring thing. All right, And then I'm curious now. It wasn't like, you know, how typically they have like a little sachet, you know, newly man like engaged in one of those things. You know, she's walking around with the little crown and all. None of that. Right. No, no, no.
Well, it was. Only for the two of you to know, not for everyone. Hey, everyone, look it up. OK, OK. It was a birthday 2 days ago, so when we entered Disneyland they also gave us a pin to tell everyone it's her birthday. That's good. Everywhere she went, happy birthday, and that's enough. Yeah, that's enough attention. We don't need the extra stuff, right? You have to fight. It's for us to know. Shut up. You know, we don't need you. Exactly.
All right, so you walked around and everything. Now, did you find yourself being a little bit more generous with enjoying certain things? For example, you see the snack bar or whatever? Like we come on, man, Let's get, let's get, let's get angry, you know, come on, let's get angry, you know, that's, you know, engaged couple. Come on. Yeah. This is my last night in Hong Kong, right? Tomorrow we are we're taking the high speed real to Shenzhen.
Yeah. So whatever Hong Kong dollars I have, I'm happy to just spend them in this. Oh. Dude, yeah man. So. Whatever it is. So you were out there like let me remind you, Disneyland record like one of the biggest profits they ever had in last year. So they probably had a lot of people doing what you did. I stay in Hong Kong. I have all these like, you know, they spend it all over there. But also I think food in Disneyland isn't crazily overpriced.
Yeah, for an amusement park. It is definitely overpriced, but it's not like compared to the Universal Studios. Yeah, it's ridiculous. Right. It's actually fine. It was pretty fair price, whatever we've had, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's tasty too. So you've been walking around over there. Was it a little bit of a like the hand holding happened a bit more than usual, right? It was a bit more of that. We're like, hey, we're holding differently now. You know there's a different
meaning behind it, right? You did that. Was the selfies a bit extra as well? Did you do a few more extra selfies because it was a
special? Day we had to take a few more just to make sure the ring is in the shot the ring that I got for her it's so she's told me before this specific ring that she wants yeah this is a custom made ring yes right and I messaged the ring shop like a week ago and they're like it takes four to six weeks to make this ring but they were kind enough to be like hey you know what you're going to propose we're going to send you the sample ring that we have in the shop take the sample ring. Propose.
Get that done, yeah. Yeah, yeah. And then when you come back to Singapore, we will get the measurements and then we will all. Right. The question is, does she know the sample ring? Yeah. Yeah. Oh, she does. Oh, damn it. OK. Because we, we, we're going to have to book an appointment for her to get that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So like. Before we came out here, I did a crowd work show in Singapore. Nice. And so the last few time I've been do I do crowd work?
I, I always ask the audience like so I, I need to propose. The house is coming. We need to this. I'm asking for ideas and I'm just like, did I ask 11 audience? Do you think it's cute if I just propose with like an appointment card to the studio, Huh. And then so she knows we're going to this place to get a ring she wants. And then she says every single lady in the crowd just like you fucking idiot. No, you. Can't do that you. Fucking dumb ass. So I'm glad I think isn't.
As a comedian, I'm I'm happy that my audience played a part in helping make today as a special. Video. Yeah, yeah, yeah. As well, Yeah. Nice, man. Well, I mean, you enjoyed the day all that stuff happened and ironically you decided to come to the podcast directly after that. So yeah, that is because. You're going to Shenchen tomorrow and it's so and I, you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I I'm a big fan of you. And thank you, I'm just happy. Appreciate it. But you spent some time well,
there you go people. This is why you need to listen to this podcast. That's right, because after proposing Jack, you decide you know much more important right now is to spend some quality time with Vivek. Yeah, exactly. And his and his legs. Exactly. He knows his priorities, man. But the good thing is that we'll be talking a bit more about other things, all things comedy, slash, his proposal, whatever special stuff on the Patreon, which will be happening in the
next two minutes time. So anybody else who views like, oh, that sounded very interesting. I wonder what they'll talk about. I won't let you know until you listen to it on the patreonpatreon.com/hoho pod. You can just subscribe and join in right now. Listen to what we're going to be yapping about. How many people subscribe to the Patreon? Mohammed knows all that stuff,
OK? Like as I was telling Jackie the usually the deal, what I had from day one was like during the episode, while we're recording, I'll be in charge of all the cameras, all the equipment and everything. I'll make sure it sounds everything's right and all that stuff I'll supply with my cameras, whatever, you know? It's a lot. Once we finish that stuff, I send MO the audio recording and I give him the thumbnail for the for the episode. And after that, I don't know
nothing about it, man. Like, you figure it out, dude. Just find the guest, tell me when we're gonna get it done. That's it. That's it. Yeah. So that's why he also told me to. Yeah, that's why he was the person for all this. Like literally people that mess me, I wanna be on your podcast. I'm like, tell me I am not cuz I had to draw that line. You know you want to like otherwise you start and then OK, I'll do that as well. I'll do that and then you're screwed. Yeah. You have that?
Yeah, Yeah. But I maybe for all you know, I might change things up and do it all by myself on the Patreon. OK, we'll figure it out when we go over there. But Jackie, with How do people follow you online? I'm on Instagram, Jackie on comedy, or you can just go to my website Jackie dot SG. Jackie dot SG. That's right dude, you got Jackie dot SG?
You got Jackie dot SG? Eventually anyone thinking about like oh, Oh well, I want to I want to be the Jackie Oh wow, this is the Jackie dot SG Jackie dot SG That's right, Jackie in comedy as in JACKYNG. That's right COMEDY no underscores right, no underscores Jackie in comedy. Otherwise Jackie dot SG go check him out. He'll be traveling around the world. If you happen to be in Shenzhen and see someone that looks like
Jackie, this probably was him. If you see him with, I don't know, another man, that's probably not him. It's not me. Right. Yeah, exactly. And if you see him getting his ass whooped by an MMA fighter, that could be. Yeah, that's why it's by him. Anyway, It's a Muay Thai, not Emma. Muay Thai. Muay Thai. Yeah, I mixed it up. Anyway, either way, we'll see you on the Patreon. If not, we'll see you on the next episode. Thanks so much, Jackie, for joining us over here.
Everyone check out. He is the Singapore Jackie, as in Jackie dot SG. And he'll be back with more comedy. And if you ever travel the world, I see Jackie doing the show, go check it out because it is funny. Thank you. All right. See ya. Bye.