I Love Food V Logger Mike Chen and So Should You By Alex Lo SCMP, January 15, 2020

Uncle Roger and Mike Chen comment on the ugliest dumplings, January 14, 2021 scmp

 

I love food vlogger Mike Chen and so should you

People should leave politics behind when they watch funny videos about food on YouTube

I spend most of my time reading up on China and politics for this column. That’s why before bed, I watch mostly funny animal video clips on YouTube; foxes especially.

Now that I am on a diet and hungry all the time, food vlogs have become my favourites. And Mike Chen, with his 3.55 million subscribers’ Strictly Dumplings channel, is among my favs, along with fellow food travellers  Mark Wiens  and  Canada’s very own Food Ranger . They are all very cute and friendly and you feel like you know them.

I especially love watching Chen binge on all-you-can-eat buffets. I have developed an obsession with Vietnamese pho from him. His love of Japanese Wagyu beef, unfortunately, is way above my pay grade.

But, you know what, even funny online clips about food are now are being caught up in ugly Chinese politics. Is there no escape?

In a now-deleted video, Uncle Roger and Mike Chen comment on the 'ugliest dumplings'. Photo: Hotpot.tv/Facebook

Chen made a joint video with Malaysian-Chinese comedian Nigel Ng, whose rude persona of Uncle Roger has gone viral in recent months with his nasty takes on people mis-cooking Chinese fried rice, including Jamie Oliver. But Ng’s routines about fried rice and MSG were getting stale.

And then, Chen and Ng came up with this joint hilarious clip commenting on a Western-trained chef making the grossest and most unappetising dumplings ever.

But Ng took down the clip shortly after many of his Chinese fans complained. Why? Because Chen is apparently critical of the Chinese Communist Party. Now Ng is in hot water with his other Western fans for caving to Chinese nationalists.

Uncle Roger meets the Egg Fried Rice Lady in a YouTube food video. Photo: Handout

If I were Ng, I would have just ignored all the complaints and kept the clip on. As far as I know, and I have been watching his channels for years, Chen is completely apolitical. Only once, in a two-second slip, did he let out that he was a Falun Gong member and wasn’t happy with what was happening in China.

This BBC headline is complete utter nonsense: “Uncle Roger comedian deletes video with China critic.” If Chen talks about China at all, it’s always about food, his childhood and what a Chinese-language menu offers.

So, let me say this. I support China, I support the CCP and I wouldn’t mind being a party member if they would let me in. And if my son wants to join the People’s Liberation Army, I would let him, except he wants to join the Canadian armed forces instead.

I also think the Falun cult and its media propaganda operations in North America are a poison in the Chinese diaspora.

But if Chen would let me join one of his food tours, I would do it in a second and tell everyone about it.

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Alex Lo has been a Post columnist since 2012, covering major issues affecting Hong Kong and the rest of China. A journalist for 25 years, he has worked for various publications in Hong Kong and Toronto as a news reporter and editor. He has also lectured in journalism at the University of Hong Kong.

I love food vlogger Mike Chen and so should you | South China Morning Post (scmp.com)

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