Poking fun at Malay stereotypes without much Fuzz
The strike by a group of bus drivers from China in 2012 may be no laughing matter but Fakkah Fuzz was able to make light of the incident to tickle an audience watching his performance at a comedy festival.
“They call that a strike? The Malay guys just call it a Monday. Chinese people, you’ve got to catch up, we’ve been on strike for years!” the Singaporean Malay comedian joked to peals of laughter.
His chosen profession can be traced to his unpleasant experience as a student in Malaysia. As a 13-year-old studying in a private school in Malacca that was filled with Chinese students, Fuzz was often targeted for bullying because he was a Malay from a neighbouring country.
Fuzz, now 29, said that it was pointless to get into an unwinnable argument with his schoolmates.
“If I didn’t do my homework, they’ll say ‘you’re Malay, you’re lazy’. When I do my home work, they’ll call me a kiasu Singaporean,” said the comedian, whose real name is Muhammad Fadzri Abdul Rashid.
Far from becoming a social recluse later in life, Fuzz’s experience in school provided him with the comic inspiration for his future profession and he would go on to reach out to people of all races with his wisecracks about Malay stereotypes.
Today, Fuzz regularly performs to large crowds. His joke about the bus drivers’ strike was part of a skit that he performed during the 2014 comedy festival, Happy Ever Laughter, at The Esplanade, where more than 2,000 people attended.
Besides comedy, Fuzz has hosted television shows such as “50 Ways to be a Singaporean” on Channel 5, and “Adam dan Hawa (Adam and Eve)” on the Suria channel.
From serving food to dishing out jokes
Fuzz admitted that he wasn’t academically inclined in his younger days. After obtaining his Malaysian Certificate of Education, he returned to Singapore with the intention of furthering his studies. But he was rejected by several local tertiary institutions including the Institute of Technical Education.
Dejected, Fuzz did various odd jobs - from being a cleaner at Far East Plaza, a waiter, a security guard, a paintball game facilitator to a stuntman at the Universal Studios Singapore.
He only became motivated to pursue a diploma at a private institution after serving National Service in the army. According to Fuzz, the officers and sergeants that he met could “barely string proper sentence together” but were holding higher positions than him because of their educational qualifications.
After graduating with a diploma in mass communications, Fuzz decided not to pursue a job in the corporate arena. Since he has been entertaining his schoolmates and friends for years with his witty brand of humour, he thought that being a comedian could be his true calling.
When he made his comedic debut in 2010, it was anything but a roaring success. Performing in front of just six people at a now-defunct bar located near Robertson Quay, his skit lasted only five minutes.
Still, it was not long before his jokes about Malay and other racial stereotypes drew more guffaws in front of larger audiences as he mastered the art of delivering the punchline.
Take for instance another of his jokes that he has performed, “It’s very challenging growing up as a Malay brother in Singapore because you’re always stereotyped as criminals.
“But I want to let you know that’s not true, because I have a friend who just came out of prison, and surprise, surprise…he’s Chinese.”
Fuzz explained that many comedians in Singapore and the wider Southeast Asian region tend to focus on race as their rich diversity of cultures provides plenty of comic fodder.
“We are very multicultural and it’s a big aspect of what we know. There’s nothing wrong with it, and we’re not trying to offend,” he said.
On 26 April, Fuzz will be performing a segment entitled “In Fuzz We Trust” at the annual Singapore Comedy Fringe Festival organised by Comedy Club Asia.
When asked if he is in touch with his Chinese schoolmates in Malacca, Fuzz said that only one of them has contacted him after watching one of his videos on YouTube. But it is possible that Fuzz might crack a joke at their expense some day.
“They were taking their frustrations out on me (for being a Singaporean Malay) and you know what’s the funny thing? Half of them are now working in Singapore,” he said.