Who Says Women Aren't Funny?

You might have chuckled at their satirical take on Singaporean idiosyncrasies, or perhaps even shared their tongue-in-cheek parodies on Tiktok. Meet Chiou Huey, Farah Lola and Nicole Liel - three Singapore comedians who are shaking up the local entertainment scene.

- Lin Yanqin

CHIOU HUEY

HER ART IMITATES LIFE

Chiou Huey made her mark as a funny girl on SGAG, but she has her eye on much bigger ambitions. Now an artiste with comedian Mark Lee’s King Kong Media Production, she’s doing it all, from hosting events to acting in dramas. She tells us how she overcame being bullied as a child to find self-worth and the confidence to dream big.

If you've seen Tiktok clips of Chiou Huey boldly serenading mega popstar Jackson Wang in front of a crowd, or photos of her looking glammed up at red carpet events, you may be surprised to learn that the Singapore comedian once thought she was too ugly to become a performer.

"I used to look down on the floor all the time when I was in primary school, because I was so ashamed of how I looked," says Chiou Huey. "When I was in secondary school, I prayed to God, saying, 'Can you make me funny so that I will have friends?" One nickname still lingers in her memory: Beethoven. Seeing the baffled look on my face, she explains: "Beethoven in Chinese is bei duo fen (back more points).

It means you get more points when people see you from the back." Chiou Huey grew to enjoy lighting up a room with her humour and dreamt of becoming an actor, but the years of relentless assault on her self-esteem held her back ("I just felt I wasn't skinny or pretty enough").