Viewers puzzled why character of Singaporean businessman on US TV series Countdown portrayed as only Malay-speaking
The character even needed an interpreter to talk to English-speaking investigators.
The Malay-speaking businessman on the show. (Photo: Prime Video)
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Yes, our ears perk up each time Singapore is mentioned in Hollywood shows. But we are scratching our heads at the latest portrayal of a Singaporean character on American crime drama, Countdown.
In episode 11, which aired on Prime Video on Aug 20, investigators (played by actors Jensen Ackles and Jessica Camacho) interview a Singaporean businessman named Kieran Teo (though it sounded like they were addressing him as Mr Teh-O).
Teo, played by American actor Brian Yang, owns a cabin where a suspicious death took place. But Teo is depicted as speaking only Malay and required an interpreter played by Singaporean actress Valerie Loo.
Netizens found it hilarious, with many questioning why a Singaporean businessman spoke Malay and needed an interpreter.
“Did the show’s writers forget that Singaporeans speak English?” asked one, while another commented, “Did someone just ask ChatGPT what the national language of Singapore is and ran with it?”
Another netizen found it weird that the obviously Chinese actor spoke Malay instead of Mandarin.
“Maybe he is a Singapore citizen but born in Malaysia?” joked a netizen, while another commented, “Ahh! At last [a] Singaporean speaks their national language.”
The episode also presents the businessman’s fictional company, Beruang Holdings, as being “owned by the People’s Action Party (PAP) of Singapore”, where a representative of the Singapore Government halted the investigation.
Beruang means bear in Malay, or perhaps the scriptwriters meant to say "having money" or "rich" in Bahasa Indonesia.
Many also took issue with how the PAP was misrepresented, with a Redditor posting a lengthy response to the show’s episode.
“Clearly, someone on the team searched ‘What is the national language of Singapore’, saw that it was Malay, and based their entire assumptions on that one text line, not going a minute further to understand that Singaporeans are well-educated, speak English natively, would not need a translator in a professional and diplomatic setting, and are not, in fact, a part of Malaysia,” the netizen wrote.
Guys, chill. It is just a Hollywood drama that is fiction, right?
This story was originally published in 8Days.
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