Ronny Chieng shades Americans in jokes about Singapore on The Daily Show

Sounds like Singapore’s decision not to pay for COVID-19 patients unvaccinated by choice has reached the other side of the world.

It was a topic of discussion (or joke) on Trevor Noah’s late-night talk show, The Daily Show. “Singapore isn’t messing around,” said the talk show host in the segment aired on Nov 10.

“In America, if you say, you don’t want the vaccine, the government is like, ‘Please, please take the vaccine! Please, we’ll give you money!’,” he said.

“Singapore is like, ‘Okay, okay, it’s gonna be like that? Oh, well, you best bring your checkbook to the hospital then, because those ventilators are by the hour, b****!’

"They really don't mess around in Singapore, man."

The new ruling, which will take effect from Dec 8, was announced by the Ministry of Health on Monday (Nov 8). It noted that all COVID-19 patients who are unvaccinated "by choice" will have to pay their own medical bills if they are admitted to hospitals or COVID-19 treatment facilities.

That’s when the Malaysia-born, Singapore-educated and US-based correspondent Ronny Chieng piped up: "Singapore essentially has universal healthcare, so for them to come out and say, 'You are going to pay for your own stuff. If you don't take the Covid vaccine, we're going to treat you like an American.' That's huge".

The Shang-Chi actor added: "In Singapore, being treated like an American in the healthcare system is the biggest punishment you could give them”.

“That’s a punishment in Singapore?” Noah asked.

“In Singapore, being treated like an American in the healthcare system is the biggest punishment you could give someone,” Chieng said.

"In Singapore, the healthcare system just works ... All they care about is efficiency in Singapore. They don't politicise solutions."

We aren’t left off the hook either. "In Singapore, you'll live forever but you'll have way less fun,” Chieng quipped.

Oof.