Imagine the scene: JJ Lin, a celebrated Singaporean artist, takes the stage at the 2025 Asia Artist Awards in Taiwan, and delivers an acceptance speech in flawless English. But here's where it gets controversial... some people were surprised by his fluency!
JJ Lin, at 44 years old, snagged not one, but two awards at the prestigious 2025 Asia Artist Awards: the Asia Star (Singer) and Best Artist (Singer) titles. This year, he stood out as the only non-K-pop act among the nine winners in the singer category, a remarkable feat at a Korean awards show.
Clearly taken aback by his wins, JJ kicked off by introducing himself in Korean before smoothly transitioning into Mandarin and English for his acceptance speech.
In his English speech, JJ shared his dreams: "I dream of a day where I would be singing songs on a global stage, I would imagine that music could cross language, culture, and connect us universally." He also expressed his gratitude to his fans, his team, and the Asia Artist Awards for helping him realize his dreams.
But the real head-scratcher came with a clip of JJ's speech shared by a Taiwanese media outlet. The caption read: "[JJ] delivered his speech entirely in English, leaving the crowd stunned."
Wait a minute... stunned?
This prompted a wave of amusement and bewilderment online. Many questioned how anyone could be surprised by JJ's English proficiency. After all, he's a Singaporean!
For those who may not know, JJ is a proud alumnus of Anglo-Chinese School and Saint Andrew's Junior College. Like many Singaporeans, he's fluent in English, Mandarin, and Hokkien.
The comments section exploded with reactions. One netizen stated the obvious: "He's Singaporean, so it's perfectly normal for him to speak English well? It's one of the country's official languages." Another commenter quipped, "This caption is too funny, English is his first language."
Perhaps the media outlet had simply heard JJ sing in Mandarin for so long that they forgot about his impeccable English. As one netizen put it, "Singaporeans can usually speak English just fine… it’s just that JJ’s Mandarin is almost too good."
What do you think? Did the media outlet's surprise seem a bit off-base to you? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
