JJ Lin, 44, took home two awards at the 2025 Asia Artist Awards — Asia Star (Singer) and a Best Artist (Singer) title — at the ceremony held in Taiwan last weekend. The Singaporean was the only non‑K‑pop act among nine winners in the singer category at the Korean awards ceremony this year.
JJ, clearly surprised by his unexpected wins, took to the stage to introduce himself in Korean, before delivering his acceptance speech in both Mandarin and English.
Beaming, JJ said in English: “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 thanked his fans, his team, and Asia Artist Awards for bringing him closer to his dreams.
A clip of JJ’s speech was later shared online by a Taiwanese media outlet with the caption: “[JJ] delivered his speech entirely in English, leaving the crowd stunned.”
Um, they do know he’s Singaporean, right?
Netizens were both amused and baffled by the caption, with many questioning how anyone could have assumed that JJ wasn’t fluent in English.
For those who are still unaware, JJ is an alum of Anglo-Chinese School and Saint Andrew’s Junior College, and like many Singaporeans, speaks English, Mandarin, and Hokkien.
Cue the flood of comments schooling the media outlet on their, well, strange caption.
“He’s Singaporean, so it’s perfectly normal for him to speak English well? It’s one of the country’s official languages,” stated one netizen.
“This caption is too funny, English is his first language,” penned an amused commenter, while another added: “He was born and raised in Singapore, what’s so shocking about [him speaking English]?”
Perhaps the post’s creators have heard JJ sing in Mandarin for so long that they forgot he speaks flawless English as well.
As one netizen quipped, “Singaporeans can usually speak English just fine… it’s just that JJ’s Mandarin is almost too good.”