JULY 5 — At Beerfest this year, some friends and I caught a special edition of the Singapore Comedy Club which promised to determine which side of the Causeway packed more of a punch when it came to laughter.

The four comedians — Rizal van Geyzel, Kavin Jay, Jinx Yeo and Fakkah Fuzz — were all hilarious and in the end the unscientific method of voting by applause declared Singapore the winner.

In the haze of friends, drinks and laugher — I cheered along but it got me thinking. Who is actually funnier? And I don’t mean laughing at but rather laughing with. Which of these two tribes has a better sense of humour?

So I too employed my own vote with a question posed in a busy WhatsApp chat with friends: Singapore vs Malaysia: Who is funnier?

Within seconds four replied.

“Malaysia”

“Malaysia”

“Malaysia”

“Malaysia”

The writer thinks Allan Perera and Indi Nadarajah (standing) are funnier than Kumar. — Picture from blog.instantcafetheatre.com

I was a little surprised as the group polled consisted exclusively of Singaporeans but I think I know what’s going on here.

Some time ago, I switched my default commuter car radio station from local to Malaysian station Hitz FM (we get good reception across Singapore).

Why do I choose to listen to a station with completely irrelevant traffic updates and news from another country? Basically because it is funnier.

There’s less of the faux American accents and some genuinely hysterical pieces — skits, prank calls and parodies using Manglish (really that’s the term for Malaysian English — I think our northern cousins lost that battle).

A recent song parody featured a line that got stuck in my head for days, “Hey Shorty. Hey Pendek.”

It is an easier listen and comparing both countries’ English media — the Malaysian voice comes across as more comfortable with itself. It’s also a lot more diverse in its cultural references drawing equally on Malay, Chinese and Indian ethnic experiences.

Personally, I prefer Allan Perera & Indi Nadarajah to our iconic Kumar’s antics but is it just my taste? No, because when I see humour from this part of the world go viral — it is usually something Malaysian.  What I’m wondering though is why this should be?

I mean you could argue that Malaysia has more people so inevitably it has more funny people. But I am not sure I buy that because we have of all this disposable income and a vast middle class who benefit from an English-based education system so they can spend their days — watching the greats from Eddie Murphy to Bobby Lee and doing their own impersonations.

So maybe it’s the old trope that Singaporeans can’t help but take themselves too seriously to be funny. Certainly, the overabundance of painfully forced accents on the radio inclines me to this conclusion.

But as academics have observed when they try to study humour — the basis of humour is mishap. And sure there is a lot to complain about in Singapore but the situation in Malaysia veers steadily into the absurd a lot more frequently: from the ultra-conservative busy bodies trying determinedly to cover every visible part of the human body and the bureaucratic buffoonery.

Like so many Malaysian stand-ups have observed: you have to laugh or you will cry lah.

Or maybe the free(er) Malaysian media helps too. After all, Malaysia placed 147 to our 153. Six places ahead of us leh.

Anyway I for one am prepared to give it to them on this — the food battles remain — but I’ll admit this: Malaysia is funnier.

However, in the end as one comedian summed up at Beerfest 2015 — at least we have the freedom to have a festival of booze. In Malaysia, for how much longer?

So, who is actually having the last laugh?

* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.