JJ Lin, the Singaporean singer, took home two awards at the 2025 Asia Artist Awards in Taiwan, surprising many with his fluency in English. The 44-year-old, the only non-K-pop act among the nine winners in the singer category, delivered his acceptance speech in both Mandarin and English. In his speech, he expressed his dream of performing on a global stage, transcending language and culture barriers. He also thanked his fans, his team, and the Asia Artist Awards for their support. A Taiwanese media outlet shared a clip of his speech, captioning it as 'delivered entirely in English, leaving the crowd stunned.' However, netizens were quick to point out that JJ's English proficiency is expected, given his Singaporean background and education. Many questioned the media's caption, suggesting that it was surprising only because they had forgotten about his English skills, which are common among Singaporeans due to the country's official language status. One netizen humorously noted, 'Singaporeans can usually speak English just fine... it’s just that JJ’s Mandarin is almost too good.'
