A Malaysian walks into a bar with a ukulele, asks for Singaporeans, and...

She skewers white privilege, racial politics, sexual preconceptions and the message of the Islamic State, among other things – and does it with a ukulele and a melodic voice that is completely at odds with her often hilariously inappropriate subject matter.

Hannan Azlan is a bookish-looking 22-year-old Malaysian woman who grew up as a precocious musician and theatre student, and just last year decided to give stand-up comedy a try. Now she’s the youngest comedian and the first woman ever to win the Hong Kong International Comedy Competition since its inception a decade ago.

“I give her a lot of credit, she was the only female comedian out of the 30 comedians who competed and she won it all… Her act is quite unique, definitely unusual, with the ukulele, funny, funny songs, charisma, stage presence – people love her,” says Jami Gong, founder and director of the Hong Kong International Comedy Festival.

“For someone so young… you can definitely tell, a star is born. Afterwards with her winning, many other comedians, especially female comedians, came up to me and were inspired.”

She shrugs off a question about whether she feels more free to do “edgy” jokes in Hong Kong than she would back at home in Malaysia

“I wouldn’t say so, I’ve done edgy jokes, I’ve done really dirty jokes, I’ve done whaaa? jokes in Malaysia, depending on the crowd, so not every time, same here in Hong Kong.”