SHE admits her command of Mandarin is not fantastic.

But local singer Kelly Poon insists she would never make her country look bad.

The 25-year-old is fending off criticisms that she had 'shamed Singapore' on a Taiwanese variety show.

On the show called Variety Big Brother, Kelly was among a group of celebrities who were asked by host Chang Fei to come up with a Chinese idiom to praise a performance they had witnessed.

The episode, which was recorded in October last year, was aired here last Sunday on StarHub Cable Channel 56.

On her turn, instead of coming up with an idiom, she said with gusto: 'Fei chang li hai!' ('very amazing' in Chinese).

When this was rejected, she allegedly retorted that 'there are no Chinese idioms in Singapore', reported Shin Min Daily News.

Singaporean netizens who had seen the show blasted her, saying that 'not only has she shamed herself, she has shamed the whole of Singapore'.

One netizen angrily pointed out that 'every Singaporean Chinese who went through their O-level examinations would at least have to learn and memorise 100 idioms', so how could she say there are no idioms in Singapore?

Popular forum Hardware Zone was rife with angry remarks too, ranging from how she has 'thrown Singapore's face away' to her being a 'national disgrace'.

But in a phone interview with The New Paper yesterday, she denied making the 'idiom' remark.

'It wasn't me'

'It wasn't from me at all,' she said with a sigh. 'It was another Taiwanese female actress. It's just that when we were recording that episode, I really didn't catch her saying it.

'If I had, of course I would have jumped up instantly and shouted an idiom on the spot to prove her wrong!'

She said: 'I went through the Singapore education system, studied Chinese as my mother tongue, and I would never put my own country in a state of shame.'

As for her boo-boo in offering an expression instead of an idiom, she said she had 'tried too hard' to be 'funny' by playing on Chang Fei's name - hence 'Fei chang li hai'.

'I wanted to create more laughs, but in retrospect, maybe I overdid it.'

To bloggers who have told her to 'brush up on her Chinese' before venturing into the Taiwan and China markets, Kelly said she 'is constantly working hard to master the language'.

The singer hopes Singaporeans do not take everything they see on Taiwanese programmes too seriously.

The incident echoed a similar one last February.

Taiwanese actor Shen Dong-Ching also incurred the wrath of Singapore netizens when he went on a popular Taiwanese talkshow and started mimicking 'the way Singaporeans speak English'.

Adding fuel to the fire was a Taiwanese English teacher, who claimed Singaporeans pronounced 'pregnant' as 'pegnant'.

Both subsequently apologised.

This article was first published in The New Paper.