Fan chooses seeing Jackie Chan over final thesis presentation

Jackie Chan willingly goes to extemes in his films. Some of his fans will go to extremes in the hope of meeting him.

Miss Tiara Sungkar, 21, who lives in Jakarta, Indonesia, postponed her final year thesis presentation just to see the Hong Kong action star at a fan meet held at Plaza Singapura on Friday evening.

It was also her first time abroad and had rushed to the immigration office to make her passport just ten days before the event.

"It is my first time travelling out of the country and I was very excited to see him, it was like a dream come true," said the final year Indonesian Institute of Technology university student.

"I always sing his songs and imitate his moves from the videos I've watched."

The fan of fourteen years, who travelled with her sister, Tamimi, 22, told The New Paper that she also postponed her Chemical Engineering thesis meeting, where she was supposed to make her final presentation with her lecturer to travel to Singapore.

"I told my lecturer the truth and begged him for permission to postpone the meeting. He agreed."

She did not find any resistance from her parents either as they were fully aware how big a fan Tiara is.

Tamimi added that her sister loves Chan so much that she went to take up martial arts just to feel closer to Chan. Tiara is a first Dan black belt in Taekwondo and plans to start Wing Chun soon.

"She also has a dream to become his stunt man.", Tamimi confessed on her sister's behalf.

Tiara's plan is to follow Chan's stunt team next year.

Though Tiara first saw Chan in Snake In The Eagle's Shadow (1978), her favourite Jackie Chan movie is 2004's New Police Story.

"I think it has a good storyline and I like how Jackie played Chan Kwok-Wing. He was deeply connected with his role."

The duo, who spent about $1,000 in total to travel to Singapore, was disappointed when they did not manage to take a photo with him on Friday evening.

Said Tiara: "We are really sad about it."

Another fan, Mr Sai Shetra, 19, however, was one of the lucky ones.

The tertiary student, who was first in line, said he had queued since 9am and was hoping to take a selfie and get an autograph with Chan during the fan meet.

And he did.

"It was a legit miracle, because Jackie saw me, smiled, and asked one of the security officers there to take my disk, signed it and gave me a thumbs up," said the fan of 14 years.

"I have been a fan of him since I was five years old and my first movie I've watched was Shanghai Knights but I enjoyed Rush Hour 3 the most."

Shared Mr Sai, in terms of the comedy and chemistry, he felt that what both Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker shared on screen was really amazing.

At a press conference held before his fan meet, Chan, 62, shared his harrowing experience about his brush with death while filming in London.

"I had been feeling unwell, but the pain was so overwhelming that I was rushed to the hospital and had to go through a five hour operation.

"It turns out that my skin and muscle has rotted and my intestines were out of alignment."

During the operation, his assistants waited outside, crying.

But there was no rest.

"The doctor told me to stop filming immediately but I rested for a day, and then started working the next day," said Chan.

"I also went to Iceland to film in cold water shortly after."

When asked if he has given any advice to Heavenly King Andy Lau, who suffered a pelvic injury after being thrown off a horse while shooting a tea commercial on Tuesday, Chan said: "I knew about the incident and have since called him through his manager on Thursday to ask about his condition.

"I think it is very hard to give any advice, he is also someone who would want to do everything himself if he can.

"He is now back in Hong Kong for treatment, and if there is any new development, they will inform me."