Singapore students see Korean actor at fan meet in Taiwan

Miss Cindy Ng only started becoming a fan of Korean heart-throb du jour Song Joong Ki after watching his recent hit drama Descendants Of The Sun, which aired from February to April this year.

But she was the lucky one chosen to win a four-day, three-night all expenses paid trip to Taiwan and VIP tickets to the 30-year-old actor’s three-hour sold-out Taipei fan meet last Saturday (June 25).

It was held at the National Taiwan University gymnasium and attracted 4,000 fans.

The 18-year-old Kaplan Singapore student, a diehard viewer of the popular Korean variety show Running Man which Song previously starred in as one of the main cast members, is doing a psychology degree at the private education institution.

Cindy Ng (right) and her friend Goh Puay Ling won a trip to Taiwan for the exclusive fan meet with Korean actor Song Joong Ki. PHOTO: CINDY NG

It ran a contest that was open to the public from June 2 to 10 on its Facebook and Instagram pages.

Miss Ng saw the post on the Facebook page and clicked on a link to answer a question, and shared and liked the post to double her chances of winning. She was eventually picked using a randomiser app.

She told The New Paper: “I joined for fun. It was so unexpected that I actually won.”

The pair of fan meet tickets was worth NT$5,800 (S$242) each, and she took a friend along.

She said: “I don’t have friends who are crazy fans of him, but they told me, ‘You are very lucky’. They are disappointed that Singapore wasn’t one of the chosen locations for his Asia tour.”

Instead, it has been held in various cities in China and Bangkok, Thailand.

Miss Ng, who was seated at row 11 which she said was very near the stage, added: “I was so excited to see him for the first time in real life. He is very cute and charming, and also very good to his fans.

“He did a special performance of (Taiwanese singer) Hebe Tien’s song A Little Happiness from (the 2015 Taiwanese) movie Our Times. I feel that he did beyond what an artist should do and it was very touching.

“I could feel that he is very sincere and appreciates his fans a lot.

“Even when he was leaving the venue, he left by the main door and was waving and giving fans high fives.”

Five fans were chosen by Song on the spot by drawing lots based on their seat numbers and got to re-enact different scenes from Descendants Of The Sun with their idol.

Another three were picked by the event’s organisers based on their social media posts, in which they expressed a wish they wanted Song to fulfil.

For Miss Ng, her other favourite part of the night was watching special guest, Korean singer Gummy, perform the popular theme song You Are My Everything from Descendants Of The Sun.

She said: “I was quite shocked (it was her). I actually thought it might be (Song’s best friend and Running Man cast member) Lee Kwang Soo because he attended a previous fan meeting in Hong Kong.

“You Are My Everything is my favourite song from the soundtrack. It was just so unbelievable to hear her sing live. Her singing was really very good.”

This is the first time Kaplan Singapore has organised a contest with such an attractive prize and is one of its most successful social media campaigns.

It garnered close to 1,000 entries and 500 shares on Facebook, and more than 100 likes on Instagram.

A Kaplan spokesman told TNP: “Kaplan is more than just about academic pursuits, but also about being relevant and on trend, offering a holistic experience. We want to be able to connect with our youth audience who are avid consumers of entertainment... (and) this event will resonate well with them. It is also aligned with a wide range of related programmes we have such as Marketing, Hospitality and Events.”