By Kwok Kar Peng
SHE bought the air tickets, took leave from work, then woke up at 3am last Friday to catch a flight from Bogor, Indonesia, to Singapore.
Miss Dilla Dee did all that so she could buy tickets to popular Korean boy band Super Junior's concert at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Jan 29.
Fans were already queueing up at The Heeren shopping mall 28 hours before tickets officially went on sale at 10 am on Saturday.
However, Miss Dee, 25, an accounting administrator, fainted before she could get her hands on the prized stubs.
The Indonesian arrived here at 7am on Friday and stayed at the home of her friend, Candy Giovanni, a 17-year-old student.
The next day, the two of them went to The Heeren shopping mall at around 9am to begin their long wait.
By then, there were already 500 people in the queue.
Miss Dee and Candy joined in.
But at around 1.15pm, The New Paper heard loud and frantic calls for help from the queue.
Miss Dee had fainted.
This reporter and the medics on standby rushed to the woman, who was lying on the ground unconscious.
Candy told The New Paper: "Dilla hasn't eaten anything since our dinner at 8pm last night.
"She's supposed to take a 4pm flight back to Bogor today, but I don't think I want her to fly now."
Miss Dee eventually postponed her flight and left Singapore only yesterday.
The medics managed to wake her and put her on an oxygen tube after she regained consciousness.
She was then put on a stretcher and taken about 10m away to a less crowded spot at the shopping mall to rest.
But when her friend in the queue eventually made it to the ticket counter, Miss Dee insisted the medics wheel her over so that she could buy the tickets.
She said she wanted to get the tickets herself and also to choose which section she wanted.
Each person in the queue was limited to 4 tickets.
Miss Dee admitted that she's crazy about Super Junior, the 10-member pop group famous for its infectious dance hits Sorry, Sorry, Bonamana and It's You.
Only 5,000 tickets are on sale for the group's performance on the largest-ever stage at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
The group was here in June for a showcase performance.
All 2,000 tickets were snapped up within hours.
Ticket-holders also queued 37 hours at the showcase venue so they could get the best spot at the free-standing event.
On Saturday, 3,500 tickets reserved for Sistic phone, online and counter sales were sold out in about 1 1/2 hours.
The remaining 1,500 tickets, which were reserved specially for the Sistic counters at The Heeren, were sold out by 2.30pm.
We understand that all the fans who queued up there managed to get tickets.
Saturday's sales were only for SingTel mobile subscribers on a Samsung phone, and for OCBC cardmembers.
The three companies are sponsors of the concert.
Because of that, Miss Dee specially bought a $99 Samsung mobile phone and a $10 prepaid SingTel card after she arrived in Singapore.
She added that she had to come to Singapore herself because Candy does not have a Samsung phone and isn't a SingTel subscriber.
She doesn't have any other friends in Singapore.
Still dizzy
When we caught up with Miss Dee on Saturday night at Candy's house, she said that she still felt dizzy.
She added: "I didn't see a doctor because I don't like hospitals and also because I didn't bring a lot of money to Singapore."
On her fainting spell that afternoon, she said: "I freaked out (when I woke up) because I was scared that I didn't get to buy the tickets. I came all the way from Indonesia (just for this).
"I couldn't eat anything in the morning because I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get the tickets. When I finally bought them, I was so excited I couldn't breathe and had to be put on the oxygen tube again."
She spent $211 for her air ticket here.
The New Paper also spoke to four female students who almost didn't get the coveted tickets.
Two of them, who are 17, said they queued at the Sistic counter at Lot One Shoppers' Mall from 8am.
Another two 19-year-olds had queued at Junction 8 Shopping Centre, also from 8am.
But they were told at around 11.30am that the tickets had sold out.
All of them promptly headed to The Heeren, where they eventually got their tickets.
Said one girl, who declined to be named: "Only six people queueing at Junction 8 managed to buy tickets."
The quartet should count themselves lucky.
At concert promoter Running Into The Sun's (RITS) Facebook page, many disappointed fans ranted about their failure to get the tickets.
To add salt to their wounds, black market tickets were already on sale at eBay from 11am on Saturday.
There were at least four sellers by Saturday night.
Tickets priced originally at $208 were being sold for as much as $600 each.
Fans online also requested that the concert be held for an additional night.
An RITS spokesman said the company is considering the request and is checking Super Junior's schedule for availability.
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wei hong
I personally think that all of these fans are being too overzealous for those celebrities that they even give up their own health for a concert ticket. I think that this is a rather stupid thing to do, there is lots of way to support a celebrity if you want. Why bother to sacrifice your sleep and make yourself hunger just to watch a concert? Is it really worth it? What if you fall ill and become unable to support them anymore? Isn't it worst in this case?
I did not think that people will be able to starve from the hunger and queue for the tickets just to get a better point of view of the celebrities they are so fancy of. Maybe because they are not mature enough to think for themselves? How will their parents feel if they saw the sight of their own children faint in front of them? How hurting will it be for them? Consequences is bear by individuals but the pain is share among the closest one to you.
So to conclude, I think that they should be more responsible in terms of either for themselves or for the sake of their family members, as personal safety is the best gift to your closest one.
Melissa Tang
After reading this article, I strongly feel that people should not be too supportive of celebrities, singers,etc that they end up hurting their own health. I feel that no matter what we do, we should first think of our own health and safety. I feel that Miss Dee, the woman who fainted while queuing for Super Junior tickets as mentioned in the article should plan her schedule properly. Knowing that there is sales of Super Junior tickets plus there will be loads of people and waiting time will be super long, she should have brought some bread with her so that she can eat them when she is hungry and would not end up fainting.
In addition, I feel that people should not be so supportive. They can support and like those celebrities, singers, etc, but not in a crazy or outrageous manner. These will cause parents of their children to be worried. Even if they cannot get a ticket to their celebrities concert they should get over it and not cry or moan over it. I believe those overseas celebrities will come again next time. Or maybe you can visit them in their own country when they are performing there , when have the time. Most importantly, yes, we can support those celebrities but not so much so that you hurt your own health.
In conclusion, two most important things in our life is our own health and safety. If a person is healthy and safe, he or she can do whatever he wants. Whereas if a person is unhealthy, like in this case Miss Dee fainted while queuing for tickets, she ended up in the hospital. In worst cases, some people get trampled by super huge crowds that they end up losing their life or broken one of their limbs. I feel that these are all not worth it. Hence, I am not a huge fan of any celebrity, I just watch their shows and that is it. I would not go so crazy over them.
Jane Cheong:
In nowadays, the internet, iTunes, YouTube and all the possible means of music database that can be easily be accessed in the internet. Everything has been very accessible for everyone that we can even enjoy the music videos of another country with just a click away.
If you want updates about your favorite band even if they are not popular in the Singapore, nor America and Europe, you can easily go to forums, websites, blogs and various websites to know about their news. This is why now Korean KPOP is so famous in Singapore or other countries.
In my opinion, everything has their advantages and disadvantages; one of the disadvantages is the amount of celebrity hype created by the media causes many children to make irrational demands for designer clothing, accessories and other perks of the celebrity life that they are exposed to. Celebrities influence fans to be destructively thin, put harmful substances in their bodies, and many parents are concerned with the overall content these celebrities are putting on television, in movies, and over the Internet.
In this article I learn that we have to be rational and responsibilities to our parents and not too crazy to celebrities. Besides, celebrities need to change the way they act and how they are viewed. They have to realize that they need to be more concerned with themselves and with their portrayal in the media.
Suganthi:
After reading this article, i feel people are being to obsessed with their favourite celebrities and end up ruining their lives. This is to shocking to see Ms Dee whom is the fan of K-pop to faint while queuing up to get the tickets. This is not the right way to be a fan to celebrities. Even they are humans and need the rest so does Ms Dee. Straining herself just to get the tickets made things worst and now she is unable to attend the concert she was waiting for.
Health is more important than anything else. By not eating and queuing up for the Korean pop band tickets, they can only enjoy the show for a few hours not life long. Fans should note this point seriously. Giving their lives for celebrities wont do them any good.
Ms Dee should take this as a lesson learnt and should not strain herself to get the tickets. This celebrities will always come back again to stage a concert or by all means she can travel to watch their concert. A friendly advice is to keep some light snacks with her if next time in the situation. Learn to enjoy your favourite band in a safe manner.
