Miss Cindy Ng started becoming a fan of South Korean heart-throb Song Joong Ki only after watching his recent hit drama Descendants Of The Sun, which aired from February to April this year. But the Kaplan Singapore student was the lucky one chosen to win a four-day, three-night all expense paid trip to Taiwan, and VIP tickets to the 30-year-old actor’s three-hour sold-out Taipei fan meet last Saturday.
It was held at the National Taiwan University gymnasium and attracted 4,000 fans.
The 18-year-old — who is a diehard viewer of the popular South Korean variety show Running Man of which Song was once a main cast member — is doing a psychology degree at the private education institution.
Kaplan Singapore 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 Facebook and clicked on a link to answer a question. She then shared and liked the post to increase her chances of winning.
She was picked at random.
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$240) each, and she took a friend along.
She said: “I don’t have friends who are crazy fans of his, 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 in 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, who drew lots based on their seat numbers, to re-enact scenes from Descendants Of The Sun with him.
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, another highlight was watching special guest, South Korean singer Gummy, perform the popular theme song You Are My Everything from Descendants Of The Sun.
Fans knew there would be a special guest but did not know the guest’s identity.
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 nearly 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.”
Article by Tracy Low
Source: The New Paper© Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Permission required for reproduction.