SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/ANN): There was no hiding the excitement among the tens of thousands of BigBang fans who turned up at the National Stadium on Oct 17 despite the heavy downpour and haze blanketing Singapore.
Armed with light sticks and concert merchandise, the K-pop boy bands’ fans, who mostly did not wear face masks, were determined not to let the smoky conditions spoil a night they had waited years for.
Among those who made their way to the venue were Tiffany, 28, and Emily Widjaja, 27. The sisters, with their two friends, had travelled from Indonesia specially to catch BigBang members G-Dragon, Taeyang and Daesung in the flesh.
All four were surprised by the haze situation in Singapore, which they said was reasonably worse than their home country.
“I came from Samarinda in East Kalimantan, where the fires are, but I am really surprised that it is hazier in Singapore,” said Emily, who arrived here last week.
Tiffany, who lives in Jakarta, echoed the same sentiments.
The concert, part of BigBang’s XX: Cosmos world tour, marks their 20th anniversary and its return to touring as a group after nine years.
The trio will perform a second show on Oct 18. An hour before the scheduled start time of 7pm on Oct 17, the 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) ranged from 129 to 196 across the island, while the one-hour PM2.5 concentration was 101 to 199, according to the National Environment Agency.
Still, the prospect of finally seeing G-Dragon, Taeyang and Daesung perform together was enough to keep spirits high.
Singaporean Aqilah Sariman, 22, who was dressed in a pink suit and hat inspired by the outfit G-Dragon wore to the 2024 MAMA Awards, was initially worried that the concert would be cancelled because of the haze.
But Long Li, 30, was not letting the haze rain on her parade, especially when she had flown in from Beijing. Sporting bright yellow hair like her idol G-Dragon, she bought tickets to both Singapore shows.
“This haze is nothing,” she said in Mandarin. “The smog in Beijing is worse.” -- The Straits Times/Asia News Network
