The craziest things we do for our idols

How far would you go to meet your favourite idols?

About a week ago, two female students were arrested for misusing their boarding passes to enter Changi Airport’s transit area to meet Korean hip-hop artiste Simon Dominic.

As the two students had no intention to depart Singapore, they were liable for an offence under the Protected Areas and Protected Places Act.

While most fans are probably contented with admiring their idols from far, some do not mind going the extra mile…even if it means making questionable decisions.

Here are the craziest things some youths did to catch a whiff of their idols.

“When I was in Manchester for a holiday in 2016, I woke up early on a cold and drizzly morning and took an Uber with my sister to Old Trafford, as there were news that Manchester United was training there.

We waited for about an hour outside the stadium, but there were no signs of the players nor fans. We then found out that the squad was training at their conventional training ground at Aon Training Complex. It was seven miles away and I convinced my hesitant sister to make a trip down.

At the training ground, we joined fans who were already there for hours, in hopes to see any players arriving. It took another two hours of waiting in the cold rain before our efforts finally paid off. Mata arrived.

I felt bad making my sister wait in such conditions, but I suppose most good things are worth waiting for.” – Lester Thio, 23, student

“Back in 2012, my favourite Icelandic band Sigur Rós came to Singapore and performed at Fort Canning Park. My boyfriend and I missed the ticket sales dates. It was sold out within a few weeks, and I could hardly find anyone who is reselling the tickets.

Together with my boyfriend, we decided to explore the landscape around the concert area to look for an alternative entrance. We eventually took our chances by climbing over a wall with historic gravestones in Fort Canning Park to get to the concert area.

Even if I was bumped with bruises and cuts from scaling a rather huge wall, it was all worth hearing Sigur Rós’ therapeutic tunes.” – Bella Lim, 22, student

“Lady Gaga came to Singapore in 2012 for her Born This Way Ball tour. Back then, she had this little practice: if you’re the first person in line for her concert, you’ll get the Monster Pit Key, which also means that you can go backstage to meet her.

I went with a group of fans to queue on the first night, but we failed to be the first in line. We figured the only other way to meet Lady Gaga is to try going for another night.

I bought tickets for the third night and started queuing a day before the concert. We slept outside the stadium for one night and were the third in line.

Fortunately, I was with the same group of fans from the first day and we were the first five people in the line. Since the first person could bring friends backstage, that was how I got backstage to meet Lady Gaga.” – Jayme Chong, 19, student

“I was at an All Time Low concert held at Wavehouse in 2010. The concert had a pretty wild and hyped up crowd. Two girls approached my friend and I in midst of the concert to see if we were willing to lift them up on our shoulders.

Despite the surprising request, we agreed to lift them up. Well, they are lovely girls after all.

While they’re up on our shoulders, one of the girls hit me with another surprise: “Hold me still for a while, I’m taking out my bra.”

What came next was her hurling her bra to the stage, only to see All Time Low members, picking and hanging the bra up on their microphone stand. They did shout outs to fans, and read the personal messages written on the bras in between songs.

I may have been at loss of words at that time, but in retrospect, the connection between the fans and All Time Low was definitely a refreshing experience to witness in person.” – Darren Yang, 23, student