$4,000 to see Min Ho?

SINGAPORE- Singapore fans of Korean star Lee Min Ho were shocked when someone tried to sell a free pair of tickets to his private event here for $4,000.

This person had posted the offer on Lee's local fan club Minoz Singapore's Facebook page.

Why the exorbitant price?

These coveted tickets - only a hundred were available - were for the private event by Korean cosmetics brand Innisfree Festa.

There were neither public ticket sales nor a fan meeting open to the public.

The tickets could only be obtained from a free goodie bag and won from an Instagram competition.

Both mechanics were determined by the company.

Lee, 26, was in town on Tuesday as Innisfree Festa's spokesman and met the media for a press conference at the Pan Pacific Singapore hotel.

The private fan event was held afterwards at the same venue.

Tickets to the event were given out at the Innisfree Festa store launch at Takashimaya on Nov 22.

Each of the 45 goodie bags had a pair of tickets in them.

Fans were also able to win the other tickets in an Instagram contest, where they had to post creative Innisfree-related pictures.

Innisfree Festa also gave five tickets to the administration team for Minoz Singapore, the official fan club here.

One of the team members, Ms Siti Noraisyah, 26, a retail assistant, told The New Paper: "This is not right. How can people think of selling a pair of free tickets for $4,000?

"I don't know if anyone bought them but it's true that many people were asking to buy tickets on our Facebook page.

Despite the high level of interest in the pricey tickets, it is unclear if the tickets were sold.

Said Ms Noraisyah: "I know that many of Min Ho's fans were very disappointed because he didn't have a fan meeting here, so we're working with his management to see if he can hold one here next year."

She said that the fans who had flown in from China, Thailand and Indonesia to attend the private event had either asked their Singapore friends to queue for the Innisfree Festa goodie bags or were more likely to have bought the tickets online, off the black market.

So what did fans who couldn't get a ticket miss?

Food like salmon sandwiches, kueh pie tee and tarts were served before the half-an-hour event started an hour late at 7.30pm..

The fans were dressed in green as per the instructions on their tickets, and had to write messages on paper to Lee.

They were told that Lee would pick three of them (whose messages he liked best) to take a picture with him.

Lee turned up looking dashing and flashed his mega-watt smile at his swooning admirers.

One of the messages to him turned out to be the question: "How do you keep your skin flawless?"

He replied that as an actor who often uses make-up, he has to take good care of his skin and he always uses a foam cleanser.

Said Ms Noraisyah: "The fans who were chosen ended up shaking his hand and hugging him. The other girls were so envious, going: 'Oh man!'

"Then Min Ho picked another five fans and presented them with gifts from Innisfree Festa.

"Before the event ended, he said that he knew that the last time he was here was three years ago, and he saw some familiar faces today.

"I think he was referring to us because he said it after he saw our Minoz Singapore banner."

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