Fan's child has his name

SINGAPORE - He once had a pregnant Korean fan ask him if she could name her baby after him.

Kim Him Chan, member of popular K-pop boyband B.A.P, was surprised but agreed.

The 24-year-old is in Singapore with the rest of his group mates for their concert at The Star Theatre at 7pm today.

B.A.P, which stands for Best Absolute Perfect, consists of Bang Yongguk, 24; Kim Himchan, 24; Jung Daehyun, 20; Yoo Youngjae, 20; Moon Jongup, 19; and Zelo, 17.

Recounting the incident at a press conference at The Star Loft yesterday, Kim said: "I said okay, so her child is named Him Chan. It's amusing. It's not something I experience all the time.

"My name means energetic in Korean, so I hope the kid will have a good life and be energetic as well."

Nothing of that sort happened when the sextet showed up at City Square Mall last evening for a fan meet, which attracted over 3,000 screaming fans.

A hundred lucky fans were selected to go on stage for a "high-five" session with the K-pop stars and another 300 had the chance to get the idols' coveted autographs.

Student Nadia Shihan, 17, was the first to go on stage to get an autograph. She found it exciting and overwhelming to see her favourite idols up close.

She said: "I feel that the moment passed by too fast and everything happened so quickly. I wanted time to stand still so I could see them more clearly (up) close.

"B.A.P are my favourite boy band because their music is unique and their vocals are powerful yet soothing."

Student Lek Wen Xuan, 18, agreed, saying: "It was exciting because we don't usually get to see the boys so close. It was memorable. I said hi to Him Chan and he said hi back and we high-fived. I feel fortunate and happy to see them."

Student Grace Liaw, 18, added: "Jongup wrote my name on the album before signing it. I feel lucky. I spoke a little Korean to him and didn't expect him to understand, but he did. He looked shy and was smiling away."

B.A.P is the cream of the crop among K-pop's rising stars.

They debuted in early 2012 and bagged 13 Best Newcomer awards at various award ceremonies in the same year, including the prestigious Melon Music Awards and Gaon Chart K-pop Awards.

They stood out from other cookie-cutter K-pop boy bands in the industry with their hit single Warrior, a powerful and explosive track that caught the attention of both fans and music critics.

Within two days of its release, Warrior sold over 10,000 copies in South Korea. The band's debut album Power sold out its initial batch of 30,000 copies in South Korea.

The popular boy band is gearing up for their comeback and will release their new single on June 3.

DIFFERENT

Leader Bang hinted at a new image for the group and said: "Unlike our previous manly image, we are going for the acoustic and unplugged genre for our new song, so it's quite different. We want to try something new. Hopefully, it's dynamic. We hope the fans will like it."

The two-year-old band also feel that they have grown a lot.

Kim said: "We recently watched our debut music video and we feel we are more relaxed on stage now as compared to the past. We are also enjoying ourselves more."

My name means energetic in Korean, so I hope the kid will have a good life and be energetic as well.

- B.A.P member Kim Him Chan on a fan naming her baby after him.

It was exciting because we don't usually get to see the boys so close. It was memorable.

- Student Lek Wen Xuan on the fan meet

This article was first published on May 31, 2014.
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