SINGAPORE: Millions Vie For Tickets to Taylor Swift’s Only Stop in Southeast Asia

Posted by Asia Views | Jul 11, 2023 | 0 |

JakartaPost/Reuters-July 11

After standing in line for 36 hours, Qayyum Lukman on Friday emerged triumphant from a kiosk where he had just scored tickets to see pop sensation Taylor Swift perform in Singapore, her only stop in Southeast Asia next year. When Swift brings her acclaimed “Eras Tour” to Singapore next March, Lukman will be one of the 300,000 fans, called “Swifties”, in the audience for one of the six shows in the city state. “I feel great, I’m stressed out, oh my God, I’m just overwhelmed! I don’t know what to think, indescribable, I’m very happy I got tickets! Yeah, woohoo!,” said Lukman. But many “Swifties” across the region of more than half a billion couldn’t get a ticket, partly as a result of a post-pandemic spike in demand for concerts and entertainment. The demand has led to rising prices that some economists have termed “Swiftflation”. Holders of UOB bank credit cards were given preferred access, prompting a 45 percent surge in daily credit card applications in Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam the week Swift announced her concert dates, according to media. Indonesian Friski Riana, 31, joined virtual queues of millions of fans, even borrowing her friend’s credit card to try and get tickets. “I waited for three hours but I failed to get a ticket,” Friski said. Hours after the pre-sale closed, touts were marking up S$358 (US$264.73) tickets to at least S$1,000 on marketplace app Carousell. Last month, British band Coldplay saw similar “overwhelming demand” according to LiveNation Singapore, and added an extra three nights in Singapore despite playing a night each in Jakarta, Bangkok, Manila and Kuala Lumpur in the coming months. Amid the ticket frenzy for Swift this week, Singapore’s central bank was even asked if concerts like hers would add to inflation woes, while the Business Times reported a spike in prices for flights and hotels the week “Taytay” performs on the island. Read more at: https://www.thejakartapost.com/paper/2023/07/11/millions-vie-for-tickets-to-taylor-swifts-only-stop-in-southeast-asia.html

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EXTRICATING NDONESIAN CHILDREN FROM ISIS INFLUENCE ABROAD

Indonesia urgently needs to revisit the possibility of repatriating the neediest of its young citizens stranded abroad, whose families had earlier joined ISIS. Most of these children are in camps in northern Syria but there are also small numbers in the Philippines, Afghanistan and Iraq. “Extricating Indonesian Children from ISIS Influence Abroad”, the latest report from the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) argues that the government could begin by bringing back small groups of unaccompanied children under ten years of age, who pose minimal security risk and are most vulnerable to deteriorating conditions in the camps.“The problem is that health and security conditions are worsening by the day in the Syrian camps, and the children are growing older,” says Dyah Kartika, IPAC analyst. “They need access to schools, a nurturing environment, and medical attention. If the government waits too long, the children will be further exposed to ISIS ideology.” The new report examines a 2019 list of Indonesians in camps and prisons run by the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The Indonesian government has been trying to verify their citizenship, but with pseudonyms, misspellings and bad transliterations, it is a daunting task. At the time the data was collected, between March and June 2019, there were 555 Indonesians in SDF camps and prisons, including 367 children. Among the children, approximately 277 were under the age of ten and 34 were unaccompanied. In June 2021, there are fewer than ten children who are both unaccompanied and under the age of ten that could be prioritized for return. Bringing back children of ISIS families is no easy task. The report analyses the main challenges faced by the Indonesian government. These include definitional issues, bureaucratic competition, the difficulty of verifying nationality, evaluating the toll of exposure to conflict, assessing security risk, and finding relatives or others willing to provide care once the children are returned. In addition, COVID has meant stringent restrictions on travel, placing further obstacles in the way of repatriation. There are several models for rehabilitation of children exposed to violent extremism in Indonesia that could be modified to accommodate the needs of children repatriated from abroad. The report examines these models and argues that the government does not need to have every detail of rehabilitation programs in place before it starts extricating children from ISIS influence. It can start by bringing back the most vulnerable children and then modify programs as needed.

“It’s important that the government see these children as victims” says Dyah. “They deserve a chance to be children again.”

SINGAPORE: Millions Vie For Tickets to Taylor Swift’s Only Stop in Southeast Asia

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