Asia News: Philippines Ticket Gouging Probe Floated; Russian Pianist Pulls Out Of Hong Kong; Twice Opening For Coldplay

PHILIPPINES

Pol Calls For Tix Gouging Probe

Another Asian politician is calling for legislation to rein in profligate online ticket scalping in his country. 

The Philippines’ Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, who is running for a senate seat he once held in the past, has called for an investigation in widespread price-gouging for secondary tickets to the upcoming reunion concerts by K-pop girl group 2NE1, which take place at the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila on Nov. 16-17.

Tickets for the two shows went on sale in early October and sold out quickly. Subsequently, many of the tickets reappeared on the web at “exorbitant prices,” according to Inquirer.net. 

Pangilinan posted on his X account, “Many Filipino concertgoers have been duped by scalpers and this upcoming concert by 2NE1 is another chance for scalpers to swindle our countrymen. Because ticket selling is now done online, the use of AI and bots needs to be investigated too.” 

The candidate reports that he’s seen secondhand ticket prices that are as much as four times their face value, and points to other recent instances of scalping for shows by Olivia Rodrigo, who purposely set her ticket prices low. Scalpers were selling them for more than 10 times their face value. 

The country has no national anti-scalping laws, though some municipalities have passed ordinances against the practice. Consequently, Pangilinan has proposed a national anti-scalping law to “maintain control over the distribution of tickets” and maintain the Philippines’ “reputation.” 

HONG KONG

Russian Pianist Cancels, China Pressure Suspected

Acclaimed Russian pianist Evgeny Kissin has canceled his Nov. 16 concert in Hong Kong, thus sparking speculation in the Asian press that the Chinese government may have banned the appearance due to Kissin’s support for Ukraine. The Russian government has subsequently labeled the pianist a “foreign agent,” and China is an ally of Russia.

According to the South China Morning Post, the Hong Kong government’s Leisure and Cultural Services Department simply said that Kissin “is unable to come to Hong Kong to perform as planned.” 

However, Hong Kong was one stop on Kissin’s Asia tour, which will also include Taiwan, South Korea, and six concerts in Japan, all of which are going ahead as planned, so, as the Taiwan Times put it, “obviously, the cancellation was not due to health reasons.” 

Kissin possesses both Israeli and British passports and has not lived in Russia for some time. His manager at IMG Artists said in a statement to the SCMP that “Mr. Kissin very much regrets not to be able to perform in Hong Kong and to disappoint so many of his fans … We do not have any further information to share regarding the cancellation of the Hong Kong recital other than what was officially communicated by the presenter.” 

The LCSD told the SCMP, however, that it was Kissin who decided to cancel the concert “due to scheduling reasons” and that the LCSD would “consider organizing a recital again when the opportunity arises.”

MALAYSIA

Woman Gives Birth Outside Jay Chou Concert

Malaysian media have reported that a woman gave birth outside of Kuala Lumpur’s Bukit Jalil Stadium while Taiwanese Mandopop star Jay Chou was giving a concert. 

On the evening of Oct. 26, the woman was waiting outside the venue when she suddenly started experiencing labor pains. A video taken by a bystander shows a crowd cheering on the woman, and then shouts when the baby emerged. Later, the video also showed an ambulance arriving with paramedics placing the woman on a stretcher.

There is no news as to whether Chou himself was made aware of the incident, but it caused quite a sensation on Chinese language social media, with most commenters marveling that the mother actually decided to go to a concert in her condition.

Axiata Arena Booked Through Year’s End

Malaysia’s Youth and Sports Minister, Hannah Yeoh, announced on Nov. 5 that the Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil is now fully booked with concerts until the end of the year, highlighting the fact that concert operators have succeeded in taking advantage of the large market for international performers in Malaysia. 

According to Malay Mail, Yeoh said, “I have engaged with 16 concert operations companies, and they have expressed interest in bringing many artists. Malaysia has this unique quality. Even if we can’t get Taylor Swift, we have a diverse community here with artists from Hong Kong, China, Hindustan, Tamil, Indonesia, Korea, Japan, Europe, the UK, the U.S., as well as local artists – there’s a wide variety because of the large market here.”

Yeoh was responding to a lawmaker who asked if the ministry’s effort to increase national revenue through attracting international concerts has yet seen any success. Her response was to point to the Axiata Arena, which is primarily a hockey arena, and its ability to hold international-level shows. 

She added that as of October, revenue at Kuala Lumpur Sports City for non-sports events has been quadruple that of sporting events.

MACAU

Gaming Biz Smashes Post-COVID Records

Macau’s gaming industry set a new post-COVID income record in October, according to Edge Malaysia. Gross gaming revenue for the Chinese territory reached $2.6 billion for the month, a 6.6% increase over last October’s revenues and a whopping 20% increase over September’s. However, the totals are still below pre-pandemic levels in 2019.

The main driver was tourists from the mainland celebrating China’s seven-day holiday, which is called Golden Week. An average of 142,000 people arrived every day, a number that actually exceeded pre-COVID tallies for the holiday period. 

Another factor that increased visits was concert appearances at the end of the month by pop stars from South Korea and Hong Kong, as well as Placido Domingo’s first appearance in Macau since 2015 as part of the Galaxy International Convention Center’s Opera Gala on October 20, which took place at one of Macau’s biggest integrated resorts, the Galaxy Macau. 

At the same time, Macau is facing a new set of regulations from Beijing, which means to crack down on capital outflow and money laundering. 

In October, the local legislature passed a gambling crimes bill that criminalizes unlicensed money exchange, which is believed to be widespread in the casinos. 

Also in October, the city elected a new leader, former judge Sam Hou Fei, who has promised to get tough with the gaming industry’s overheated influence over the territory, saying that he would like the city to move away from casinos as a means of generating revenue.

KOREA

Twice To Open Coldplay’s Six Shows

The Korea Herald has reported that the opening act for all six upcoming South Korean shows of Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres tour will be the K-pop girl group Twice. 

The concerts will take place April 16, 18-19, 22, 24 and 25 at the Goyang Sports Complex in Goyang, which holds more than 40,000 people. 

The nine-member group recently finished its fifth world tour, which consisted of 51 concerts in 27 cities. 

Twice will release its 14th mini-album on Dec. 6.