Asia News: Singapore Becomes Music Tourism Hub; Vietnam: BLACKPINK’s Nine-Dash Problem

SINGAPORE

The Secret Of Singapore’s Success

The emergence of Singapore as the main concert hub of Southeast Asia after securing sold-out, six-concert stadium runs by two of the biggest pop artists in the world has occasioned a great deal of commentary in local media about what it means.

The general feeling is that Singapore offers such artists state-of-the-art facilities and a top brand as a tourist attraction, thus obviating the need for them to travel throughout the region, where such facilities and resources are still not always available.

Southeast Asian fans now have money to spend and will travel to Singapore to see their favorite artists as long as they have an equal chance to gain tickets with Singapore fans. The Singapore authorities have made this happen by developing easy travel connectivity with neighbors through the Singapore Tourism Board, in addition to courting major concert promoters and cultivating the artists themselves.

One business management expert told Channel News Asia that Singapore “attracts artists and turns music lovers into tourists, allowing them to soak in the city’s other delights beyond concert time. Easy connectivity to other Southeast Asian cities means fans can flock to Singapore for a thrilling performance and fly back home with more than just concert memories.”

VIETNAM


BLACKPINK’s Nine-Dash Problem

BLACKPINK’s sold-out concerts in Hanoi, Vietnam, scheduled for July 29-30, seemed to be in jeopardy after a government ministry discovered that one of the promoters of the shows included a map of the region on its website featuring the infamous “nine-dash” line that China uses to indicate its purported territory in the South China Sea.

Reuters reported on July 6 that Vietnam’s culture ministry ordered an inspection of the website of promoter iME, which is organizing the concerts, “to verify the suspicion that the company…promoted the cow-tongue line,” which is what the Vietnamese call the u-shaped dashed line that China says contains its territory. Vietnam has challenged this assumption, saying the line encroaches on its own economic zone.

Later, the CEO of iME, which is headquartered in Beijing, released a statement saying that the incident was an “unfortunate misunderstanding” and that iME was “committed to replace the images that are not suitable for Vietnamese.”