Social media has been talking about the story of “Bea” (not her real name), the teenage K-pop fan who was the subject of a recent episode of award-winning documentary show Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho on GMA-7, after it revealed that she stole about PHP2 million (US$36,303.24) from her grandmother to fund her massive K-pop collection. One prized item from her collection included a series of limited-edition NCT photocards that cost PHP50,000 (US$907.58) each.
Yet in the same vein, K-pop fans have aired fears about their safety shortly after the episode aired.
The fan page Going Factory posted a collection of stories that have surfaced online, many of which subject K-pop fans being interrogated by strangers as to whether their photocards were stolen — with one even experiencing having her photocard featuring BTS’ Jimin snatched by a thief.
“K-op stans this is getting alarming,” the page wrote. “Let’s all refrain from displaying our photo cards and use lomo cards first, it seems that a lot of people have been blinded by the Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho episode about Bea, the K-pop collector,” it warned.
The page also took a swipe at the documentary show for not having thought of the consequences the episode would have on the welfare of K-pop fans.
“To be frank, the producers could have kept the prices hidden and not blatantly parade it on national TV. It’s only 1 DAY after the airing of the episode and I’m seeing accounts tweeting their horrible experiences already,” it wrote.
The page also advised collectors to refrain from posting K-pop-looking mail stickers or other paraphernalia when shipping out parcels that contain merchandise or other related items. “There were instances of robbed parcels before, how much more after the episode yesterday,” it said.
“Wish you tried to think about the consequences before airing that episode. After airing that [episode], a lot of K-pop fans have been put at risk. If they’re not being accused of thieves, they’re the ones being stolen from,” one commenter alleged. “Remember, most of the K-pop community are students and minors. What if while we’re walking down the street somebody threatens us with a knife just because they think our photo cards are worth 50K? We might not even receive our packages anymore.”
“No one used to notice the Astro lomo cards I had on display, but now it seems it’s all people see. Everyone is asking me if my cards cost 50K each, I just told them I printed them out. Now hubby is telling me to be more vigilant because we now may be the target of a robbery because people know I’m a K-pop fan,” another shared.
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