SINGAPORE – For more than a decade, civil servant Ong Poh Hoon has followed South Korean star Bae Suzy from drama to drama. 

The 47-year-old Singaporean finally came face to face with her idol on July 17 at Japanese haircare brand Tsubaki’s 20th anniversary pop-up at Plaza Singapura, after winning a coveted meet-and-greet photo opportunity in a Watsons lucky draw.

The notification that she had won came on July 13 while she was holidaying in Seoul. Ong recalled frantically searching for the physical receipt after being told she might have to produce it as proof of entry to the event.

“I was panicking, searching high and low… who keeps physical receipts nowadays?” Ong told The Straits Times.

A longtime fan since Suzy’s 2011 breakout drama Dream High, Ong subsequently looked up Suzy’s music videos, such as Bad Girl Good Girl (2010), Good-bye Baby (2011) and Hush (2013), when the actress-singer was part of K-pop girl group Miss A that debuted in 2010 and disbanded in 2017.

Ong, whose favourite Suzy series is the 2017 hit While You Were Sleeping, tried to get a glimpse of the star when she was in town in March 2025 for French luxury brand Celine’s event at Ion Orchard. However, Ong found herself too far back in the crowd to see anything clearly. 

But she finally found herself standing just centimetres away from Suzy, calling the experience of seeing her for the first time in the flesh a “dream come true”.

“Suzy really deserves the title of ‘Nation’s First Love’,” said Ong, referring to the nickname given by South Korean media. “She always looks so flawless — especially her hair. How to live up to her standard?”