K-pop group Babymonster spotted at Lady Gaga's Singapore concert
It turns out that Little Monsters weren't the only monsters enjoying the first night of Lady Gaga's four-day concert in Singapore. Members of K-pop girl group Babymonster – Ruka, Pharita, Asa, Rora and Chiquita – were seen in their best Drip at Mother Monster's show, one day after their sold-out show at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Missing from the festivities were members Ahyeon, who had left for South Korea ahead of the others, and Rami, who is currently on hiatus due to health concerns.
According to multiple attendees, Babymonster enjoyed Sunday's show from the stadium's executive suite.
The group's appearance at Lady Gaga's gig comes a year after member Pharita flew into Singapore to catch Taylor Swift's Eras Tour concert.
Babymonster's concert, which took place on Saturday (May 17), saw the group delighting fans, known as Monstiez, with hits such as Sheesh, Forever and Drip.
Babymonster also treated attendees to surprise covers of labelmate Blackpink's Kill This Love and As If It's Your Last.
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A post shared by Lady Gagita (@ladygagitaofficial)
Lady Gaga's show on Sunday was especially memorable for Filipino drag performer Lady Gagita, who caught the eye of Gaga herself.
The longtime Lady Gaga fan, who competed in the reality series Drag Den, managed to get a selfie with the singer while she was interacting with fans during the song Vanish Into You.
"Waited for 15 years and, now, destiny happened. You have changed my life forever," wrote Lady Gagita.
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A post shared by Bench Suarez Hipolito (@popstarbench)
Other famous faces who were in attendance include Drag Race Philippines contestant Popstar Bench, who led the crowd in a symphony of cheers before the start of the concert.
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He experienced depression and mania in his 20s, and once almost took his own life. In November 2023, after resolving to be a positive force in the world, he decided to start his channel, inspired by MrBeast. From giving compliments to strangers on the street to surprising families in need with home makeovers, his content is about uplifting others. In June 2024, he reached into his own pocket and handed $1,000 to migrant workers cleaning up the East Coast Park oil spill. He has also started two fund-raisers to help two families, raising thousands of dollars for an elderly woman's cancer treatment, and a family with young children after the father – the sole breadwinner – was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. 'Some of my videos are spontaneous. I give out money to my followers. I don't really have criteria. For those that I raise funds for, I'll pick and be a bit more selective to ensure that their stories are authentic,' says the entrepreneur, who also runs several businesses including a direct sales company and two training and speaking engagement companies . He adds that he gets a lot of requests from followers to be featured, but will select only those he feels are really struggling. Clinical psychologist Alexandrea Tay notes that those who have faced struggles growing up may have a stronger sense of empathy for those in need, fuelling their desire to give back. 'Individuals may seek to promote the visibility of their charitable acts as a means to reinforce their sense of belonging within a community,' she says. Z, the creator behind SomethingForSomeone (@something4rsomeone), did not have a stable environment growing up. His parents are separated, and he lived with other relatives in overcrowded conditions. The 25-year-old, who is self-employed in the food and beverage industry and did not want to be named, started volunteering as a teenager, but felt like he could do more. He started his kindness content channel in June 2024. It now has more than 2,000 followers on Instagram and 18,400 followers on TikTok. 'I have always believed in helping others, even strangers. Small gestures can go a long way and even things that are non-monetary can help, like words of encouragement and acts of service,' he says. 'I don't care if I'm famous or not, as long as my message goes far.' Z, the creator behind SomethingForSomeone (@something4rsomeone), started his kindness content channel in June 2024. PHOTO: COURTESY OF Z Can watching kindness inspire kindness? A 2020 study published in peer-reviewed journal Psychological Bulletin suggested that kindness can be contagious. After analysing 88 experiments involving over 25,000 participants, researchers found that witnessing an act of kindness – whether in a news story, a social media clip or live on the street – can inspire a person to be altruistic by, for example, comforting someone who is crying, donating to charity, or acting cooperatively in a competitive game. Calling it 'moral elevation', the study's lead researcher, Assistant Professor Haesung Jung from Texas Tech University said: 'People resonate when they watch someone do something good.' That ripple effect was on display after local content creator Z posted videos of himself handing out cold drinks to workers cleaning up the oil spill under the hot sun. Viewers were so moved, they flooded the comments with offers to help. One wrote: 'Bro, create a Telegram group so we can volunteer to help deliver the food and drinks.' Z did just that. Today, the group has grown to 384 members. In it, he shares daily words of encouragement and mobilises support for various causes, from crowdfunding efforts to volunteer drives. Local handyman company Howdyman, for instance, launched an initiative to provide free repair work for low-income families and used Z's group to rally volunteer support. For interior designer Aaron Teo, 29, a chance encounter took his social media content in a new direction. 'I used to run a bar in the west, and I would always come across this man chilling or having a nap outside a minimart. One day, I decided to strike up a conversation with him,' he says. He found out that Mr Rajah, who is in his 60s, was homeless and had trouble securing a job. He decided to help the man and, with his consent, documented their journey on video. 'My purpose in life is to inspire others to lead a meaningful life through exciting experiences and quality relationships. Hence, I did not think too much about why I wanted to make a video,' he says. In the first video dated in September 2023, Mr Teo spoke to Mr Rajah about the latter's difficulty in finding a job, before taking him to a family service centre and treating him to a meal. Besides introducing him to a career coach who has helped set up a job interview, the designer also took his new friend to get his hair washed and bought him new clothes in a follow-up video. The video ends with an uplifting revelation: Mr Rajah has secured a job and will be starting work the next day. The two clips hit more than 390,000 views each, garnering thousands of likes and hundreds of comments, mostly positive. Viewers also asked how they could help Mr Rajah. The episode taught Mr Teo that many Singaporeans are willing to help those in need. Soon after, an online media publication contacted him asking to feature his story, but he declined. 'I did not want others saying that I was doing this to seek attention for myself.' Mr Teo, whose social media posts previously revolved around his hobbies and work as an interior designer, has about 3,000 followers on TikTok and over 1,400 followers on Instagram. During a recent call, he found out that Mr Rajah is still working and now lives in a rented flat. The two plan to catch up soon. Genuine altruism or performative? Still, not everyone views kindness content through rose-tinted glasses. Kindness influencers have their fair share of detractors, with sceptics accusing them of turning goodwill into self-promotion or worse, outright scams. On the subreddit thread r/unpopularopinions, one user wrote of his disdain for kindness content. 'It feels like the main objective is to create something that can go viral, and the fact that someone received support is just the by-product.' In October 2024, a prawn noodle business in Singapore posted a video which featured a man asking a migrant worker for a dollar to take a bus. After the migrant worker hands over the money, he reveals that he does not need it and hands $100 to the worker and a bowl of prawn noodles. Netizens questioned the motive behind the video. On the online forum Reddit, a user wrote: 'Just because the worker is poor, doesn't mean he would be OK to be put up online, for someone's clout. He didn't ask for the money, though he may have appreciated the gesture.' 'If the guy really had an intention to help, he could have just given the money. Why was there a need to record it. Makes me question the so-called intention,' another user wrote. In September 2024, Radical Kindness' Mr Wee made headlines for challenging American streamer and YouTuber IShowSpeed, popularly known as Speed, to a foot race. In a live stream posted on IShowSpeed's channel, he said he would give $10,000 to a charity of Speed's choice if he lost. He did, and was filmed handing the streamer a thick wad of $50 notes. Criticism came in swiftly. In October 2024, a discussion thread criticising Mr Wee was posted on popular Singapore-centric subreddit group, r/SingaporeRaw with the subject heading, 'Controversy over Radical Kindness'. The author of the thread wrote: 'Personally, I don't think it's genuine kindness. I don't see why he has to announce or flex his kind deeds.' Mr Wee is aware of the criticism surrounding his content online. He concedes that he is not a big fan of Speed, but did the challenge to help market his own platform. However, he maintains he has done nothing wrong and is not a hypocrite. He reckons people fall into three camps when it comes to his channel: those who love what he is doing, those who are neutral but a little sceptical, and finally, those who call him an attention seeker. '(Kindness content) might sometimes appear very self-serving. There's a lot of ego involved, and there are questions if these creators are benefiting from their audience. I want to change the narrative,' he says. Mr Wee claims he does not directly profit from his channel. While he's received about $25,000 to date from sponsors, he says the amount was reinvested into creating content and doing giveaways. The influencer readily admits that the version of himself seen on camera is louder and dialled up. And yes, he gives away large sums of money because it grabs attention. But there's a method behind the madness. 'I enjoy telling stories, and media is an amplifier. If I can reach one million people through one video, why would I not do it? I want to inspire more creators to give back,' he says. Ultimately, Mr Wee believes that the positive impact of filming acts of kindness far outweighs the drawbacks. He is confident in his ability to craft content that remains true to his values. 'I think the issue comes in when you lie to your audience about your intentions. I have always been very open about my intentions. I want the influence, I want the attention, because it allows me to expand my media presence and give back more,' he says. Mr Wee has started three more platforms under the 'Radical' brand: Radical Riches, a business media channel; Radical Homes, a furniture retailer that does home makeovers; and Radical Edge, a content training and consulting business. Some of the gifts that Mr Kevin Wee received from his beneficiaries. ST PHOTO: AZMI ATHNI Z agrees the lack of accountability and transparency surrounding influencers who run crowdfunding efforts can be a thorny issue. In September 2024, he sprang to action after coming across a news article about a Bukit Merah flat fire that left a family with two young children in crisis. The comments were flooded with people asking how to help. 'I just decided to step in, because I don't know who else can be more accountable, since I somewhat have a platform and maybe a following, I believe some people trust me,' he says. A TikTok viewer, who had some information regarding the family, entrusted Z with the address of the family's temporary housing, and Z went over to visit them. He then launched a fund-raising campaign via his platform, sharing his personal PayNow QR code for donations. Within just two days, the campaign raised over $4,000, a testament to the power of stepping in when it matters most, he says. After his crowdfunding effort was reported by media outlet Mothership, he read comments asking 'how can we know you are legitimate?' and netizens warning that Z might be running a scam account. 'It is not surprising, every part of this digital philanthropy will always have some negativity involved, but I know clearly what I am doing, and I just wanted to take the initiative to help out a family, and that is all that matters,' he says. A week later, more than $30,000 had been raised. To maintain transparency, Z compiled a detailed spreadsheet of the donations that were transferred to his personal bank account, and even shared a screen recording of the document and filmed himself handing the money directly to the family's patriarch. 'I did my best to be as transparent as I could,' he says. But what Z did not anticipate was the wave of online backlash the family would face after going public with their situation. They expressed their thanks, but conveyed this issue to him via social service officers, asking that he end the campaign. Z obliged, but the experience gave him pause. 'These are some ripple effects of digital philanthropy,' he muses. 'We may have the best intentions, but there are blind spots we don't always see. Helping isn't always sunshine and rainbows, especially for those on the receiving end.' One beneficiary's take Rina (not her full name) was scrolling through social media when she stumbled upon a post by Mr Wee on Dec 30, 2023: He was giving away $10,000 to 10 people, chosen at random from those who left a comment. The single mother, now 34, did not think twice. With five children between the ages of five and 13 – two of whom have special needs – every little bit helps. 'I just tried my luck. I said: 'I'm a single mother, have five kids and hope I have a chance to win,'' says the account assistant. Before landing her current full-time job in 2022, she had been unemployed for four years. To provide for her family, she occasionally relies on food rations from local charities. 'My salary alone, to be honest, is not enough to cover all the expenses. So that's why I have to continue searching, to see if there are any resources. I cannot always rely on social services because there are limits to how much they can help. If I see giveaways, I would be willing to try,' she says. She did not expect much from Mr Wee, but to her surprise, she was chosen as one of the recipients. He told her he would ask her a few questions on camera and asked her to prepare her answers. When she told him that some of the questions made her uncomfortable, Mr Wee replaced them with others. On the day of the shoot, Rina brought along one of her children. Mr Wee filmed a short video of him giving her the $1,000 and asking her about her life. 'There was nothing I felt pressured to answer, which I really appreciated,' Rina says. Still, she admits she was nervous in the days leading up to the video's release on Jan 19, 2024. It was her first time sharing such personal parts of her life on camera and with the public. 'I was very worried that people would talk negatively about me and judge me as a single mother raising five children when the video was released,' she says. However, her fears were unfounded. 'Some people commented that they also have special needs kids and that it was good for Kevin to help us out,' she says. Opening up about your struggles and asking for help publicly can feel like a blow to one's pride, Rina says. But she also believes that when there are no other options, one should not reject help just to save face. She has also seen the critical comments floating online about Mr Wee. But having experienced his kindness first hand, she stands by him. 'I could tell he was genuinely trying to understand what I was going through,' she says. 'From the very first time we met, he asked thoughtful questions – not just for content, but to really see what kind of help I needed.' Help came when she was at rock bottom In September 2024 , Sarah (not her real name), 38, hit rock bottom. After years of not paying the utility bills for her family's two-room rental flat, there was an outstanding amount of more than $3,000. She was told that if the sum was not settled, the power supply to her flat would be cut off within a week. Her ex-husband had walked out on the family more than five years ago, leaving her to raise five children aged nine to 16. As she suffers from depression, she has been medically unfit to work for the past eight years. To support her family, she relies on family, friends and government subsidies. 'Whatever help that I get is just enough to get by the month,' says Sarah. 'Most of it goes to feeding my kids.' After coming across Z's fund-raiser for the family whose flat was destroyed in a fire, she decided to ask him for help. Z replied within a day. After learning about her financial situation on the phone, he shared her story on his Instagram page. 'I am quite private so I don't really share a lot of things. He actually took all the details needed to make the post. Although I did not want to share my photo, he said he needed it to run the fund-raising campaign. I asked him to blur our faces in the photo, which he did,' says Sarah, adding that she saw his post and was happy with how Z did not exaggerate her family's situation. His post was captioned: 'She is really stressed and overwhelmed with the current situation. Hope we are able to do what we can to help her start anew by clearing the debt... She has agreed for me to collect on her behalf. Please reference 'Sarah'.' He promised that all proceeds would go to the family, and that he would post updates, including the financial accounts. Within a few days, he raised more than $9,000 for her family. Throughout the process, he showed her receipts and screenshots of the donations that had come in during the campaign. With the funds, Sarah paid the outstanding utility bills, cleared a debt owed to a family member, stocked up on essentials to last through the year, and took her children to a rare meal out. 'He's very young, I can see that, but I can tell he is very honest. He's got a lot of experience, through the way he talks, and he understands my situation and he is very sincere about it,' she says, adding that she is grateful for all that he has done for her. They are still in touch, chatting occasionally via TikTok direct messages. Charity is not just a handout Even after running two successful crowdfunding drives, Mr Wee doubts the model's long-term viability. He's seen TikTokers overseas skim 4 to 8 per cent off donations to pay themselves. 'So technically, I can go with that model, but I don't think Singaporeans will be as receptive about that,' he says. 'When you see someone who is helpless, you can't help but feel like you want to empower them. I believe charity is not just a handout, it's a responsibility to empower,' says Mr Wee. Besides providing the people he helps with resources, he connects them with others who can help them, like social workers. 'It's about helping them, in a personal capacity, to stand on their own feet.' In a space where trust is everything, both Mr Wee and Z tread carefully, balancing heart with accountability. They know that in Singapore, good intentions alone are not enough. Transparency matters. So does impact. But at the core of it all is a simple truth: When help is given with sincerity, and received with dignity, even a digital platform can become a lifeline. Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.
