Taylor Swift fans in Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia blame poor infrastructure, conservative laws for concert snubs

Singapore is the only Southeast Asian stop for the US singer, to the disappointment of many fans in the region who cannot afford to fly there to see her

The lack of suitable venues, Muslim conservatives fearful of liberal Western values, and a culture of scalping may be driving big-scale events away, Swifties speculate

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Taylor Swift fans in Malaysia and Indonesia point to red tape and political conservatism as factors that put off international performers. Photo: TNS

Published: 2:00pm, 30 Jun 2023Updated: 11:40am, 1 Jul 2023

As millions of Taylor Swift fans in Southeast Asia lament missing out on the chance to see the star live in concert following her decision to only play in Singapore, some have blamed poor entertainment infrastructure and religious conservatism in their countries for driving her away.

The US country-pop artist is holding six concert dates in the city state next March as part of her global Eras Tour, several weeks after British rock band Coldplay also performs six shows in Singapore – the longest they will spend in any country for their Music of the Spheres world tour.

“It’s really sad that she only gets to play in Singapore. Taylor’s fan base is huge in the Philippines,” said university student Kheena Thrisia Ligas, a “Swiftie” in Cebu City who cannot afford to fly to Singapore to see her idol.

Swift’s songs are massively popular in the Philippines, topping Spotify charts there for an accumulated 610 days and being crowd favourites at karaoke machines across the nation. Fans have celebrated her Eras tour in drag shows and other events across Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao in a bid to persuade her to perform in the Philippines.

Ligas speculated one of the reasons Swift was skipping the Philippines was because it had “no stadium that could accommodate the Eras Tour”.