S'porean woman offers to pay S$1,200 for helper's BTS concert ticket to fulfil her dream

When Singaporean woman Yvonne Lareina Lee received a letter from her domestic helper asking for her two months' salary in advance to see BTS' upcoming concert in Singapore, she agreed to do that and more.

Lee offered to pay in full for the concert ticket, because she knew it was the dream of her helper, Nant Lah Sann Hie, to see the K-pop group live.

Love for BTS

Nant Lah Sann Hie, known as Mo, has been employed by Lee's family for three and a half years now, helping to care for their two children aged six and 14.

A fan of BTS since 2015, the 33-year-old Mo has openly shared her love for the group with the family.

"She talks about BTS very often. Anyone who knows her would immediately know how big of a fan she is," Lee said to Mothership.

"Her social media is filled with BTS-related content. Even my six-year-old knows all the BTS songs!"

Mo has never had the chance to go to a BTS concert due to financial reasons, and Lee wants to change that — even if it means contributing nearly S$1,200 for a ticket.

Been through ups and downs together

Lee described having a very close bond with Mo over the years.

"Besides her own family in Myanmar, we are like her Singapore family," she said, adding that her children and Mo have built a strong bond as well.

She recalled how Mo once said that Lee was an important person in her life, and would confide in her and seek her advice for big decisions.

"I've been through ups and downs with her," Lee added.

She shared photos of past gifts and letters she received from Mo on her birthdays and wedding anniversaries, which came out of Mo's own salary.

"[Mo] writes me surprise notes all the time, and whenever I go away for a long time for business overseas, she'll welcome me back with banners she made at home," Lee said.

In one letter to Lee, Mo observed that Lee had looked stressed and tired, and cheered her on.

"Let me know if you need my help," she wrote. "Be strong, my mam."

Now that Mo needed help with something she deeply wanted, Lee was eager to help.

"She has never been someone who asks for expensive things or burdens others," Lee said, "so if I am able to help make this dream come true for her, I would be happy to do so."

Financial concerns

Before Mo wrote to Lee on May 24 about getting an advance of her salary, Lee had already known about her financial concerns.

"She shared with me many months ago how much she hoped to attend the BTS concert and how impossible it felt for her financially," Lee said.

This is because Mo, hoping for an up-close experience at the concert, wanted VIP seats. They are the closest to the stage, and cost S$388 each on the ticketing website.

Believing these tickets would be very tough to secure, Mo found a help-to-buy service online that charged an additional S$800 fee to help her get a VIP ticket when sales open in early June.

The total sum was much more expensive than she initially thought, and so she decided to write to Lee on May 24, asking for an advance of her salary.

In her letter, Mo repeatedly assured Lee it would be "completely ok" if it were not possible to get an advance.

But Lee saw how much the concert meant to her, and wanted to help her get there.

A gift to 'bless her with'

After Lee posted on Facebook that Mo planned to engage a help-to-buy service, several people commented to warn her about potential scalpers and scammers.

Acknowledging these concerns, Lee still encouraged Mo to go for it, and said she was willing to absorb any loss and not deduct it from Mo's salary.

Lee did ask Mo, however, if she would make do with other seats if they could not get a VIP one.

She said, "If there's no choice, then I will have to."

"If she were to get scammed, I would not make her bear the loss because the tickets are something I intended to bless her with out of goodwill," Lee explained.

"It will be on me, not on her. That's how much we love her. What's S$1,200 when her love for our family is priceless."

She added that she was offering to pay for Mo's ticket because she wanted to make her happy and help to create a meaningful memory for her.