Hong Kong needs to get real on IDs for concerts: Andy Lau tickets fiasco was yet another sign

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People wait to buy tickets to Dayo Wong’s stand-up comedy show, at City Hall in Central on April 24. Photo: Winson Wong

Published: 8:12am, 7 Sep 2018Updated: 8:11am, 7 Sep 2018

I refer to the triad knife attack on a mainland man waiting to buy tickets to the “My Love Andy Lau World Tour” concerts (“Counter ticket sales suspended for Andy Lau concert after four arrested over knife attack”, August 28). It was the second such attack within the space of just three weeks, and highlights the need for Hong Kong to crack down on the practice of scalping.

Earlier in the year, the fans of comedian Dayo Wong Tze-wah and the Taiwanese band Mayday suffered from the actions of scalpers and touts who snapped up tickets and then hawked them at extortionate prices, at prices at 20 times or higher. Such ruthless black market practices have to be stopped.

It used to be that most people queuing for concert tickets were the fans of the performers. Now, a lot of them are scalpers seeking to make a quick buck. Along with sponsors taking up entire blocks, this leaves genuine fans with very little choice but to pay the high prices.

Andy Lau, in a Facebook video clip uploaded after a knife attack on a mainland man queuing for tickets to his concert, calls on police to step up patrols and asks fans to stay safe. Photo: Facebook

Only real-name authentication can protect the rights of the fans. Scalpers will then be unable to tout tickets. Buyers of official tickets must provide their personal information as proof of identity, and the ticket must be non-transferable. This is the only way to solve the problems caused by scalping.