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updated 18 Jan 2013, 04:12
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Sat, 18 Aug 2012
The New Paper
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Nude shock for S'pore girls in K-pop group
by Kwok Kar Peng

Their performance was smooth, innocent and sweet, with a hint of flirtatiousness.

But the path leading to the launch of K-pop quartet SKarf - which made its official debut in Seoul on Tuesday - was anything but smooth for the two Singapore girls in the group.

Everything was controlled - from what they could and could not eat to what they could and could not do, both in public and in private.

The girls also suffered culture shock, like having to walk around completely nude in a public bathhouse.

Ferlyn Wong, 20, one of the two Singaporeans in the group (the other two are Koreans), told The New Paper that she took more than half a year to get used to her new life.

She said: "In the past, in Singapore, I went where I wanted and ate what I wanted.

"At the beginning (of my training in Korea), I thought to myself, why is (the company) controlling my life? I didn't sell my life to them.

"But I realised later it is for my own good, so that I become a better person and my weight doesn't go up."

The other Singaporean is Natasha Low, 18, the leader of the group.

The two girls, who beat 3,000 starry-eyed hopefuls in an audition two years ago, signed with Singaporean-owned company Alpha Entertainment and moved to Seoul about a year ago to train to be part of a K-pop girl group.

Both now go by their stage names Ferlyn and Tasha.

They are joined by Koreans Jeong Sol, 21, and Lee Joo Young, 16, or Sol and Jenny respectively.

The New Paper was at SKarf's showcase at Ilchi Art Hall on Tuesday afternoon, where they performed their songs My Love and Oh! Dance to around 70 Korean reporters, one from Hong Kong and four from Australia.

The digital version of their songs will be released in Korea today and the CD single will be on sale in Korea next week.

The release date and pricing for Singapore has not been confirmed.

SKarf will embark on a month-long promotional tour around Korea and will be coming to Singapore for an event as early as this month.

In an interview late at night, after their performance, Ferlyn revealed that the girls live a strict life.

They are not allowed to eat meat, rice and bread, and they get chicken breast meat only on some occasions.

Their laptops, MP3 players and mobile phones were also confiscated on separate occasions because they had misused the items - they had used them to watch videos and text message late into the night when they were supposed to be resting.

The electronics are to be used only for training purposes.

Read the full story here.

Related story:
K-pop group gets 'giant' association to Singapore
Life of a K-pop singer's mum

 

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Skarf is the first K-pop act to consist of Singaporean and Korean members. (Photo: Alpha Entertainment Korea)
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