ONCE upon a time, I found a piece of black and white postcard on the floor- in which a man's portrait was printed on it.

Being a young and naive girl I was, I showed it to my mum.

With that, I thrashed it away somewhere in my house, and eventually forgot all about it. (Why should I give a damn about the picture when I did not even know who in the world that guy was?!)

And I carried on with my life.

Years later, I watched the news from a Taiwan channel which showed a guy dangling his baby out of the balcony. The video was being played and I was astonished.

"Oh god, this guy is insane!! He probably had mental issues." I snickered.

And frequent news of this very same guy came on, which revolved around molestation cases and skin bleaching issues.

"How in the world can this guy be a celebrity?!" I exclaimed, disgusted.

Everything about this guy is just so wrong. He was so eccentric and it weirded me out. But well, not my business anyway.

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It was 25th June 2009, another ordinary day. (or so, I thought.) I came home happily from my shopping trip,when my mum greeted me with news that "Michael Jackson is dead."

"WHAT? DEAD?!" I exclaimed, suddenly alert for no reason. (Lol. It was a funny reaction, judging from the fact that I wasn't even a fan.)

For the next few days, all newspapers, magazines and the media screamed the words "Michael Jackson" on the front headlines, reporting about his life and death.

"Oh gosh, why are there news of Michael Jackson EVERYDAY?!" I said, irritated. I didn't even bother to read those news. Well, he's dead. DUH. (Yes, in case you are wondering, I wasn't even a fan during the day he died!)

When I was doing some blog-hopping one day, I even came across this girl who had indicated that she loves Michael Jackson. And yes, I actually did feel disgusted. I knew I would NEVER be a fan of this man. It was just insane.

Until one day... I came across this video on a random basis a few days after his death: (I guess I had nothing much to do, so I decided to stop and watch this anyway.)

I couldn't believe this 4 minutes video actually changed my impression of this guy. Somehow, I felt a weird sensation. There was this.... something... about him. I continued to research on this guy through video after video, website after website. (Its like a sudden interest that I can't exactly explain.)

And it hit me that this guy wasn't what I had imagined him to be. I was dumbfounded when I discovered how much this guy had actually contributed to the world , and how MISUNDERSTOOD he was during the days he was alive. All those accusations against him throughout these years are TOTALLY not how the media made them out to be. I was in a state of disbelief. Oh god, it is so, so wrong. Why did the media portray him in such a way that led so many people, including me, to believe that he has mental issues - when apparently, he is just this normal, down-to-earth, kind and one of the nicest people in the world? Honestly, I was overwhelmed by an influx of emotions.

Skin bleaching? He had been suffering from the torment of vitiligo, a pigmentation disease that causes blotches of white spots all over the body. And somehow, the media had reported that the reason for his skin bleaching was due to the fact that he looked down at his own roots. (which I adamantly believed.)

A pedophile? Well, it was all proven to be a lie after his death. I couldn't believe that the kid who had accused him earlier had admitted that he was just making up stories, and everything was untrue. (Although he did feel guilty about it, but there's no point in that anymore as everything is too late. Michael.Jackson. Is. Dead.)

And there were so many other things that he was accused of that weren't even close to the truth. (You couldn't blame me for believing everything I heard, because media was the source of all negativity against him then.)

As each of the day passes by after his death, I felt affected in a way. It was indescribable . Don't ask me why and how I was suddenly a fan of this man. The truth is, I do not know. From someone who didn't even give a damn about his death on 25th June 2009, to someone who is now a huge fan of him. It was a fast transition, I admit.

Soon, I became fascinated at things and topics that concern him. I had wanted soooo much to meet more local fans. When I heard that "THIS IS IT" (the movie about him that were to come out in cinemas), I couldn't wait to watch it. I just wanted more of this guy.

When I saw that Sony was organizing a contest to win the tickets, I joined. Imagine my happiness and surprise when I found out I was one of the winners!

Immediately, I tried to search for other winners who had won it too via facebook, and we organized a small meet-up session when we would attend it together. It proved to be a lovely meet-up session as I had made a few great friends through that, in which we remained in contact till now. :) (You guys know who you are! ;))

Soon, I tried to search for his local fanclub, but to no avail. (I was like, "are you kidding? He doesn't have a fanclub in Singapore?!"

Well, I then decided to set up a forum fanclub myself, hoping that I would be able to meet even more local fans. (which I did!)

Well, thinking back... We've indeed came a long way. From an informal fanclub to now an official fanclub in Singapore, known as "KING OF POP FANATICS SINGAPORE" (KOPFS) - founded by Marie, one of my lovely friends whom I had known through the forum, it definitely wasn't easy.

It's not easy to say that you are a fan only after his death, because old fans will think we are just hypocrites or rather, fake fans. Its an unfair remark when we get generalized as one.

Whatever it is, I am thankful for the all beautiful friendships and LOVE that I was blessed with through the year. *hugs* >