A gala night and that woman

The gala event was to start at 7pm. That woman (i.e. the organiser) wasn't even there. The place was a third filled. No drinks were proffered; we all just sat at our assigned tables making polite chit chat, noticeably uncomfortable in the cavernous function room made worse by the barely-there air-conditioning.

Sometime before 8pm the woman made her grand entrance - every bit like the proverbial bad fairy gliding on halcion-induced oblivion in her black robe. She declared the evening started by informing the room that she was caught in traffic but she rushed and so here she was (finally). Oh was I ever so impressed with her public relations skills at that moment.

Everything about the evening was simply off the mark:

- There was the late start caused by the the organiser's tardiness.
- The evening started with 2 lovely dancers who held everyone's rapt attention.
- The mood of enchantment was abruptly broken when the emcee announced that we now please get to the buffet line for our food.
- No sooner had we returned to our table than the show resumed. (What's the rush?). Most platters were left untouched for the rest of the evening.
- The pressure was on the two international performers to carry the evening, since the other two highly publicised talents did not show. (No reason given; it was as if they were never scheduled in the line-up).
- And as clumsily as the evening started, it was all over.
- The time was 10:00pm.

My deepest respect goes to all the dancers for giving their everything in their performance. Especially our special friend who danced on our table (you know who you are; thank you for making the evening extra special for our table).

But I must voice my grievance about the gala event: when two out of four star draws failed to show, and no mention is made of it prior to or through the whole evening, I have to assert that there is something fraudulent about the marketing of this event.