The Horrible Party

The other day I attended some “rave” party that was organised by a Desmond Choo, in Singapore. I wish there was some way to publicise this post so that exchange students coming to Singapore can have information on which events are better than others. Because I, like the 400+ people who went to this party, assumed that because it was on such a large scale, and because this guy had a record for organising parties, that it was guaranteed to be a night of fun.

I am never going to one of his parties again. I paid $20 SGD for entrance to a small, isolated, overcrowded club house. The first problem was that, being so overcrowded, it was too overwhelming- there was no room to dance, and I tried talking with various people, but after a while I got too exhausted in the crowd to the extent that I didn’t really feel like making an effort.

If only I’d had a drink everything would be so much more enjoyable, I’d thought, but of course that one drink was impossible to obtain. I think the main reason for this was because the bar was not managed well at all. They had a horrible payment system, and people who got their drinks could not leave the bar because they were still waiting for their change (or they were demanding to get the right change- I saw several people angry because they did not get back the right change, to which the bartender replied, yes, it’s the right change- look at the receipt, it has the GST on it. These people tried to look at the really really light font of the receipt, failed, had not even been told there would be an additional GST cost on the drinks, and in the end they just had to take what they got because the bartender in charge of taking drink orders ignored them.

He was too busy chucking coins at the wall.

“No coins!” he yelled at one of the hardworking bartenders, taking coins clasped to one of the bills and throwing them against the wall, where they clanked against the lines of vodka bottles, getting lost behind and underneath counters. “No coins! AhahahaHAH!”

Mr.We’re-too-busy-to-deal-with-coins really should have been spending more time tending to customers and doing his job, instead of horsing around, performing tricks no one wants to watch. I’m not exaggerating- I waited for a whole HOUR until I got to the bar. And after waiting 15 more minutes for him to take my order, I realised at this point people were not getting back their proper change. I didn’t have small bills, so I didn’t want to RISK GETTING SHORTCHANGED BY THE BARTENDER WHICH IS WHY I DIDN’T ORDER ANY DRINKS. When does this happen? I have never had this happen before, at any other organised events or at clubs.

I’m sure that this certain employee is not employed by the organiser of the party, so the organiser isn’t really responsible for my being wary of getting scammed at the bar- he’s only responsible for just organising a shitty party.

I got the feeling that it had only been for profit- just sell more tickets than the venue can hold people, and let them work it out on their own. But nothing worked out, for me, the party was NOT a success- when the admin sent out a message saying “thanks to your participation, the event was a huge success” I think he meant it was a huge moneymaking success for HIM.

One problem is that because many of the exchange students in singapore only stick around for a few months, they won’t feel the need to publicly speak out against this party- they’ll think ‘eh what a crap party, but these things happen.’ Then they’ll move on with their lives like a normal person. But then after they leave, an entirely new batch of foreigners will arrive in Singapore with no knowledge of this, and they’ll pay good money for a bad event when someone could have suggested to them, maybe you want to do something else instead?

I’m only writing about what I’ve experienced and what I’ve thought of it, but I’ve heard about some of the other events held by the same person and it definitely seems more profit oriented, but still so many exchange students participate because they don’t have access to that information.

It’s a shame because I’ve attended other events, both on a smaller scale and largerscale, and I have thoroughly enjoyed myself. But not as many people are aware of this event simply because someone else who views these events as purely entrepreneurial is out there, intent on regarding other events/parties like some competition, as though they’re having their market encroached.

I mean, it’s only a party, and it’s only one night. And now that I’ve had my little rant about it, I’m at peace. But how to get this information around to the people who, like me, aren’t keen on having their time wasted?