Boon's Birthday Bash Busted

26th may was the birthday of someone in my hospitality team - Boon. It was rather last minute already and we had nothing planned for him to celebrate his birthday. So we decided, we should make his birthday interesting by playing a prank on him!

Prank plans were being brainstormed, discussed, evaluated and voided. so in the end the decision was left to me to draft the plan and spread it on facebook to everyone except Boon. within the short amount of time we had to get prepared... i figured it is still very possible.

Here was the plan.
Luke shall be the main character in this play.
At dinner time, Luke would ask us to go for dinner. we pretend to be really busy, tired or lazy. whatever it takes to be reluctant to go out.
Luke then chooses Boon to follow to buy dinner back.

Once theyre gone, we wait for Luke's tip-off that they are returning. we then leave the conference room and head to (plan A) prayer room, or else (plan B) upstairs to hide.

When the two comes back and finds everyone gone, Luke acts shocked, confused, angry, whatever is appropriate.
Bring Boon out to the lounge where the dinner would be. Make a call to us to ask where we are - that would be the signal to ambush Boon!

We would charge in from (A) the small door at the lounge or (B) the kitchen area.
Seeing us charge in, that would be the cue for Luke to start to STRONGARM Boon - the rest of the guys would join in too - pin him to the ground and TAUPOK him!!!
The girls can help to video/take pictures, or even help the guys out.

When we feel he's been squashed enough, we can all wish him Happy Birthday!

And so it was, the plan was set, everyone agreed, and i saw that it was good.
When the time came for us to get dinner, things went unexpectedly well for the plan.
Boon actually had to go out to buy flowers... so we told him to just buy dinner for us on the way!
Luke followed him and they left. all according to plan, and no fishyness!

But then, the girls decided to do up some paper banners for him, reading "happy birthday Boon Keng". as if words were not enough, each person even added in colours, patterns and drawings onto the banner. That was what we were doing the whole time after the two had left... instead of getting ready and hiding away.

After some time, the tip-off came from Luke. "on our way back", he messaged.
I immediately announced to everyone, "theyre coming, on the way back now! lets go!"
The banners, however, were still not finished. so they frantically continued on it, wanting to finish it before going. They thought that Boon wont be back so soon. I thought that way too, but still strongly urged them to go now, just in case.
Nobody would listen.

I was going to check outside when suddenly Kenny, who knew about our plan, told me that they were back already - just outside the office! We were totally caught off guard, we were suddenly plunged into panic and confusion.
The first thing on my mind was, "major screw up! abort mission."
at that, i went outside to meet Boon. The rest of the team, however, had not given up on the plan. they responded very quickly to turn off the conference room lights, close the door and everyone hide behind the curtains. Fortunately there was enough room for everyone.
Boon came in, found everyone gone. just a little surprised, he went outside. he didnt notice anything. I realised, not all was lost; we could still do something!
ten points to the team for good emergency response.

A new plan was to be formulated on the spot. we had no time to discuss, and thus were extremely confused and disorganised. Luke and I followed Boon around, made a call to them like to ask where are they. i told them where we are - in the lounge, then to the SBS classroom, then the lounge again - Boon was getting suspicious and was moving around the place, only to see me and Luke tailing behind. I told them on the phone to come out now, increasing Boon's suspicion even more. They didnt come out in time.
Soon enough, Boon was high on the alert, running away from me and Luke, even hiding at the walls beside the mango tree. The team had come out and was trying to somehow hide outside the office; all very confused, not knowing how to coordinate or where Boon is.
Boon came out of his hiding place, and there he saw everyone outside the office!
That was it, our cover was broken; ambush was no longer an option. the only thing to do was -- ATTACK!! chiong ahh!!

Luke grabbed him from behind, immobilising him. then the guys each took a leg or his hands, and carried him over to the grass patch, and taupoked him right there!
It was not a very clean place - grass, mud, twigs and leaves covered the area, and just inches away from his face there was a rotting mango.

It was a consolation prize that at least we managed to accomplish the main action of the plan - to taupok him. But i was still rather frustrated that overall it was a failure; it could have been so much better. The coordinated surprise was totally lost. My painstakingly-crafted plan was ruined because we didnt stick to plan.
Not only that, i was being blamed for its failure.
I was accused of checking my phone late for the tip-off message.
I was accused of taking too long to decorate the banner, otherwise it might have been completed in time.
I was blamed for not getting the team out of the room immediately.
people hinted that my plan was not good.
there were a lot of assumptions. people just had to find someone or sth to take the blame.
I believe the plan would have turned out well if we sticked to the plan.

Well, it might have been God's plan that my plan failed. Cause then it also became a good learning experience. Misunderstanding, miscoordination, emergency reaction, responsibility. these are things i would probably have to deal with much in the future, and i could learn from this incident.