"Going once, going twice, sold for $108,000!" It's true 22-year-old, Steven Yassim was bought for a whooping $108,000 at the annual bachelor's auction held at Le Meridien Pegasus on Sunday evening.
Stabroek News
July 17, 2001
He was worth thousands of dollars more than last year's bachelor with the highest bid, Ryan Rahaman, for whom a lucky lady paid $63,000 to spend an evening with.
Unlike some of his competitors Yassim, who is student of a university in New York certainly did not look the part, but he surprised the ladies with his hot dance steps and the suggestive, sexy movements of his waist.
This has been the second year the event, organised by the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG), was held and according to one of the organisers, Nadia Jabour, although last year had a better turn out this year the bids were much higher.
Jabour, who is the general manager of the Palm Court Restaurant and Bar, said that they scooped up about $500,000 and some $281,000 out of that sum came from the bidding on the bachelors.
Thirteen bachelors flaunted their stuff for the screaming and excited young ladies to bid.
The bachelors, excluding Yassim, were: Palm Court's Manager, Suren Singh who was bought for $45,000 the second largest sum of money; 33-year-old Thomas Henseler; Paul Fraser; 25-year-old, Luke Fraser; 20-year-old Jared A. Kissoon; 22-year-old Tariq Williams; 29-year-old Wayne Rambo; Brian Nobrega; 21-year-old Delon; E.C Bengal; 31-year-old Johnny Kanor; and Jason Maurice Amres. Two others who were scheduled to parade the stage apparently got cold feet and failed to show. They were, 20-year-old Andre Hardy and a 21-year-old designer who just gave his name as Allen.
Unlike last year, seats were provided for the patrons but midway through the organisers decided to get rid of some of the seats so everyone could stand and be in a party mood. This did not go too well with some but others cooperated in full.
The only hiccup was that the show kicked off one and a half hours after it was scheduled to start. So instead of getting underway at 7:30 pm it never started until 9:00 pm.
Yassim dressed in a close fitting gray jersey and black jeans looked quite simple when he skipped onto the stage but the ladies were in for a big surprise because the announcement by master of ceremonies (MC) that he was a dancer certainly did not turn out to be without foundation. He gyrated to the different kinds of beats and had the ladies going wild when he took of his jersey followed by his white vest exposing his rippling muscles. In a teasing mood, the young man loosened his belt and this did the trick. Excited females started bidding at $5,000 and $4,000 instead of the expected $1,000 a bid. The young man was nearly sold a few times by the MC who failed to see the shaking hands of the ladies. A young lady outfitted in jeans and a tube-like top was the highest bidder.
But even though Yassim was bought for the highest sum of money Singh, who was actually the oldest of the lot, provided the hottest entertainment for the ladies. Singh jumped on to the stage and immediately got into the swing of things to the beat of a soca tune. He had the room in an uproar when his cellular phone rang and he raised his hand, stopping the music to answer his phone. After spending a few seconds of the phone he returned to his performance, stripping off his jacket, tie and belt which he flung into the crowd. At the end of it all an elderly woman, dressed in green, cast the last bid and copped the prize. Singh was not bothered as he held onto his purchaser and moved to the beats of the music.
Luke Fraser, a 25-year-old medicine student in Canada, got the third highest bed with $30,000. He was the last bachelor to step on stage and it was certainly a 'save the best for last' thing. By now the ladies purses must have been empty because Luke put on a performance that was worthy of more. Standing very tall with unruly brown hair and dressed in black shirt and jeans, Luke teased the ladies endlessly by painstakingly loosing one button at time on his shirt and in the end inviting a young lady to loose the final button. Luke then moved to his pants, but refused to undo his belt until the ladies upped their bid. He then had another young lady loosen his belt and daringly dropped his pants a little under his waist revealing boyish striped underpants. He strutted his stuff and had the ladies going wild, but in the end they could only muster $30,000.
His brother, Paul Fraser came in with the fourth highest bid at $21,000 and he was followed by Amres who was bought for $18,000. Kissoon, a student in Miami, was next in line with $17,000 followed by Delon, a student also in the USA, who mustered $15,000.
Kanor, who is originally from Martinique and currently working at the Palm Court Restaurant & Bar, was next in line with $10,000 and he showed the ladies how to move to Latino music.
Tariq Williams, a banker, was bought for $6,000, while Henseler was bought for $4,000. Nobrega, a dancer and Rambo, a part-time computer lecturer were both bought for $3,000 each. Bengal, a six foot marketing and management consultant, was bought for just $1,000, but it was partly his fault as he just stood on stage and aimlessly swung his hands in front of him and provided no entertainment for the ladies.
Jabour yesterday said she was satisfied with the way things turned out as it was evening of a lot of fun. Patrons were required to pay $1,000 before entering.
The organisers are promising a new slant for next year, to include the many men who turn up just to support the event. The proceeds from the evening will go towards promoting Guyana's tourism sector.