She wanted to wear it to attend her company's travel-themed dinner and dance. But a week later, the 24-year-old was told that the event, scheduled for next weekend, was cancelled.

'Most of our work involves running around to clients' places, so I was looking forward to meeting colleagues at the event,' said Ms Lee who works in an IT consultancy.

Read Debbie Yong's full story in tomorrow's edition of The Sunday Times.