Win-win

MA: I saw them as I made the U-turn. And one of them saw me talking on the phone. And he also saw that my seat belt was off. I tried lamely pushing the phone under the seat and pretended to dig my ear. But he was furiously blowing on the whistle and pointing angrily while yelling into the walkie talkie. And his compatriot up ahead ran towards me , waving his baton.I stopped. I had been caught talking on the phone while driving, and with my seat belt off. I waited. Mr Policeman approached me. He was smiling and was exceedingly courteous, "Selamat petang tuan", he smiled. He was probably thinking, "Got you, you slimy rat".
"IC dan lesen tuan", he smiled widely. My heart sank further. My licence had expired a week ago. No time to renew. I took out my wallet. And started bleating excuses and apologising profusely to the man.

Mr P: It was just the 18th of the month, but the bank balance was zero. The wife had come up hesitantly to me this morning, “Bang, susu dah tak ada. Bil letrik pun kena bayar.” I was irritated, “Nanti petang kita bincang.” And then little Suraya ran up, “Yah, hari ini kena bayar yuran. Ayah janji akan bagi duit”.
“Bagitau cikgu ayah akan datang petang nanti bayar”. And I left the house before any more demands could be made.

MA: As I fumbled with the wallet, Mr Policeman found a win-win situation: "Ok, macam ini. Kalau I saman, tuan kena bayar 300. Kalau bayar sini, 100 saja. Boleh?". And I looked down at my wallet. A few pathetic notes totalling RM26 peeped out. No go. I looked at the brave policeman. "Saya tada 100 tuan."And he was furtive, "Tapa, berapa ada? Bagi." And the policeman dipped his fingers into the wallet and grabbed the 2 red notes."Terima kasih", he waved me to leave. I felt the feelings rush in quick succession. Relief, shock, shame, despair, regret. And as he left, I saw the words "Saya anti-rasuah" on the round badge he proudly wore on his chest.
And it was then that I remembered what Baba said, "Never give or take a bribe".

Mr P: I lay awake all night. My hands felt filthy. My mouth was dry. Something inside me was hollow. I remembered how as I saw my child, I had to avert her eyes. The feeling of shame was overpowering. And in the evening, as I handed over the money to the wife. I could swear she was reluctant to touch the notes. And her look. I squirmed. I remembered what the Prophet (PBUH) had said: “The curse of Allah is on the giver and taker of bribes.”

Rajini

The Queen sat at the middle of the chamber. She was immense. And she looked resplendent in her colours. The soldiers stood all around. They looked menacing as they glared at all around. And the workers kept busy. Rajini was a worker. But he was unlike the others. He did not relish his role. He resented it. What made the Queen special ? Other that her gross size, of course ? And the soldiers. They did no work. They just stood around. Of course they fought off the intruders. And the enemy invaders. But most of the time, they just stood around. What made them special ?

Rajini knew that he was stronger, and could win a fight with any soldier any day. As he stood thinking his thoughts, a soldier caught sight of him. Instantly the soldier charged at Rajini. And then, Rajini did the unthinkable. He fought the soldier. It was a terrible fight. The other soldiers stood agape, The workers stopped their work and watched. The Queen actually glanced at the fighting pair, rolling on the ground clawing at each other. And finally, both lay still.

There was a moment of silence. And Rajini stirred. And Rajini rose. His opponent lay lifeless. The Queen looked at him in shock. The soldiers backed down. And the workers worked furiously. And then Rajini took flight. He flew away into the night.

From then, Rajini was known among the community as the bee who would not be a bee.

Priarangan : Man of conscience

PRIARANGAN: “I can’t.”
DOCTOR: “You must.”
PRIARANGAN: “This is something that my conscience cannot accept.”
DOCTOR: “Tell me. Search your heart and tell me. Do you really want to go through the certain hell that will follow?”
PRIARANGAN: “But how can I live with the knowledge, if I were to do it? That would be a worse hell.”
DOCTOR: “Sigh… What can I do to help you make up your mind ? I am trained to do what is best for you. My ethics call for me to do this. It is unconscionable for me not to.”
PRIARANGAN: “What about my conscience ? Ha ? Don’t you care about that ?”
DOCTOR: “Ok. Let us cool down. I will talk to you again tomorrow morning. Deal?”
PRIARANGAN: “You can talk to me again, but I am not changing my mind.”
DOCTOR: “Good night.”
PRIARANGAN: “G’nite”
In the morning, when the Doctor came in, Priarangan was dead.

Ad infinitum ad forte.

Mark: So the creation is sustained by prayer?
Swami: Well, we must all be creative, as this is what makes life meaningful.
Mark: Why are we praying then…?
Swami: Because we are in error.
Mark: Mm.
Swami: The computer will detect the errors. It is programmed to do so.
Mark: But what is troubling me then ?
Swami: Not knowing the true nature of your self. Who are you in essence?
Luis: He is God in essence ?
Mark: No, I am not. This scheme is for the handicapped.
Luis: Yesterday I came here and I got lost.
Swami: The rocks… use them as lighthouses.
Luis: They are like huge sculptures. Excavated from the rock face.
Karen: And we are drilling mainly for gas. Natural gas. The wells range between two thousand five hundred metres to three thousand five hundred metres in depth. Ha ha ha.
Luis: So basically I am in charge of the three workers under me. I am in charge of all the mechanical and electrical systems. The air systems. Pretty much everything that is moving on the rig. Except the rocks.
Swami: It is pretty dangerous. The errors can add up. They can even explode sometimes.
Karen: Do you have a background in like engineering or anything like that… mechanical…?
Mark: Oh. Well. Here I am. I am standing outside the Mosquito City Trade Towers and I have got an interview with Peter Bestluck, the richest man in Mosquito City, in about five minutes. I had better go in…
Peter: When was your appointment ? Five thousand years ago?
Wong: And…but he..when he…when he called (and it was recorded) it was the ice age. He said he wanted to live forever. I have the carbon dating.
Swami : What do you call that in Chinese ? The elixir of immortality?
Luis: “Chang sheng bu lao yao”
Peter: He did not come back because if he could not complete his mission he would be killed…Abdul: كل سنة و انت طيب *1
Santa: He dared tell a Sardarji joke. सालगिरह की हार्दिक शुभकामनायें *2
Luis: And so we must have five hundred boys and five hundred girls to get there…to make a big ceremony …to hold a big ceremony…
Nakamura: …Living in the mountains in Japan were some people with long beards and long hair. They were not Asian people. They were very hairy people.
Santa: Arrhe .. My sister would have been like five or six and I would have been, as I said, about two at that time so they traveled with two children just to show us I guess..
Swami: I rest my case.
Mark: A fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi. Accipere quam facere praestat injuriam

*1 ? you are hoW
*2 (unintelligible)