August 24, 2007 5 a.m
Dog-eat-dog
"Brother Ali, why do you dress up so smartly in a corporation suit and tie for this meeting?" Baba pinched his mole with a few long hairs located at the middle and bottom of his chin. He sat down with a puzzled look, crossed his legs and looked at Ali and a young lady with porcelain clear face and hands across the seasoned rare teakwood table.
Robin and Henry, sitting on either side of Baba were in the same casual attire --- polo shirts, bermuda shorts and clogs. Aisah who sat close to Ali wore a brilliant blue silk sarong kebaya that were dotted with hundreds of embroidered gold lotus flowers. These flowers sparkled and shimmered as if they were floating on the brilliant blue waters of the finest silk money could buy, every time she moved to top up any drink for Ali.
"I represent a global corporation," Ali smiled with a touch of pride. "We sell high quality products all over the world. My lady boss is very particular about presenting a very good image to top people like you. That is why I wear the corporation suit and tie."
"I see that Singaporeans are on the ball," Baba smiled. "I am impressed with your hard-working attitude and your well designed corporate red tie. Is red your corporation colour?'
"Yes," Ali pointed to the embossed 'two-ram locking horns over three fiery flames' logo his left pocket of his 3-piece custom-made suit. A suit made from the oldest tailor in People's Park in Singapore.
Baba asked: "You have been an employee for at least five years? Do you think you will ever be wealthy earning a corporation stipend? I hear from Aisah that you have to beg and justify small claims for your minor expenses. A man has advised your boss to check all staff expenses nowadays. Can't you be trusted since you are devoted to your company working long hours?"
Baba grimaced as he recalled having to write payment vouchers to claim small petrol expenses for his meetings to get sales for the corporation. How about the wear and tear of his car which he could not claim? He winced at the time he got ticked off for extravagance in staying in a 5-star hotel during his overseas meeting. He felt that he deserved nothing but 5-star since he was the face of a top global corporation.
Yet here, these three prospective customers were dressed casually for a meeting. They must be important men as their office is a big centrally located prestigious office in the prime district and downtown of Shan. He could see the fast-flowing Shan River slicing past large tracts of lush green rainforests from the 30th floor. Across the windows, he admired the famous Twin Towers of Shan---the highest building in the world.
Ali thought: "How come these people wear clogs for a serious sales meeting worth $4 million dollars. I wish I could be like them."
As if reading his mind, Baba said, "We don't need to wear suits and ties because we are our own bosses. Do you want to be your own boss? Drive a BMW and throw away your cheap Japanese car? We have an opportunity for you. We need a Singapore connection."
"Sir, why do you need a Singapore connection?" Ali asked.
"Brother Ali, no need to call me 'Sir'! Call me Baba." the leader of the negotiating team of three men drummed his fingers on the table. "Today, we are talking about how we can work together on a $4-million-dollar sales. Tomorrow there are more orders.
"Hmm, please excuse me for a moment. I have to make a phone call to Aminah. To get her consent to offer you this first deal because we like your professional presentation and your high quality products."
Baba snapped open his latest solid gold mobile phone and punched in a key. He said: "Good evening Madam Excellency, I have a V.I.P (Very Important Person) from Singapore here. Do you remember that I had spoken to you about the $4-million order? I need your consent to proceed discussions further."
Baba then hung up and said: "Aminah is the wife of the most important man who can approve the purchase of your products. She says OK to this $4-million sale. She says it is just a drop of water in the ocean. No problem for this testing order.
"When the tender comes out, your corporation will be the exclusive manufacturer for Shan's 20 million people."
Ali's heart was beating faster than normal and his eyes widened. If a $4-million-dollar deal is small change, the later deals must be worth $40 million. He silently offered a prayer of thanks to his God.
Baba interrupted and gently reprimanded the young lady: "Ms Aisah, Aisah.... Are you day dreaming? You forget to pour more jamu tea for our V.I.P. I can see from his face that he is full of thoughts."
"I am sorry for this relapse," Aisah smiled. She pulled back her long silk sleeve a little and rotate her left fair wrist. She brushed Ali's forearm as she picked up the British-made tea pot with her left hand. She poured the golden-tasting tea for Ali, the fragrance of which was surpassed only by her intoxicating floral perfume.
Baba said: "Brother Ali, we do need a Singapore connection. My two brothers here and I want you to be our Singapore connection. You can set up a private company for this big tender and be your own boss. We become equals since you will then no longer be a salaried man. At your age, you deserve a better life than being a fixed-income coolie."
Ali gasped. He thought: "Nobody in my Singapore office will look down on me. Especially that nasty son of a bitch (s.o.b). My Shan brothers here will support me as I will be their partner. My lady boss will treat me with the deepest respect. Like she treats those big towkays who come to her office. They talk about big sales and go out for lunches and dinners. I can also say 'Good riddance' to that nasty s.o.b!"
Suddenly Robin took out his mobile phone and spoke to somebody in another country. Robin said to all: "Hey, my connections in Tipu State confirmed that he will give all his orders to Baba too. No need to tender for this project."
Wow, 2 countries would be giving exclusive large orders to Ali. He closed his eyes: "God, I offer thanks for being kind to me to get two big orders."
His lady boss' heart would melt when he tells her such good news. He would be one up that s.o.b. who had scolded him and showed his deficiencies to his lady boss, making him lose face.
"Brother Ali, do you wish to taste one of the finest wine from Belgium?" Baba indicated to Aisah to pop open a new wine bottle in the gold wine basket with ice cubes. She got up, popped open the cork, dipped a few drops into a wine glass, swirled a bit and gave the glass for Ali to test and approve.
"Brother Ali, this is my favourite label," Baba noted that Ali did not know how to show his wine appreciation. "This is a very rare and expensive 100-year-old wine made in 1907.
"It brings me luck whenever I drink it during a meeting with a V.I.P. $5,000 per bottle. I drink this wine whenever I appreciate my Van Gogh's paintings in the evenings to de-stress myself. One of the paintings is framed on the wall behind me.
"Do you see that Vincent Van Gogh painting of 1889 behind me? I insured it for $600 million every year!"
To Ali, it was just an ordinary painting of a sad old man with his right ear bandaged. He would have discarded it down the central rubbish chute of his apartment rather than hang it on a wall.
Before he could say anything, Baba said: "Brother Ali, by the way, I will ask your boss to give you commission if she wants to be successful in this first sale. Tell her that I want her to cover you when you go back to Singapore. In this way, she will not think that you are corrupted as you never proposed a cut. Naturally, we expect her to pay all three of us our commissions from the sales proceeds. In this way, we take care of you like a family member. What do you think?"
Ali replied in a controlled voice, firm and polite: "My corporation does not give secret commissions."
"Ah, I see....Singaporeans are so damn honest. So that is why the salaried employees are poor as they are incorruptible," Baba laughed. "Please do not feel offended. Sometimes I am too transparent and frank with such a suggestion. Payment of a commission is for our work and time. How do we survive if we don't take care of each other? Global trading is a dog-eat-dog world!
"Singapore construction companies appreciate my taking care of the decision makers. When I leave a thick white envelope on the table at the end of the meeting, such envelopes are seldom returned to me. Except for one silly Singaporean employee. He really phoned me and insisted that I took back the envelope. I gave this envelope to his boss. Everything went smoothly for my business. This silly fellow could be a very rich man now if he just signed the document instead of letting his immediate superior pocket the $20,000. He must be living to regret now.
"Sorry, I digress. Please go back to your boss and tell her one of our terms and conditions is to cover you. If she is not agreeable, the $400 million deal and the other big deal from the Tipu State will not be hers.
"We support you fully and have trust in you. Here's my name card with my private mobile phone number. Call me anytime, Brother Ali!"
The jamu tea and wine highly energised Ali. He prayed silently "God, thank you for being kind to me!"
Now, there should be no problem with his lady boss. She wants mega deals worth millions of dollars. She would now respect him as a successful deal maker.
Being a partner with commissions, he no longer need to reside in a small 2-bedroom government flat. So crammed and noisy. He would buy a big house like his lady boss. Prestige goes with wealth and the driving of a half-a-million-dollar BMW. Gold and diamond gifts for his favourite people and friends. Respect from his relatives. Wealth late in his life will elevate his status in his community. He has missed so many luxuries in life. Bankers will no longer look down on him as they now do not lend him a few thousand dollars to start up a business. Bankers do not fawn upon salaried employees. But they prostitute themselves on businessmen who don't need the money except for share and property speculations.
He took the first flight back to Singapore. His lady boss is a piece of cake if he has big-time business for her. She wants big national orders. No problem convincing her take this good two-in-one deal. She wants to be a global powerhouse in her business. She wants results --- sales orders worth millions of dollars.
No employee in his corporation had been that successful. All of them talked till the cows come home. But no action. No big orders. He is the action man. He has procured two big contracts worth maybe $1 billion. Sure, she would be impressed.
God is so kind to him. He had done his 'due diligence'. He will tell his boss that he had phoned his contact to check. His contact had told him that Aminah existed and was the wife of the political connections needed to secure this first contract.
He would tell his boss that Aminah was bona fide. He had never thought that Brother Baba could possibly made a fake phone call. He had never met Aminah himself. Just because Aminah exists, he considers 'due diligence' done.
God must be kind to his boss too. Otherwise how could he secure this first contract on her behalf? That s.o.b in the office may pose a problem. But the s.o.b has never got any deal for the company. So, he was confident as he stepped into his boss' office to tell her the good news. The s.o.b was inside the office too.
