cerita lima ringgit

masa den gi jenjalan kat kk last weekend ngan my sis, kitorang sempat brekfes kat satu restoran nih. awal pg lg, takde org lain pun dm cafe tu. sebenarnya kitorang tak lapar pun, tp saja ngade2 nk makan. so kitorang order satu pinggan mi goreng ngan 2 kepak ayam goreng. kongsi je sbb takut bazir tak abis. sayang je. den pantang kalau org buang2 makanan nih.

tgh2 tunggu order tu, ada sorang pakcik ni masuk cafe. nampak mcm umur 50an, gempal2, pakai spek, separuh botak. ada gaya bisnesman. dia masuk trus gi kat tokeh cafe. den tak tahu apa diorang borakkan, tp pakcik tu asik ckp..

"takpa takpa.. kita serah ja pada Allah.."
"rahmat Allah ada dimana-mana.. kita tawakkal saja.."

ntah kenapa, bila tgk dan dgr pakcik tu, den ter'flash' back kesah akhir 2007.

masa tu, ada open tender utk supply makanan kat sebuah sekolah menengah nih. kira2 itu ini, den buat unjuran gross profit minima rm1000 a day. yup. untung kasar minima boleh dpt dlm rm1000 sehari. kazen den yg rekemen suh submit tender sbb kontraktor yg ada masa tu dah nak tamat kontrak.

den usha2 kat kazen den tu, kontraktor masa tu bayar sewa rm35 je per day. n i thot, giler ciput. 35 je sehari? so im being generous la. i put rm50 a day. which is sewa rm1000 sebulan. in fact, i wanted to put rm75 but its a bit far fetch ler. still, sikit je considering the fact that gross profit could amount to almost 20k per month. so den pon draw up my proposal, listing all dat was required.

pendekkan crita, tender tu kena submit kat ketua kerani sekolah tu. dia ni kira org kuat ahli jawatankuasa yg menentukan kontraktor mana yg akan dipilih. so jumpa dia dlm bilik dia la. dia selak2 proposal den, dan dia tekejut tgk den offer to pay as high as rm50 per day. dia sengih2 kat den. dan dia kata...

"ni dah banyak ni. mcm ni je. yg ni resit pembayaran u isi nanti. u bayar rm50 tp dlm resit ni u tulis rm45 tau.." dia sengih2..

"err.. kenapa plak mcm tu?" oh shit. another low life.

"hehe.. biasa lah tu.. kontrak yg dulu pon mcm ni jugak."

"oh macam tu.. saya akan fikirkan. terima kasih.."

wat the heck. rm5 sehari. a bribe of rm5 a day. asshole. oxymoron. if you wanted to ask for a duit kopi, could you use your brain and ask a bit more than a measly rm5? bigtime idiot dat looks like a jerk. i dont have to consider anything. its against my principle.

my kazen tu a bit angry actually. sbb dia kata, "5 ringgit je, kau takkan perasan pon 5 ringgit tu ko bg kat dia. kau dah sah sah masuk poket seribu sehari. ape yg kau berkira sgt? mcm ni la bisnes.. ingat senang ke nak dapat tender?"

den malas nak debat panjang2. altho at dat time, earning more money was my first priority and i was struggling with problems dat seems to come out of nowhere. but, i just couldnt bring myself to be dat low. rm5 je right? lets not focus on what im losing here, look at the 'bigger picture'.. or in my case, look at the 'bigger number'..

but it was nagging n tearing me inside.

can i live with myself knowing that im bribing someone to get what i want?

am i strong enough to resist the master of all tempatation?

its so easy to give in. senang je nak buat2 tak kesah. but i just couldnt do it. so den bgtahu kazen tu, suruh maklumkan kat kerani tu yang i have to retract my tender due to personal reason. den malas nak gi jumpa dia lg, in case the temptation become too great to resist.

tp bila mendengar kata2 pakcik dlm cafe tu, den teringat balik kesah 5ringgit tu. masa kesah tu berlaku, den men9olak bukan atas sebab pendirian agama. err how can i say this delicately.. it didnt occur to me to see it like the way dat pakcik mentioned it. den menolak unsur2 rasuah bukan sbb den ni seorang yg alim dan warak, tp den menolak sbb prinsip den yang menolak unsur2 demikian. i didnt associate it with anything of me being religious. it just happened..

ok. dats all for tonite. till then :)