Sold Soul (a fiction of epic proportion) continues...

(This is an ongoing online novel started as a fictionalised events of my life. Its based on true events not all experienced by me but there were some total fictions too)

I had always have the fascination with the night life of Kuala Lumpur. During my undergraduate years, I had frequented Hard Rock Cafe Kuala Lumpur (as I told this story here http://kruel-legalcat.blogspot.com/2008/10/sold-soul-fiction-of-epic-proportion_15.html) and when I started to work in Seremban, I stopped totally from going out as Seremban was quite a dead town after 10pm, except for some pubs and small karaokes.

When I started my partnership in Seremban I had too much time on my hand as I have  an office which can help me in handling mundane staff like setting up appointments and ensuring I could easily get away from any appointments that I didn't want to attend to. I was a born boss who just wanted to act like one whether I had files to my name or not.

That was why I was so into sports then which would end with us going for drinks and sometimes food at a place near the Paroi stadium although every one of our parents would have prepared food at our houses. The stall that we frequented also have this one gorgeous girl who knew how to play the you-can-look-but-you-can't-touch-game. We played along as her father was always in the peripheral of our vision to ensure the safety of his daughter.

The excursion to KL made me opened up a bit to a new world. I met somebody in Seremban who was a senior in my borading school and he was also desperate for a job. He was from a family who was well known to be the supplier of leaders of various gangs in Seremban. His brother was known to get in fights with no apparent reason and there was his one place in Seremban called Wisma Punca Emas where as a teenager, I would be afraid to go as it was said that his brother would ask for money from anyone that he knew he could take on. As for this guy, he was just as bad but he was my roommate in the boarding school that I was thrown out of (the story here http://kruel-legalcat.blogspot.com/2008/09/sold-soul-fiction-of-epic-proportion.html). He was a bully while we were in school together but when I met him again, he seemed to be a bit mellow. How big a mistake first impression could be. I shouldn't have trusted Z.

I tried to include him in my drives to KL by asking him to follow me and meet Mr. N. Mr. N seems to think that Z has his usefullness. He asked Z to do bit jobs and Z was glad for the miniscule salary that he received. Little that I know, he had other plan in his mind.

One day, he started to ask me to accompany him to a place in Sentul, of all places. When I reached the place, lo and behold, it was a big dangdut club which I scorned and asked him to go ahead as I would go and have drinks somewhere while I waited for him to finish. His power of persuasion was very impressive as he wiled his way to get me to come. He said that it would be a world that I will never find outside in the real world.

My curiosty got the better of me and I was introduced to a new world that I never knew exist. Thanks to that few years of familiarity, I am thankful for not having to go there again. But stuck in this prison, those years were one of the best time of my life...

Tribute to Michael Chricton

I always read before I watch a movie adaptation and as much as I like to watch Jurassic Park, the idea that was presented through Jurassic Park the novel and the way it was presented differs greatly than the movie adapatation behemoth that it became.

I was also never really a fan of E.R. but the way it was presented again made me knew that there was an extraordinary man behind the stories.

I never read Andromeda strain, Five Patients or the Great Train Robbery and I rarely would go back to see some author earlier work. I would love to know them in the then and now. That was why my Crichton collections starts with Jurassic Park.

Disclosure, Rising Sun, Congo (his one earlier work that I read after the movie) and Timeline were all a different breed of political comments which were weaved with science fictions.

This past 5 years, his books made impact in the ideas that he presented through State of Fear, Prey and Next. The first is on superpower stiffled by non-existence apocalypse which showed Crichton coming to term with nature, Prey is on nano-technology and Next is the evolution. All are on nature gone wrong or is it us making them go wrong. All are still not made into movies.

So, get a copy and READ IT!!!

For me, his warnings were fair warnings and more of the like of him is needed.

Another one of my favourite author have died. It seems that the world is getting barren of these modern era great authors and the survivors have been transplanted in Japan and other countries. Murakami, anyone?

Maybe America need new crisis to get them going...

Hari-hari Terakhir Seorang YB (sebuah novel Malaysia) Episod 11

Rupa-rupanya YB sudah berpolitik sejak muda. Sama seperti Menteri Besar di kampung ku yang telah berkecimpung dalam politik semenjak berumur 20 tahun. Keturunan juga penting. Jika ibu bapa ahli politik dan berjawatan sebagai menteri atau sekurang-kurangnya exco kerajaan negeri, lebih mudah untuk memenuhi aspirasi politik masing-masing.

Melalui pembantu peribadi Dato' A, baru aku tahu, untuk berkecimpung dalam politik di Malaysia jika ingin popular, ramai kenalan, penaung dan pengikut yang perlu dikumpul. Bagi 'boss' YB, Dato' A adalah 'dompet'nya. Kepercayaan yang diberi oleh 'boss' YB kepada Dato' A adalah kerana perkenalan mereka bermula sejak sekolah. 'Boss' juga memang telah dikatakan ramai macamana karier politiknya telah difast-trackkan apabila dia sanggup mengorbankan sedikit dari negerinya kepada kerajaan Malaysia. Pada masa 'boss' dilantik ramai nama-nama dari parti YB dikatakan akan mengambil tempat mantan 'boss'.Termasuklah YB.

Muka YB pernah dibariskan di hadapan Utusan Malaysia dengan beberapa exco kerajaan negeri yang dikatakan paling layak menerajui negeri itu setelah mantan 'boss' tersilap pencaturan karier politiknya. Apabila big boss memilih 'orang luar' yang baru pertama kali menjadi ADUN sebagai boss negeri itu, macam-macam cerita keluar tentang boss baru YB itu.

Semasa YB sibuk menghadapi semua itu, aku belum mengenalinya. Cerita pembantu Dato' A, YB dengan berselamba menceritakan teorinya kepada semua orang "Jika dah jadi exco, mana pernah jadi boss. Dah terbukti berkali-kali" Dikatakan YB telah mewar-warkan teori ini sebelum pengumuman nama boss itu dibuat. Sekali lagi, permainan politik YB adalah permainan politik selamat atau safe play. Macam Misbun main badminton. Long rally kemudian smash bila ada peluang.

Apabila YB tidak terpilih sebagai boss badtu dia cepat-cepat memastikan yang dia akan dikekalkan sebagai exco. Mesyuarat lewat-lewat malam dengan pegawai-pegawai di bawahnya dan menyelesaikan semua tugasan yang telah diberikan kepadanya samada tugas kerajaan mahupun tugas-tugas parti politiknya. Hasil dari kerajinannya, dia dikekalkan sebagai anggota exco kerajaan negeri.

Ini berlainan dengan zaman mudanya ketika dia mula berkecimpung dalam bidang politik. Dia memulai karier politiknya dengan menyertai barisan Pemuda partinya. Dia memang terkenal dengan lantangnya. Dia pernah masuk ke dalam mahkamah dan duduk di atas meja hakim bersama-sama dengan beberapa barisan exco pemuda untuk memprotes keputusan yang dibuat oleh mahkamah yang melibatkan parti politiknya. Dia pernah membakar bas dan jambatan (dua kes yang berlainan) dan masuk lokap kerana tindakannya itu. Mungkin nasib dia baik kerana banyak penaung dia tidak pernah dicampak ke dalam pusat tahanan ISA. Penaung-penaungnya memang berada tinggi di hireaki kepimpinan parti politik yang dianggotai YB. Cukup untuk menyelamatkannya dalam pelbagai situasi yang genting.

Bila aku mendengar semua ini, aku ahu YB adalah tiket untuk aku melangkah jauh dalam karier peguam aku. Aku baru bermula, banyak lagi yang belum aku tempuhi. YB pula nampaknya ingin membantu. Ikhlas atau tidak, itu tidak penting. YB kena cuba sendiri mengurat S yang aku tahu pandai bersilat menepis orang-orang yang macam YB. Aku pula akan menyumbang apa yang patut untuk menolong S menangkis tapi kalau S terkorban, bukan ada apa-apa yang rugi. Entah-entah lagi untung...

Sold Soul (fiction of epic proportions) continues...

(This is an ongoing online novel started as a fictionalised events of my life. Its based on true events not all experienced by me but there were some total fictions too)As the week progressed, I was called a few times by Mr. N on how I should proceed with the work that was given to me. During the dinner that night, Mr. N told me the background of the clinic that I was in and on how he was going to franchise the business to a lot of people. He explained the term Health Maintenance Organisation or HMO, which was very popular in the United States of America and why did it failed in providing the adequate healthcare for the people there. As the Malaysian government then was also looking for an insurance solution for the Malaysian people, amids contoversy, Mr. N thought his idea would be viable.




Although the term HMO and medico legal was not my strong suit (actually I don't have any experience at all then), I had agreed to help them after some convincing by Mr. N himself. I told him frankly that I didn't have the experience in anything regarding medicine or corporate law for that matter but he told me to study about it and learn as he and I establish a relationship. Eager as I was, I agreed but asked him for a retainer as he was based in Petaling Jaya while I was still in Seremban. He agreed.

His plan was to start with that one clinic in Petaling Jaya and accumulate clients by asking them to be part of his company's corporate panel. He would then approach well-known hospitals around the Klang Valley with the list of clients and convince them to be a part of his network. He assure them certain percentage in the referral by the hospitals to his clinic and he will take a cut from the fees received by the hospital from his clients. He rattled off a few well-known corporate entity in Malaysia which he claimed he had known through his investment banking days. I was again impressed.

It was a baptism of fire for me during the time that I was servicing Mr. N. He was easy to deal with because his answer to me everytime I said I needed some time to finish an agreement, he would say I could take my time, but the client that he was negotiating with would evaluate his team based on their performance. He would also help me to draft the agreements that he wanted as he had seen all type of agreements in his line of work.

As we get to know each other, the place of our meeting were changed from the confines of the clinic to his house in Shah Alam. His house was a one storey bungalow which was quite sparsed from furniture. There were just a dining table which double up as a meeting table and a working place. There was a sofa and a refrigerator which was filled with various easy to cook meal like nuggets and chicken drummets.

As we discussed on how to approach and tie-up with the various organisations, I saw the mysticism and the dynamism of the husband and wife started to fade. They were arguing constantly and what I hated was they shouted as if there was no one else around. When this happened, I usually gave some excuses and went for a drive somewhere. The house was also occupied by their two daughters who constantly asked us to play with them. Only when they were sent to their grandmother we could work in peace. Unless Mr. and Mrs. N had a new argument.

However, as for me, I was enjoying myself during these time as I was commuting from Seremban to KL nearly every other day. These trips were used by me generously with dates nearly everytime I was in KL. These dates were rarely with the same girls.

The peak of my dating scene was when I dated 8 girls at one time. It was also during these times that I was introduced to a new version of nightlife that I never knew...

Hari-hari Terakhir Seorang YB (sebuah novel Malaysia) Episod 10

Dalam minggu yang kami diperkenalkan kepada Dato' A, kami terus menghantar profil syarikat kami kepada pejabatnya di Shah Alam. Nama penuh dan alamatnya kami dapatkan dari pembantu peribadi YB. Profil itu kami serahkan kepada seorang pembantu peribadi Dato' A yang kelihatan seperti lebih seperti seorang model dari seorang pembantu peribadi. Mungkin dia banyak 'membantu' dalam pelbagai perkara, fikirku yang senang melabel orang dengan perkara sumbang walaupun tidak mengenalinya dengan lebih dekat. Sama macam apabila aku dan S apabila dilihat orang bersama-sama.

Oleh kerana kami tidak mempunyai despatch sendiri, tugas penghantaran itu jatuh kepada diriku. Setelah profil itu dihantar, setiap selang sehari S menuruti dengan panggilan telefon untuk bertanyakan status panel kami. Dato' A tidak pernah memberi kami apa-apa bisnes kad tetapi apabila aku menghantar profil kami itu, aku telah mengambil semua no. telefon syarikat Dato' A termasuk talian telefon terus ke pejabat Dato' A. Nombor telefon bimbit pembantu peribadi Dato' A itu pun telah berjaya aku perolehi.

Tidak ramai yang memakai telefon bimbit pada masa itu dan ketika aku bandingkan telefon bimbitnya dengan yang aku punyai, telefonnya nampak lebih canggih. Tujuan aku mendapatkan telefon bimbitnya bukanlah kerana aku ingin mengurat dirinya kerana aku nampak dia seperti sudah berpunya tetapi dia seperti seorang yang mudah mesra dan memberi tanggapan yang dia mudah untuk ditawan. Tetapi aku tahu, itu hanya satu lakonan yang digunakan untuk memperolehi pelbagai kemudahan untuk dirinya. Sebagai seorang 'penjaga pintu pagar' kepada Dato' A, dia menggunakan kelebihannya itu untuk menambah koleksi peribadinya.

Semasa S sibuk membuat follow-up dengan pembantu peribadi Dato' A melalui pejabatnya, aku pun sibuk membuat follow-up lain dengannya melalui telefon bimbitnya. Melalui panggilan telefon ku, aku cuba memujuknya untuk keluar dengan aku. Bermacam alasan diberinya untuk mengelak dari keluar dengan aku termasuklah mengatakan yang dia sebenarnya telah bertunang. Aku pula mengumpan dirinya dengan berjanji membawanya makan di sebuah restoran baru yang memang terkenal mahalnya di Shah Alam.

Dalam seminggu selepas aku menghantar profil kami ke pejabat Dato' A, aku berjaya memujuk pembantu peribadi Dato' A keluar minum. Setelah memberikan jaminan yang aku akan menghantarnya secepat mungkin selepas makan malam itu, dia bersetuju. Pandai juga nampaknya aku bermain kata-kata. Nak harapkan rupa memang aku tidak aku miliki dengan perut yang jelas ke hadapan dan rambut yang semakin berkurangan di bahagian hadapan.

Aku tidak mempelawa untuk mengambilnya tetapi berjanji dengannya untuk bertemu di restoran itu. Aku tidak ingin dikatakan hanya membawa Kancil tetapi ada hati ingin mengurat orang yang cantik sepertinya. Ditambah pula dengan harapanku untuk memperolehi maklumat tentang orang-orang penting seperti YB dan Dato' A.

Bila dia tiba, aku membiarkan dia memilih tempat duduk dan memesan makanan di restoran itu. Aku hanya memesan starter sahaja untuk jimat dan dia memesan daging stik yang boleh tahan harganya. Aku gunakan sahaja kad kredit Citibank ku yang memang aku sediakan untuk keadaan seperti ini. Sepanjang tempoh makan itu aku mengorek pelbagai rahsia tentang Dato' A dan YB. Malahan tentang boss kedua-duanya pun aku dapat banyak maklumat.

Memang tidak sia-sia aku mengajaknya keluar dan sebelum berpisah aku berjaya memastikan dia bertanya dengan Dato' A tentang permohonan panel kami. Setelah dia pergi menaiki kereta BMWnya, aku duduk di tempat duduk memandu kereta Kancil ku dan memikirkan tentang ceritanya mengenai Dato' A dan YB....