A Company of Pride
by
Suresh Ramskay
by
Suresh Ramskay
SCENE I, ACT I – HALL
(MR. GANAPATHY, a man in his forties, is standing behind a podium, a microphone in his hand. Facing him is a seated crowd of sixty five people. In that crowd: MOHAN, AZAD and NURUL; all in their late twenties.)
MR. GANAPATHY
Well, it’s been an exciting two weeks but your training cum job interview ends today. As promised, out of the sixty five of you here, five trainees will be offered a permanent position in our firm. The rest of you need not fret as you will be in our KIV list for future openings. These are the five chosen ones, in no particular order: Faisal, Zainal, Jamal, Mohan and Nurul. Congratulations to the five of you. We’ll be seeing you again next Monday. Dear trainees, it was a great pleasure having all of you here.
(Mr. Ganapathy exits the stage. The crowd begins chattering amongst themselves. Both Azad and Nurul stand up. As Azad hurriedly exits the stage, he bumps into Nurul.)
NURUL
Bodoh lah.
(Azad exits without saying a word. Nurul, spawning a tiny smile on her face, walks over to Mohan and shakes his hand.)
NURUL
Congrats, Mohan.
MOHAN
Congratulations to you too, Nurul.
NURUL
I dah agak you mesti dapat this job.
MOHAN
Why would you agak something like that?
NURUL
You’re the only non-Malay in this bunch. You must have seen this coming.
MOHAN
You don’t really believe that, do you?
(Nurul smiles sheepishly at Mohan, who smiles back.)
SCENE I, ACT II - ENCIK HAMID’S OFFICE
(ENCIK HAMID, a man in his mid-fifties, is seated behind his desk. Azad is facing him, standing, and very upset.)
ENCIK HAMID
Apa yang kamu sedang merepek ni, Azad?
AZAD
Encik Hamid, Hindu tu...
ENCIK HAMID
Azad, watch your mouth.
AZAD
(sighs)
That Mohan... dia masuk firm ni baru dua minggu. He has no experience whatsoever in the way things are run here. Many of us, including me, have been your apprentice for almost a year. Pengalaman kami jauh berlambak daripada dia. We’re a zillion times better than him. But somehow dia boleh jadi top five, while the rest of us are now just names on your substitute list. What the hell is going on, Encik Hamid?
ENCIK HAMID
Kamu pernah terfikir tak that maybe the young man has worked hard and smart to get this job?
AZAD
Oh, bullshit lah.
ENCIK HAMID
I will not hesitate to send you out that door if you use that kind of language with me again.
AZAD
Encik Hamid, you weren’t there during the two weeks training. You don’t know him like we do. That Mohan is a phony. Dia tu poyo. Bengap.
ENCIK HAMID
Azad, what are you getting at?
AZAD
I think Mr. Ganapathy is being too nice to him for very, very obvious reasons.
ENCIK HAMID
You’re making these assumptions simply because Mohan is the only non-Malay in the group.
AZAD
I’m making an official complaint, Encik Hamid. You have to do something about this.
ENCIK HAMID
I think we’re done here.
AZAD
Jangan menyesal nanti.
ENCIK HAMID
Saya sibuk sekarang. Would you please...?
(Azad stares hard at Encik Hamid before exiting the stage, clearly discontented.)
SCENE II, ACT II - HALL
(There’s still chattering among the crowd. Mohan and Nurul are still conversing. Azad enters and walks toward Mohan.)
AZAD
Tuan-tuan dan puan-puan, sila ambil perhatian. I have an announcement to make.
MOHAN
What’s going on?
AZAD
Mohan, would you please stand up? We have some unresolved issues.
MOHAN
(standing up)
What unresolved issues?
(Mr. Ganapathy enters, looking confused.)
MR. GANAPATHY
Is there a problem here?
AZAD
Mr. Ganapathy, how nice of you to join us.
(addressing the crowd)
Tuan-tuan dan puan-puan. I know that you are all angry and upset about the atrocity that has taken place today. So I say, let us speak up and let them know that we are PISSED.
MR. GANAPATHY
What atrocity?
AZAD
Giving Mohan a job. That atrocity. He does not deserve to be working for this firm. It is the most mengarut thing ever. Everyone here has thought it. I’m just saying it out loud.
MR. GANAPATHY
You don’t have to be a sore loser. Have some dignity.
AZAD
Mr. Ganapathy talking about dignity? After what you’ve done?
MR. GANAPATHY
What are you talking about?
AZAD
Kami semua kat sini dah kerja macam kerbau siang dan malam trying for this job.
MOHAN
And what in the hell makes you think I didn’t?
AZAD
I’m not saying you didn’t. I said KAMI SEMUA, didn’t I? So, what makes you so special? Both you and I know there are others more qualified than you. I’m one of them. So my question is this: Kenapa gunakan sistem kuota dalam pemilihan ini, Mr. Ganapathy?
MR. GANAPATHY
You’re crossing the line.
AZAD
Admit it, Ganapathy. You only picked Mohan because he’s an Indian.
MR. GANAPATHY
How dare you suggest such a thing?
AZAD
Ah, sudah lah, Ganapathy. You can cut the crap now.
MR. GANAPATHY
I wasn’t the only one who chose Mohan. I’m part of a committee. A multi-racial committee which, without prejudice, picked five of the top performers without giving regard to race and religion.
AZAD
Spare me the Negaraku moment lah, macha.
MR. GANAPATHY
What did you call me, you racist son of a bitch?
AZAD
I’m the racist? You’re the bloody racist who can’t even buat keputusan yang adil dan saksama because skin colour dah butakan your bloody eyes.
MOHAN
Hey, you wanna talk about the quota system? Why are you looking at it from a racial point of view? Nurul is the only female among the five of us. You look me in the eyes and tell me she really deserves that spot. You can’t because you know as well as I do, that girl is a waste of spot.
NURUL
Mohan, what the hell?
MOHAN
But I guess you’ll never agree that this quota system, if there is one, is a gender based system because Nurul is a Melayu and you are a racist. Hipokrit.
NURUL
Mohan, you shut up.
AZAD
Nurul, kau jangan masuk campur.
NURUL
Kau pun shut up jugak lah, bodoh. Kenapa kau tak nak aku masuk campur? Because I don’t have dicks like you guys? Hey, Mohan. You ingat because I’m a Malay woman, I’m stupid is it?
MOHAN
I didn’t call you stupid. And it’s not because you’re a Malay woman. It’s because you’re a woman.
NURUL
Oh, well. I guess that makes everything better, doesn’t it? You sexist piece of shit.
MOHAN
I’m not a sexist. I was just trying to make a point.
NURUL
Do you know how hard it is being a woman in this country?
AZAD
Nurul, will you please tutup your yap hole? I’m trying to fight for our rights.
NURUL
To hell lah with your rights. The moment I saw Mohan on the first day, I knew this was going to happen. I absolutely agree with you, Azad. It IS unfair. But we’ve been doing this to them for ages. Don’t really fancy the taste of your own medicine, eh?
AZAD
What are you talking about?
NURUL
Oh, I give up. All men are bodoh.
(Nurul storms off.)
NURUL
See you on Monday, Mr. Ganapathy.
MR. GANAPATHY
Uh, yeah. Okay.
(Nurul exits the stage.)
MOHAN
Look. If this is how you guys really feel, then I quit. I tak nak perbesarkan benda ni lagi. I’ve had enough. Mr. Ganapathy, you can give my spot to someone else.
MR. GANAPATHY
Excuse me? Don’t tell me what to do, Mohan. I’ve made my decision. Azad, I suggest you leave the premises before I call security.
AZAD
I’m not leaving until I get some kind of keadilan.
MR. GANAPATHY
I know politicians who could be a great deal of help to you, Azad. SECURITY!
(Security officers enter.)
MR. GANAPATHY
Please show Tok Janggut here the way out.
(Security officers grab Azad by his arms and begin to drag him off stage. Azad is struggling to release himself from their clutches.)
AZAD
Ini tak adil. MELAYU BOLEH! MELAYU BOLEH!
(The security officers and Azad exit the stage as Mohan, Mr. Ganapathy and everyone else look in disbelief.)
SCENE I, ACT III - MR. GANAPATHY’S OFFICE
(Mr. Ganapathy and Mohan enter. Mr. Ganapathy takes an envelope from his desk and passes it to Mohan.)
MR. GANAPATHY
Your appointment letter.
MOHAN
Thank you, Mr. Ganapathy.
(as he slowly walks to leave)
See you on Monday.
MR. GANAPATHY
Don’t ever do that again, Mohan.
MOHAN
(stops walking)
Do what?
MR. GANAPATHY
Back down. Give in. I didn’t go through so much trouble kissing ass and convincing my peers you deserve the job so that you could hand it back to them on a silver platter.
MOHAN
What are you talking about?
MR. GANAPATHY
Mohan, you’re one of the worst performers in this group of sixty five. You lack character. You lack confidence. You’re an idiot. Half of the time, I have no fucking clue to what you’re talking about. But still, to see one Indian competing against all those belacans and then having to reject that only Indian wasn’t acceptable. Not to me. You take this job and you act like you deserve it. You work hard and make us Indians proud.
(Mohan, dumbfounded, slowly exits the stage. Mr. Ganapathy sits behind his desk, leans back against his chair and starts whistling to the tune of ‘Jai Ho’.)
-END-
