Magolia white clouds gathered in the clear azure sky. I was in my taxi doing my usual rounds. Seeing a Malay man carrying a blue luggage and a black leather bag, I began driving towards him with the thought he would flag me down and he did. I stopped the taxi and got out of the car.
“Selemat Tenah Hari! My name is Bernard Chew,” I said with a broad smile on my face.
“Selemat Tenah Hari! My name is Abluah Kanha.”
I opened the door of the taxi for him and he was surprised.
“Terima Kasih! Terima Kaish!” Mr Abluah thanked me profusely.
“Sama-Sama!” I said, “Where do you want to go?”
“I want go to China town, Hotel 881,” he spoke and soon, snoring could be heard from him.
When we reached his destination, I woke him up. Having paid me the fare, he walked out of my taxi still in a daze while dragging his luggage behind him.
As soon as he had alighted, I continued with my rounds. While driving along Bukit Panjang Road, I saw a familiar black leather bag on the passenger seat through the rear-view mirror. “Oh! It must be Mr Abluah’s black leather bag.”
I stopped the taxi at the side of the road and reached out for the bag. Opening it, stacks of one-thousand-dollar notes flashed into my wide agape eyes. I was stunned to see so much money. I did not know what to do. The thought of greediness crept into my mind. The ‘devil’ within me was alluring me to keep the money while the ‘angel’ told me to report the money to the police. The ‘devil’ and ‘angel’ were my consciences. After much disputes, the ‘devil’ won and thus, I decided to keep the money for myself.
I drove to the nearest shopping centre and spent some of the money on clothes and gifts for my family.
When I was paying for a Louis Virton bag for my wife, the cashier noticed that all of the notes I had given her were faked! She called for the security and a few minutes later, I was handcuffed. I tried to explain to the security guard that the money was not mine, but they said sternly to me that the money was found in my bag. With those words, they took me to the police station. Despite telling the truth, I was convicted and eventually, sentenced to jail.
As the saying goes, ‘Honesty is truly the best policy’. I truly regretted not heeding this advice but it was too late.