Scene #1
Time: Day
Location: Coffee Shop
Character(s): Yuen (partner of a garment trading company), Ivy (coffee shop owner)
(Yuen finishes a phone conversation and sighs. Ivy brings him a cappuccinowith the word “RELAX” written in the foam.Yuen looks at his coffee and his mood is lifted.)
Yuen: You’ve read my mind, Ivy.
Ivy: Of course I can see that you’ve been upset these few days. What’s wrong? Trouble at work?
Yuen: (forced smile) You wouldn’t understand. All I do is taking complaint calls from unhappy clients.
(His cell phone suddenly rings.)
Yuen: (points at the phone) Speak of the devil…
Ivy: (smiles) Relax!
(She walks away. Yuen picks up the telephone.)
Yuen: (to the phone)Hi, Mr. Wong… Really? Something wrong with the fabric? The color isn’t right… I’ll fix it right away! I’m so sorry, Mr. Wong.
(He gestures at Ivy to put the bill on his tab as he hurries out of the shop.)
Yuen: Make a note of this!
(Ivy smiles and nods.)
Scene #2
Time: Day
Location: Garment Trading Company
Character(s): Yuen, Cheung (another partner of the garment trading company)
(Yuen enters the office and realizes that Cheung has returned (from a business trip to the mainland). Cheung is giving instructions to an employee. Yuen approaches Cheung.)
Yuen: Cheung, I was looking for you.
Cheung: What happened? You’re sweating.
Yuen: Wah Pan screwed up the orders again! The clientsare complaining!Where’s the quality control?
Cheung: Calm down. I’ll visit Wah Pan and get to the bottom of this. Let’s talk later.
Yuen: You’re familiar with mainland operations. We’re counting on you.
Cheung: Don’t worry. Go back to work.
Scene #3
Time: Night
Location: Restaurant (mainland China)
Character(s): Cheung, Chief Chan (mainland garment factory owner)
(Cheung is dining with Chief Chan. A waiter is serving them wine.)
Chief Chan: How nice of you to take time to visit, Cheung. Let’s have a drink.
Cheung: Sure.
Chief Chan: Thanks to you, we received a steady stream of orders from your company.
Cheung: Well, Chief Chan, the reason for my visit this time is…
Chief Chan: Something wrong with the last shipment?
Cheung: So you knew there was a problem?
Chief Chan: It’s nothing serious. Let’s just look past it!
Cheung: Hey, no. We’ve received a lot of complaints. The quality of your products was fine in the past.
Scene #4
Time: Day
Location: Garment Trading Company
Character(s): Yuen, Secretary
Yuen: (to the phone) What? That is serious! Okay… I’ll replace them immediately. I’m so sorry, Mr. Wong.
(He hangs up, mumbling to himself…)
Yuen: It’s Wah Pan again! What has Cheung been up to?
(He steps out of his office and enters Cheung’s office...)
Yuen: He disappears every time.
(Just as Yuen turns to leave, the cell phone that Cheung left on his desk receives a text message. Yuen is shocked when he sees the text message from Chief Chan, it reads: “The money has been transferred to your account.”Yuen quickly goes to Cheung’s secretary.)
Yuen: (anxiously) Where did your boss go?
Secretary: Mr. Cheung said he went outside for coffee.
(Yuen heads to the coffee shop in search of Cheung.)
Scene #5
Time: Day
Location: Coffee Shop
Character(s): Yuen, Cheung, Ivy
(Ivy serves a takeaway coffee to Cheung.)
Ivy: Mr. Cheung, your coffee.
Cheung: Thanks.
(Yuen rushes into the coffee shop and finds Cheung.)
Yuen: Cheung!
Cheung: Hey, something happened?
Yuen: Sit down first.
Cheung: Alright.
Ivy: Yuen, what would you like?
Yuen: The usual, please.
(Yuen looks at Cheung, filled with disappointment.)
Yuen: What’s wrong with Wah Pan? I received another complaint!
Cheung: Well, clients are always picky.
Yuen: Picky? They’re furious! You really screwed up this time!
(Cheung does not know what to say.)
Yuen: With so many mainland manufacturers to choose from, why pick Wah Pan?
Cheung: Well, we’ve been working with Wah Pan for years.
Yuen: Look, Cheung, just tell me the truth. Are you hiding something from the company?
Cheung: No. I have nothing to hide…
(Cheung grows increasingly uncomfortable.)
Yuen: No? Why did Chief Chan transfer money to you? Did you accept payment from them?
(Shocked, Cheung is unable to respond.)
Scene #6 (continuation of scene 3)
Time: Night
Location: Restaurant (mainland China)
Character(s): Cheung, Chief Chan
(Chief Chan explains his situation to Cheung over dinner…)
Chief Chan: Cheung, you’ve got to understand. We received the last order at such short notice. We simply substituted similar products in the warehouse and shipped them out instead.
Cheung: You slipped up! How do you expect me to face my people now?
Chief Chan: Sure, you can. Look. How about this: I’ll let you have 10% of the sale price to thank you for your help.
Cheung: No…that’s not right.
Chief Chan: You’re a partner in your company. What’s wrong with a boss receiving payment? Come on! Give me your account number, I’ll transfer the money tomorrow.
(Cheung looks at Chief Chan, unsure what to do. Chief Chan raises his wine glass, ready to toast.Cheung forces himself to smile and accepts Chief Chan’s proposal.)
Chief Chan: We’ll look out for each other from now on.
(They clink glasses.)
Scene #7 (continuation of scene 5)
Time: Day
Location: Coffee Shop
Character(s): Yuen, Cheung, Ivy
Yuen: Don’t you know our reputation is on the line? The company will lose tons of business!
Cheung: Don’t worry, I’ll deal with it.
Yuen: So how? You knew their products were bad yet you still order from them. Our clients are furious! Did you accept money from them or not?
Cheung: (with hesitation)Yes…Wah Pan transferred money to my Hong Kong account. But what’s wrong with that?
(Their conversation increases in volume, drawing Ivy’s attention…)
Cheung: I own part of this company. I entertain clients out of my own pocket. It's Just partial compensation. Wah Pan’s products aren’t always bad.
Yuen: (disappointed in Cheung)You’ve really crossed the line. How will you explain this to the other partners?
Cheung: I toiled for years to establish the company on the mainland. Now you want to scapegoat me over a minor issue?
Yuen: I know you have worked hard for the company. But you’ve gone too far this time. I can’t be part of this!
Cheung: Then there’s nothing more to say!
(Furious, Cheung leaves.)
Yuen: (Dejected) Cheung… Cheung!
(Yuen sighs helplessly.Ivy brings over a coffee for Yuen. The words “Business is business” are written in the foam. The message in the coffee opens his eyes.)
Scene #8 (Recap)
Time: Day
Location: Coffee Shop
Character(s): Ivy, Yuen
(Ivy stands beside Yuen to outline the relevant anti-corruption laws…)
Ivy: Are you okay?
Yuen: I don’t want to report Cheung. We’ve been partners for years.
Ivy: I know how hard it is to choose between integrity and friendship. But according to the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (Prevention of Bribery Ordinance), when an agent accepts an advantage without his principal’s permission while conducting the principal’s affairs, the agent is guilty of accepting a bribe.
Yuen: Who does “agent” refer to?
Ivy: In the context of a company, any one of its employees, board directors or even individual shareholders is considered an agent when acting for the company. They must have obtained approval from the principal, in this case, the company, before soliciting or accepting any work-related advantage.
Yuen: But Cheung is a partner in the company. Can’t he give himself approval to receive an advantage?
Ivy: Keep in mind that the “principal approval” is not up to individual shareholders to give. It should be given by all shareholders or the entire board of directors.
Yuen: That means without the consent of all shareholders or the entire board of directors, an individual shareholder must not accept rebates?
Ivy: That’s right.
Yuen: But Cheung accepted an advantage from a mainland manufacturer. Would the ICAC take on the case?
Ivy: Well if any part of the bribery took place in Hong Kong, then the ICAC has the power to investigate. The suspect may have violated the mainland laws as well. If the entire incident occurred outside Hong Kong, you should report the crime to law enforcement agencies there.
Yuen: I understand. It appears I must talk to the ICAC.