Random Quotes

"Ruslan"came from the name of the heroic Persian Prince in the romantic opera, Ruslan and Lyudmila, by Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka. Colin took great joy from classical music and he had always been especially fond of opera and an ardent admirer of Glinka’s work; and in light of his conversion the choice of this particular name is not surprising. "Ruslan" in the opera spends a lot of his time fighting evil, eventually rescuing his charmed bride to be, Lyudmila, from the clutches of rejected suitors, witches, dwarfs and giants.

    "Wherever they operated just as dawn broke, the telephone typically rang at headquarters or, the radio crackled back at base, always with good news. Hodges’ deep gravely voice came down the line, or over the air in a sensuous baritone, and in lieu of good morning, invariably he said:“Come and get the bodies.” There was never any need for an exchange of pleasantries, or for the portentous caller to further identify himself."

"When approached with information obtained from reliable sources to the effect he had been pegged to continue in Malaysia as the SAS’s (Special Air Service) "permanent representative," Ruslan denied such a thing to be true. However, when I asked if the SAS had in fact come back on periodic training missions and further if they had his telephone number, he somewhat grudgingly admitted this to be correct. So it was that well after independence whenever you saw the SAS you knew, just as it had been before, Senoi Praaq troopers were not far behind and vice versa." And also: " Commonwealth troops (the Australian SAS in particular with whom Ruslan is thought to have coordinated loosely some of his own activity) continued to engage in anti-terrorist action; and, moreover, regular SAS troopers returned from time to time by invitation of the Malaysian government, with Ruslan as their point of contact, to engage in some of the most realistic training."

    "Mutt had taken him out to the strip for his trip back to England and asked him one last time to reconsider their relationship. When he refused this final entreaty she gave him a great big all is forgiven type of goodby kiss and while she hugged him whispered into his ear “If I can’t have you then no one else will either.” Mutt then after this disarming display of affection kicked him viciously in the balls (a Scots brawler would have been proud of her), sending the unsuspecting Charles into the kneeling Buddha position."

    "To make matters worse it also became known that Alex for some reason had never been circumcised. This last straw broke the camels back. So, by the time Ruslan moved back into the Department, Carey was already engaged in a running battle with the Mullahs around Kuala Lumpur. Poor Alex presented such a spectacle he stood out like a sore thumb.    "Word had it that this had become a ‘take no prisoners’ affair. The Mullahs were planning to do the job with a rusty keris It was only a matter of time before they got their hands on him."

    "When the Mullahs finally grabbed him, it goes without saying this procedure for an adult, even under the best of medical conditions, was a rather unpleasant ordeal. On the bright side though, poor Alex at least didn’t have any trouble keeping his fancy automatic wrist watch charged and
running during those trying days."

    "There is much British authorities do not want the public to know relative to the dispute between Senoi Praaq Commander Ruslan and Claude Fenner and, moreover, about what actually lay at the crux of the matter. Nowhere is it written in any history of the Malayan Emergency that there was
so much dissension on the ground at that time over internal security policy in Malaysia, or that Great Britain continued to call the shots so long after Merdeka. Britain’s wise men operated within a carefully implemented system of contracts and golden handshakes which, as did their early stance toward the Orang Asli, tied a string to this most valuable of possessions for a protracted period of time.

    "The secrecy which still today surrounds the Senoi Praaq is thus not about rumored mass graves up in the highlands, more mundane atrocities, or the usual stuff assassination conspiracies are made of. Rather, it is likely directed at preserving the popular myth that Great Britain had more or less tidied up things in Malaya by the time of the proclamation of independence in 1957 and the unilateral declaration of the end of the Emergency a few years later. The myth also holds the
mistaken belief that Great Britain stepped aside unreservedly, once these momentous pronouncements were set forth."

    "Once satisfied he had their attention Ruslan would glare at them, as they stared back at him dumbfounded, only to have the icy silence broken some moments later by his booming voice and the come-what-may taunt “They don’t have the guts for it” which invariably followed these bold outbursts. With that deathly burst of energy, the opposition quickly turned back to their drinks rather sullenly. Although the reward the MCP had put on Ruslan’s head remained valid -- and in
fact increased from $10,000 (Straits dollars) to substantially more in Malaysian ringgit -- there were never any takers, even at odds of twenty to one."

    "What on earth could have Mrs. Hale, Miss Wilkinson and Mr. Evans been thinking? I can’t help but wonder whether Mrs. Hale kept the apple and ate it, or if Mr. Evans got some sort of sexual gratification from beating a young boy. It’s one thing to cane an adult “Singapore style” for something fairly serious like the destruction of private property but not for filching a single applewhich would have fallen to the ground by itself in a day or two."

    "This casual remark establishes, for the record, when and where the killing began. I won’t delve into it in any graphic detail here but over time Colin became known as someone who could get the job done. If the truth be known he was, in fact, quite productive."

    "Smart money says he [Jim Thompson] was subdued and driven off by car. Or, possibly tricked into riding for a short distance down say to Tapah ... and then while still en route made prisoner before being spirited away. Terminal interrogation would have followed under such a dire scenario."