@cmd = (
  '/usr/bin/perl', -e => quote_cmd($script)
);
##</code><code>##

@cmd = ('perl', '-e', $script);
# pick which one you need:
system(@cmd);
system('ssh', $host, quote_cmd(@cmd));
system('ssh', $proxy, quote_cmd('ssh', $host, quote_cmd(@cmd)));
# etc., etc.,