FADE IN.
Act 1
INT. BEDROOM - 11:00
PETER and his WIFE get out of bed.
PETER (V.O.): Today's Christmas day. A public holiday in Hong Kong.
INT. SITTING ROOM - 11:10
Peter sees their SON working in the kitchen.
WIFE: He's baking something for his girlfriend. You'd better go to buy takeaway breakfast for us.
Smiling, Peter goes out. Later, he returns with takeaways and urges his wife to have breakfast.
PETER: I've a noon appointment with the car repairer to your car fixed.
PETER (V.O.): Today isn't a holiday for small enterprises.
Finishing breakfast quickly, Peter leaves.
Act 2
FLASHBACK
INT. PETER'S NT HOME - YESTERDAY
Cleaning bookshelves, Peter sees two old books. One is Why I Am Not A Christian, and the other is God Has Many Names.
PETER (V.O.): One optional subject I took during my undergraduate days was Philosophy of Religion.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I'm not a Christian. That shouldn't prevent me to live a decent life.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I was converted to Buddhism before my teens. Then, I was young and innocent.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I shared Buddha's observation that life was a suffering. I also thought Buddha, an enlightened human, was better and wiser than me.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Then I attended Shung Tak Catholic English College. My focus was on English, not the religion.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): However, the College's practice was that students had to pray to God daily. But I didn't feel its existence at all.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): On occasions, we had to join church masses. When compared to class lessons, the rituals and atmosphere were refreshing.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): What I couldn't accept was that I was sinned by birth. And I didn't want to incriminate myself.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Anyhow, the sinned worshippers, whether teachers or students, all looked somewhat sacred. They're rewarded with something to eat.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): As Sharon, my girlfriend then, was brought up in a Protestant environment, I joined her religious activities.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But she had doubts about immortality. And I couldn't believe miracles.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): And later, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses and Children of God came into my young adulthood.
Opening a mail, Peter sees a hand-written letter.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): OMG, a stranger is persuading me to believe in his God!
Peter dumps the letter to the garbage bin right away.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Yesterday night, my wife and I went to see a movie Till We Meet Again. We thought it was a romantic comedy, pure and simple.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It turned out to be a cocktail of nearly all genres, preaching explicitly infinite reincarnation, the superstitious way.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In my 20s, I share the observation that God has many name due to cultural relativism.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): To have some sense of control of the unknow, I've been trying to be self-reliant.
RETURN TO PRESENT
INT. SITTING ROOM - 12:30
Returning, Peter speaks to his wife.
PETER: While the car repairer remembered to send me Christmas greetings, he had forgotten to order the spare parts. Incidentally. what's our plan tonight?
WIFE: Have you forgotten the Christmas party at our relative's home?
Act 3
INT. BEDROOM - 24:00
Peter watches the Queens Christmas speech over TV.
PETER (V.O.): Christmas isn't celebrated in Mainland China or Japan. Some countries even ban it.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Cultural relativism has been at work.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Nevertheless, our alternative Christ's mass at our relative's home was merry.
THE END.
FADE OUT
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