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Writer's picturePeter K F Cheung SBS

Hard to Imagine?

  1. FADE IN.


  2. Act 1


  3. INT. SITTING ROOM - 13:00


  4. As the first frame of a film appears on TV, PETER and his WIFE begin to watch.


  5. PETER: Well, it's VCD quality. Haven't we got a DVD copy?


  6. WIFE: No. I find the whole movie on YouTube. It's hard to imagine why it wasn't taken down.


  7. PETER: Perhaps, the right owners don't bother; or it could be their marketing strategy.


  8. After seeing the title of the film "Turn Left, Turn Right", the images depict the Chinese setting.


  9. PETER (Cont'd): Judging from the car models, the film was about 20 years old.


  10. WIFE: This film is suggested to me.


  11. PETER: The aim is to let viewers have a better experience.


  12. Pausing.


  13. PETER (Cont'd): We're just one click away from worldly matters.


  14. Act 2


  15. EXT. ROADSIDE - 17:15


  16. Waiting inside a car, Peter is having screen time.


  17. PETER (V.O.): A Quora answer request is: What makes you say "hard to imagine"?


  18. Recalling.


  19. PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): In the film "Turn Left, Turn Right", the characters were very shy in their early adolescence.


  20. Pausing.


  21. PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): Me too. It's hard to imagine then I'd transform into who I'm now.


  22. Peter types his answer.

  23. EXT. ESTATE ROAD - 18: 30


  24. Walking past a tree with pink leaves, Peter captures and checks an image.


  25. PETER (V.O.): Great! I've got colour accuracy.


  26. Pausing.


  27. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Pink symbolises friendship, affection, inner peace and harmony.


  28. INT. SITTING ROOM - 19:00


  29. Peter is watching TV news.


  30. PETER (V.O.): Oh, Russia passed a law yesterday, criminalising the intentional spreading of fake news. The maximum term of imprisonment is 15 years.


  31. Watching attentively.


  32. PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): Certain news media are suspending their activities in Russia to protect their journalists and reporters.


  33. Peter surfs the web. We see: Fake news is misleading or false information presented as news...


  34. PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): Worse still, t aims to damage the reputation of an entity for popularity or commercial gain.


  35. We see: The term fake news was first used in 1890s when sensational reports in newspapers were common.


  36. PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): So the malpractice has been institutionalised and has been the dark side of the media culture.


  37. Pausing.


  38. PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): It isn't hard to imagine why certain news media have immediately suspended their activities in Russia.


  39. Pausing.


  40. PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): But these news media would continue their operation outside of Russia.


  41. Recalling.


  42. PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): A Quoran asked me earlier how to tell if a news report aims to raise hatred or awareness.


  43. Pausing.


  44. PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): My simple answer was that: for hatred, the presence of seething words, scathing tone and black mood; and for awareness, their absence.


  45. Recalling.


  46. PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): I've heard many fake news manufactured by so-called independent media about Hong Kong, China.


  47. Pausing.


  48. PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): Believing in fake news can be more dangerous than being ignorant.


  49. Sighing.


  50. Act 3


  51. INT. SITTING ROOM - 22:00


  52. While Peter's wife is watching a film on TV, Peter is working on a laptop.


  53. WIFE: This one is of DVD quality.


  54. PETER (V.O): The story isn't real. And there's no right or wrong.


  55. Peter's wife looks bored.


  56. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Fake news, on the other hand, influences others to doubt what's right and do what's wrong.


  57. Peter's wife gets the remote control.


  58. PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): It isn't hard to imagine such public harm has to be deterred.


  59. Peter's wife chooses to watch other videos.


  60. FADE OUT


  61. THE END






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