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Writer's picturePeter K F Cheung SBS

If It Doesn't Add Value...

  1. FADE IN


  2. Act 1


  3. INT. STUDY - 11:00


  4. PETER is staring at a disconnected modem.


  5. PETER (V.O.): If it doesn't add value, it's a waste.


  6. Turning on a laptop, Peter visits a webpage.


  7. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Day ago, someone asked me to extend a Wifi subscription. But I've never connected the modem, as I've already had my subscribed Wifi service.

  8. After logging in, Peter fills in some particulars.


  9. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Many years ago when I subscribed to pay TV, I was told the company's wifi service was a complementary one.


  10. Peter clicks the "termination of service" icon.


  11. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Months ago when the company ceased its pay TV service, I thought I was no longer its subscriber.


  12. Peter reads the small prints on screen.


  13. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Somehow, I'm still a subscriber of the Wifi service and have to give one month termination notice and to return the never-connected modem.

  14. Act 2


  15. EXT. ROADS TO SILVERSTRAND - 15:45


  16. Driving a silver Eunos 30X, Peter checks the mileage on the dashboard.


  17. PETER (V.O.): Just a little over 70,000km for a 28-year old coupe.

  18. Driving.


  19. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It has been underused and so are my other cars.


  20. Driving.


  21. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It's quite a waste as opportunities to add value have been few.


  22. Driving.


  23. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I did choose them well. I still love them after 20-30 years.


  24. Driving.


  25. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): And I spent lots money to make them last, sustaining their sentimental value to me.


  26. Pausing.


  27. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I just can't bear the thought of having them scrapped.


  28. Thinking.


  29. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): My NT home used to be my family's Saturday night resort. For the past 10 years, it has been my store house.


  30. Driving.


  31. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The stuff I kept represented the value I had added throughout my career development. Anyhow, my decluttering is continuing.


  32. Driving.


  33. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I've to expedite the process as rubbish disposal will be charged by the weight soon.


  34. Driving.


  35. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I understand that when I throw anything away, it must go somewhere.


  36. EXT. SILVERSTRAND BAY - 16:30


  37. Having swum along the outer edges of the swimming area, Peter climbs up onto a floating platform.


  38. PETER (V.O.): I treat my voluntary full-body workout as obligatory routine work.


  39. Peter lies flat.


  40. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But unlike my intellectual work, exercises promote my physical fitness, health and well-being.


  41. Pausing.


  42. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): As a pensioner, I live with my pension, and my pension dies with me.


  43. Pausing.


  44. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): While I attempt to act like the inner young man I think I'm, I admit that I'm not ashamed to take priority seats anymore.


  45. Wondering.


  46. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In a couple of months, Japan's treated radioactive waste being released to the ocean will reach here.


  47. Thinking.


  48. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I love to swim in the sea, but I fear that I might have to return to the pool.


  49. Pondering.


  50. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): No one should throw their future away.


  51. Act 3


  52. INT. STUDY - 23:00


  53. Having input the prompt: "A man with a disconnected modem" in an AI art generator, Peter sees a cubist image appearing.


  54. PETER (V.O.): If I didn't terminate the Wifi subscription, I've to keep the unconnected modem and waste more money.


  55. Thinking.


  56. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Among all wastes, invisible time is the easiest one to waste and the hardest one to correct.


  57. Pausing.


  58. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Fortunately, I don't waste time, as I love life.


  59. FADE OUT


  60. THE END

















































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