top of page
Search
Writer's picturePeter K F Cheung SBS

The Joy of Living

  1. FADE IN.


  2. Act 1


  3. INT. BEDROOM - 09:00


  4. Peter is having screen time.


  5. PETER (V.O.): A Quoran asks me something about a 2022 animation movie "Around the World in 80 Days".


  6. Recalling.


  7. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): My parents took me to see the original film when I was a kid in the late 1950s.


  8. Recalling.


  9. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In the 1960s, I read Jules Verne's novel "Journey to the Center of the Earth"


  10. Pausing.


  11. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Jules Verne was somebody. He wasn't British.


  12. Surfing the web, Peter sees Jules Verne is ranked top 2 in a list on "10 Most Translated Authors of the World".


  13. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): At the 7th position is Vladimir Lenin.


  14. Act 2


  15. INT. STUDY - 10:00


  16. Smartphone in hand, Peter is reading Vladimir Lenin in Wikipedia.


  17. PETER (V.O.): I recall the name "Vladimir" means "of great power". Lenin, his surname, was a pseudonym he adopted in 1901.


  18. Pausing.


  19. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The pictograms in my surname mean: "Long-Bow"(張), and my given names: "Gold-Costume" (錦) and "Bright-Army"(輝).


  20. Thinking.


  21. PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): They reflect what my Grandpa and Dad expected of me.


  22. Reading.


  23. PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): In his 20s, Vladimir Lenin practised law for a while and began writing.


  24. Pausing.


  25. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd):In my 20s, I was doing squatter control, demolishing illegal structures.


  26. Reading.


  27. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Lenin and his wife would go to Finland for holidays. Finland was part of the Russian Empire before 1917.


  28. Reading.


  29. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Oh, in 1908, at age 38, Lenin had a holiday in Capri.


  30. Recalling.


  31. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I was around that age when I visited the isle.


  32. Peter captures an image of the matchbox cars installed and decorated in his cosy corner.


  33. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Capri is the model of my first car.


  34. Reading.


  35. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Lenin had an extraordinary capacity for disciplinary work.


  36. Reading.


  37. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): For him, there's no middle-ground, always either-or.


  38. Pausing.


  39. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I studied Philosophy and understood the black-or-white logical fallacy.


  40. Reading.


  41. PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): Lenin's Marxist perspective was that humanity would control their destiny and would abide by the rule "from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs".


  42. Reading.


  43. PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): By 1921, Lenin was seriously ill. He had suffered three strokes before he died in 1923 at the age of 53.


  44. Thinking.


  45. PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): From Marxism-Leninism, other variants have been derived here and there.


  46. Pausing.


  47. PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): For 40 years, I was a government bureaucrat. And my writings were primarily on legal policy on intellectual property.


  48. Recalling.


  49. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): And it was only two years ago that I had one Quora answer that was viewed by millions and was translated into French, Spanish, German etc.


  50. Peter takes a deep breath.


  51. Act 3


  52. INT. BEDROOM - 23:00


  53. Checking his Quora answers, Peter is in thoughts.


  54. PETER (V.O.): My pedestrian stuff can't be compared to the works of Jules Verne or Vladimir Lenin.


  55. Pausing.


  56. PETER (V.O): Anyhow, I feel happy that I'm still alive. I can love and be loved. And I can carry on delivering value in my way.


  57. Pausing.


  58. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Reading history and reflecting on the lessons today, I feel I've travelled around the world from 1870 to present.


  59. Then, Peter sees an answer request from a Quoran: What is the joy of living?


  60. PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): What I'm experiencing is it!


  61. FADE OUT


  62. THE END








4 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


bottom of page