
FADE IN:
INT. SLEEPING ROOM - DAY
Waking up, Peter picks up his phone and taps the Quora icon.
PETER (V.O.)
Apart from the usual new
requests for answers, let
me check if I've left any
questioners waiting.
Peter scrolls up and down the phone screen.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd)
Oh, I've missed this one.
It's a non-starter now...
We see the question on the screen: Is Hong Kong heading towards independence?
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd)
I thought and wrote about
the practical issues in 1971.
FLASHBACK
INT. CLASS ROOM - DAY (1971)
STUDENTS (17-19) including Peter (17) are discussing.
STUDENT#1
Now that we've decided the
name of our class magazine,
we need to publish something.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.)
Perhaps I'll try to write an
article. I've never had anything
printed.
STUDENT#2
Meanwhile, what do we aspire
to...
Silence. Students looking at each other.
A fortnight later. A Chinese flag and the image of Sun Yat-sen are posted at the back of the class notice board.
The school PRINCIPAL (40s) enters and points at the flag and the image.
PRINCIPAL
(Rather angry)
What do you mean by
posing these?
Students are tongue-tied.
STUDENT#3
(Hesitant)
They don't mean anything.
They're just installations.
PRINCIPAL
Take them down!
As the principal leaves angrily, the students begin to remove the installations.
. PETER (V.O.)
Before the Principal's
intervention, we've no
fear at all. We don't know
what we desire either.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd)
The mainland Cultural
Revolution is none of
our business.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd)
I've never been to the .
mainland. I think life
there is much harder
than in Hong Kong.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd)
But I just don't feel good
that we're being
governed by the British.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd)
Is it possible for Hong
Kong to become independent?
END FLASHBACK
Taking a deep breath, Peter keys his answer:
In 1971, I was a post-secondary student and published in my class magazine an article on the independence of Hong Kong. No one was interested in it.
In 1972, Britain agreed, and other United Nations did not object, the human right of self-determination does not apply to Hongkongers.
Since July 1, 1997, Hong Kong has become a Special Adminstrative Region (SAR) of China. It is an inalienable part as stated in Art. 1 of SAR's Basic Law.
As the average age of States so far is about 200 years and modern China was founded in 1949, Hong Kong may be heading towards independence by 2149.
An hour later, Peter sees his answer attracted "78 views" .
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd)
Well, I am being followed
by the minute just on this
answer. I can be a key
opinion leader. Let me
contribute more.
Peter begins answering the next question.
FADE OUT. The End