FADE IN.
Act 1
INT. BEDROOM - DAY
PETER wakes up.
PETER (V.O.): I dreamt about my elder daughter when she was a kindergartener.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Today's her birthday. May her birthday mark another wonderful period of time in her life!
In his mobile, Peter finds an image of an pay-in slip to attach to a link.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): My usual birthday gift to my younger children has been cash.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I used to give the gift in person. But now she's living and working in Japan. So I've done it electronically.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I also send my Happy Birthday song 2021.
Act 2
FLASHBACK
EXT. OCEAN PARK - DAY (July 2020)
Masked, Peter and his WIFE are taking a Ferris Wheel ride.
PETER: It's good to be back. We show our support.
WIFE: Yes, even though our elder daughter isn't working here anymore.
PETER: It was her choice to join Ocean Park after graduating from CUHK in 2018.
WIFE: To have a year's working experience in the Hong Kong theme park wasn't bad, but she had her longer-term plan.
PETER: Yes, I found her different even when she was a kindergartener. She didn't do things just because others were doing them.
Pausing.
WIFE: It was her dream to study at CUHK, and she made it.
PETER: She was particularly persuasive during the admission interview.
WIFE: And now she has been studying Japanese in Fukuoka. Hope she can attain the N1 Level in Japanese Language Proficiency Test.
PETER: When I visited her in Nov 2019, I found that she didn't have any problem to communicate with native speakers.
INT. SITTING ROOM - NIGHT (20 Sept 2021)
Peter and his wife focus on the computer screen. Their elder DAUGHTER appears in one window, while her BOYFRIEND, his FATHER and MOTHER in another. We hear conversations in Korean-Japanese-Cantonese and vice versa.
PETER (V.O.): Our Korean counterparts proposed the Skype-meeting around this time as our elder daughter's birthday is approaching.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): They aren't just wishing, but actually delivering, a lovely Birthday to her!
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Although we can't get together physically, I feel their virtual embodiment of the beloved.
END FLASHBACK
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): And her boyfriend's father is very sick.
Sighing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Being alive is good. Life is actually measured by the number of breaths we take.
INT. DINING ROOM - NIGHT
Peter and his WIFE chat over diner.
PETER: How's our lovely daughter in Tokyo today?
WIFE: She's still in the office. As today is Friday, her boyfriend has taken a 4-hour trip from Seoul back to Busan to see his father.
PETER: A very good boy. Has he got the jabs?
WIFE: I don't know.
PETER: Ask our daughter.
Having typed on the mobile screen, his wife gets a swift reply.
WIFE: His boyfriend has got his 1st jab and is waiting for the 2nd one. Koreans have to wait for their turns.
PETER: Yes, unlike Hong Kong, China, Korea has a population of over 52 million.
WIFE: While they can't cut a birthday cake together, they have had a cake at the same time.
PETER: That's romantic, during the pandemic.
Act 3
INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT
On his mobile screen, Peter taps an icon. We hear Peter singing: Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday to you...
PETER (V.O.): I wrote this song years ago wanting the world to have a Happy Birthday song above the kindergarten level.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): As to the clips in the music video, they're some of the good moments that I captured in 2020.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Life is particularly good when there're moments that take our breath away.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): To love and beloved make one happy on any day.
FADE OUT.
THE END
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