Cultural Relativism

1. FADE IN.

2. 
   

3. Act 1

4. 
   

5. INT. STUDY - MORNING

6. 
   

7. PETER is watching TV. There's a banner: CIA Director met with Taliban Leader.

8. 
   

9. PETER (V.O.): Last night, I saw a live report that the Taliban wasn't happy that Afghans were leaving Afghanistan.

10. 
    

11. Peter sees another banner:...stick to the Aug 31 deadline...contingency plan...

12. 
    

13. PETER (V.O.(Cont'd): Would the contingency plan include the re-invasion of Afghanistan?

14. 
    

15. Recalling.

16. 
    

17. PETER (V.O.(Cont'd): I just can't keep recalling the 1965 Hollywood film Von Ryan's Express, staring Frank Sinatra.

18. 
    

19. Recalling.

20. 
    

21. PETER (V.O.(Cont'd): The fictional story is about Allied prisoners of war, hijacking a freight train and fleeing the German-occupied Italy.

22. 
    

23. Recalling.

24. 
    

25. PETER (V.O.(Cont'd): Most made it onto the train but Ryan (Frank Sinatra) didn't make it, being killed by gunfire still running for the train.

26. 
    

27. Act 2

28. 
    

29. EXT. GOLDEN BEACH - AFTERNOON

30. 
    

31. Not far away from the shore, Peter is swimming against the current.

32. 
    

33. PETER (V.O.): Oh, I've to swim harder to counteract the drift.

34. 
    

35. Having changed from breaststrokes to freestyle, Peter soon sees rolling stones underneath him. He gets back to the beach.

36. 
    

37. PETER (V.O.(Cont'd): I've swum non-stop for about 45 minutes.

38. 
    

39. Using the beach facilities, Peter is changing and bathing.

40. 
    

41. PETER (V.O.(Cont'd): I don't know if drumming is harder than swimming.

42. 
    

43. Recalling.

44. 
    

45. PETER (V.O.(Cont'd): I learned from TV this morning that Charlie Watts of the Rolling Stones has died today at the age of 80.

46. 
    

47. Recalling.

48. 
    

49. PETER (V.O.(Cont'd): When I was in my teens, I also dreamt to become a drummer.

50. 
    

51. Pausing.

52. 
    

53. PETER (V.O.(Cont'd): But few drummers can become the front person.

54. 
    

55. Recalling.

56. 
    

57. PETER (V.O.(Cont'd): Karen Carpenter - the singer and drummer was the exception.

58. 
    

59. Pausing.

60. 
    

61. PETER (V.O.(Cont'd): But she died of a heart failure due to eating disorders. She was just 32.

62. 
    

63. Wet-haired, Peter is strolling along the promenade towards the car park.

64. 
    

65. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): If swimmers like to wear burqa-style swimwear, is it only good and right to require them to wear bikinis?

66. 
    

67. Recalling.

68. 
    

69. PETER (V.O.(Cont'd): In my early 20s when I was studying the Philosophy of Religion, I was struck by the concept of cultural relativism.

70. 
    

71. Pausing.

72. 
    

73. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Cultural relativism is the objective analysis of other cultures, understanding a culture's beliefs and practices from that culture's point of view.

74. 
    

75. Pausing.

76. 
    

77. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): On the other hand, ethnocentrism is the evaluation of other cultures according to preconceptions in the standards and customs of one's own culture.

78. 
    

79. Pausing.

80. 
    

81. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Ethnocentrism usually entails the notion that one's own culture is superior to everyone's.

82. 
    

83. Pausing.

84. 
    

85. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Early Taliban fighters were backed by US' CIA. After the withdrawal of Soviet troops and the fall of the government, the Taliban captured Kabul in 1996.

86. 
    

87. Pausing.

88. 
    

89. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In 2001, the Taliban government was toppled from power by the US-led invasion. When the occupying forces failed in achieving their goal, they changed their goal to nation building.

90. 
    

91. Pausing.

92. 
    

93. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): All sorts of training and equipment aside, there's no reason why Afghans should kill Afghans as they share the same culture, despite some political differences.

94. 
    

95. Reflecting.

96. 
    

97. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): On political issues, there isn't any absolute good or bad, right or wrong, if one understands cultural relativism.

98. 
    

99. Act 3

100. 
     

101. INT. STUDY - EVENING

102. 
     

103. Peter is watching TV. We see the banner: Kabul Airport refugee plight. We see moving images of armed uniformed personnel on patrol.

104. 
     

105. PETER (V.O.): The Taliban are back again. And they've refused to extend the end-August deadline that wasn't initially set by them.

106. 
     

107. We hear from the TV an interviewee's remarks:...We make mistakes... we've to fix them...

108. 
     

109. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The CIA Director and the occupying forces wouldn't have made the mistakes if they understood cultural relativism.

110. 
     

111. Pausing.

112. 
     

113. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): If cultural relativism has never been their concern, they can avoid the mistakes simply by complying with international law.

114. 
     

115. Pausing.

116. 
     

117. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Waging a war on terror is itself an illegal war of terror.

118. 
     

119. We see on TV the banner: Afghanistan: Pentagon briefing. We hear:...I don't know...we do the best we can...I know my answers are unsatisfying...I don't have any information to update...

120. 
     

121. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It's hollow. I can imagine how awkward it was when the Taliban rejected the CIA Director's request to extend the deadline.

122. 
     

123. FADE OUT.

124. 
     

125. THE END