Doctor, Lawyer, Something Else
- Peter K F Cheung SBS
- Mar 13
- 3 min read
Act 1
INT. LIVING ROOM - 9:30
Sunlight filters through the curtains. PETER sits on a sofa. He scrolls his phone idly. He stops at a Facebook video clip.
PETER (V.O.): A doctor? Some wealthy families don't want their son to be a doctor. Too many years of training, long hours, always an employee...
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): A doctor adds value anywhere. A healer. My younger son is a doctor.
He continues to watch.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): And a lawyer. A lawyer they also warn against. Many burn out in their 40s. Well.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): A lawyer...a lawyer is only as good as the law he serves. My elder son is a lawyer.
Peter looks out of the window.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I was lucky as a lawyer in Govt. For decades, it was about the legal policy on the intellectual property front...Now...I'm in the trenches...
Act 2
INT. LIVING ROOM - 16:30
Peter is relaxing in a massage chair,, enjoying a soothing massage. Across from him, his WIFE sits comfortably on a sofa, engaged in light conversation with him.
WIFE: Our elder daughter will start working again later this month.
PETER: Not coming Monday?
WIFE: No, her new employer intends to deliver the office laptop to her in Seoul.
Peter nods.
PETER: When she was home last week, she told me she'd like her new job, as her dream is to work like the character Inspector Conan.
WIFE: The best part is that she'll work 100% from home!
PETER: That's wonderful! No more commuting!
WIFE: And our younger daughter has collected her work visa for Japan today...
PETER: Yes?
WIFE: It's a work visa good for three years. Very generous!
PETER: Wow...what if there's a change in her employer?
WIFE: It's perfectly fine as long as she continues to work in the field of art.
PETER: It's a matter dear to her heart.
Peter claps his hands together softly, a look of pure joy on his face.
PETER (V.O.): My wife retired as a Govt lawyer two years ago and is steadfast in her decision to avoid any form of lawyering.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The law as it should be is a dreamer's work. The law as it is? That's a labourer's burden.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Something else isn't a consolation prize. It's the path one's heart is always meant to take.
INT. DINING ROOM - 20:30
The dinner table is set for two. Peter's wife is in the kitchen, stirring a pot. Peter is in a chair, checking his phone.
WIFE: Dinner is ready.
Peter doesn't answer. He's reading emails and dense attachments. He lets out a long, slow sigh.
WIFE (Cont'd): Yes?
Peter stands up and walks to the kitchen doorway, his phone held loosely in his hand.
PETER: My instructing solicitor just sent me the latest papers from the other side. It's...a lot.
His wife looks at Peter, her face softening with understanding.
WIFE: The food can't wait.
PETER (V.O.): Burnout isn't the price of practising law. It's what happens when I forget there's a world beyond the brief.
They sit. The MAID serves the soup.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Stress is a thief. It steals my dinner, my sleep, my holidays. And I let it, because I forgot that time is the only thing that doesn't renew.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): My wife knew two years ago what I'm only learning now: that retirement isn't an ending. It's the recovery of my life.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Meanwhile, I've to manage this better. I've to.
Act 3
INT. LIVING ROOM - 22:30
Peter uploads a photo of a tranquil pond adorned with vibrant lilypads and peaceful turtles basking on sunlit rocks to a draft on his laptop.
PETER (V.O.): The world has its categories: doctor, lawyer, something else. We're proud of our doctor and lawyer.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It takes watching our daughters to understand that the something else is never less: one chasing truth from home, another chasing art across the sea. This is wealth.
Reflecting.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): A doctor heals the body, A lawyer serves the law. And the something else? The something else heals the soul. And that's the whole.
The END
FADE OUT
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