Intelligent or Smart
- Peter K F Cheung SBS
- Jun 18, 2021
- 2 min read
FADE IN.
Act 1
INT. STUDY - AFTERNOON
PETER has just finished a Zoom meeting.
PETER (V.O.): I feel good to have engaged intelligent people.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In most of my engagement, I'm surrounded with intelligent or smart people.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The other day, a Quoran asked me what field would society benefit by having its most intelligent people go into.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): My answer was drug innovation. The pandemic reminds the world of its significance.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Not knowing anything about Biology and Chemistry etc, this is something that I can't do.
Act 2
FLASHBACK
INT. COUNCIL CHAMBERS, HKUST - YESTERDAY
PARTICIPANTS engage. Peter remarks occasionally.
PETER (V.O.): It's a privilege that I could contribute on university governance.
Peter observes some of the participants.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): They're chair professors of science and technology. Some are leading experts in their fields.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I've only begun to learn science and technology when they've become media contents. It's interesting to learn.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In my secondary school days, science were just texts, formulas or charts.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Apart from Maths, I failed in Physics, Chemistry and Biology. I went to the Arts group.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The intelligent ones would pass and they all chose the Science group.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Accepting I wasn't born with intelligence, there's nothing I could do to change that.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): For extracurricular activities, I participated in speech competitions and debates.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I also joined my college's singing contests and didn't have any stage fright.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Since I took up Philosophy and Law, I've argued a lot with myself to examine life, and with others to make a living.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): If I don't know the answers to questions or arguments, I know where to find them.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): And then when I became a directorate officer, I needed to manage and lead. And so, I had to learn and practise other disciplines.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Enlightened that everything is learnable, it motivates me to learn as much as I can all the time.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): My goal has been to capture, create and deliver value. That's how I see my role as one of the meeting participants.
RETURN TO PRESENT
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Can a non-intelligent person be smart?
Peter researches with his smart phone.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): There's the observation that the more intelligent one is, the more selective one becomes. Intelligent people tend to have less friends.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Is happiness in intelligent people a rare phenomenon?
Reflecting.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I'm just a dump happy man!
Peter giggles, with his smart phone in hand.
Act 3
INT. STUDY - CONTINUOUS
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I share everything I know eg over 7 million Quorans have viewed my stuff. And each day, I'd learn and share something new.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): When I am involved in hiring people, I hope to hire intelligent ones who are smarter than me.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd):While some may meet my expectations, none of them would exceed my expectations.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I reckon now that neither intelligence nor smartness is at issue. There's no way that people junior to me in age can be wiser than me!
FADE OUT.
THE END
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