Is Luck Truly Uncontrollable?
- Peter K F Cheung SBS
- Jul 8, 2021
- 2 min read
FADE IN.
Act 1
INT. HKU LAW FACULTY OFFICE - AFTERNOON
Having spoken with STAFF#1 at the reception, PETER takes a seat, waiting.
PETER (V.O.): My wife asked me to collect a book she has ordered for her.
Peter looks around.
FLASHBACK
INT. HKU LAW SCHOOL OFFICE - AFTERNOON (1981)
A happy Peter (27) talks to STAFF#2 and gets from her some papers.
PETER (V.O.): I'm not dreaming. I'm completing my admission formalities. I'm a lucky man!
RETURN TO PRESENT
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The opportunity was too good to be true. I matriculated eight years ago.
Act 2
INT. HKU LAW FACULTY OFFICE - CONTINUOUS
Peter checks his Quora notifications.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Oh, someone has upvoted one of my answers.
Checking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Yesterday, I responded to an interesting answer request: Is luck truly uncontrollable?
Checking data.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Oh, over 20K views in a day? Am I lucky?
Smiling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I tried to raise the level of explanation concerning the concept of luck.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): From the fact-based objective perspective, luck is something brought about by chance rather than by one's effort.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): From the feeling-based subjective perspective, luck means the objective opportunity is realised as a result of one's preparation.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I inserted a feature photo, capturing a what-I-believe controllable lucky moment.
Recalling.
TPETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Two days ago, I went swimming at Shek O. Having swum and had Thai noodles in a restaurant there, I returned to the beach to watch the world go by.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I observed two beach-goers capturing their moments happily. One could tell by their gestures.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I captured the moment and felt I was lucky.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I was the right person (photographer) in the right place at the right time.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Such interface makes luck somewhat controllable.
FLASHBACK
EXT. GOLDEN COAST BEACH - DAY (YESTERDAY)
Coming out from the changing room, Peter hears an announcement: Due to high E.coli count, we've already raised the red flag. Stay away from the water...
PETER (V.O.) : If I arrived a bit earlier, I might have already been swimming in the polluted water.
Observing the swimming area, Peter sees a few souls are still swimming.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Am I lucky or unlucky?
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Is luck truly uncontrollable or controllable?
Act 3
INT. HKU LAW FACULTY OFFICE - CONTINUOUS
As STAFF#3 appears, a book is passed to Peter.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It's a thin book.
Peter reads its two-part first title and its subtitle.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): "The Story of a Lucky Man".
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): Such a descriptive subtitle should hook potential buyers.
Reflecting.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I'm a man who tries to make luck on my side. I prepare myself so that I won't miss any opportunity.
Looking around.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I knew just too well how one opportunity can change one's life dramatically.
Peter takes another look of the logo of HKU before leaving.
.FADE OUT.
THE END
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