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Madam Chan

  • Writer: Peter K F Cheung SBS
    Peter K F Cheung SBS
  • Nov 8, 2021
  • 2 min read
  1. FADE IN.


  2. Act 1


  3. DREAM SEQUENCE


  4. EXT. SOMEWHERE - DAY


  5. PETER is observing a bespectacled MADAM (50s) doing something.


  6. PETER (V.O.): What's she dong? Why's she here? Who's she?


  7. Recalling.


  8. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Oh! Madam Chan!


  9. RETURN TO PRESENCE


  10. INT. BEDROOM - DAY


  11. Peter is waking up.


  12. PETER (V.O.): Oh, I was dreaming, I haven't seen Madam Chan since 1976. Am I missing her? Or is she missing me?


  13. Act 2


  14. FLASHBACK


  15. INT. SITTING ROOM - YESTERDAY


  16. Smartphone in hand, Peter is watching video clips.


  17. PETER (V.O.): Watching the backstories of celebrities can be entertaining.


  18. Pausing.


  19. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In the 1960s, Mum bought tabloids to follow movie star stories. I read some too.


  20. Pausing.


  21. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Who can resist glamour? Who wouldn't dream to become a movie star?


  22. Pausing.


  23. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Glamour looks eloquent but seldom talks.


  24. Pausing.


  25. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Do movie stars live real or fake lives? The online gossip stories shed some lights.


  26. Recalling.


  27. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): During the hey days of Cantonese movies, I worked as a part-time waiter in Castle Peak Hotel.


  28. Recalling.


  29. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Some movie sets were shot there. While serving some movie stars, I observed their demeanours and overheard their chats.


  30. Recalling.


  31. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): As an outsider, I didn't know how industry was being operated.


  32. Pausing.


  33. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): From the online gossip stories, I inferred that most producers then believed cast was king. And they competed for the right casts to secure box-office receipts.


  34. Pausing.


  35. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Even unlawful tactics were used. It appeared that the Police didn't do much. In Feb 1974, ICAC was established.


  36. Recalling.


  37. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I joined the Housing Department in May 1974. I was assigned to Kwai Shing Estate and was in charge of the housing management of Block 17.


  38. Recalling.


  39. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Block 17 was special. It's tenants were mostly retired Police Officers and their families.


  40. Recalling.


  41. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Madam Chan was the wife of a retired Police Sergeant. She was proactive in establishing a Mutual Aid Committee which was something new then.


  42. Pausing.


  43. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): We worked together to make it happen. She was elected the Committee's Chairlady.


  44. Recalling.


  45. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In the Committee's Inauguration Dinner, I was surprised that she presented me with a plaque imprinted with “加官進爵".

  46. Recalling.


  47. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Months later, she asked me if I had a girlfriend. She meant to introduce a good girl to me.


  48. Recalling.


  49. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): After my transfer to Lai King Estate in 1976, we've gradually become disconnected.


  50. RETURN TO PRESENT


  51. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): And that was some 45 years ago. Madam Chan should be about 100 years old by now.


  52. Act 3


  53. INT. BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS


  54. Peter does some finger-counting.


  55. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): As to Madam Chan's “加官進爵" blessing, I did have 7 promotions thereafter, and I got a SBS in 2014.


  56. Pondering.


  57. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): However, I'm still curious about what might happen if the good girl was introduced to me.


  58. Pausing.


  59. PETER (V.O.): What's good about dreaming is that I can be with those who are impossible to be with in reality.


  60. Peter searches photos in his smartphone.


  61. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Ha! I've found a photo of mine taken in front of the Kwai Shing Estate office in 1976.


  62. FADE OUT


  63. THE END



 
 
 

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