No Encounter Can Be Bad

1. FADE IN.

2. 
   

3. Act 1

4. 
   

5. INT. SITTING ROOM - DAY

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7. Staring at his phone screen PETER is thoughts.

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9. PETER (V.O.): A Quoran asks me how can an under-developed country like Nepal can fight the current COVID-19 pandemic.

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11. Pausing.

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13. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I've never been to Nepal. But I once influenced a Nepalese on his way forward. Subsequently, he got a PhD in Law (Oxon) and has been working in the UK academia.

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15. Pausing.

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17. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): We don't have a choice as to where to be born - in a developed or under-developed economy. As an instance of humankind, I share my thoughts whenever I can.

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19. Peter surfs the web.

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21. PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): The current Nepalese pandemic developments aren't good at all. Governance is one of the problems.

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23. Pausing.

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25. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): To fight the pandemic, it begins from the individual level. All should assume the social responsibility to adhere to all the public health guidelines and administrative controls.

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27. Thinking.

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29. PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): Vietnam's pandemic control is a success story. All countries, whether developed or under-developed, should learn from it and make changes, as appropriate.

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31. Peter types on his phone.

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33. PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): Am I providing a band-aid when the sky is falling?

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35. Act 2

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37. INT. SITTING ROOM - CONTINUOUS

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39. Peter checks new notifications on his phone.

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41. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Here's another Quoran, asking me why the US economic recovery is plateauing after reopening.

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43. Peter surfs the web.

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45. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Here's a report by an authentic consultancy. Consumer confidence remains low, and they buy only essential items, namely, groceries, household supplies and home entertainment.

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47. Reading.

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49. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Only people in China and India will help boost their countries' economy.

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51. As Peter checks another new phone notification, we read on the screen: Does the COVID-19 pandemic make you feel like you're swimming upstream every day with no end in sight?

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53. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The Quoran's answer request reflects the sentiment.

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55. FLASHBACK

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57. INT. SWIMMING POOL - DAY

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59. Peter is swimming against the water currents from the jacuzzi jets.

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61. PETER (V.O.): Apart from hydrotherapy, they're also good for practising swimming upstream.

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63. END FLASHBACK

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65. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): My daily exercise is to swim 1000 meters. But I haven't swum since the 3rd wave of CONVID-19 infection in Hong Kong.

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67. Pausing.

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69. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The pandemic is an endurance test. We've to develop our will to overcome the adverse conditions. Nothing great or bad will last forever. I believe there' ll be a safe, efficacious and effective vaccine before long.

70. '

71. Peter types on the phone.

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73. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I hope my opinion would make him feel positive.

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75. A new phone notification.

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77. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): There's an upvote from somebody else. Let me entertain one more request...How bad is the pandemic in Brazil?

78. 
    

79. Sighing.

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81. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I've never been to Brazil. But I've been thinking and commenting about its COVID-19 developments.

82. 
    

83. Pondering.

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85. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): As the world's 8th economy, it performs better than the world's first.

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87. Pausing.

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89. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I notice that Brazil's National Regulatory Agency has already approved the Phase III clinical trial of a COVID-19 vaccine developed by a Chinese bio-pharmaceutical company.

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91. Pausing.

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93. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): By default, Brazil will be the first economy in the world to have mass vaccination, to the envy of other economies.

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95. Peter types on his phone.

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97. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Despite the race on vaccine research and development, the winner takes it all.

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99. Act 3

100. 
     

101. INT. SITTING ROOM - NIGHT

102. 
     

103. Peter checks another new phone notification.

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105. PETER (V.O.): This is a good question: Is 2020 actually worse than other years or are we just noticing bad things more because of COVID-19?

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107. Pausing.

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109. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The question assumption is from bad to worse. Who can tell what's good or bad?

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111. Thinking

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113. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In general, what we like is good, what we don't like is bad, and more bad feeling is worse.

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115. Thinking.

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117. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): A lot has happened in 2020, impacting on our lives and livelihoods in ways we may not like.

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119. Pausing.

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121. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): When things are of even intensity, we tend to think and act negatively to protect ourselves. That's our survival instinct.

122. 
     

123. Thinking.

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125. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But the longer we live, the more we find that circumstances are changing, for better or for worse. And they won't last forever.

126. 
     

127. Reflecting.

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129. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): As long as we are still alive, no encounter can be bad.

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131. Peter types on his phone again.

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133. THE END

134. 
     

135. FADE OUT.