Other Destinations

1. FADE IN.

2. 
   

3. Act 1

4. 
   

5. INT. STUDY - NIGHT

6. 
   

7. PETER is watching news. We see amateurish moving images shown on the screen.

8. 
   

9. PETER (V.O.): Oh, even health workers are assaulted. It's hell to them. The attackers believe they would spread the coronavirus to people in their premises. How to awake them?

10. 
    

11. Pausing.

12. 
    

13. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Where's this place? What are CONVID-19's other destinations?

14. 
    

15. Peter continues to watch attentively.

16. 
    

17. PETER(V.O.) (Cont'd): Ah! It's Mexico City. I visited it in 2012. Mexico isn't well-developed and I had first-hand experience that some Mexicans are unruly.

18. 
    

19. Peter watches other news story.

20. 
    

21. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Oh my god, Trump suggests people to inject disinfectants into their bodies...So Mexico's big brother has become desperate too. Over 50,000 Americans have died in the past several weeks.

22. 
    

23. Pausing.

24. 
    

25. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): People are scared, will the bad situation turn worse?

26. 
    

27. Act 2

28. 
    

29. Peter continues to watch TV news.

30. 
    

31. Pausing.

32. 
    

33. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Oh, in Venezuela, people are competing for food. CONVID-19 has compounded the country's economic problem.

34. 
    

35. Recalling.

36. 
    

37. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Although I've never been to Venezuela, I worked with a WTO Deputy Director-General who was formerly the Minister of Trade of Venezuela.

38. 
    

39. Pausing.

40. 
    

41. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): That was in 2004 in Geneva. He told me that when he was a Minister, his pay was just US$1000 per month and he had to subsidize his office. He knew Hong Kong civil servants were well paid.

42. 
    

43. Peter sees images of queues on TV.

45. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Millions of Americans are out of job and some need free food.

46. 
    

47. We hear a TV news anchor commenting that: decades of economic growth has been wiped out in the past several weeks.

48. 
    

49. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): From Feb to mid-March, US was being preoccupied with the Presidential primaries. US has underestimated the spreading and killing capacity of coronavirus.

50. 
    

51. Pausing.

52. 
    

53. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Judging from exchanges in TV interviews, many Americans just thought that the coronavirus was a Chinese problem and would stay within China.

54. 
    

55. Thinking.

56. 
    

57. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): That's why Trump has to do something each day, blaming somebody, and suggesting something stupid. It's high time he proved he has the capacity to make America great again.

58. 
    

59. The TV channel carries another story about Sweden.

60. 
    

61. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The Stockholm public health strategy is different from other European countries. It suggests voluntary, trust-based social distancing meaures.

62. 
    

63. Peter surfs the web and reads something.

64. 
    

65. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Oh, they think closing borders is ridiculous. And they only care about internal movements.

66. 
    

67. Reflecting.

68. 
    

69. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In Dec 2019 and Jan 2020, Wuhan officials hesitated to closedown,not to mention lockdown. Then, there wasn't much data and science about the new coronavirus disease. Inappropriate administrative controls can be disastrous.

70. 
    

71. Pausing.

72. 
    

73. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Now, the negative impact of CONVID-19 has largely been revealed, but some other destinations of CONVID-19 are still complacent. Well, time will soon tell whether the strategy is a smart or stupid one.

74. 
    

75. Pausing.

76. 
    

77. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The situation in Japan isn't good too. They were preoccupied with the Tokyo Olympic 2020...I hope they will do better. My elder daughter is residing there.

78. 
    

79. Peter is hand on chin.

80. 
    

81. Act 3

82. 
    

83. INT. STUDY - CONTINUOUS

84. 
    

85. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Giving priority to economics and politics has costed the lives of many people.

86. 
    

87. Pausing.

88. 
    

89. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): China has learned the hard way.

90. 
    

91. Pausing.

92. 
    

93. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Some people in authority in other destinations of CONVID-19 are still learning. At the back of their minds, they might think that there's no point to lock the stable door after the horse has bolted.

94. 
    

95. Pausing.

96. 
    

97. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The situations they're in are the new reality that they've to face.

98. 
    

99. Pausing.

100. 
     

101. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The unprecedented global public health crisis requires a global solution. China, which is recovering, should offer more humanitarian help.

102. 
     

103. Pausing.

104. 
     

105. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In the pandemic, Hong Kong has done reasonably well. After from the low fatality statistics, we can buy surgical masks and toilet papers, among others.

106. 
     

107. Reflecting.

108. 
     

109. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But we can't be complacent as circumstances might change at the brink of an eye. Saving lives is more important than saving the economy.

110. 
     

111. Pausing.

112. 
     

113. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): What people in Hong Kong can add value now and in the future is to stay alert, against any negative force, whether natural or non-natural. We've to sanitize ourselves literally and non-literally.

114. 
     

115. Pausing.

116. 
     

117. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Once we've uplifted and transformed ourselves, we can then have the capacity to help eliminate the unwanted sufferings of Hong Kong and elsewhere.

118. 
     

119. Pausing.

120. 
     

121. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The pandemic should have awakened humankind to reappraise what they really need - public health should be the top political agenda anywhere.

122. 
     

123. FADE OUT.

124. 
     

125. THE END