Stay Golden
- Peter K F Cheung SBS
- Jul 28, 2021
- 3 min read
FADE IN.
Act 1
INT. STUDY - NIGHT
Taping the Facebook icon on his phone, Peter reads a post.
PETER (V.O.): A friend refers to his yester-post on someone. A postscript suggests that someone has got a gold medal.
INT. DINING ROOM - NIGHT
PETER and his WIFE are having dinner.
PETER: Has Hong Kong, China, got an Olympic gold medal?
WIFE: Yes.
PETER: The 2nd Olympic gold in Hong Kong's history...
WIFE: Just then I saw you driving the SMART car on the estate road.
PETER: Yes, I was anxious to refill it. Having owned the car for 18 years, I saw its fuel gauge light flashing for the 1st time.
Act 2
INT. MTR TRAIN - DAY
Crowded. Peter in a suit is sitting in a priority seat, focusing on his phone screen.
PETER (V.O.): I feel relaxed that I've just concluded a subsequent claim case on non-refoulement.
Peter checks a WhatsApp message.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Good to know my younger son has a nice hotel room for his quarantine in Sydney.
Checking Google Chrome.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): :Let me investigate who's that someone who has brought glory to Hong Kong, China.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The men's foil individual gold medalist is Edgar Cheung Ka Long. He's 24.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): My younger son is a year junior to him. He used to represent his secondary school to compete on fencing.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Wow, Edgar is a tall guy at 1.93m and a left-hander. Do they provide him an edge on fencing?
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Perhaps, I should ask my son.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): His world ranking has been dropping slowly. It's thought that the delayed Tokyo 2020 has enabled him to turnaround and prepare better.
Watching a video clip.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): He said apart from the French coach, there's a new Italian coach in Hong Kong, China's Olympics team.
Watching another video clip.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): His parents were league basket ball players and they've been supportive of their son's pursuit.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I support my son too. But later, he represented his university to compete on Kendo.
Reflecting.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): As for me, I've never touched any swords, western or Japanese styles. In the 1960s, I watched a lot of fencing and Kendo movies. And that's all.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In the Rio Olympics 2016, Edgar reached the last 16 on fencing. And now in Tokyo 2020, he has beaten Rio's gold medalist to get his gold medal.
Watching another video clip.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): He said his strategy was to play well in 1st round, treasure every point and be non-defensive.
Researching.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): At Table of 32, he won 15-12; at Table of 16, he won 15-3, at quarter-final 4, he won 15-14; at semi-final 2, he won 15-10 and at gold medal bout, he won 15-11.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): At Quarter-final 4, he won by one point. That one point was really critical.
Reflecting.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): So the best defense is a strong offense, in any conflict situations.
Act 3
INT. STUDY - NIGHT
The TV is on, breaking Tokyo Olympics news: Flora Duffy Wins Historic Gold For Bermuda...Bermuda has a population of 65,000.
PETER (V.O.): Hong Kong, China has over 7.5 million. It's obvious that we should nurture more Olympians, just like my adding petrol to my SMART car.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It's said that the most important thing of the Olympic Games isn't winning but taking part. But not getting gold isn't exciting or delightful to any participating countries or territories or the people there.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Whether successes in the Games are alternative conquering or fighting well, the joy of getting gold on top of others reflects the human instinct.
Reflecting.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): What I've been striving to do is to stay golden, in my way.
Peter smiles.
FADE OUT.
THE END
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