FADE IN.
Act 1
INT. SLEEPING ROOM - NIGHT
Before going to bed, PETER checks new Quora notifications.
PETER (V.O.): Here's an answer request.
We see on his phone screen the request: Is it true that people who would have succeeded in life in the past are now basically useless due to technology and society changes?
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In the mid-1980s, I heard an expatriate Counsel lamenting in the office that he'd never learn to use the computer.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Although he had worked in Hong Kong for a number of years, he didn't speak any Cantonese.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In the British colony of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Chinese had to adapt to learn English.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Information technology was a new trend then. I don't know if that expatriate Counsel ever uses any computer again.
Art 2
INT. SLEEPING ROOM - CONTINUOUS
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): While working part-time as a waiter in the early 1970s, I saved my wages and bought a typewriter. Typing was a skill, although there weren't male typists.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Working as a Land Executive in 1980, I drafted and asked typists to type my minutes. I was amazed that they could read most of my handwriting.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Working as a Crown Counsel in the late 1980s, my personal secretaries could type for me. But I had my own computer and typed myself, achieving effectiveness and efficiency.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): My personal secretaries only needed to fix my appointments and prepare my slides. I always asked my PowerPoint slides be stored in a spare USB so that I'd bring along to the speaking venue, just in case.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): When I acted as a Department head, I had a chaffeur-driven car to use.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Upon retirement, I've become my wife's chaffeur. I didn't have any secretarial support and have to do everything myself.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I've learned to prepare PowerPoint slides. When I found out a USB port was also a charging port, I felt like an idiot!
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): To fill and sign email attachments continued to pose a tremendous challenge to me. I just downloaded and printed them, filled and signed them by hand before scanning them and emailing them back.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Now, I know how to fill and sign even on my mobile. All these sound easy, as I keep educating myself.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): What surprised myself was that I was even able to create my own websites. I've been able to store and publish my copyright works since 2017.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): That's how I've adapted to the technological change. As to societal change, I knew all along that Hong Kong's future was sealed under the Sino-British Joint Declaration 1984 and the UK Hong Kong Act 1985.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In the early 1990s, apart from designing and building Hong Kong's intellectual property system, I also began picking up Mandarin.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I've no problem with the One Country, Two Systems solution in Hong Kong, China, at least until 2047.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I lived in London before and was not particularly fond of living overseas.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): As a Hong Kong Chinese, I find there's nowhere else like home.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): There're others who longed to live in US or in its ally countries. The other man's grass is always greener; or they simply can't adapt to the change.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Or they've a problem for any solution. Anyway, it's good that they would stay away from us who can keep evolving.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But they'll loose their edge in terms of capacity and support. They can't be truly successful, in fact, not even relevant.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I've relatives and friends who immigrated a long time ago just to return here to start all over again.
Act 3.
INT. SLEEPING ROOM - CONTINUOUS
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Let me quickly entertain the answer request.
Peter types on the phone: Success in life. Truly successful people practice lifelong learning and can adapt to any technological and societal changes.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Yes, that's my insight. I practise lifelong learning.
Having hit the Submit icon, Peter goes to bed.
INT. SLEEPING ROOM - MORNING
Waking up, Peter checks the Quora app.
PETER (V.O.):Wow, while I was dreaming, there're 1.6K views and some upvotes of my answer.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Successful or not is a matter of interpretation. To practice lifelong learning is crucial. The world is never like a fixed moment in a photo.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I believe whatever that's capable of knowing should be learned in order to stay relevant.
FADE OUT.
THE END
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