The Rearview Mirror
- Peter K F Cheung SBS
- 14 minutes ago
- 3 min read
FADE IN
Act 1
INT. BEDROOM - 08:30
Sunlight filters through the curtains. PETER, wearing headphones, lies propped up against pillows. He takes a look of his WIFE sleeping beside him.
PETER (V.O.): My wife is recovering from her flu.
Holding his smart phone, Peter is watching a colour film.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I discover this 1978 film - also titled "The Strange Romance on the Bus" (巴士奇遇結良緣).
We see on screen a tired couple in their modest room. A baby cries in the background.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It isn't supposed to go on this long. The film, I mean. Yesterday, I watched the 1966 black-and-white version. That one ends with kisses. The kind of ending everyone expects.
Watching.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): This one begins where the other one ends. It's about what comes after.
We see on screen a bus conductor working in a Kowloon Motor Bus (KMB).
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): My Dad was a KMB bus conductor, too.
Act 2
FLASHBACK
EXT. A MOVING BUS, HONG KONG ROADS - DAY (1964)
Peter (10), stands behind the driver.
PETER (V.O.): He's the man who controls the machine.
Daydreaming.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): One day, I'll be the driver.
END FLASHBACK
We see on screen a man is driving a bus. He looks confident, at peace. The film ends. Credits roll.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): My Dad became a route captain. He managed the drivers.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): And I? By 1974, I became a civil servant and began to date Sharon.
FLASHBACK
INT. PETER'S FAMILY HOME - DAY (1976)
Peter (22), lean and earnest, holds a brand new driving licence in his hands. He's grinning.
PETER (V.O.): I got it. I'll buy a Ford Capri. Preowned. It's not a bus. but...it's a start.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): A start of being in control. Dad spent his life on those buses. I want... I want more than that. I think.
INT. PETER'S FAMILY HOME - DAY (1978)
Peter sits a desk, surrounded by books on Philosophy. A letter from the University of London lies open.
PETER (V.O.): Sharon is graduating with a BA (Hons) in Music from CUHK. But I can only sit my Lond U external degree exams in 1981.
END FLASHBACK
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I didn't know I'd get my BA (Hons) in Philosophy (Lond) in 1981. Or the Govt legal scholarship. Or that I'd study Law full time at HKU.
FLASHBACK
EXT. TOUR BUS, FUTIAN, SHENZHEN - 18:15 (8 July 2026)
Following a group of nine other TOURISTS, Peter is the last to get off the bus. We see the tour bus DRIVER bidding them farewell.
PETER (V.O.): OMG, the tour bus driver is still empty handed...I'm well prepared.
He presses large RMB notes into the palm of the tour bus driver.
PETER: Thank you for your service.
DRIVER: Thank you.
PETER (V.O.): It's what he deserves. I know what's like to drive four hours a day when the weather is bad.
Peter walks towards the Futian Checkpoint.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): True class is acknowledging the worth of every role - especially the ones society overlooks.
Peter gives way to the mini-bikes coming from different directions.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): We all end up "driving" something in the end.
Peter waits patiently at traffic lights.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): No amount of academic and professional elevation should make me forget where I came from.
END FLASHBACK
Act 3
INT. BEDROOM - 22:00
Peter uploads an image to a draft on his laptop. It shows the front windshield of a tour bus (the rearview mirror is visible at the left edge).
PETER (V.O.): In the front windshield, the road is infinite. In the rearview mirror, the road is inevitable. That's the difference between ambition and wisdom.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The 1966 film ends with kisses. The 1978 film ends with a driver. My life ends up in the mirror between them - not quite the fairy tale, not quite the destination. Just the truth.
Reflecting.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The rearview mirror is small, but it holds everything that matters.
The END
FADE OUT
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