The Surname Advantage
- Peter K F Cheung SBS
- Dec 20, 2025
- 2 min read
FADE IN
Act 1
INT. LIVING ROOM -09:30
Morning light filters through the curtains. PETER holds a smartphone, scrolling through Facebook feeds. He stops at one.
PETER (V.O.): It's about some of Lee Kuan Yew's thoughts.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): He opines that India can't surpass China because of its caste heritage.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Brahmins at the top. Dalits below. It wastes potential. Entrenches inequality.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In China, a surname like mine - Cheung - doesn't dictate my destiny.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): My father was Cheung. His father was Cheung. It never told me I can't be a barrister.
Act 2
FLASHBACK
INT. CASTLE PEAK IMMIGRATION CENTER - DAY (A fortnight ago)
Waiting room. Peter, dressed in a suit, reviews several papers.
PETER (V.O.): Both the first and last names of my client are capitalized. Double surnames without a first name?
Peter approaches INTERPRETER#1 waiting nearby.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): You've the same last name as our client, SINGH.
INTERPRETER: Many people across India bear the surname Singh due to cultural legacy and regional tradition.
Interpreter#1 shows Peter his identity card.
INTERPRETER (Cont'd): Both the first and last names of mine are capitalized too.... I don't mind. My friends address me by my first name.
Peter nods.
PETER (V.O.): I've met interpreters who are proud of their surname: Sharma.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): They remarked that "Sharma" opens doors that are closed to others.
FLASHBACK UPON FLASHBACK
INT. CONFERENCE ROOM - DAY (Months ago)
Peter sits across from a CLIENT. INTERPRETER#2 sits slightly between them, interpreting.
CLIENT: In Java, we don't have family surnames. It's about me, not my father's father.
Peter nods slowly.
PETER (V.O.): To a Chinese mind, that's...profound.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I was born with the surname Cheung. It's on my birth certificate, my degrees, my licences.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Without my surname, I would feel incomplete.
Peter stares at his client.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Yet you sit here, whole.
RETURN TO PRESENT
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In China, our surnames are flat. Chen, Li, Zhang, Wang...they're everywhere.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Rich, poor, powerful or ordinary. No sacred thread. No untouchability.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But, connection matters everywhere.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): However, connection should be built, not born. My Cheung didn't get me clients; my work did.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Caste assigns value at birth and guards it for life.
Pondering.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Does my surname hide a hierarchy of another kind?
Act 3
INT. LIVING ROOM - 21:30
Peter uploads a photo of his name plate at HKUST's chambers to a draft on his laptop.
PETER (V.O.): People debate wealth and opportunity, but the first inequality is printed on their birth certificates.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): To me "Cheung" was an anchor. I never imagined for some, a name is a debt to history they can never repay.
Reflecting.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The surname advantage isn't found in what a name confers, but in what it doesn't forbid. It's greatest power is its perceived neutrality.
END
FADE OUT
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