FADE IN.
Act 1
INT. SITTING ROOM - DAY
PETER is checking new phone notifications.
PETER (V.O.): A Quoran asks me how did New Zealand become COVID-19 free. It hasn't had a new coronavirus case for 100 days.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Most praise those in authority in New Zealand for taking the measures timely - great leadership.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Following the China precedent, some other countries/territories did the same too eg Vietnam.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): New Zealand is a remote island state with less than 5 million population. Default physical distancing and low population density are favourable conditions in pandemic times.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Vietnam don't have such edges. It has land borders with China and its population size is 97 million.
Surfing the web.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Before end July, Vietnam registered no coronavirus death. But now, it has 841 cases and 13 deaths. New Zealand's statistics stand at 1,569 and 22 deaths.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Statistically, Vietnam fares better than New Zealand even now. It wasn't long ago that I had thought of visiting Vietnam again.
Act 2
INT. SITTING ROOM - CONTINUOUS
FLASHBACK
EXT. HOTEL, DA NANG - DAY (2017)
Standing in a balcony, Peter and his WIFE are enjoying the sea view.
PETER: What a view! I love the sea.
WIFE: We'll try some Vietnamese seafood in one of the seaside restaurants.
PETER: Great. Where will be go tomorrow?
WIFE: We'll take a taxi to Ba Na Hills Resort.
PETER: It's our first visit to Vietnam. Anywhere is good.
EXT. BA NA HILLS - DAY
Sitting inside a cable car, Peter and his wife are enjoying the view.
PETER: We're riding the world's longest non-stop single track cable car. Very impressive! I thought Vietnam belonged to the 3rd world.
WIFE: We'll be staying at Sun World, Ba Na Hills.
PETER: No idea.
EXT. SUN WORLD, BA NA HILLS - DAY
Arriving. A hotel STAFF helps them with their baggage. Peter's eyes are wide-opened.
PETER: Wow! It's like Disneyland, Vietnamese style.
His wife nods.
WIFE: I did my research beforehand.
PETER: I like to spend the night in the French-style villas.
RETURN TO PRESENT
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): We did have a great time in our first visit to Vietnam. And naturally, we'd like to repeat the pleasurable experience.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Just when I thought that we might go there again, Vietnam's coronanvirus situations have changed.
Peter surfs the web.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Around 80,000 visitors in Da Nang were flown home promptly after the new coronavirus cases emerged.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Da Nang has retreated into full lockdown again. Those in authority in Vietnam act with resolve. It is in their genes. They won the war against the US in the early 1970s.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): If we had acted promptly in our travel plan, we should be among the tourists to go home abruptly...
Act 3
INT. STUDY - CONTINUOUS
A TV news report has distracted Peter's attention.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): US has now over 5 million coronavirus cases - more than the population of New Zealand. Can New Zealand keep it up?
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Vietnam has once reached 99 days without a new coronavirus case. But once it reopened and there was a transmission crack, the coronavirus spread quickly.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): For a while, I thought Hong Kong, China, was COVID-19 free too. But now we're undergoing the 3rd wave of coronavirus infection.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The truth is: many of us have relaxed into thinking that COVID-19 has been contained, but there are asymtomatic COVID-19 spreaders everywhere.
Peter surfs the web.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): As expected, Greenland has got only 14 coronavirus cases and no death. It beats Vietnam and New Zealand.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Is it because of the great leadership of Denmark?
Peter begins to type his opinion on his phone.
THE END
FADE OUT.
Kommentare