FADE IN.
Act 1
INT. STUDY - DAY
Phone in hand, PETER checks his Quoran notifications.
PETER (V.O.): Do most family businesses really fail by the 3rd generation? That's the question.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Yes, there's the Chinese saying: "Wealth doesn't pass three generations."
Peter researches with his phone.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In Japan, there's a saying: "Rice paddies to rice paddies in three generations.", or in US: "Shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations."
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): They suggest that wealth made by the 1st generation is gone by the time of the 3rd generation. So, in Scotland: "Father buys, son builds and grandson begs".
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Has the 3-generation rule become a self-fulfilling prophecy?
Act 2
INT. STUDY - CONTINUOUS
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It is observed that the 1st generation creates the wealth through hardship; the 2nd generation acts as stewards to preserves it; and the 3rd generation just consumes it.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In 1980s, there was a study of manufacturing companies done in Missouri - 1/3 of the companies made it through the end of the 2nd generation ie about 60 years, and 13% made in through the 3rd.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But on average, US public trading companies in past decades only lasted around 15 years, not even through 1 generation of 30 years.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In the 1950s, my Grandpa ran a micro-sized family business. His three sons and families, including me, all relied on him to provide a roof over our heads and to put food on the table.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Helping my Grandpa's business, my Dad had modern cameras and he knew how to develop his photos in our home's dark room. He was also a newspaper photographer.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Living in Central, we had some staff and a domestic helper. As my Grandpa's first grandson, I had a little privilege - an exclusive dinner dish.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In 1960, my Grandpa's business collapsed. Then, my Dad was his only son who was building our farm near Hung Shui Kiu, NT.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): After living with us for two years, my Grandpa died after an ailment, at the age of 62.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Despite our hard work, our farming business wasn't profitable. After selling all of our chickens and pigs, we converted the chicken sheds and the pigsty as living quarters as my siblings are growing up.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): My Dad had to endure hard labour work in an iron foundry. My Mum worked in a plastic flower factory.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Life was very hard. Staying hungry wasn't fun.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): When I was a Form 1 student, a classmate of mine was the son of a small family business. The family shop was just adjacent to the then Yuen Long Cinema, selling herbal tea.
FLASHBACK
INT. SHUNG TAK COLLEGE - DAY (1966)
Classroom. Peter (12) chats with a CLASSMATE sitting near him.
PETER: Is your family running a profitable business?
CLASSMATE: Selling water by adding sugar can't be unprofitable!
RETURN TO PRESENT
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): He soon dropped out to help his family's business.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In the next 4-5 decades, his family business evolved into a chain with hundreds of outlets, specialising in mango-themed desserts.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I read that the family business was sold in 2015 for hundreds of millions of RMB to a company.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): On the face of it, the family business didn't make it through to the 3d generation.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But the family wealth can't all be consumed by the 3rd generation.
Act 3
INT. STUDY - CONTINUOUS
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Those who climb to the top of the wealth ladder often stay there for a long time. Family businesses take a generation-based business perspective whereas non-family businesses take quarterly ones. The 3-generation curse for family businesses can be overcome.
Peter begins to type on his phone.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): On the other hand, poor families stay poor in the poverty cycle. That was why I was determined to break away from it.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Doing a humble job, I can't be wealthy. But I've enough to get by.
Peter posts his reply.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): My Dad passed away 10 years ago. Together with my Grandpa, they live on in me and the younger generation - in our evolving styles.
FADE OUT.
THE END
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