Drying Up
FADE IN.
EXT. ROAD - DAY
A sunny hot day. PETER stops his car at a junction. He is attracted to something in front of him. We see a wet grey vest hung on the mirror support of a blue lorry.
PETER (V.O.)
The driver must have
sweated his vest all
over. Such a way of
drying out is pretty
certain.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd)
To earn a living in
Hong Kong is never
easy. Fortunately,
everything's normal
today.
INT. STUDY - DAY
Peter turns on the TV which is broadcasting world news. We see on screen an ANCHOR presenting.
ANCHOR
(Using the fingers to denote quotation marks)
Hong Kong today is
normal.
PETER (V.O.)
A normal Hong Kong
has some news value.
Peter checks the Quora App.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd)
There's a questioner
who has requested my
answer to her question
for some time.
Peter reads the question and we see: How have Hong Kong protects affected racing at Sha Tin and Happy Valley?
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd)
I wish to answer that as
Horse Racing is a major
hallmark of the "two
systems".
INT. SITTING ROOM - NIGHT
Peter is watching TV news.
A newspaper in hand, Peter turns to the racing page and sees the headline: Entrants 40% down; Better volume marginally lower than 2018. Peter reads the small prints.
PETER (V.O.)
There're 21,914 entries...
Then he sees a photo of four masked persons, with a subtitle: A few protesters sang their song.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd)
No doubt, the race ran
as usual. That sector
supports the two-systems.
EXT. STUDY - DAY
Working behind the computer, Peter watches TV news.
PETER (V.O.)
Indulgence has encouraged
lawlessness. Softly-softly
strategy has proven useless.
The government shouldn't
just be another commentator
of current events.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd)
The only alternative is to
deploy the fear strategy,
otherwise riots won't stop.
The prudent one is to
deter riots and unlawful
assemblies is certainty of
arrest.
We hear from the TV: ...269 arrests...
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd)
Yes, the Police gets it.
National Day riots were
all-out ones from rioters'
bases.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.)
From all the available
media evidence, there're
just a few thousand
violent radicals. My
estimate is that around
10% was arrested on
National Day - a day
of grief for them.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd)
The bad elements in
secondary schools can
be corrected if the
principals and teachers
play their proper roles.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd)
If the rioters were like
water, they're being
dried out. The more
riots to come, the more
certain would be the
arrests and more the
deterrent effect.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd)
There's the need to have
a few more riots to arrest
the rest. The drying out
process should be completed
by November and before
Christmas.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd)
What an inspiration from
the vest's drying up!
FADE OUT.
THE END