CHING (V.O.)
Have you ever stop and think how much times have changed? I haven’t. My mother had. I love my mother dearly. But there’s always been a barrier between us. A gap that hinders us from totally understanding each other. I guess that’s because we both live in different times.
FADE IN:
INT. CHING’S MOTHER’S BEDROOM – DAY
CHING kneels before a chest of drawers, emptying its contents. A small pail of water with a cloth draped by its side is seen beside her. The room is large and bright, furnished with modern bedroom furniture. The only thing that stands out in the room is the old chest Ching is cleaning, as it doesn’t blend well with the rest of the modern decor. Suddenly, Ching paused for a while after emptying the last drawer. She takes a white bundle out from the bottom of the drawer, stares at it curiously, then sits on the floor and begins to untie it.
CHING (V.O.)
One day, while I was cleaning out my mother’s bedroom drawers, I made a discovery that opened the door to my mother’s life, enabling me to walk right into her mind, seeing things through her, feeling emotions of hers. Finally, I found a bridge to connect to my dear mother. That bridge was a scrapbook filled with her neat handwriting detailing major events of her life, accompanied by old yellow photographs of her era. This precious discovery was found hidden underneath her cotton blouses, wrapped with 4 layers of white cloth.
CUT TO:
INT. OLD HOUSE, MEI’S BEDROOM – MORNING
It is the mid sixties. The room has an old vanity table with pictures of celebrities stuck to the sides of the huge mirror. A small electric fan is seen on top of a wooden chest of drawers. There’s a wooden cupboard at one corner of the room. The bed is in the middle of the room. It is made from wood and has a mosquito net hanging from the top of the bed. A FATHER is sitting at the side of the bed, rousing his young twelve-year-old DAUGHTER from sleep.
FATHER
Mei, wake up. Time to get ready for school. Lian is already up.
MEI shrugs off her father’s hand and groaned.
FATHER
(continues)
Mei… 2nd mother already finished preparing breakfast. Come on, or you’ll make everyone wait for you.
Mei sighs loudly and sits up. Her father walks out from the room. She stares at his back as he exits from the door.
MEI (V.O.)
Father was a remarkable man. He had 3 wives, 7 sons and 7 daughters. And somehow, he managed to put all of us together under one roof without much fuss. In fact, we were quite a close-knit family.
INT. OLD HOUSE, KITCHEN – CONTINUE
MEI walks into the kitchen in her pajamas. It is a big kitchen, with stoves and wooden cabinets housing plates, bowls and cutleries at one side, a well in the middle, and a small drain that runs from the bathroom at the other side of the kitchen to a small hole connecting it to the big drain outside. Her 3 MOTHERS are bustling about the stove, dishing out breakfast into large bowls and plates. A couple of her older SISTERS are carrying small bowls and chopsticks out to the dining table to set it. Mei sits down on a small wooden stool where a small plastic basin already filled water, together with her towel, toothbrush and toothpaste are placed on the cement floor before the drain in front of her. She begins to wash up.
MEI (V.O.)
I am the youngest in the family. And the most pampered. Each morning, everything is made ready for me. My job is just to wake up, get myself ready for school and eat.
INT. OLD HOUSE, LIVING HALL - CONTINUE
The whole of MEI’s FAMILY is seated at the dining table in the middle of the living hall eating breakfast. All of her siblings are dressed in office attire except for one BROTHER, two SISTERS and HER, who are in school uniform.
MEI (V.O.)
Father was a good family man. He provided well for our large family, working as a manager for a nearby tin mining company. By the time I was 12, father had retired and most of my siblings were already working except for 7th brother, 5th and 6th sister and I. They were in the last few years of secondary school while I had yet to finish primary school.
EXT. OLD HOUSE, COMPOUND – AFTERNOON
MEI and 6th SISTER are dressed in white t-shirts and black track pants. Both of them have their knees bended as if in a sitting position with their arms held out straight in front of them, their hands clenched into fists. CLOSE UP on Mei’s face. It is sweaty and flushed.
MEI (V.O.)
When I was younger, father used to teach 6th sister and I some basic kungfu skills. The sessions were boring and I hated it. But father insisted on teaching us, saying it would be useful for us as self-protection.
CLOSE UP on Mei’s FATHER’s face. It is full of concentration.
INT. OLD HOUSE, LIVING HALL – MORNING
We PULL BACK to reveal Mei’s father leaning over a big piece of paper draped on the dining table, writing on it with a brush. MEI is sitting next to him grinding ink from an ink stick on an ink stone.
MEI (V.O.)
Father was an accomplished calligrapher. He often practiced his art during his free time. I liked to watch him practice and help him grind the ink.
CLOSE UP on an inky hand, writing crooked characters with a small brush on a small piece of paper. We PULL BACK to reveal it is actually MEI writing. Her face is smeared with ink.
MEI (V.O.)
Sometimes, I practiced a few stroke myself.
She looks up and grins.
EXT. OLD HOUSE, ESTABLISHING - DAY
MEI (V.O.)
My family lived in a big half wood, half brick house. It was spacious and comfortable with lots of space to run around in the compound.
CUT TO:
CLOSE UP MEI, pinching her nose.
EXT. OLD HOUSE, BACKYARD - NIGHT
MEI (V.O.)
But our toilet needed improvement.
PULL BACK to reveal MEI standing outside a small hut in the backyard, holding a lamp with her other hand.
MEI (V.O.)
All of us did our urgent ‘big’ businesses in our manmade toilet in the backyard. It was actually a deep hole dug by father and my brothers with a small hut built around it. It was the only toilet in our house, so imagine the line, especially in the morning.
INT. OLD HOUSE, LIVING HALL – DAY
Mei’s 3 MOTHERS are sitting next to each other on rattan chairs, talking and fanning themselves with small rattan fans. Mei’s 2nd and 3rd SISTERS are folding laundry in one corner of the hall whilst 5th and 6th SISTERS and 7th BROTHER are doing their homework on the dining table in the middle of the hall. MEI is standing behind 3rd mother, scratching her back with a wooden stick.
MEI (V.O.)
Father strived for family harmony and togetherness. That was why my 3 mothers and my siblings are very close. We were so close, there were seldom fights or quarrels in our family. My birth mother was the 2nd wife.
CLOSE UP on Mei’s MOTHER chatting with the other 2 wives.
But I loved all 3 of my mothers equally. We never drew lines as in who was who’s son or daughter. We respected and treated all of them the same.
EXT. OLD HOUSE, COMPOUND – DAY
1st MOTHER is checking the mailbox at the front gate.
MEI (V.O.)
Secrets seldom existed in our family. Everyone knew everything about each other.
1st mother opens an envelope, reads the letter’s contents then gestures excitedly to the other 2 wives.
1st MOTHER
Aiyo, see what is this?
3rd MOTHER
What is it, big sister?
1st MOTHER
Our Mei Mei has a love letter.
2nd MOTHER
What?!
3rd MOTHER
Who is it from?
1st MOTHER
Raja.
2nd MOTHER
Raja? Mrs. Selva’s little boy who lives opposite us?
CUT TO:
CLOSE UP image of a chubby little Chinese boy with glasses and a white chalky mark in between his forehead.
2nd MOTHER
Hmmph! So young yet he knows how to write love letters to my Mei Mei. What has the world become?
The 3 MOTHERS laugh.
MEI (V.O.)
Needless to say, my family teased me endlessly because of my ‘love letter’. Did I mention that I lived in a close–knit neighborhood where everyone knew everything about each household?
EXT. MEI’S STREET – EVENING
MONTAGE
A) Women of the neighborhood are grouped together in one compound, sitting under a tree on rattan chairs, gossiping.
B) Men of the neighborhood are grouped together in another compound, some playing cards, some drinking beer and chatting, and some playing mahjong.
C) The children are running around, playing tag and some are squatting under trees playing with sand and marbles.
MEI (V.O)
The women would meet to gossip in the evenings, the men gathered to gamble and drink and the children played together.
EXT. MEI”S SCHOOL – DAY
It is recess time. A TALL TEENAGE BOY is talking to MEI in one of the school corridors. He then hands her a letter. Mei runs along the corridor, through the crowded canteen and out into the school field where 6th SISTER is waiting under a tree. Mei hands 6th sister the letter. 6th sister pats Mei’s head, smiles and begins to read the letter.
MEI (V.O.)
But there were some secrets, which remained unknown. Like 6th sister’s high school romance with a senior. Their relationship was carried out only through letters. They never once spoke to each other. I was their messenger. Delivering their messages and letters to each other. Sometimes, I was rewarded a sweet or an ice cream for my ‘errands’.
INT. OLD HOUSE, LIVING HALL – EVENING
The whole of MEI’S FAMILY are at the dining table eating dinner together. They are talking to each other and occasionally passing food around to each other.
MEI (V.O.)
Each day, father insisted that the whole family had dinner together. He also wanted each of us to tell about our day. That was how he kept the family together. He once told me…
CUT TO:
EXT. OLD HOUSE, COMPOUND – NIGHT
MEI and her FATHER are sitting next to each other enjoying the night breeze. He is smoking from a pipe and she is sitting there, staring at the sky, dotted with stars.
FATHER
Mei, family is very important. In life, we can choose a lot of things but we can’t choose our family. So, it is vital that we appreciate and care for each other and share our lives. A family must always remain united. Life is like building a house, actually. Brick by brick you build as you grow. How strong you turn out to be or how good, it all depends on the foundation, which is your family. If you have a strong foundation, you will never sway to the wrong path in life nor will you crumble down with regret of irreversible mistakes. So remember, always keep close to your family. Nothing is more important in life than being able to enjoy it with your family. When I leave this world, I die a happy and fulfilled man, because I have such a wonderful family.
Mei nods at her father’s words of wisdom.
MEI (V.O.)
So, as I grew up, whereever I went…
EXT. WATERFALL – DAY
A 16-year-old MEI is at the waterfall with her FRIENDS, having a picnic and a good time in the water.
MEI (V.O.)
Whatever I did…
EXT. ROADSIDE – DAY
MEI is standing by the roadside with a few of her GIRLFRIENDS, guarding the bicycles, waiting for her BOYFRIENDS who are stealing mangoes from a tree in a compound of a house. All of a sudden, the boys appear, jumping down from the wall that separates the compound from the road. Topless, they run towards the bicycles, holding their shirts, in which are stored the stolen ripe mangoes.
BOYS
(shout)
Run! Run!
They reach their bicycles and begin to pedal. The girls follow suit. Mei, in her haste, dropped one of her sandals. About halfway down the road, Mei stops.
MEI
(shouts)
Wait! Wait! I can’t pedal anymore. I lost my sandal. I can’t stand pedaling with my bare foot.
One of the boys shakes his head, dismounts his bicycle and walks towards her.
CUT TO:
CLOSE UP of a pair of small feet in a pair of too large leather slippers pedaling. PULL BACK to reveal it is actually Mei, wearing the boy’s slippers, trying hard to keep the slippers on while pedaling.
INT. OLD HOUSE, LIVING HALL – EVENING
MEI walks to the dining table holding a plastic bag full of mangoes just as everyone are beginning to settle down to eat.
MEI (V.O.)
I always made sure I got home in time for dinner with my family.
INT. MEI’S HOUSE, LIVING ROOM – EVENING
It is the early 80s. A very young CHING is watching TV in a stylishly decorated living room.
MEI (O.S.)
(shouts)
Ching, come have your dinner now!
Ching sighs loudly, switches off the TV and reluctantly walks to the dining room.
CHING (V.O.)
But times have changed. I remember how mother used to insist that my brother and I sit down together with father and her for dinner. I hated it because I wanted to watch my favorite cartoon shows.
INT. MEI’S HOUSE, LIVING ROOM – EVENING
CHING and her BROTHER are sitting in front of the TV, engrossed with the TV program. They stuff food into their mouths without looking away from the TV screen.
CHING (V.O.)
As we grew older, we would just carry our plates out and ate in front of the TV. She was very upset.
INT. MEI’S HOUSE, DINING ROOM – EVENING
MEI, now in her early 40s, is sitting alone at the dining table holding her bowl of rice in one hand and her pair of chopsticks in another. Her HUSBAND walks into the room, his back to the camera. He pats her arm, sits down and picks up his chopsticks and bowl.
CHING (V.O.)
As we grew even older, we started to miss dinner because we were too preoccupied with having a ‘life’ with our friends. I never understood how important dinnertime was to her.
INT. MEI’S HOUSE, CHING’S ROOM – DAY
CHING is playing computer games. MEI enters to bring in clean laundry and tries to talk to her daughter. Ching frowns and ignores her mother.
CHING (V.O.)
When mother tried to talk to me, I would hide in my room. If she persisted, I would accuse her of invading my privacy. She always wanted to do things together where else I was determined to lead my life without her presence, as it was ‘uncool’.
Mei stands behind Ching and tries to see what is on the computer screen.
She frowned on my many hours spent in front of the computer, sometimes peeking at the screen to try to find out the secret of the magnetism the computer had on me.
Ching gets up, pushes her mother out from her room and locks the door.
Now I understand all she was trying to do was to instill some family values in me. To share our lives. Instead of appreciating her, I closed my door on her ungratefully and hated everything she did out of love and commitment to her family.
INT. CHING’S HOUSE, LIVING ROOM – DAY
It is present time. CHING walks towards an OLD LADY sitting in a rocking chair in the middle of the living room, listening to old mandarin songs from the radio. As she nears the old lady, we can see that the old lady is actually MEI. Ching kneels down beside her mother.
CHING
Mother, I understand now. I’m sorry. But it’s not too late to bridge our gap now isn’t it?
Mei smiles at her daughter.
MEI
No it’s not too late Ching Ching. You’re right on time for dinner. It’s important everyone in the family eat dinner together.
Mei then stares into space, her body rocking along with the chair. CLOSE UP on the PICTURE FRAME she is holding in her hands. The picture is their family photograph, taken when Ching and her brother were still children, and Mei and her husband, Raja, who was a slim man in the photograph but still bespectacled and with a white chalky mark in between his forehead, in their 30s.
FADE OUT.
THE END
Have you ever stop and think how much times have changed? I haven’t. My mother had. I love my mother dearly. But there’s always been a barrier between us. A gap that hinders us from totally understanding each other. I guess that’s because we both live in different times.
FADE IN:
INT. CHING’S MOTHER’S BEDROOM – DAY
CHING kneels before a chest of drawers, emptying its contents. A small pail of water with a cloth draped by its side is seen beside her. The room is large and bright, furnished with modern bedroom furniture. The only thing that stands out in the room is the old chest Ching is cleaning, as it doesn’t blend well with the rest of the modern decor. Suddenly, Ching paused for a while after emptying the last drawer. She takes a white bundle out from the bottom of the drawer, stares at it curiously, then sits on the floor and begins to untie it.
CHING (V.O.)
One day, while I was cleaning out my mother’s bedroom drawers, I made a discovery that opened the door to my mother’s life, enabling me to walk right into her mind, seeing things through her, feeling emotions of hers. Finally, I found a bridge to connect to my dear mother. That bridge was a scrapbook filled with her neat handwriting detailing major events of her life, accompanied by old yellow photographs of her era. This precious discovery was found hidden underneath her cotton blouses, wrapped with 4 layers of white cloth.
CUT TO:
INT. OLD HOUSE, MEI’S BEDROOM – MORNING
It is the mid sixties. The room has an old vanity table with pictures of celebrities stuck to the sides of the huge mirror. A small electric fan is seen on top of a wooden chest of drawers. There’s a wooden cupboard at one corner of the room. The bed is in the middle of the room. It is made from wood and has a mosquito net hanging from the top of the bed. A FATHER is sitting at the side of the bed, rousing his young twelve-year-old DAUGHTER from sleep.
FATHER
Mei, wake up. Time to get ready for school. Lian is already up.
MEI shrugs off her father’s hand and groaned.
FATHER
(continues)
Mei… 2nd mother already finished preparing breakfast. Come on, or you’ll make everyone wait for you.
Mei sighs loudly and sits up. Her father walks out from the room. She stares at his back as he exits from the door.
MEI (V.O.)
Father was a remarkable man. He had 3 wives, 7 sons and 7 daughters. And somehow, he managed to put all of us together under one roof without much fuss. In fact, we were quite a close-knit family.
INT. OLD HOUSE, KITCHEN – CONTINUE
MEI walks into the kitchen in her pajamas. It is a big kitchen, with stoves and wooden cabinets housing plates, bowls and cutleries at one side, a well in the middle, and a small drain that runs from the bathroom at the other side of the kitchen to a small hole connecting it to the big drain outside. Her 3 MOTHERS are bustling about the stove, dishing out breakfast into large bowls and plates. A couple of her older SISTERS are carrying small bowls and chopsticks out to the dining table to set it. Mei sits down on a small wooden stool where a small plastic basin already filled water, together with her towel, toothbrush and toothpaste are placed on the cement floor before the drain in front of her. She begins to wash up.
MEI (V.O.)
I am the youngest in the family. And the most pampered. Each morning, everything is made ready for me. My job is just to wake up, get myself ready for school and eat.
INT. OLD HOUSE, LIVING HALL - CONTINUE
The whole of MEI’s FAMILY is seated at the dining table in the middle of the living hall eating breakfast. All of her siblings are dressed in office attire except for one BROTHER, two SISTERS and HER, who are in school uniform.
MEI (V.O.)
Father was a good family man. He provided well for our large family, working as a manager for a nearby tin mining company. By the time I was 12, father had retired and most of my siblings were already working except for 7th brother, 5th and 6th sister and I. They were in the last few years of secondary school while I had yet to finish primary school.
EXT. OLD HOUSE, COMPOUND – AFTERNOON
MEI and 6th SISTER are dressed in white t-shirts and black track pants. Both of them have their knees bended as if in a sitting position with their arms held out straight in front of them, their hands clenched into fists. CLOSE UP on Mei’s face. It is sweaty and flushed.
MEI (V.O.)
When I was younger, father used to teach 6th sister and I some basic kungfu skills. The sessions were boring and I hated it. But father insisted on teaching us, saying it would be useful for us as self-protection.
CLOSE UP on Mei’s FATHER’s face. It is full of concentration.
INT. OLD HOUSE, LIVING HALL – MORNING
We PULL BACK to reveal Mei’s father leaning over a big piece of paper draped on the dining table, writing on it with a brush. MEI is sitting next to him grinding ink from an ink stick on an ink stone.
MEI (V.O.)
Father was an accomplished calligrapher. He often practiced his art during his free time. I liked to watch him practice and help him grind the ink.
CLOSE UP on an inky hand, writing crooked characters with a small brush on a small piece of paper. We PULL BACK to reveal it is actually MEI writing. Her face is smeared with ink.
MEI (V.O.)
Sometimes, I practiced a few stroke myself.
She looks up and grins.
EXT. OLD HOUSE, ESTABLISHING - DAY
MEI (V.O.)
My family lived in a big half wood, half brick house. It was spacious and comfortable with lots of space to run around in the compound.
CUT TO:
CLOSE UP MEI, pinching her nose.
EXT. OLD HOUSE, BACKYARD - NIGHT
MEI (V.O.)
But our toilet needed improvement.
PULL BACK to reveal MEI standing outside a small hut in the backyard, holding a lamp with her other hand.
MEI (V.O.)
All of us did our urgent ‘big’ businesses in our manmade toilet in the backyard. It was actually a deep hole dug by father and my brothers with a small hut built around it. It was the only toilet in our house, so imagine the line, especially in the morning.
INT. OLD HOUSE, LIVING HALL – DAY
Mei’s 3 MOTHERS are sitting next to each other on rattan chairs, talking and fanning themselves with small rattan fans. Mei’s 2nd and 3rd SISTERS are folding laundry in one corner of the hall whilst 5th and 6th SISTERS and 7th BROTHER are doing their homework on the dining table in the middle of the hall. MEI is standing behind 3rd mother, scratching her back with a wooden stick.
MEI (V.O.)
Father strived for family harmony and togetherness. That was why my 3 mothers and my siblings are very close. We were so close, there were seldom fights or quarrels in our family. My birth mother was the 2nd wife.
CLOSE UP on Mei’s MOTHER chatting with the other 2 wives.
But I loved all 3 of my mothers equally. We never drew lines as in who was who’s son or daughter. We respected and treated all of them the same.
EXT. OLD HOUSE, COMPOUND – DAY
1st MOTHER is checking the mailbox at the front gate.
MEI (V.O.)
Secrets seldom existed in our family. Everyone knew everything about each other.
1st mother opens an envelope, reads the letter’s contents then gestures excitedly to the other 2 wives.
1st MOTHER
Aiyo, see what is this?
3rd MOTHER
What is it, big sister?
1st MOTHER
Our Mei Mei has a love letter.
2nd MOTHER
What?!
3rd MOTHER
Who is it from?
1st MOTHER
Raja.
2nd MOTHER
Raja? Mrs. Selva’s little boy who lives opposite us?
CUT TO:
CLOSE UP image of a chubby little Chinese boy with glasses and a white chalky mark in between his forehead.
2nd MOTHER
Hmmph! So young yet he knows how to write love letters to my Mei Mei. What has the world become?
The 3 MOTHERS laugh.
MEI (V.O.)
Needless to say, my family teased me endlessly because of my ‘love letter’. Did I mention that I lived in a close–knit neighborhood where everyone knew everything about each household?
EXT. MEI’S STREET – EVENING
MONTAGE
A) Women of the neighborhood are grouped together in one compound, sitting under a tree on rattan chairs, gossiping.
B) Men of the neighborhood are grouped together in another compound, some playing cards, some drinking beer and chatting, and some playing mahjong.
C) The children are running around, playing tag and some are squatting under trees playing with sand and marbles.
MEI (V.O)
The women would meet to gossip in the evenings, the men gathered to gamble and drink and the children played together.
EXT. MEI”S SCHOOL – DAY
It is recess time. A TALL TEENAGE BOY is talking to MEI in one of the school corridors. He then hands her a letter. Mei runs along the corridor, through the crowded canteen and out into the school field where 6th SISTER is waiting under a tree. Mei hands 6th sister the letter. 6th sister pats Mei’s head, smiles and begins to read the letter.
MEI (V.O.)
But there were some secrets, which remained unknown. Like 6th sister’s high school romance with a senior. Their relationship was carried out only through letters. They never once spoke to each other. I was their messenger. Delivering their messages and letters to each other. Sometimes, I was rewarded a sweet or an ice cream for my ‘errands’.
INT. OLD HOUSE, LIVING HALL – EVENING
The whole of MEI’S FAMILY are at the dining table eating dinner together. They are talking to each other and occasionally passing food around to each other.
MEI (V.O.)
Each day, father insisted that the whole family had dinner together. He also wanted each of us to tell about our day. That was how he kept the family together. He once told me…
CUT TO:
EXT. OLD HOUSE, COMPOUND – NIGHT
MEI and her FATHER are sitting next to each other enjoying the night breeze. He is smoking from a pipe and she is sitting there, staring at the sky, dotted with stars.
FATHER
Mei, family is very important. In life, we can choose a lot of things but we can’t choose our family. So, it is vital that we appreciate and care for each other and share our lives. A family must always remain united. Life is like building a house, actually. Brick by brick you build as you grow. How strong you turn out to be or how good, it all depends on the foundation, which is your family. If you have a strong foundation, you will never sway to the wrong path in life nor will you crumble down with regret of irreversible mistakes. So remember, always keep close to your family. Nothing is more important in life than being able to enjoy it with your family. When I leave this world, I die a happy and fulfilled man, because I have such a wonderful family.
Mei nods at her father’s words of wisdom.
MEI (V.O.)
So, as I grew up, whereever I went…
EXT. WATERFALL – DAY
A 16-year-old MEI is at the waterfall with her FRIENDS, having a picnic and a good time in the water.
MEI (V.O.)
Whatever I did…
EXT. ROADSIDE – DAY
MEI is standing by the roadside with a few of her GIRLFRIENDS, guarding the bicycles, waiting for her BOYFRIENDS who are stealing mangoes from a tree in a compound of a house. All of a sudden, the boys appear, jumping down from the wall that separates the compound from the road. Topless, they run towards the bicycles, holding their shirts, in which are stored the stolen ripe mangoes.
BOYS
(shout)
Run! Run!
They reach their bicycles and begin to pedal. The girls follow suit. Mei, in her haste, dropped one of her sandals. About halfway down the road, Mei stops.
MEI
(shouts)
Wait! Wait! I can’t pedal anymore. I lost my sandal. I can’t stand pedaling with my bare foot.
One of the boys shakes his head, dismounts his bicycle and walks towards her.
CUT TO:
CLOSE UP of a pair of small feet in a pair of too large leather slippers pedaling. PULL BACK to reveal it is actually Mei, wearing the boy’s slippers, trying hard to keep the slippers on while pedaling.
INT. OLD HOUSE, LIVING HALL – EVENING
MEI walks to the dining table holding a plastic bag full of mangoes just as everyone are beginning to settle down to eat.
MEI (V.O.)
I always made sure I got home in time for dinner with my family.
INT. MEI’S HOUSE, LIVING ROOM – EVENING
It is the early 80s. A very young CHING is watching TV in a stylishly decorated living room.
MEI (O.S.)
(shouts)
Ching, come have your dinner now!
Ching sighs loudly, switches off the TV and reluctantly walks to the dining room.
CHING (V.O.)
But times have changed. I remember how mother used to insist that my brother and I sit down together with father and her for dinner. I hated it because I wanted to watch my favorite cartoon shows.
INT. MEI’S HOUSE, LIVING ROOM – EVENING
CHING and her BROTHER are sitting in front of the TV, engrossed with the TV program. They stuff food into their mouths without looking away from the TV screen.
CHING (V.O.)
As we grew older, we would just carry our plates out and ate in front of the TV. She was very upset.
INT. MEI’S HOUSE, DINING ROOM – EVENING
MEI, now in her early 40s, is sitting alone at the dining table holding her bowl of rice in one hand and her pair of chopsticks in another. Her HUSBAND walks into the room, his back to the camera. He pats her arm, sits down and picks up his chopsticks and bowl.
CHING (V.O.)
As we grew even older, we started to miss dinner because we were too preoccupied with having a ‘life’ with our friends. I never understood how important dinnertime was to her.
INT. MEI’S HOUSE, CHING’S ROOM – DAY
CHING is playing computer games. MEI enters to bring in clean laundry and tries to talk to her daughter. Ching frowns and ignores her mother.
CHING (V.O.)
When mother tried to talk to me, I would hide in my room. If she persisted, I would accuse her of invading my privacy. She always wanted to do things together where else I was determined to lead my life without her presence, as it was ‘uncool’.
Mei stands behind Ching and tries to see what is on the computer screen.
She frowned on my many hours spent in front of the computer, sometimes peeking at the screen to try to find out the secret of the magnetism the computer had on me.
Ching gets up, pushes her mother out from her room and locks the door.
Now I understand all she was trying to do was to instill some family values in me. To share our lives. Instead of appreciating her, I closed my door on her ungratefully and hated everything she did out of love and commitment to her family.
INT. CHING’S HOUSE, LIVING ROOM – DAY
It is present time. CHING walks towards an OLD LADY sitting in a rocking chair in the middle of the living room, listening to old mandarin songs from the radio. As she nears the old lady, we can see that the old lady is actually MEI. Ching kneels down beside her mother.
CHING
Mother, I understand now. I’m sorry. But it’s not too late to bridge our gap now isn’t it?
Mei smiles at her daughter.
MEI
No it’s not too late Ching Ching. You’re right on time for dinner. It’s important everyone in the family eat dinner together.
Mei then stares into space, her body rocking along with the chair. CLOSE UP on the PICTURE FRAME she is holding in her hands. The picture is their family photograph, taken when Ching and her brother were still children, and Mei and her husband, Raja, who was a slim man in the photograph but still bespectacled and with a white chalky mark in between his forehead, in their 30s.
FADE OUT.
THE END
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