Which one did you prefer?
Btw, the whole post was taken from the director, Yasmin Ahmad's blog for the convenience of those who wanted to know.
Mum urges Orked to open the envelope. Orked takes out from the envelope, a letter and a cassette. She slips the cassette into the player and turns it on. Home recording piano solo of ‘Belaian Jiwa’ comes on. Orked is visibly moved by the song. She proceeds to open the letter. The music carries through over the next scene.
55. Same time. Ext. The road. (as per letter)
We hear the music, and over it we hear Jason’s words in his letter to Orked. We see him putting on his helmet and getting on his bike. He begins his journey to Keong’s house. He smiles to himself and looks excited. He can’t wait to get there.
JASON:
My darling Orked. God is answering my prayers. Maggie has decided not to have the baby. She said she won’t destroy her future because of one stupid man. I guess that means me. Orked, I don’t want to talk about her anymore. I want to talk about us. I tried to write a poem in Mandarin about you. I wanted to make you understand how I feel.
As the letter continues, we see Jason make a turn through some back alleys. We see some men in two cars catch sight of him, signal to each other, and start tailing him.
JASON: (continues)
But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t. I tried for days. The more I wrote, the more empty my words sounded. At first I felt panic. I couldn’t sleep for many nights. But then, the panic would go away everytime I saw your face, or just heard your voice. I used to write poetry because to me, it was like writing letters to God; to tell someone I couldn’t see, how I felt inside. Then finally, God replied. With a poem more beautiful than anything I had ever written. He gave me you.
We see one car follow Jason into the alley. Realising he’s being followed, Jason speeds towards the end of the alley. The other call pulls up on that side. Jason brakes. We see him flung through the air as the men come out of their cars, whip out their guns and open fire at him.
JASON:
You are my poetry from God, Orked. Let me hear your voice. Please call me. I will be waiting. Just call me, Orked, so I can sleep peacefully again. Your sayang, Jason.
Jason is lying on the ground. His body is bullet-ridden and bloody, but he’s still alive. He is breathing heavily and mutters something unintelligeable under his breath. His eyes just stare at the sky. As we move in closer to his face, we see a tear streaming down the side of his temple.
Jimmy steps out of a car. His head is partly wrapped in bandage. He walks up to Jason with a gun in his hand and puts the nozzle on one of his eyes.
Cut to far end of the alley as some policemen step out of their car just in time to see, from a distance, Jimmy hover over Jason’s body and pull the trigger.
56. Same time. (Continue scene 54) Inside Orked’s father’s car.
Orked puts down the letter, puts her arms around her mother and cries her eyes out. Her mother looks to their father as if asking for his help.
Father is visibly moved by the sincerity of his daughter’s tears.
He speaks loudly so as to be heard above his daughter’s weeping.
ABAHr:
Look, I have a really bad feeling about all this. I don’t know how to put it in any other way, but I don’t like the idea of you going out with a boy involved with gangsters and who made a girl pregnant.
He pauses for a moment to take a deep breath and organise his thoughts. Orked stops sobbing and listens. He continues.
ABAH:
You are my only child, Ked. All I want is for you to be safe and happy. Because I don’t know if I’ll be around long enough to see you through. I know jodoh is in God’s hands, and that as a human being, ultimately I have no idea what’s good and what’s not for you. But... I really, really don’t think this one particular boy is the right one for you. I’m sorry.
Orked starts to sob quietly. Suddenly, mother looks at father as if she has just seen a ghost.
MAK:
What did you just say, sayang?
ABAH:
What? I’m sorry?
MAK:
No, no. Before that.
ABAH:
I don’t think...
MAK:
No. You said... I really, really don’t think this one particular boy...
MAK/ABAH (together):
...is the right one for you.
MAK:
Those were the EXACT words aruah Abah said to me, when I told him that I wanted to marry you, sayang.
Orked suddenly stops sobbing and mutters “Yin-fen” under her breath. Her mother turns around and speaks to Orked as calmly as she can, slowly and deliberately. She wipes the tears off her own face, then off Orked’s face, as she speaks.
MAK:
Listen to me. I have been speaking to Jason many times over the phone these last few days. Yam too. He told us not to tell you. He also said that he wasn’t sure if you loved him because you never really said so. He’s still waiting for your call. My advice would be that if you really love him, this will be your last chance to tell him in a long, long time.
Orked looks at her mother in a way that could melt any heart.
ORKED:
Mak. Please may I borrow your phone...
57. Alley where Jason was shot.
The gangsters have been handcuffed and are being ushered into Black Marias. Paramedics covers Jason’s body and carry it off on a stretcher. We see policemen talking to their walkie-talkies and we hear static and people taking from the other end.
Out of the blue, a mobile phone rings. A policeman picks up Jason’s blood-stained pouch lying on the ground, opens it, and takes out the phone. He answers it.
Cut to a far shot of the policeman talking to the phone.
58. Same time. Ext. Outside Keong’s house.
Keong is sitting in the hot sun, by the drain outside the family’s terrace house. He is waiting for Jason.
He looks across the street and sees the little Chinese boy and the little Malay girl from Scene 1 in a playground, sharing a swing.
Keong looks down at the cast on his arm. He sees Jason’s handwriting on it. Keong bends his arm a little to read it. It says:
“I'm sorry. (signed) Jason.”
59. Day. Int. Living room of jason’s shophouse.
Close-up of Jason’s poetry book. It is open. We hear Jason’s voice start reading from the page.
JASON:
Bless this little heart,
this white soul that has won the kiss of heaven.
He loves the light of the sun,
He loves the sight of his mother’s face.
He has not learnt to hate the dust, and love the gold.
Clasp him to your heart and bless him.
He has come into this land of 100 crossroads.
I know not how he chose you from the crowd,
came to your door, grasped your hand to ask his way.
We slowly pull away from the book as Jason’s voice continues to read. As we go further from the book, we see that there’s no Jason, just his voice.
JASON:
He followed you, laughing and talking, without a doubt
in his heart.
Keep his trust, lead him straight, and bless him.
Lay your hand on his head,
and pray that though the waves beneath him grow
threatening,
yet the breath from above him will fill his sails and
waft him to the haven of peace.
We pull further until we reach Jason’s mother lying on the sofa. She’s sleeping peacefully. We close in on her face as Jason’s voice completes the poem.
JASON:
Forget him not in your hurry,
let him come to your heart and bless him...
Goodnight, mah.
Cut to black. Roll credits.
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