"Some people say this world is ugly, yet it is beautiful at the same time." "I don't know if they are right, but I'm about to see the world with fresh eyes." "Wong Kar Mun, I'm giving you a local anesthetic now." "The operation will take about two hours." "Are you ready?" "Who's that?" "Quiet!" "We don't want to alarm the nurses." "I am in the bed next to yours." "I heard that you just had an eye operation." "I've had many operations here." "I know the whole hospital." "They're all nice to me." "How old are you?" "Why so many operations?" "I'm 11." "I should have been in junior high by now, but my mother says I have a brain tumor which affects my nerves." "That's why I pass out all the time." "They have to remove it." "But it's so large and dangerous, they have to operate many times." "So I skipped school last year and stayed here ever since." "You're so young, yet so brave." "Once you can see again, I'll take you out to play." "The world is really beautiful." "Wong Kar Mun, when I remove the bandages from your eyes, it might hurt a little at first." "If it hurts too much, let me know." "If we can't do it today, we can finish it tomorrow." "Now let's try." "Open your eyes slowly." "Hey, don't force yourself if it hurts." "It hurts a lot!" "Is it too painful?" "Dr. Lo, she must be in a lot of pain!" "She hasn't cried out in pain ever since she was a kid!" "Grandma, let Dr. Lo do his job." "Please don't be worried about it." "Very few patients experience full and immediate success." "It takes time for the eye and brain to work together." "Ying Ying." "Ying Ying!" "Hi." "Can you see now?" "I'm Ying Ying." "Can you really see me?" "I think I can see." "I'm not sure." "Great!" "You can see!" "Nurse, she can see now!" "Nurse, her eyes are working!" "She sees me!" "Come quick!" "Come quick!" "Grandma, the hospital called!" "Mun can see!" " What?" " Mun can see!" "Get ready." "Let's go to the hospital now." "Are you going to discharge me now?" "Not so soon." "Every cornea recipient starts off near-sighted by as much as 1,000 degrees." "Only when your eye muscles are able to adapt will this fall to about 200 degrees." "When will she have perfect eyesight?" "No one has perfect eyesight." "Most people are near-sighted by about 100 degrees." "Does that mean she will need to wear glasses?" "That won't be necessary." "All she needs for the moment is a pair of sunglasses." "Mun, get some rest." "If everything goes well, you can be released early." "You can take off your sunglasses now." "Try to get used to the light gradually." "If you feel pain, or if your eyes start watering, then you should close your eyes and let your eyes rest." "Here, I'll help you onto the bed." " Nurse?" " Hmm?" "Is there a mirror in every washroom?" "Yes, I'll take you there." "Here." "Slowly." "Take your time and call me if you need anything." "Who's that?" "Ying Ying, is that you?" "Why are you so quiet?" "I'm having another operation tomorrow." "You promised to take me out once I can see." "We'll go out and have fun after your operation." "Did they say you can leave the hospital already?" "Not yet." "But even if I do, I can always drop by for a visit." "Let's take a picture together." " Let's do it outside!" " All right." " Let's go..." " But where?" "Let's go that way!" "What's this?" " A camera!" " Camera." "Now, look this way." "Ready... 1, 2, 3!" "Madam, are you alright?" "Madam..." "I'm freezing..." "Send this one to Block C." "We have a full-house in Block B." "Nurse, did the old lady pass away?" "Yes, we have taken her away." "But last night..." "I saw someone drop by to visit her." "They even went out together." "Are you sure?" "We don't allow any visitors here at night." "Where's Ying Ying?" "She went for an operation this morning." "Dr. Lo preferred that you stay for two more days, but because I'll be away on flight duty for two weeks, no one would be able to pick you up." "It was easier to have you discharged now." "This way you and grandma can spend more time together." "My it's already 3:00 pm!" "I hope this place is not too hard to find." "I should have postponed it until I return." "After meeting the therapist, I'll put you in a taxi." "Grandma will meet you downstairs." "Hope we won't be too late." "The appointment with Dr. Lo was at 3:00." "We're only 10 minutes late for our appointment." "I have to leave for work soon." "I'm sorry but Dr. Lo just stepped out for a few minutes." "There he is." "Is my 3:00 here?" "Yes, they are." "Mun, let's go." "Let me introduce you to the nature of my work." "From now on, I'm Miss Wong Kar Mun's psychotherapist." "Since Miss Wong lost her sight at the age of two, her visual vocabulary is extremely limited, and she has probably forgotten most of that." "Miss Wong, could you please remove your glasses and let your eyes get used to the light?" "Can you tell me what's in my hand?" "You'll recognize that it's a stapler once you touch it, because all your previous knowledge of objects was based on touch, not on sight." "Now you are no longer blind." "My job is to help you re-establish how to use your eyes and understand what you see." "Actually, I'm not too worried about that aspect." "What concerns me is your psychological state." "After regaining sight, many patients end up feeling alienated and fearful." "Dr Lo, is the other Dr. Lo a relative of yours?" "You mean Dr. C. T. Lo?" "Yes, he's my uncle." "So... what time do you finish work today?" "Miss Wong is my last patient for the day." "You see, I need to catch my flight." "Can I trouble you to send Mun home after this?" "I see... of course." "After all, starting from today..." "I need to take Miss Wong outdoors for her training anyway." "Okay." "You can go ahead." "I'm fine by myself." "I'm used to it." "That's you as a little girl." "Your father filmed this a long time ago so that you could see it if your eyes ever healed." "He stopped filming after he divorced your mother." "That was seven or eight years ago." " Grandma?" " Mmm?" "is it true when Dad comes back, he'll take us to Vancouver?" "I know you don't want to go, but life in Vancouver moves at a slower pace." "It will be better for you." "I can't even read Chinese, how will I learn English?" "Grandma, I don't want to rely on others forever." "I want to learn to write and find a job in Hong Kong." "I want to be independent." "Your father would worry about you going to work." "I have to do the dishes." "I'll leave you to watch this alone." "Can I help you?" "Have you seen my report card?" "No." "Do you live around here?" "Mun, who's that?" "It's a little boy, Grandma." "Did a report card ever turn up on our balcony?" "That kid is teasing you." "Just ignore him." "Kid, what are you eating?" "I'm hungry." "What's your problem?" "Everyone, we have two pieces of good news today." "First..." "Miss Tone Deaf had a successful operation!" "And second, for our Christmas charity concert we will be performing with Vanessa Mae!" "Mr. Cheng, why haven't I received the practice schedule?" "Mun, you know, after all... we're an organization for the blind." "You're always welcome to come to practice, but perhaps you should do something else for the performance, such as coordination, or taking care of our members." "I can even arrange for you to help out at the center." "Mr. Cheng, I really want to take part in this performance." "I've practiced so long for this concert." "I understand, but..." "Excuse me, Mr. Cheng." "Vanessa Mae's agent wants us to fax over her schedule." "I'll be with you right away." "Mun, Mun?" "Mun, Mun?" "Let's discuss this again." "I have to go." " Grandma!" " Are you leaving?" "Yes, to class." "Come back early for dinner." "I've prepared some special turnip soup." "Bye bye!" "Have you seen my report card?" "Report card?" "Didn't you find it yet?" "I really haven't seen it." "Perhaps you should ask someone else." "Ying Ying!" "Excuse me, I'd like to talk to her." "See what I've brought for you?" "I've just had chemo-therapy." "I'll throw up if I eat." "Then we'll save it for when you get better." "If only we had believed him just that once, or given him a chance to explain, he might still be here playing video games." "Who would have expected him to jump off just like that?" "Suicide is a sin." "The souls of those who commit suicide are obliged to repeat their painful deaths everyday." "To help him break out of this vicious cycle of pain, we need to tackle the cause of his suicide." "Only then can his soul leave this world in peace." "Have you ever considered he might be telling the truth?" "Perhaps he really did lose his report card." "Have you been teaching calligraphy long?" "Yes, many years indeed." "I'll teach you how to hold the brush." "Use your thumb and middle finger and form a circle like this." "Very few want to learn calligraphy nowadays." "I used to teach three lessons a week." "Now it is down to only one." "I'll let you try writing by yourself." "Why are you sitting in my chair?" "Why are you sitting in my chair?" "What is this?" "What is going on?" "What are you looking for?" "Are you okay?" "What happened?" "Are you feeling unwell?" "Is Dr. Lo here?" "Miss Wong, you are early." "Your next appointment isn't until Friday." "He won't be back from his meeting until 5:00 pm." "Will he definitely be here at 5:00 pm?" "If it's urgent, I can page him for you now." "I'll be back at 5:00." "You can see them too?" "They don't usually want to be seen." "But you'll get used to it." "All the stores nearby have been bought up, only my boss refuses to sell." "He seems to be expecting his wife and child to visit." "Actually, he can't see them at all." "There was a car accident over there." "Mun!" "My secretary said you were asking for me." "What's the matter?" "Will you help me?" "Of course I will." "Do your eyes hurt?" "Will you believe me?" "Yes." "Yes." "What is it?" "That shadowy man..." "he came to take away the dead." "What shadowy man?" "When I was at the hospital..." "I saw a shadowy man." "He... he took an old lady with him." "The next morning, the old lady was dead." "My room keeps changing suddenly into a different room." "I even saw a person missing her lower body." "When he rushed over, it was like an electric shock." "My whole body went numb." "Calm down and tell me slowly." "When I was little..." "Grandma told me..." "I was not an ordinary child." "God had given me some obstacles... so that I would grow up to be an extraordinary person." "Now I understand what it means to be extraordinary." "An extraordinary person can see things others can't... and feel pain that others won't feel." "Maybe I was never meant to see this world." "I don't want to go to bed terrified every night... then awaken to horrors every morning." "I just want to be an ordinary person." "Dr. Lo, can you help me?" "Yes, of course I will." "One of my psychology professors from the States has just come to Hong Kong to visit." "Let's go see him tomorrow." "He might be able to help." "How can you help me when you don't believe me?" "What's going on?" "Excuse me, I have to go." "Call me if you need anything." "Goodbye." "Who's that?" "A friend." "He asked your sister to take something to the States." "Yes, that's right." "You are home early." "Aren't you supposed to be back next week?" "Well, a co-worker switched her shift with mine." "Why don't you go up?" "It's smoky here." "14th Floor, Unit C" "Have you seen my report card?" "Stop asking me!" "I've already told you I haven't seen it!" "Have you seen my report card?" "15th Floor, Unit C" "Uncle, listen to me..." "No way!" "Only you can help us with this!" "I've already said no!" "If you still respect me as your uncle, and respect yourself as my nephew, you should never have approached me with this!" "You should know only too well what the medical ethics are regarding organ transplants." "And you should also know that the identity of the cornea donor is concealed from me." "What shadow?" "One cornea transplant and she starts seeing ghosts?" "You actually believe that?" "What if I do?" "Then we have even less to talk about!" "Uncle..." "Don't tell me you fell for your own patient." "Hello?" "Dr. Lo, is that you?" "Mun is in trouble!" "Can you come over immediately?" "Yes, right away." "Yes, I admit it." "She's more than a patient to me." "Mun!" "Mun!" "How long do you plan on hiding in this little room?" "Five years?" "Seven?" "Or ten?" "You have to confront your problem sooner or later." "You want to play violin?" "Go play with the troupe!" "I can accept you pretending to be blind." "But even then you didn't isolate yourself here." "I just want to help." "Mun!" "Mun." "Hi." "Ying Ying, what are you doing here?" "I can leave the hospital now." "You can?" "Yes, I don't need any more operations." "Then..." "then once I'm out of here... when I'm out we can go out, we can take pictures, we can even..." "I'm so happy that you can see now... because this world is really beautiful." "Ying Ying..." "It's all right." "Cheer up." "Be strong and things will work out for the best." "I have to go now." "Ying Ying!" "Wong Kar Mun, I want to tell you..." "Ying Ying has already..." "I know..." "I just saw her." "I know she's dead." "What are you looking at?" "Ying Ying." "Can you see her?" "It wasn't her." "Don't know why she didn't show up today." "Are you not afraid anymore?" "I don't think I have a choice." "I see all of these things anyway." "At least I get to see the people I care about." "What's this?" "Ying Ying made this for you." "What's written on it?" ""Don't forget me."" "She put in the wrong photo though." "Who's this?" "It's you." "Don't you recognize yourself yet?" "What is going on?" "Who are you?" "Who the hell are you?" "We believe that the very last consciousness of a mortal carries over to the afterlife." "That is, the very thought of a person in his final moment would become the eternal consciousness of his soul." "Those who die a sudden death have no recollection of the instance of death." "Their souls remain in this world as if they're still alive." "But there are others who intentionally refuse to leave, mostly due to unresolved problems during their lifetime." "These souls can't be consoled while their problems remain." "There is only one way to help them, and that is to resolve what they left unsettled." "The woman whom Miss Wong keeps seeing after resuming her sight... we have to resolve her problems so that she can move on." "I hope I haven't done anything wrong." "Even if it's wrong, it'd be my fault." "And I won't regret it." "Were you reincarnated into the wrong body?" "Why are you so different from the rest of the family?" "Be careful." "Bangkok, Thailand" "Dr. Lo believed you in the end?" "Let's just say Dr. Lo is not involved." "He's a medical professional after all, you know what I mean?" "Yes." "Are we close?" "I'm not sure." "It says here that her Chinese name was Chui Wai Ling... a Thai born Chinese." "Here are her hospital records." "This is Siam Rach Hospital." "This is probably the place." "Let's get off to take a look." "Please come help." "Can I help you?" "He's not here now." "Wah!" "Wah!" "What is it?" " This is the place." " What place?" "The place I've been having nightmares about." "Nightmares?" "This has to be it!" "Doctor Eak." "What's the matter?" "You have two visitors." "Mister, this is Dr. Eak." "Are you two from Hong Kong?" "You speak Mandarin?" "Can you help us?" "Sorry, I can't disclose our hospital records." "This is our hospital policy." "Please understand." "Wait!" "We need to see the donor's family about an urgent matter." "Could you perhaps ask them if they're willing to meet us?" "Her family will not be willing to meet with you." "Who are you to Ling?" "Please leave." "Wait!" "After I got Ling's corneas, I started to see things that she saw." "Ling was a sad and lonely girl." "All of the villagers stayed away from her." "Why?" "From time to time, she would weep outside someone's door." "Afterwards, a person in that house would pass away." "So everyone took her to be a witch and always chased her away when they saw her." "The children treated her like a monster." "Even I threw stones at her when I was a kid." "Because none of you could believe that she foresaw death?" "Maybe it was because of fear." "So do you believe it now?" "This is it." "Mrs. Chui, these two friends are from Hong Kong." "Nobody liked Ling... so she hardly ever set foot in the village." "Yet on the night of the big fire, many people saw her running around and shouting hysterically, talking to herself." "Since everyone detested Ling, no one paid any attention to her." "Some villagers even threw water on her to drive her away." "Around midnight, a big fire erupted... and kept burning till noon the next day." "Among the deceased, 300 were burnt beyond recognition." "How exactly did Ling die?" "She hanged herself." "Ling killed herself the day after the big fire." "Is Mrs. Chui all right?" "She's fine." "So you also believed that she wasn't insane, but that she only saw things no one else could." "She foresaw a big disaster and tried to warn everyone, but no one listened to her." "I don't understand any of this spiritual stuff." "I just want you two to know that Ling was a very kind girl... and she had a miserable life." "Can I take a look at Ling's room?" "Tonight..." "I want to stay here." "I'll take you to Ling's grave tomorrow morning." "Thank you for being so kind and helpful." "Thank you." "You should go to bed now." "All right." "I'll stay next door." "Shout if anything happens." "I know you've wanted me to come here all this time." "Well, here I am now." "What do you want to tell me?" "...ill-fated... ill-fated..." "Hurry, take her to the hospital..." "Get lost..." "You should be ashamed of yourself..." "You are a curse!" "You speak evil..." "I told you not to come here!" "She's evil!" "Don't ever play with her!" "Don't even talk to her!" "Never play with her again!" "Go save him!" "Save my boy..." "Help him..." "Make him breathe..." "What have you done to my boy?" "You little bitch!" "Where the hell are your parents?" "She's evil." "Look what you've done!" "Go to hell!" "Stay away from my house!" "Get lost!" "Be reasonable!" "My daughter is only trying to help..." "Go away!" "Mrs. Chui, I know how to help Ling." "Let's go upstairs to see her." "Her most painful time was not in the past... it's now." "Since she killed herself, she's been trapped in a time warp constantly repeating her suicide." "How can someone who's dead die again?" "Listen to me, very soon she'll appear upstairs." "Let's go up to see her!" "I won't see her!" "I spent my whole life protecting her." "I never once gave up on her, but she gave up on herself!" "For that I can never forgive her!" "Just listen." "I'm sure you hear this sound every night." "Ling died at 3:00, didn't she?" "Mrs. Chui, come with me and you'll understand!" "I'm not going upstairs!" "Mom." "Mom." "Help me..." "Help me..." "Ling?" "Help me..." "Help me!" "Help me!" "Help me..." "Is it Ling?" "Is it really Ling?" "Mom." "Help me..." "Ling, you were the one who left me." "You were the one who left me." "Mom... help me..." "Mom." "Ling, Mommy is coming!" "Ling!" "Ling!" "My girl, mommy's right here." "Don't be afraid." "No one can bully you anymore." "Mom, I'm so sorry." "I was wrong." "Please forgive me." "I have already forgiven you." "Mun, what happened?" "Are you all right?" "Beloved daughter Chui Wai Ling" "Hurry!" "Pull him out!" "Careful!" "Come on keep pulling!" "Over there!" "Move!" "Hello, sweetie pie." "She's smiling." "We're already late." "What a drag." "Get out!" "Get out!" "Something's happening." "Get out, quick!" "Granny, leave your house now!" "Leave your house now!" "Brother, run for your life!" "Get out!" "Quick!" "Run!" "Get out!" "Run..." "Run!" "Run for your life!" "Run now!" "Run!" "A disaster is coming!" "Run now!" "Run!" "Run now!" "What's she saying?" "Go, go, go!" "Move over..." "Go, go, go!" "Move over!" "Mun!" "Go, go, go!" "Move over!" "Mun..." "Ever since that day, Ling never appeared again." "I hold no resentment towards her, since I saw and experienced the same pain that she did." "But aside from pain, I saw beauty." "I no longer question why I am blind... for I have seen some of the most beautiful things in this world." "Things I'll never forget." "[Skipped item nr. 586]"