Debt is stupid
December 1, 2024
Early this week I went Johor Bahru to watch the original Cantonese version of “The Last Dance” (破地狱). The Hong Kong film has broken six box office records, including highest opening day and total gross, taking in HK$100 million revenue 20 days after release.
Every hour there were two to three screenings of the movie. Despite this, the theatre was almost full during off-peak hours on a weekday.
I was well prepared with a pack of good quality 3-ply tissues. This came in handy when everyone in the audience was crying or sobbing throughout the screening. No one expected to shed so many tears after paying just fourteen Malaysian ringgit.
The movie is about funeral business. Those who join the industry either need to succeed their family business or to make money in desperation. The main character is the latter. His own business was doing well until the pandemic struck. Fate changed him from a wedding planner to a funeral planner.
There is a famous quote in this film, “It’s not just the dead who need help out of hell. The living also need help out of hell. Living people also have a lot of hell.”
Everyone has his own hell. In “The Last Dance”, the main character’s hell is financial distress. He lives in the living hell of lenders chasing after him to settle outstanding loans and unpaid bills.
Many individuals and companies file for bankruptcy every year. Think they have financial problems or a failed business? Wrong. On the contrary, they can be doing well financially. They have a good credit history and never miss a debt repayment, until the banks suddenly tightened financing and called back the loans.... read more