Question:
(2022 DSE Writing Topic, Workplace Communication Q.3)
You are a columnist for Jobs Online magazine. A reader submitted the following question:
My dream is to open a cafe with a few friends, but I've just been offered a promotion at my company. The pay is good, but I'm not that interested in the work. Should I leave now or wait a few years?
Kam Chai, 25 years old
Write a reply to Kam Chai with your suggestions.
Common weaknesses:
- Too vague and equivocal ideas (i.e. without concrete examples/illustrations), with the concluding sentences deviating from the purpose of this essay
- Too many paragraphs
- Devoting most of the coverage to the chill wind of COVID
- Haphazard planning beforehand
Dear Kam Chai,
I am sorry to learn that you're presently languishing in a gruelling quandary over whether to bide your time to commence a cafe or to accept the promotion offer at your current company. It is ineluctably disheartening, yet let me flesh out the perks and downsides to both options so that you can have a clearer picture of the way forward.
{T.S.} Occupying primacy must unquestionably be the salary. Opening a cafe appears appealing given companies like Starbucks earn floods of cash every day. Yet, Starbucks is among the handful of cafes that are so successful. Have you witnessed how many cafes have perished amid the onslaught of the pandemic? Compounding the misery is the fact you and your friends are novices when it comes to starting up a new business. Given ceaseless inflation, the prospect may just be that you will not be spared by the relentless and exorbitant losses unleashed upon you in the cafe's nascent years. Should you ask for cases in point, here's one sound piece of evidence: Hong Kong's business magnate Li Ka-shing once told the masses that he had borne colossal losses when he wanted to hit the ground running with his plastic flower manufacturing company. As you can interpret, operating a cafe may not end up being lucrative and you will have to hire additional baristas to fortify your business. On the other hand, being a realtor boasts a glittering array of perks. Just look at how many customers beat a path to your company's door every day. Are losses in prospect? Certainly not for now. Plus, you will get the budget you need to keep your dream of opening a cafe alive and kicking while supporting your ailing parents as you mentioned. {Brief summary} All in all, it is stable and lucrative, in striking contrast to the potential losses bound to buffet you in your new cafe. {C.S.} So, it's beyond dispute that accepting the promotion offer at your current company is preferable to leaving.
{T.S.} Salaries aside, the two jobs also beckon the noteworthy question of variety. Indubitably, you do get to design different styles of coffee as a barista in your own cafe. That purports to attract many as they do have rare opportunities to interact with other baristas and emulate their success. But, just as time wears on, you will realise the main duty is only to serve customers, let alone some pesky and finicky ones who take on you for whatever you produce. While that is par for the course, realtors get to check out new and perhaps opulent flats every day. You have had the inside scoop of those living in the lap of luxury, haven't you? Indulging yourself in that for merely a second already makes for unadulterated joy. Notwithstanding the regular job duties, you still do get to learn what customers of different strata of the society think of the flats, whereas you largely serve the same batch of coffee enthusiasts as a barista as they always frequent for their love of coffee. {C.S.} Being a realtor allows you to expand your network, thereby having more customers to promote your projects to. That cements my argument that staying is so much more preferred.
Openig a cafe is absolutely another kettle of fish when compared with being a realtor. While I strongly recommend that you accept the promotion offer and stay, you should also factor your will and wishes into your final decision. The ball is in your court now, but I will undoubtedly throw my weight behind you in surviving the squalls of this momentous crossroads in your life.
Best regards,
Chris Wong
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