English and Communications for Business

Amanda Lee, aged 47, is the Head of Public Relations of
Gammon Properties, a top-tier and expanding property developer
in Hong Kong and mainland China. She is a very efficient person
and expects her subordinates to be as efficient as she is. What she
cares most about is the result of each public relations project —
how widely positive news has been covered by the media.
Terri Cheung, who has a Master’s degree in Communication and
New Media from the City University of Hong Kong, has just
joined Gammon Properties as the Senior Public Relations
Executive. Terri, who is in her early 30s, has five year of solid
working experience in the media as an editor. She has recently
learned about the Hong Kong Government’s initiative in
supporting local agricultural development. Further development
of the local agriculture could diversify the food supply in Hong
Kong and reduce the reliance on imported food. It could also
provide job opportunities for less skilled workers. What’s more,
the recycling of waste and trapping of carbon in agricultural
production is conducive to the sustainable development of the
New Territories as a whole. She wishes that Gammon Properties
would sponsor the setting up of a social enterprise operating a
farm.
Gammon Properties, like many other property developers in
Hong Kong, has been accused of reaping obscene profits at the
expense of the environment. Nevertheless, if this campaign
attracts media attention, the company will be able to show to the
public how Gammon Properties is putting an effort into
minimizing environmental impacts.
As the expense incurred is three times the yearly budget for the
Public Relations Department, and the Department is working at
the moment on some other projects, Terri knows she needs to be
very persuasive to make Amanda accept her idea and propose it
to the senior management.