Loan Doan

ESL100 - Spring 2019

Cause & Effect Essay

Ice cream or Excavator ?

Do you think that life would be easier if everything was traded by coupons instead of cash? In my opinion, obviously not. My parents told me a lot of their difficult time when they were teenagers. They described life at that time as hungry, poor and miserable. After the Vietnam War ended in 1975, the North and the South of the country were united, and Vietnam government launched the subsidized economy period (1976-1986). In this period, every item was rationed and the government took control of everything. Food, goods and services were purchased with coupons and food stamps. People who owned a position in government received more coupons and had access to special shops. For those without special status, they could expect to spend almost a day waiting in line to buy rice and other basic commodities. Fortunately, this period did not last long. Revolution Policy was launched in 1986 which enabled Vietnam to do free-market economic reforms. Vietnam economy opened its door to the world trade. Import and export were welcome. There were many business opportunities, and my father was lucky to have a chance to work with South Korean. Thanks to his better job, my family got out of poverty, and I had a chance to have a better life. 


(Vietnam in 1980s)

Because of devastation from the war, many people were so wretched to earn their living. My father did a lot of jobs to earn his living when he was very young. He started his first job as a helper when he was thirteen years old. Then, he became delivery boy for fabric merchants who traded silk and cloth at the black market in the subsidy period. Although he worked hard at many places, his income was still not enough to support his mom to buy food for the whole family. When he was eighteen years old, he decided to make first attempt of trading charcoals from the black market to the local markets. This job was very dangerous because he had to bike super heavy charcoal boxes through the forest in the night time to avoid getting caught by forest warden and economic policeman. Unfortunately, in one full-moon night, he was caught, and he lost all his merchandises as well as his collective food stamps. However, my grandma said that he was lucky because he was not arrested. Having a destitute life and losing everything, he was so sad that he could not sleep for few weeks. He tossed and turned in bed all night to think about how to earn much money to buy foods for his family. When my father got married, he was an ice cream maker. Every day, my mother helped my father to prepare ingredients and do cleaning. They did not have a store. They just made ice cream at home with a big quantity such as five hundred sticks and delivered them to local food stores. Although they became entrepreneurs with their small ice cream workshop at home, they did not earn much money. Thankfully, they would never feel hungry because they always had left over of ice cream to eat. 


 (Pop Ice Cream)

Few years later, thanks to his brother’s advice, my dad took a big risk and opened a small shop which sells construction products and spare parts of trucks and tanks. At that time, Vietnam was going through the Revolution. International trade was welcomed. Vietnam emerged as a new land across Asia for doing business, thus many foreigners traveled to Vietnam to find new opportunities. By chance, a group people from South Korea visited his shop. They were interested in my dad’s shop, so they made an offer that they wanted to work with my father to sell excavator - a digging truck. They predicted that trading excavator in Vietnam would be a great business, because of the rising demand of instruments and equipment to build houses, offices, manufacturers and public facilities. My father was fascinated by this business opportunity, so he agreed right away. It was tough at the beginning, but my dad never gave up. Until now, he has been in this business for more than twenty years. 

 (Excavator)

Switching from ice cream maker to excavator trader, my father has been working so hard so that my family was able to get out of poverty. His earning not only supported my family but also gave us a better life. We had good food to eat, a nice house to live and a nice car to drive. I also had an opportunity to receive better education. I graduated high school and college from international schools whose tuition fee is pretty high. At that time, this was a fancy thing that many teenagers in my country were dreaming about. However, the most important thing I have learned from my father is his work ethic. He is a hard worker, and he never gives up easily. He never says no to any offers, and he always tries his best to spend all of his time to work effectively. Thanks to experiencing many down moments in his early twenties, he became tougher that difficulties and challenges cannot bring him down. Being his daughter is the most valuable thing to me, so that I have been able to learn the best from him. 

(RMIT Vietnam University - Graduated in 2015)

Sometimes growing up in a difficult circumstance is a chance to make a big change. Tough life may enable people to become independent, strong-willed and never quit easily. There is a quote by Mitch Albom that says ‘Behind all your stories is always your mother’s story, because hers is where yours begins’. I am so proud of my father, and every day I always remind myself that I should try my best to learn from him.