Anger propelled CEO to excellence
Posted: 3:35 AM | Jun. 18, 2006

Margie Quimpo-Espino
Inquirer



Published on page B1 of the June 18, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

IF CLARK Development Corp. (CDC) president and chief executive officer Antonio R. Ng appears like he has a chip on his shoulder, it's probably because he has one.



Ng grew up poor. People used to tease him a lot for the way he looks and for his odd-sounding name. Ng is of Chinese descent.

The insults created a deep anger in him, which he did not even realize was there until he achieved a measure of success. Only then did he see that the anger had channeled itself into a drive toward excellence.

And excel he did.

"I had the desire to be the best," Ng says as he smiles. "So I gave everything my best, including ironing my own clothes. When I scrubbed the floor, it was always a mirror finish."

Upon the recommendation of former Ayala Land Inc. top man Francisco Licuanan, who was then the presidential adviser on the Clark Special Economic Zone, Ng was installed as CDC head in March 2005.

But Ng is humble enough to admit that he attained success not without help.

"I used to think I was a self-made man," he says. "I realize now I am a God-made man. First it was my mother who prayed for me. And then it was my wife."

Ng sits as head of one of the most controversial and conflict-ridden posts in government.

Decisions made by several of his predecessors had raised eyebrows, and some decisions were even mired in scandals.

Ng is well aware of the issues facing the former US air base.

That is why he is now working hard trying to pass on to CDC employees the core values he has acquired while working with two multinational firms, and cut through the red tape hampering operations in Clark.

Sword of Damocles

On top of these, he says, the CDC has a Sword of Damocles hanging over its head in the form of a Supreme Court decision.

The high court has ruled that the CDC should not have granted tax incentives to its investors, and that these businesses would have to pay back taxes. The locators are in an uproar over the changing of the rules in the middle of the game -- after all, the tax exemption incentives were among the reasons why the investors opted to put up their businesses in Clark.

The short-term solution is that all new investors in Clark should be registered under the Philippine Economic Zone Authority. This would provide them the incentives.

But Ng says they need a long-term solution, and this requires legislation. So far, Congress has passed a law granting amnesty to existing investors. But another law has to be passed to give Clark locators tax free incentives.

But the way things are moving in Congress, the long-term solution is a long time coming.

For now, Ng is busy generating employment and creating economic activities in the area.

He plans to turn Clark into a world-class logistics hub, a center for light manufacturing and services, and a place for leisure and entertainment.

Ng also wants to establish the needed infrastructure for convenient access.

He hopes to accomplish this by attracting more investors to the area. This is why Ng is trying to make it easier for new businesses to locate in Clark, making their applications less bureaucratic.

To Ng, it is a matter of setting performance goals among CDC workers.

He claims that in the permit processing, they have created a green lane where you can get your permit in ten minutes. So far, he says, they have achieved on time delivery at a 97-percent rate.

Excite your people

"You have to excite people to your mission," he says. "I talk to the employees once a month."

Ng espouses an open policy, especially in meeting with investors.

"When there's an investor, I don't meet with him alone," he says. "I bring my marketing, customer service staff and others."

Ng says that by doing this, he can prevent talk that he stands to benefit or gain special privileges every time he meets an investor.

"As a leader I have two jobs -- it is our duty to set expectations and to demand and insist on them. And to actively help overcome the obstacles people face to meet these expectations. It's a question of defining the expectations."

Perhaps because of the difficulty his family went through, Ng wants to eradicate poverty. And the only way he can do this is by creating more jobs.

Ng was born in Bantayan town in Cebu province in August 1959, to a Chinese father and a Cebuana mother.

But his father died when he was only two. His mother decided to move to Davao province, where she could be with relatives who could help support her four children.

Ng was the only boy. He admits he was the favorite of his mother. But she did not exempt him from working.

"Early in life, as a young boy of 10, I learned to shine shoes, sell newspapers and roast pig to earn extra income.

"In the evening, it was my duty to prepare the dough, mixing the flour and yeast with my bare hands. My sister would make donuts early the following morning by cooking the dough I prepared. The donuts would be sold by my mother in the public market."

In the afternoons, his mother would sell rice cakes.

Ng earned P0.05 from every newspaper he sold. He would sell 20 a day, so this gave him P1.00. That was in the 1960s, when the peso still went a long way.

"I did not really feel poor, except when I see other people and when they insult us," he says.

Despite the teasing and the insults, Ng excelled in school and graduated salutatorian in high school. He was an entrance scholar at the University of the Philippines, which meant he got free tuition and did not have to pass the entrance exam. He studied engineering.

He says it was at the University of the Philippines that he realized how spoiled he was with his mother. There was one time during his first semester in college that he burst into tears, realizing that he was on his own.

He lived on P120 a month, which was a huge amount his mother and sisters had to raise.

To augment his income he volunteered in the research studies of senior students. The work earned him an extra P20 a month.

Career path

The four years passed quickly and soon he was working with beverage and food conglomerate San Miguel Corp. as a methods analyst. He says that in San Miguel, it would only take him one and a half months to the work that would normally take others three months to complete.

"I worked unmindful of the hours," Ng says of his stint in San Miguel from 1971 to 1975.

He was pirated by appliance manufacturer Concepcion Industries Inc. and became plant manager at the age of 26. He stayed there for four years.

At Intel Philippines, he became operations manager. He stayed with the semiconductor firm for three years.

At Motorola Philippines, he became its first Filipino president and general manager. After three years, he became the country manager of Motorola Taiwan.

His success did not stop there. He was made head of operations of Motorola Kuala Lumpur, which is the company's most complex manufacturing site.

It was not long before Amkor got him and he stayed with the firm from 1992 to 2001.

Again, Ng became the first Filipino managing director of Amkor Technolgy Philippines, a subsidiary of Amkor Technolgy Inc., the world's largest outsourced manufacturer in semiconductor.

Ng retired at age 52. But he still took on a lighter job as CEO of CIIF Oil Mill. In 2004, he set up the EMS CEO Consulting Group with "close CEO associates" and started their own new product line in electronics.

One time, Licuanan invited him to look at the power problems at Clark. He made a few suggestions which the official apparently liked. Thus he ended up with CDC.

Today, Ng travels almost four hours each day to go to work. He says he still has a daughter who is studying so he cannot locate in Clark. But he says he does not mind. He is also aware that he serves at the pleasure of the President and that he may lose his job at anytime. But he also does not mind that.

One thing is sure: Nobody will look down on him because of his last name. With INQ7.net

http://money.inq7.net/topstories/view_tops...06&dd=18&file=1

Democracy in action! In communist countries one cannot have the opportunity to climb the social ladder unless he is blindly communist. What's worse is that illiterate people occupy top positions even though they are not qualified for reasons that they are blind communists! No wonder the old Soviet Union imploded. Long live USA! The land of milk and honey! Long live the Philippines where everybody is free to speak out like Sison who alledgedly found a way to circumvent the law on murder by invoking jurisdictional pleas! He should had been hanged long time ago by Marcos, Aquino, Ramos if not for compassionate reasons.

John Gokongwei , Jr.
Ad Congress Speech
Nov 21, 2007


Before I begin, I want to say please bear with me, an 81-year-old man who just flew in from San Francisco 36 hours ago and is still suffering from jet lag. However, I hope I will be able to say what you want to hear…

Ladies and gentlemen, good evening. Thank you very much for having me here tonight to open the Ad Congress. I know how important this event is for our marketing and advertising colleagues. My people get very excited and go into a panic, every other year, at this time.

I would like to talk about my life, entrepreneurship, and globalization. I would like to talk about how we can become a great nation.

You may wonder how one is connected to the other, but I promise that, as there is truth in advertising, the connection will come.

Let me begin with a story I have told many times. My own.

I was born to a rich Chinese-Filipino family. I spent my childhood in Cebu where my father owned a chain of movie houses, including the first air-conditioned one outside Manila. I was the eldest of six children and lived in a big house in Cebu's Forbes Park.

A chauffeur drove me to school everyday as I went to San Carlos University, then and still one of the country's top schools. I topped my classes and had many friends. I would bring them to watch movies for free at my father's movie houses.

When I was 13, my father died suddenly of complications due to typhoid. Everything I enjoyed vanished instantly. My father's empire was built on credit. When he died, we lost everything—our big house, our cars, our business—to the banks.

I felt angry at the world for taking away my father, and for taking away all that I enjoyed before. When the free movies disappeared, I also lost half my friends. On the day I had to walk two miles to school for the very first time, I cried to my mother, a widow at 32. But she said: "You should feel lucky. Some people have no shoes to walk to school. What can you do? Your father died with 10 centavos in his pocket."

So, what can I do? I worked.

My mother sent my siblings to China where living standards were lower. She and I stayed in Cebu to work, and we sent them money regularly. My mother sold her jewelry. When that ran out, we sold roasted peanuts in the backyard of our much-smaller home. When that wasn't enough, I opened a small stall in a palengke.
I chose one among several palengkes a few miles outside the city because there were fewer goods available for the people there. I woke up at five o'clock every morning for the long bicycle ride to the palengke with my basket of goods.

There, I set up a table about three feet by two feet in size. I laid out my goods—soap, candles, and thread—and kept selling until everything was bought. Why these goods? Because these were hard times and this was a poor village, so people wanted and needed the basics—soap to keep them clean, candles to light the night, and thread to sew their clothes.

I was surrounded by other vendors, all of them much older. Many of them could be my grandparents. And they knew the ways of the palengke far more than a boy of 15, especially one who had never worked before.

But being young had its advantages. I did not tire as easily, and I moved more quickly. I was also more aggressive. After each day, I would make about 20 pesos in profit! There was enough to feed my siblings and still enough to pour back into the business. The pesos I made in the palengke were the pesos that went into building the business I have today .

After this experience, I told myself, " If I can compete with people so much older than me, if I can support my whole family at 15, I can do anything!"

Looking back, I wonder, what would have happened if my father had not left my family with nothing? Would I have become the man I am? Who knows?

The important thing to know is that life will always deal us a few bad cards. But we have to play those cards the best we can. And WE can play to win!

This was one lesson I picked up when I was a teenager. It has been my guiding principle ever since. And I have had 66 years to practice self-determination. When I wanted something, the best person to depend on was myself.

And so I continued to work. In 1943, I expanded and began trading goods between Cebu and Manila. From Cebu, I would transport tires on a small boat called a batel. After traveling for five days to Lucena, I would load them into a truck for the six- hour trip to Manila. I would end up sitting on top of my goods so they would not be stolen! In Manila, I would then purchase other goods from the earnings I made from the tires, to sell in Cebu.

Then, when WWII ended, I saw the opportunity for trading goods in post-war Philippines. I was 20 years old. With my brother Henry, I put up Amasia Trading which imported onions, flour, used clothing, old newspapers and magazines, and fruits from the United States. In 1948, my mother and I got my siblings back from China. I also converted a two-story building in Cebu to serve as our home, office, and warehouse all at the same time. The whole family began helping out with the business .


In 1957, at age 31, I spotted an opportunity in corn-starch manufacturing. But I was going to compete with Ludo and Luym, the richest group in Cebu and the biggest cornstarch manufacturers. I borrowed money to finance the project. The first bank I approached made me wait for two hours, only to refuse my loan. The second one, China Bank, approved a P500,000-peso clean loan for me. Years later, the banker who extended that loan, Dr. Albino Sycip said that he saw something special in me. Today, I still wonder what that was, but I still thank Dr. Sycip to this day.

Upon launching our first product, Panda corn starch , a price war ensued. After the smoke cleared, Universal Corn Products was still left standing. It is the foundation upon which JG Summit Holdings now stands.

Interestingly, the price war also forced the closure of a third cornstarch company, and one of their chemists was Lucio Tan, who always kids me that I caused him to lose his job. I always reply that if it were not for me, he will not be one of the richest men in the Philippines today.

When my business grew, and it was time for me to bring in more people—my family, the professionals, the consultants, more employees—I knew that I had to be there to teach them what I knew. When dad died at age 34, he did not leave a succession plan. From that, I learned that one must teach people to take over a business at any time. The values of hard work that I learned from my father, I taught to my children. They started doing jobs here and there even when they were still in high school. Six years ago, I announced my retirement and handed the reins to my youngest brother James and only son Lance. But my children tease me because I still go to the office every day and make myself useful. I just hired my first Executive Assistant and moved into a bigger and nicer office.

Building a business to the size of JG Summit was not easy. Many challenges were thrown my way. I could have walked away from them, keeping the business small, but safe. Instead, I chose to fight. But this did not mean I won each time.

By 1976, at age 50, we had built significant businesses in food products anchored by a branded coffee called Blend 45, and agro-industrial products under the Robina Farms brand. That year, I faced one of my biggest challenges, and lost. And my loss was highly publicized, too. But I still believe that this was one of my defining moments.

In that decade, not many business opportunities were available due to the political and economic environment. Many Filipinos were already sending their money out of the country. As a Filipino, I felt that our money must be invested here. I decided to purchase shares in San Miguel, then one of the Philippines' biggest corporations. By 1976, I had acquired enough shares to sit on its board.

The media called me an upstart. " Who is Gokongwei and why is he doing all those terrible things to San Miguel?" ran one headline of the day. In another article, I was described as a pygmy going up against the powers-that- be. The San Miguel board of directors itself even aid for an ad in all the country's top newspapers telling the public why I should not be on the board.
On the day of reckoning, shareholders quickly filled up the auditorium to witness the battle. My brother James and I had prepared for many hours for this debate. We were nervous and excited at the same time.

In the end, I did not get the board seat because of the Supreme Court Ruling. But I was able to prove to others—and to myself—that I was willing to put up a fight. I succeeded because I overcame my fear, and tried. I believe this battle helped define who I am today. In a twist to this story, I was invited to sit on the board of Anscor and San Miguel Hong Kong 5 years later. Lose some, win some.

Since then, I've become known as a serious player in the business world, but the challenges haven't stopped coming.

Let me tell you about the three most recent challenges. In all three, conventional wisdom bet against us. See, we set up businesses against market Goliaths in very high-capital industries: airline, telecoms, and beverage.

Challenge No. 1 : In 1996, we decided to start an airline. At the time, the dominant airline in the country was PAL, and if you wanted to travel cheaply, you did not fly. You went by sea or by land.

However, my son Lance and I had a vision for Cebu Pacific: We wanted every Filipino to fly.

Inspired by the low-cost carrier models in the United States, we believed that an airline based on the no-frills concept would work here. No hot meals. No newspaper. Mono-class seating. Operating with a single aircraft type. Faster turn around time. It all worked, thus enabling Cebu Pacific to pass on savings to the consumer.

How did we do this? By sticking to our philosophy of "low cost, great value ."

And we stick to that philosophy to this day. Cebu Pacific offers incentives. Customers can avail themselves of a tiered pricing scheme, with promotional seats for as low a P1. The earlier you book, the cheaper your ticket.

Cebu Pacific also made it convenient for passengers by making online booking available. This year, 1.25 million flights will be booked through our website. This reduced our distribution costs dramatically.

Low cost. Great value.

When we started 11 years ago, Cebu Pacific flew only 360,000 passengers, with 24 daily flights to 3 destinations. This year, we expect to fly more than five million passengers, with over 120 daily flights to 20 local destinations and 12 Asian cities. Today, we are the largest in terms of domestic flights, routes and destinations.

We also have the youngest fleet in the region after acquiring new Airbus 319s and 320s. In January, new ATR planes will arrive. These are smaller planes that can land on smaller air strips like those in Palawan and Caticlan. Now you don't have to take a two-hour ride by mini-bus to get to the beach.

Largely because of Cebu Pacific, the average Filipino can now afford to fly. In 2005, 1 out of 12 Filipinos flew within a year. In 2012, by continuing to offer low fares, we hope to reduce that ratio to 1 out of 6. We want to see more and more Filipinos see their country and the world!

Challenge No. 2: In 2003, we established Digitel Mobile Philippines, Inc. and developed a brand for the mobile phone business called Sun Cellular. Prior to the launch of the brand, we were actually involved in a transaction to purchase PLDT shares of the majority shareholder.

The question in everyone's mind was how we could measure up to the two telecom giants. They were entrenched and we were late by eight years! PLDT held the landline monopoly for quite a while, and was first in the mobile phone industry. Globe was a younger company, but it launched digital mobile technology here.

But being a late player had its advantages. We could now build our platform from a broader perspective. We worked with more advanced technologies and intelligent systems not available ten years ago. We chose our suppliers based on the most cost-efficient hardware and software. Being a Johnny-come- lately allowed us to create and launch more innovative products, more quickly.

All these provided us with the opportunity to give the consumers a choice that would rock their world. The concept was simple. We would offer Filipinos to call and text as much as they want for a fixed monthly fee. For P250 a month, they could get in touch with anyone within the Sun network at any time. This means great savings of as much as 2/3 of their regular phone bill! Suddenly, we gained traction. Within one year of its introduction, Sun hit one million customers.

Once again, the paradigm shifts - this time in the telecom industry. Sun's 24/7 Call and Text unlimited changed the landscape of mobile-phone usage.

Today, we have over 4 million subscribers and 2000 cell sites around the archipelago. In a country where 97% of the market is pre-paid, we believe we have hit on the right strategy.

Sun Cellular is a Johnny-come- lately, but it's doing all right. It is a third player, but a significant one, in an industry where Cassandras believed a third player would perish. And as we have done in the realm of air travel, so have we done in the telecom world: We have changed the marketplace.

In the end, it is all about making life better for the consumer by giving them choices.



Challenge No. 3: In 2004, we launched C2, the green tea drink that would change the face of the local beverage industry -- then, a playground of cola companies. Iced tea was just a sugary brown drink served bottomless in restaurants. For many years, hardly was there any significant product innovation in the beverage business.

Admittedly, we had little experience in this area. Universal Robina Corporation is the leader in snack foods but our only background in beverage was instant coffee. Moreover, we would be entering the playground of huge multinationals. We decided to play anyway.

It all began when I was in China in 2003 and noticed the immense popularity of bottled iced tea. I thought that this product would have huge potential here. We knew that the Philippines was not a traditional tea-drinking country since more familiar to consumers were colas in returnable glass bottles. But precisely, this made the market ready for a different kind of beverage. One that refreshes yet gives the health benefits of green tea. We positioned it as a "spa" in a bottle. A drink that cools and cleans…thus, C2 was born.

C2 immediately caught on with consumers. When we launched C2 in 2004, we sold 100,000 bottles in the first month. Three years later, Filipinos drink around 30 million bottles of C2 per month. Indeed, C2 is in a good place.

With Cebu Pacific, Sun Cellular, and C2, the JG Summit team took control of its destiny. And we did so in industries where old giants had set the rules of the game. It's not that we did not fear the giants. We knew we could have been crushed at the word go. So we just made sure we came prepared with great products and great strategies. We ended up changing the rules of the game instead.

There goes the principle of self-determination, again. I tell you, it works for individuals as it does for companies. And as I firmly believe, it works for nations.

I have always wondered, like many of us, why we Filipinos have not lived up to our potential. We have proven we can. Manny Pacquiao and Efren Bata Reyes in sports. Lea Salonga and the UP Madrigal Singers in performing arts. Monique Lhuillier and Rafe Totenco in fashion. And these are just the names made famous by the media. There are many more who may not be celebrities but who have gained respect on the world stage.

But to be a truly great nation, we must also excel as entrepreneurs before the world. We must create Filipino brands for the global market place.

If we want to be philosophical, we can say that, with a world-class brand, we create pride for our nation. If we want to be practical, we can say that, with brands that succeed in the world, we create more jobs for our people, right here.

Then, we are able to take part in what's really important—giving our people a big opportunity to raise their standards of living, giving them a real chance to improve their lives.

We can do it. Our neighbors have done it. So can we.
In the last 54 years, Korea worked hard to rebuild itself after a world war and a civil war destroyed it. From an agricultural economy in 1945, it shifted to light industry, consumer products, and heavy industry in the '80s. At the turn of the 21 st century, the Korean government focused on making Korea the world's leading IT nation. It did this by grabbing market share in key sectors like semiconductors, robotics, and biotechnology.

Today, one remarkable Korean brand has made it to the list of Top 100 Global Brands: Samsung. Less then a decade ago, Samsung meant nothing to consumers. By focusing on quality, design, and innovation, Samsung improved its products and its image. Today, it has surpassed the Japanese brand Sony. Now another Korean brand, LG Collins, is following in the footsteps of Samsung. It has also broken into the Top 100 Global Brands list.

What about China? Who would have thought that only 30 years after opening itself up to a market economy, China would become the world's fourth largest economy? Goods made in China are still thought of as cheap. Yet many brands around the world outsource their manufacturing to this country. China's own brands—like Lenovo, Haier, Chery QQ, and Huawei—are fast gaining ground as well. I have no doubt they will be the next big electronics, technology and car brands in the world.

Lee Kwan Yu's book "From Third World to First" captures Singapore's aspiration to join the First World. According to the book, Singapore was a trading post that the British developed as a nodal point in its maritime empire. The racial riots there made its officials determined to build a "multiracial society that would give equality to all citizens, regardless of race, language or religion."

When Singapore was asked to leave the Malaysian Federation of States in 1965, Lee Kwan Yew developed strategies that he executed with single-mindedness despite their being unpopular. He and his cabinet started to build a nation by establishing the basics: building infrastructure, establishing an army, weeding out corruption, providing mass housing, building a financial center. Forty short years after, Singapore has been transformed into the richest South East Asian country today, with a per capita income of US$32,000.

These days, Singapore is transforming itself once more. This time it wants to be the creative hub in Asia, maybe even the world. More and more, it is attracting the best minds from all over the world in filmmaking, biotechnology, media, and finance. Meantime, Singaporeans have also created world-class brands: Banyan Tree in the hospitality industry, Singapore Airlines in the Airline industry and Singapore Telecoms in the telco industry.

I often wonder: Why can't the Philippines, or a Filipino, do this?

Fifty years after independence, we have yet to create a truly global brand. We cannot say the Philippines is too small because it has 86 million people. Switzerland, with 9 million people, created Nestle. Sweden, also with 9 million people, created Ericsson . Finland, even smaller with five million people, created Nokia. All three are major global brands, among others.

Yes, our country is well-known for its labor, as we continue to export people around the world. And after India, we are grabbing a bigger chunk of the pie in the call-center and business-process- outsourcing industries. But by and large, the Philippines has no big industrial base, and Filipinos do not create world-class products.

We should not be afraid to try—even if we are laughed at. Japan, laughed at for its cars, produced Toyota. Korea, for its electronics, produced Samsung. Meanwhile, the Philippines' biggest companies 50 years ago—majority of which are multinational corporations such as Coca-Cola, Procter and Gamble, and Unilever Philippines, for example—are still the biggest companies today. There are very few big, local challengers.

But already, hats off to Filipino entrepreneurs making strides to globalize their brands.

Goldilocks has had much success in the Unites States and Canada, where half of its customers are non-Filipinos. Coffee-chain Figaro may be a small player in the coffee world today, but it is making the leap to the big time. Two Filipinas, Bea Valdez and Tina Ocampo , are now selling their Philippine-made jewelry and bags all over the world. Their labels are now at Barney's and Bergdorf's in the U.S. and in many other high-end shops in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.

When we started our own foray outside the Philippines 30 years ago, it wasn't a walk in the park. We set up a small factory in Hong Kong to manufacture Jack and Jill potato chips there. Today, we are all over Asia. We have the number-one-potato- chips brand in Malaysia and Singapore. We are the leading biscuit manufacturer in Thailand, and a significant player in the candy market in Indonesia. Our Aces cereal brand is a market leader in many parts of China. C2 is now doing very well in Vietnam, selling over 3 million bottles a month there, after only 6 months in the market. Soon, we will launch C2 in other South East Asian markets.

I am 81 today. But I do not forget the little boy that I was in the palengke in Cebu. I still believe in family. I still want to make good. I still don't mind going up against those older and better than me. I still believe hard work will not fail me. And I still believe in people willing to think the same way.

Through the years, the market place has expanded: between cities, between countries, between continents. I want to urge you all here to think bigger. Why serve 86 million when you can sell to four billion Asians? And that's just to start you off. Because there is still the world beyond Asia. When you go back to your offices, think of ways to sell and market your products and services to the world. Create world-class brands.

You can if you really tried. I did. As a boy, I sold peanuts from my backyard. Today, I sell snacks to the world.

I want to see other Filipinos do the same.

Thank you and good evening once again.



-- Shared by Armando B. Aspiras

Are these really "self-made" success stories?

Were native Filipinos all that rotten to these guys when they were younger?

Think and think again.....Who made them millionaires? In what country did they make their first hard millions?

Where would THEY be if the Filipino consumer never bought any of their products and services?

What would have happened to them if they were not lucky enough to make it out of communist China during the cultural revolution, if they never set foot in the Philippines?

If they had no relative who was a general in the PLA or a high official in the chinese communist party, they would have ended up breaking their backs planting rice for chariman Mao and still be peasants.

I hate speeches like this. They NEVER stop for a while and think of ever thanking the socio-economic liberties which they enjoyed in the Philippines, liberties which they could never have enjoyed during the time they left mainland China. They never thanked the Filipino people for being such faithful customers and patrons of their wares.

It's always a typical moralistic speech that you'd expect of THEM...." Oh you lazy stupid Filipinos, see me?.....the guy you used to make fun of? Now here I am, a self-made man. I pity you now, so out of my infinite mercy and generosity I offer you my advice...BLAH, BLAH, BLAH!"

You have a twist on that story that we can all think about.

But let's not put how they really succeeded that way. It's unfair for those who really did their best and without hurting or abusing anyone.

As I see it there 4 vital ingredients in being successful in any business,..

1) SKILLS

2) OPPORTUNITY

3) MONEY

4) DETERMINATION

John Gokongwei had the SKILLS in doing business as he came from the family of entrepreneurs.

He saw the OPPORTUNITY in selling what the poor people then needed.

He had the money to start his small but very viable business.

Last but not the least, is that he had the DETERMINATION to win in the game. While he was 15 selling soaps and the usual stuff poor people buy during those times, he noticed that he could not win in the game unless he does something different. He used his youth walking around looking for buyers and worked even when night falls, while the others who were much older couldnt do such a hard work.

And so he won in that game.

we need the money first hehehe time to win some lotto jackpot!

Sounds ironic,.... but in reality, ... IT DOES MATTER.

Forbes lists RP’s 40 richest

Sunday, January 20, 2008
The Philippines’ growing economy and robust stock market, assisted by a strong peso and a declining dollar, have boosted the fortunes of its richest citizens.

For the first time in years Forbes magazine has included a Filipino among the world’s top billionaires. It also listed 39 others as Philippines’ richest, with a total worth of $17 billion.

The complete list of the Philippines’ 40 richest:

1. Jaime Zobel de Ayala and family ($2 billion)

2. Henry Sy and family ($1.7 billion)

3. Lucio Tan and family ($1.6 billion)

4. Andrew Tan ($1.1 billion)

5. Manuel Villar ($940 million)

6. George Ty ($870 million)

7. Andrew Gotianun ($860 million)

8. Enrique Razon Jr. ($820 million)

9. Tony Tan Caktiong and family ($790 million)

10. Oscar Lopez and family ($775 million)

11. Vivian Que Azcona and family ($670 million)

12. Inigo and Mercedes Zobel ($660 million)

13. Eduardo Cojuangco Jr. ($540 million)

14. Emilio Yap and family ($445 million)

15. John Gokongwei Jr. and family ($430 million)

16. Enrique Aboitiz and family ($375 million)

17. Alfonso Yuchengco and family ($365 million)

18. Beatrice Campos ($220 million)

19. David Consunji and family ($210 million)

20. Luis Virata ($200 million)

21. Gilberto Duavit Jr. and family ($191 million)

22. Menardo Jimenez and family ($190 million)

23. Felipe Gozon and family ($165 million)

24. Mariano Tan and family ($140 million)

25. Ramon del Rosario Jr. ($137 million)

26. Ronaldo and Rosalinda Hortaleza ($110 million)

27. Manuel Zamora ($105 million)

28. Betty Ang ($100 million)

29. Tomas Alcantara and family ($90 million)

30. Frederick Dy ($70 million)

31. Wilfred Steven Uytengsu Sr. ($60 million)

32. Salvador Zamora ($55 million)

33. Oscar Hilado and family ($51 million)

34. Philip T. Ang ($50 million)

35. Magdaleno Albarracin Jr. ($49 million)

36. Jesus Tambunting ($47 million)

37. Antonio Roxas ($36 million)

38. Manuel Pangilinan ($35 million)

39. Marixi Rufino-Prieto and family ($33 million)

40. Lourdes Montinola ($30 million)

http://philstar.com/index.php?Headlines&p=...aid=20080119121

I highlighted the names in bold to emphasize one thing.

ANYONE CAN DO IT, ... GIVEN THE RIGHT OPPORTUNITY.

Opportunity at this particular case combines money (start-up capital), timing, skills & market).

Manny Villar is another rags to riches story. He started as a fish vendor. Believe me, his story is real because I have a cousin who somewhat has or "had" the same story.

In fact, if you are among the fish dealers or brokers in Divisoria then I can believe outright that you indeed have money. Simply put it that way.

My cousin, Ate "Thel", started selling fish in a "bayong" (a bag made of local natural material / woven "buri" bag) only.

At the time when my father was still working in Jeddah he lent her some money to help her start her small business. My father was among those who ventured early in Saudi Arabia as a welder. That was in the early 80s. My father was a good person. He was so generous and kind-hearted. He was the kindest, being the "bunso" in the brood of thugs and of course, being Mama's favorite. Brood of thugs? Well, what could you expect from a father with a big built and whom they claim was as fierce as a Spanish soldier of the early times?

He even helped the others whom he believed had the potential. Unfortunately, you cannot simply expect all to be as DETERMINED as how you want them to be. Success depends heavily on determination as well.

But before my cousin got involved in that business, her father, my uncle Tomas, was good in doing business already. And so she earned her skills from my uncle.

But my uncle's life was cut short by a health problem. And so the family began to break down and tear apart. His kids were still young and the eldest, Ate Thel, has just finished high school. The death was followed by a typhoon that destroyed their home. Ate Thel became more than determined to take on where his father left off.

From selling fish in a "bayong", her skills and persistence paid off. She gradually turned into a bigtime fish dealer. She began transporting fish to the Navotas Fish Port as a wholesaler.

From then on she began acquiring more needed inputs for the expansion. She bought two fishing vessels, had her own trucks, bought a fish farm worth 4 million pesos. Got her own house in a village in Navotas and got another in her hometown.

You see? The 4 factors were there.

She had the SKILLS, the MONEY (available start-up capital), OPPORTUNITY, and the DETERMINATION to win in the business.

From a simple woman selling fish in a bayong, she became a multi-millionaire.

Her family was not really poor from the beginning. Our grandfather, "Lolo Pedro" owned a big land in our hometown. But since they did not realize the value of the land (the bounty it can give back to you but only if you know how to use it) during those times and the importance of education.

My father gave up his portion of the land to his brothers believing that they needed it more than him because he was doing quite well in his welding shop in Malabon during those times.

By the way, in a hill within their territory, it gives you bird's-eye view of the coasts, including the pier and the surrounding plains. My cousin Moises once brought me there and showed me the awesome view. It's one of the things I remembered most in my first visit.

Unfortunately, their business lost its momentum because as the business grew they were not able to cope up with the complexity of running a big business like the growing competition and all. The efforts of the others who were supposed to sustain the momentum failed because of misunderstandings.

I couldnt simply give them advice since I was just a relative and was too young to be given consideration.

I simply advised my cousins not to sell their fish ponds whatever happens because when the right time comes, we can maximize the potential through appropriate business strategies and identifying the right market.

In all, it is important that SKILLS should be given priority once you are there. Else, you might lose the momentum along the way or when complexity sets in.

The best lesson is, we can all make it big, given the right opportunity.

And believe it or not, ..... it seems like someone up there controls that success.... somehow. :armywink:

The word is .... "IN HIS TIME".

Yes, well from that viewpoint, you are perfectly right.

But realistically, these "individual" success stories can give us the wrong impression.

For every one John Gokongwei who made it up there, probably about ten other "Johns" never made it and went bust, and often because types like Gokongwei himself saw to it that those businesses (seen as competition) would have to be ground to dust. That's simply the nature of the competition in our free market society....it's eat or be eaten!

A large part of being sucessful is being at the right time, a the right place, and with the right skills, plus the awareness of possibilities; not to mention close monitoring on probable sources of competition.

To realistically "beat" giant competitors, you have to be like a predatory tiger lying in wait for weaknesses in the giant (or "chinks" in the armor) to pop up and fully exploit them....

Examples:

1) the death of corporate giant's founder and subsequent replacement by an idotic and spolied rotten son, which consequently leads to disasterous business decisions.

2) the entry of a giant competitor into politics and subsequent disaster by turning out to be a political failure, losing millions in the process.

3) giant competitor's over reliance on outmoded technologies, with you having the edge on knowledge and experience in the appilication of new techonologies which the giant competitior simply has no awareness of.

It's not that Filipinos don't understand that, Filipinos are even well too aware that the viability of private enterprise involves just about as much luck as well as hard work and expertise.

Making a "Filipino brand" and establishing it in the world is the easy part, the hard part is helping overcome the Filipino's unwillingness to accept high risks inherent in private entrepeneurship, even just on the local level of business competition.

Will giant corporate types like Gokongwei give guarantees he won't swallow up budding Filipino enterprises?...that he won't go off on a price war and slash his prices where Filipino "Mom and Pop" businesses simply can't compete?...you see what I'm saying?

That is what we call the "COMPLEXITY".

Its a normal part of the business.

John Gokongwei had his when he was starting. But he found a way to WORK AROUND IT.

That's the idea. Be DETERMINED and do your best to come out winning .... or find a way to work around it.

Taking from his own words;

Yes...THAT'S THE REAL DEAL, isn't it?

I don't suppose we might ever see good ol' Johnny G. spill out details on how he "worked around" the system, now would he?

The truth is, the higher up we go, the more secrets we've got to keep. :devilwink:

How do you play in an environment controlled by thieves in public office anyway?

Thing is, you have to be dynamic but not to the point of becomming like the ones who got you doing the dirty tricks just to survive. :armywink:

O.K. let's put it this way....in the case of Ng, he is a technocrat. Meaning to say, he is bright, intelligent, and knows his stuff as an administrator. His "gift" is his administative talent more than his business acumen, and it is that administrative talent which the government tapped into to help perk up the development of the former Clark AFB. There is really no issue with him.

But Gokongwei? I'm not so sure.

It just so happened that he was a prime beneficiary of the political upheval brought about by Marcos' systematic decimation of the old oligarchy, and it's consequent replacement with a "new oligrachy" of elite politicians and businessmen.

Now I'm sure it also took some considerable effort and "determination" on Gokongwei's part to "compete" against rivals within the "new oligarchy" for political and economic favors granted by the Marcos system. But the fact of the matter is that he enjoyed political favors which gave him advantages over competitors which did not have it.

He did not have to deal so seriously with an old and entrenched oligarchy, so in that sense Marcos evened up the playing field for Gokongwei, so to speak. And then, apart from that, he enjoyed the political patronage of a new and even authoritarian regime which lasted long enough for him to consolidate his gains. Most of Marcoses' oligrachial class were relatively "begginers" in the power paradigm.

Therefore, in light of the fact that it would take another politcal upheval and decimation of the current oligrachy just to simulate the socio-political and economic conditions which brought about the Gokongwei success story; it would be unrealistic for the would-be Filipino entrepenure of today to take any meaningful lessons from it. Conditions today simply were not the same as they were when he made his first fortune.

THERE IS NO WAY OF DETERMINING WHETHER GOKONGWEI REALLY WORKED SO HARD AND PRODUCED SUPERIOR PRODUCTS OVER COMPETITORS WHICH MADE HIM A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESSMAN, IT COULD BE JUST A CONSEQUENCE OF LUCK THAT MARCOS FAVORED HIM THAT ALLOWED HIM TO BUILD HIS FORTUNE DURING ITS CRUCIAL BEGINNINGS.

There might have been favors that John got from some very influential people in those times. But who among the elites like Lucio Tan, the Ayalas, the Cojuangcos, and the rest have not?

In fact, if you will look at the Forbes' list, John is at 15th slot.

Are we not going to ask how the hell the others in the top 14 got their fortunes despite being a nobody decades ago except the Ayalas?

So, let's not single out John in this case.

Let's simply consider that he just did what he had to do to survive in those times when the gang of thieves in politics control everything.

Just like he said,..

HENRY SY saw the opportunity... and grabbed it.

Around 50 years later, ... the now a billionaire opens the biggest mall in the country, perhaps the biggest in the whole of Asia.

AGAIN THE 4 INGREDIENTS;

OPPORTUNITY - lack of shoes and the availability of an acceptable substitute

SKILLS - he was helping his father in running their sari-sari store

MONEY - they had a source to start a new business, using their earnings from the sari-sari store most likely

DETERMINATION - why would a teenager like Henry venture into a business that noone else had ever dared before if he didnt have enough determination to do so?

That determination was again reaffirmed by his going to the US just to learn the latest fashion in order to strengthen his dominance in the business.

****

More on Henry Sy;

From:

MANILA STANDARD


Henry Sy Sr. with Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala and wife Lizzie


SM: What a difference billions and 50 years make
By Victor C. Agustin

THE epicenter of Philippine business shifted to the seaside SMX Convention Center Saturday night, when the industry’s stellar names paid tribute to an immigrant who rose from the ashes of World War II peddling shoes to become the acknowledged father of local retailing 50 years later.

Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, Lucio Tan, James Go, Oscar and Manuel Lopez, Manuel V. Pangilinan, Socorro Ramos, Washington Sycip and Robert Coyiuto Jr.—these were just some of the 2,000 business associates who paid tribute to mall king Henry Sy Sr. as his SM empire celebrated its golden anniversary.

Even Prudentialife’s Francisco Alba, Sy’s real estate partner in Megamall who engaged the taipan in a rare public dispute in the early ’90s, was only too happy to pay homage to his now wheelchair-bound partner.

Sy, 82, took a sip from a special-edition Coke can—a marketing coup of sorts by the American giant itself—to start an hour-long musicale on the taipan’s life, “I Dream.”

“It all started as a dream,” the musicale opened, as it chronicled the life of a 12-year-old boy from Jinjiang, China, who came by boat to work in his immigrant father’s sari-sari [variety] store in Binondo, and who, after the fledgling family fortune was razed by the war, shifted to buying shoes from American GIs and selling them to post-Liberation Manilans.

Out of the buying and selling and an aborted shoe store partnership (remember Shoeworld?), the first Shoemart store was opened in 1958 in Carriedo.

From there, despite the country’s toxic politics and bureaucratic gridlock, Shoemart mushroomed into a $1.7-billion fortune by Forbes’ 2006 guesstimate, and which now comprise 30 malls, hotels, property and banks in the key cities here and in China and Guam.

To mark its golden anniversary, SM Group this year doubled its contribution to the SM Foundation, to P100 million, and allocated another P50 million just for raffle prices for a nationwide promo.

Going back to the musicale, except for professional talents Audie Gemora and Melani Ligot—who played the taipan and his wife Felicidad, respectively—the stage cast were all SM employees led by SM number crunchers Ricky Lim and Carolyn Yu, the latter representing SM heiress Teresita Sy-Coson.

“Kuhang-kuha. Masungit din [Very good impersonation. Also prickly.],” joked Hans Sy, referring to Yu’s role as the eldest Sy sibling.

The rousing finale featured the six Sy “siblings” showing a happy and united front, singing and promising:

“We continue our father’s legacy

His dream we’ll continue to reality

We will go beyond 500 miles

For the SM world and what it can be.”

http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=news2_jan21_2008

****

Some more points to consider;

READ CAREFULLY:

“I thought that if I sold a pair of shoes to every Filipino, I would be a successful man.”


" .... I saw the potentials of the place and made my investments.”


".... people tell me I changed Philippine lifestyle. Families and friends spend time together in the malls. They shop, dine and have fun, whatever age, and whatever budget they have.”


“My basic strategy is to stick to my core business, and to my area of expertise. My business is all related—retail, shopping centers, banking, real estate and tourism development. Together, they create synergy.”


IF YOU HAVENT GOT THE MESSAGE,.... OPEN YOUR MINDS and READ IT AGAIN. :armywink:


Last but not the least;

From:

SM through half a century

Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 17:14:00 01/19/2008

http://business.inquirer.net/money/feature...-half-a-century

The above-listed 40 richest individuals all have succeeded their financial feat thru business.

In business, it is not honesty that all counts. It is a chemistry of wit, trickery, guts, influence and a part rip-off. The questions at stake are; are they religiously paying the right dues to the government ? Is the taxman who examined their books is right to the figure and not influenced by bribes and political considerations ? If all these questions are answered straightforward honestly one can be safe to call it a "paradigm"of success to be highly and honorably emulated otherwise to call them a bunch of suckers is justified.

To be successful in business, the stories above serve as excellent models.

But to really be a successful person, what you elaborated are the exact characters of an ideal paradigm of being SUCCESSFUL in whole.

:exactly: One example there is Mr. Lucio Tan. His fortune build up started from the Marcos regime's business roundtable under the mantle of protectionism and cronism. He is one of those who enjoyed the impunity from business dealing scrutiny with some others among the list which is an example of a "paradigm"of fraudulent success. Until now and up to this regime his or their fortune grows without abatement because he or they are dancing to the same drumbeats.

And it seems like he isn't giving back to the community what is due to them.

Worst, the tax cases have not been resolved yet.

That tells that his character differs a lot from people like Gokongwei who are trying to reciprocate the success that they've enjoyed by giving back to the community a minute share of their wealth.

I wonder what's gonna happen to PAL and the rest of his businesses when time will get back at him later on.

It's not too late for Mr. Tan nevertheless.