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An Inspiring Speech  by Mr John Gokongwei to the graduates of one of the Best Business Schools in Asia.... Ateneo de Manila University

 

A very inspiring speech.
>
>Speech of John Gokongwei before Ateneo Graduates --- I wish I were one
>of you today, instead of a 77-year-old man, giving a speech you will
>probably forget when you wake up from your hangover tomorrow. You may be
>surprised I feel this way. Many of you are feeling fearful and
>apprehensive about your future. You are thinking that, perhaps, your
>Ateneo diploma will not mean a whole lot in the future in a country with
>too many problems. And you are probably right. You are thinking that our
>country is slipping-no, sliding.
>Again, you may be right.
>
>Twenty years ago, we were at par with countries like Thailand, Malaysia,
>and Singapore. Today, we are left way behind. You know
the facts. Twenty
>years ago, the per capita income of the Filipino was 1,000 US dollars.
>Today, it's 1,100 dollars. That's a growth of only ten percent in twenty
>years.
>Meanwhile, Thailand 's per capita income today is double ours; Malaysia,
>triple ours; and Singapore, almost twenty times ours.
>
>With globalization coming, you know it is even more urgent to wake up.
>Trade
>barriers are falling, which means we will have to compete harder. In the
>new world, entrepreneurs will be forced to invest their money where it
>is most efficient. And that is not necessarily in the Philippines. Even
>for Filipino entrepreneurs, that can be the case. For example, a
>Filipino brand like Maxx candy can be manufactured in Bangkok-where
>labor, taxes, power and financing are cheaper and more efficien t-and
>then exported to other ASEAN countries. This will be a common
>scenario-if things
do not change.
>
>Pretty soon, we will become a nation that buys everything and produces
>practically nothing. We will be like the prodigal son who took his
>father's money and spent it all. The difference is that we do not have a
>generous father to run back to. But despite this, I am still very
>excited about the future. I will tell you why later.
>
>You have been taught at the Ateneo to be "a person for others." Of
>course, that is noble: To serve your countrymen.
>
>Question is: How?
>
>And my answer is: Be an entrepreneur!
>You may think I am just a foolish man talking mundane stuff when the
>question before him is almost philosophical. But I am being very
>thoughtful here, and if I may presume this about myself, being patriotic
>as well.
>
>Entrepreneurship is the answer.
>
>We need young people who will find the idea, grab the opportunity,
take
>risk, and set aside comfort to set up businesses that will provide jobs.
>
>But why? What are jobs?
>
>Jobs are what allow people to feel useful and build their self-esteem.
>Jobs make people productive members of the community. Jobs make people
>feel they are worthy citizens. And jobs make a country worthy players in
>the world market.
>
>In that order of things, it is the entrepreneurs who have the power to
>harness the creativity and talents of others to achieve a common good.
>This should leave the world a better place than it was.
>
>Let me make it clear: Job creation is a priority for any nation to move
>forward. For example, it is the young entrepreneurs of Malaysia,
>Thailand, and Singapore who created the dynamic businesses that have
>propelled their countries to the top. Young people like yourselves.
>Meanwhile, in the Philippines, progress is slow.
Very little is new.
>Hardly anything is fresh.
>With a few exceptions, the
>biggest companies before the war-like PLDT, Ayala, and San Miguel-are
>still the biggest companies today.
>
>All right, being from the Ateneo, many of you probably have offers from
>these corporations already. You may even have offers from JG Summit. I
>say:
>Great! Take these offers, work as hard as you can, learn everything
>these companies can teach-and then leave! If you dream of creating
>something great, do not let a 9-to-5 job-even a high-paying one-lull you
>into a complacent, comfortable life. Let that high-paying job propel you
>toward entrepreneurship instead.
>
>When I speak of the hardship ahead, I do not mean to be skeptical but
>realistic. Even you Ateneans, who are famous for your eloquence, you
>cannot talk your way out of this one. There is nothing to do but to deal
>with
it.
>I
>learned this lesson when, as a 13-year-old, I lost my dad. Before that,
>I was like many of you: a privileged kid. I went to Cebu 's best school;
>lived in a big house; and got free entrance to the Vision, the largest
>movie house in Cebu, which my father owned.
>
>Then my dad died, and I lost all these. My family had become poor-poor
>enough to split my family. My mother and five siblings moved to China
>where the cost of living was lower. I was placed under the care of my
>Grand Uncle Manuel Gotianuy, who put me through school. But just two
>years later, the war broke out, and even my Uncle Manuel could no longer
>see me through.
>
>I was out in the streets-literally.
>
>Looking back, this time was one of the best times of my life. We lost
>everything, true, but so did everybody! War was the great equalizer. In
>that setting, anyone who was willing to size
up the situation, use his
>wits, and work hard, could make it! It was every man for himself, and I
>had to find a way to support myself and my family. I decided to be a
>market vendor.
>
>Why? Because it was something that I, a 15-year-old boy in short pants,
>could do.
>
>I started by selling simple products in the palengke half an hour by
>bike from the city. I had a bicycle. I would wake up at five in the
>morning, load thread, soap and candles into my bike, and rush to the
>palengke. I would rent a stall for one peso a day, lay out my goods on a
>table as big as this podium, and begin selling. I did that the whole
>day.
>
>I sold about twenty pesos of goods every day. Today, twenty pesos will
>only allow you to send twenty text messages to y our crush, but 63 years
>ago, it was enough to support my family. And it left me enough to plow
>back into my small, but
growing, business.
>
>I was the youngest vendor in the palengke, but that didn't faze me. In
>fact, I rather saw it as an opportunity. Remember, that was 63 years and
>100 pounds ago, so I could move faster, stay under the sun more, and
>keep selling longer than everyone else.
>
>Then, when I had enough money and more confidence, I decided to travel
>to Manila from Cebu to sell all kinds of goods like rubber tires.
>Instead of my bike, I now traveled on a batel-a boat so small that on
>windless days, we would just float there. On bad days, the trip could
>take two weeks! During one trip, our batel sank! We would have all
>perished in the sea were it not for my inventory of tires. The viajeros
>were happy because my tires saved their lives, and I was happy because
>the viajeros, by hanging on to them, saved my tires. On these long and
>lonely trips I had to entertain myself with books,
like Gone With The
>Wind.
>
>After the war, I had s aved up 50,000 pesos. That was when you could buy
>a chicken for 20 centavos and a car for 2,000 pesos. I was 19 years old.
>Now I had enough money to bring my family home from China. Once they
>were all here, they helped me expand our trading business to include
>imports.
>Remember that the war had left the Philippines with very few goods. So
>we imported whatever was needed and imported them from
>everywhere-includin g used clothes and textile remnants from the United
>States. We were probably the first ukay-ukay dealers here.
>
>
>Then, when I had gained more experience and built my reputation, I
>borrowed money from the bank and got into manufacturing. I saw that
>coffee was abundant, and Nescafe of Nestle was too expensive for a
>country still rebuilding from the war, so my company created Blend 45.
>That was
our first branded hit. And from there, we had enough profits to
>launch Jack and Jill.
>
> >From one market stall, we are now in nine core businesses-includin g
>retail,
>real estate, publishing, petrochemicals, textiles, banking, food
>manufacturing, Cebu Pacific Air and Sun Cellular.
>
>When we had shown success in the smaller businesses, we were able to
>raise money in the capital markets-through IPOs and bond offerings-- and
>then get into more complex, capital-intensive enterprises. We did it
>slow, but sure.
>
>Success doesn't happen overnight. It's the small successes achieved day
>by day that build a company. So, don't be impatient or focused on
>immediate financial rewards. I only started flying business class when I
>got too fat to fit in the economy seats.
>
>And I even wore a used overcoat while courting my wife-it came from my
>ukay-ukay
business. Thank God Elizabeth didn't mind the mothball smell
>of my coat or maybe she wouldn't have married me.
>
>Save what you earn and plow it back.
>
>And never forget your families! Your parents deni ed themselves many
>things to send you here. They could have traveled around the world a
>couple of times with the money they set aside for your education, and
>your social life, and your comforts.
>
>Remember them-and thank them.
>
>When you have families of your own, you must be home with them for at
>least one meal everyday.
>I did that while I was building my company. Now, with all my six
>children married, I ask that we spend every Sunday lunch together, when
>everything under the sun is discussed. As it is with business, so it is
>with family.
>There are no short cuts for building either one. Remember, no short
>cuts.
>
>Saint Ignatius of
Loyola, your patron saint, and founder of this
>450-year old organization I admire, described an ideal Jesuit as one who
>"lives with one foot raised." I believe that means someone who is always
>ready to respond to opportunities. Saint Ignatius knew that, to build a
>successful organization, he needed to recruit and educate men who were
>not afraid of change but were in fact excited by it. In fact, the
>Jesuits were one of the earliest practitioners of globalization. As
>early as the 16th century, upon reaching a foreign country, they
>compiled dictionaries in local languages, like Tamil and Vietnamese, so
>that they could spread their message in the local language. In a few
>centuries, they have been able to spread their mission in many countries
>through education.
>
>The Jesuits have another quote. "Make the whole world your house" which
>means that the ideal Jesuit must be at home
everywhere. By adapting to
>change , but at the same time staying true to their beliefs, the Society
>of Jesus has become the long-lasting and successful organization it is
>today and has made the world their house.
>
>So, let's live with one foot raised in facing the next big opportunity:
>globalization.
>
>Globalization can be your greatest enemy. It will be your downfall if
>you are too afraid and too weak to fight it out. But it can also be your
>biggest ally. With the Asian Free Trade agreement and tariffs near zero,
>your market has grown from 80 million Filipinos to half a billion
>Southeast Asians.
>Imagine what that means to you as an entrepreneur if you are able to
>find a need and fill it. And imagine, too, what that will do for the
>economy of our country!
>
>Yes, our government may not be perfect, and our economic environment not
>ideal, but true
entrepreneurs will find opportunities anywhere. Look at
>the young Filipino entrepreneurs who made it. When I say young-and I'm
>77, remember-I am talking about those in their 50s and below. Tony Tan
>of Jollibee, Ben Chan of Bench, Rolando Hortaleza of Splash, and Wilson
>Lim of Abensons.
>They're the guys who weren't content with the 9-to-5 job, who were
>willing to delay their gratification and comfort, and who created
>something new, something fresh. Something Filipinos are now very proud
>of. They all started small but now sell their hamburgers, T-shirts and
>cosmetics in Asia, America, and the Middle East In doing so, these young
>Filipino entrepreneurs created jobs while doing something they were
>passionate about.
>
>Globalization is an opportunity of a lifetime-for you. And that is why I
>want to be out there with you instead of here behind this podium-perhaps
>too old and
too slow to seize the opportunities you can.
>
>Let me leave you with one last thought.
>
>Trade barriers have fallen. The only barriers left are the ba rriers you
>have in your mind.
>
>So, Ateneans, heed the call of entrepreneurship. With a little bit of
>will and a little bit of imagination, you can turn this crisis into your
>patriotic moment-and truly become a person for others.
>
>"Live with one foot raised and make the world your house."
>
>To this great University, my sincerest thanks for this singular honor
>conferred on me today.
>
>To the graduates, congratulations and Godspeed.
>
>"Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam".
>
>Thank you.