What Filipinos can learn from billionaire Tatang Henry Sy

No activity has become so entrenched into our culture like going to SM with our families as a child. So massive has the SM Group become that, for about three decades, it would seem like there was a newly constructed SM mall almost every year. Famous has become Mr. Henry Sy that he has consistently included in the richest people in the world up until his death in 2019, topping some of the world’s most famous billionaires and tycoons. It does make one wonder how in the world this Chinese immigrant with ten centavos and a few small shoe stores turn out to be the biggest name in business enterprise.

                As the story goes, Henry Sy was born in Fujian, China to a poor family in 1924. His father had moved to the Philippines and operated a small sari-sari store and sent money back to his family in China. When Henry turned twelve, he was able to convince his mother to allow him to go to the Philippines as well, where he studied and helped his father with the store. Although they were able to set up a few more stores, the Second World War almost bankrupted them. By the end of the war, Henry’s father returned to China, but Henry insisted on staying and start a new business. After a series of small shoe shops, he would go on to found Shoe Mart in 1958. Today, the SM Investments Corporation, whose assets include SM Prime Holdings, BDO Unibank, and China Banking Corporation, is worth $24.3 billion.

Start Small And Grow It Big

                Although it could be argued that operating a business and earning back in the day was much easier compared to the today in light of our present living conditions, it does not change the fact the lengths that Henry Sy went through just to earn a living for his family. In fact, he lived through some of the most tumultuous periods in our history. His first department store was opened just after Martial Law was declared. SM North Edsa was established a few years after Ninoy Aquino’s assassination when the stock market had plummeted to record lows.

                Henry Sy’s life could best be summed up into him adapting to his surroundings in order to survive. He moved to the Philippines, as the living conditions in China during that time would not allow his family to live a comfortable life. Here, he established his business in the ruins left by the war along with many others desperate to feed their families. He began with G.I. boots which he supplied to soldiers. He only spent a very small portion of his profits and saved everything else to open new shoe mart branches in different locations. As his wealth was growing more and more, so too did his business expand. The Department stores were established some time in the seventies, followed by the malls in the eighties to the nineties. Soon after, SM acquired BDO and even ventured into real estate.

                His children have carried on not only the family business but also their father’s mindset and relentless work ethic in running the companies. Although raised in privilege unlike their father, they continued to work to expand their companies, adapting to the ever-changing needs of people. They’ve even recently explored the realm of online shopping and invested in 2GO Inc. Their adaptive behavior can also be seen in the malls themselves. While the earlier malls were merely airconditioned buildings that housed the different stores and restaurants, recent structures, especially in the 2010s, saw a dramatic change in appearance, with outdoor areas, as well as government satellite branches, salons and barbershops, and chapels.

                One of Henry’s children, Teresita, said in a speech that their father taught them to love what they did. When kids their age would enjoy their weekends, the Sy children were expected to work for their father. It was through loving what they did where they learned to work as hard as their father did, Teresita said.

                However, while the Sys can be perceived as just another money-making family, the late patriarch was also said to have made it a point to abide by our laws. This included the payment of the right amount of taxes to the government, as well as other ordinances and regulations. Current SM investment Corporation Chair and longtime trusted friend to the Sys said in a speech that the abiding by our laws and paying the right amount of taxes was good for business for everyone involved and would steer them away from any issues with the government.

                From all these, one could gather how Henry Sy had made himself rich. Granted, becoming ridiculously wealthy is no easy feat by any stretch, and that he was quite simply once in a lifetime, the following may very well still be applied in everyday lives. He worked hard and loved his work to the point he did not stop, he adapted to his surroundings and circumstances, and he remained a law-abiding citizen regardless of the riches that he had accumulated that would last his heirs’ and eventual descendants’ lifetimes.

References:

De la Cruz, Mio. 2009. Stepping Up to the Big Time. Philippine Daily Inquirer: Sunday Inquirer Magazine. https://web.archive.org/web/20130330101810/://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/sim/sim/view/20090111-182674/Stepping-Up-to-the-Big-Time

Dumlao-Abadilla, Doris. 2018. The Henry Sy Playbook: 9 lessons from Philippines’ richest man. Philippine Daily Inquirer: inquirer.net. https://business.inquirer.net/247880/henry-sy-playbook-9-lessons-phs-richest-man  

The Summit Express. 2019. SM’s Henry Sy built his empire from 10 centavos, dies as Southeast Asia’s richest man. https://www.thesummitexpress.com/2019/01/henry-sy-rags-to-riches-story.html

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