May Hazel Ann N.

Sanchez 12:00 MTh] Reaction Paper # 2 2012

Fin.Mgt3

[10:3024,

September

Success Story of Henry Sy - The richest man in the Philippines

Summary: Opportunity is where you find it, not where it finds you. Crisis and weakness indicate one can look for opportunities. Transforming problems into opportunities can bring good returns. Prosperity and growth come only to a business that systematically exploits its potentials and systematically optimizes its performances. These are few words from the daughter of the richest man in the Philippines, as she shared the story of his fathers success. This man is none other than, Mr. Henry Sy, a considered Tai-Pan who is the founder of SM group and chairman of SM Prime Holdings the largest retail chain in the country known as SM or Shoe Mart, and also the owner of Banko De Oro EPCI Bank and majority holder in China Bank. Because of Mr. Sys determination, discipline, optimism, thriftiness and his perseverance to pursue their goals despite those tough times including the Asian crisis and World War II; from just a reseller of sachet products, to a venture of American shoes, to seller of accessories, apparels and leather goods, he is now the owner of 33 SM malls - including the SM Mall of Asia which is considered the fourth largest mall in the world plus in addition to his bank, the recent acquisition he made like Equitable PCI Bank. It is indeed another rags-to-riches story.

Critique:

The ideas are presented properly. It cited the positive attitudes possessed by Mr. Sy for us readers to follow. It also cited some policies of the company like, to look for opportunities at all timeset.al. Another thing the author cited is the type of attitude they possess in its lending activities, which is being conservative. Meaning: As quoted from a line in the article, Many things in life grow out of needs, and to meet the needs, you become determined. With determination, you will take extra challenges and do things differently which will most likely bring success. With emphasis on the second sentence, this imparts that having determination or a firmness of purpose, would produce and bring forth success. In spite of difficulty or with little or no indication of success, we should always go on with our goals, we should be armed with optimism and shouldnt be overpowered by the challenges in life, and as long as theres opportunity, grab it, like Mr. Henry Sy.

Reaction: I enjoyed reading the article. Its empowering and I was a bit astonished by the adventures of Mr. Sy :> imagine at the age of 12, he already worked more than twelve hours everyday and he already developed the idea of selling small portions of his products to increase his income and did a lot of buying and selling odd things during the WW2. He really has the heart for business. I was also delighted by the thought that Mr. Sy didnt forget his debt of gratitude to one of his friends.

Application: As a student, the thought of having an uncertain future always stresses me up. There even comes to a point where I have thought of changing my goals (changing my course). But the fear of still having uncertain opportunities later draw me back to my former plan. So I pursued and here I am. I can relate this to Mr. Sys story because somehow, Ive pursued my
1

first plan, and now after reading the article, Ive learned better attitudes to hopefully also become successful.