Last night, a friend messaged
me saying that there would be a seminar for ASEAN Economic Integration
today. The first thing that came to my
mind was certificate, certificate, and certificate. All I wanted, if I would
attend, was to see my name printed in a formally decorated paper with
signatures of the people who would take significant parts in the event: I so
love the feeling of that. Then, I
finally decided to join without knowing what would happen there [considering, I
had not thought of the food].
This morning, I went to the
hotel alone. I saw people. With the look of their stances, I easily knew
that they are professionals; all, businesspersons; some, managers, presidents,
executives of their industries. I was
hesitant to register at first but I thought of my goal, certificate, and I
thought of the transportation expenses I had in order to go there, so then I
wrote my name thinking nothing except those.
Beside the name was a space meant for the industry where the participant
belongs. I have no industry so I wrote
my school even though it would mean I am a professor of the school.
I was about to enter the event
center when an unexpected friend came in. I was very happy that I was not alone
with those old business people.
Together, we sat down at the center not far from the speakers’ area. While we were waiting for the event to start,
a thought came to me more than the want for a certificate. I realized that I would learn more from the
event. The thought left me more excited
for the activities, which we would undergo.
The event had started. The first speaker was a judge from Davao City
and her topic was "Strategic Planning". She let us introduce ourselves one by
one. The format was, we say our name and
our industry first, then, choose a letter from our name, make it a word
representing our talent, characteristic, or skill that may help us have an
advantage for ASEAN integration. I chose
A, for Accounting. I said that proper
accounting is one key advantage if we engage in any business transactions in
the ASEAN integration. Some said L for
Loans, J for Joyful, C for Character, D for Diligence, and so on.
The next activity was by
pair. I chose a co-participant beside
me. He was friendly and very respectful.
I haven't got his full name though. The
rule was, guide our partners through the path while they are walking
blindfolded and then after five minutes, we switch and they do the same for
us. My partner was too hesitant to
follow me. His steps were in bits and
too slow. When it was my turn to be
blindfolded, I was already confident because I already knew the path. Even if I could not see the way, I was
already confident with his instructions.
The second activity was
forming a big “perfect” square using a long rope while we were all connected
with each other, blindfolded. It took us
ten minutes to form the square. Just two
persons who were also blindfolded guided us. What we did was, we divided the
whole by four and then the ends of each group stuck shoulder to shoulder
perpendicularly and then each groups’ other members lined straight. After ten minutes, we took off our scarves
and surprisingly we did it—it was not perfect but substantially, it was a square. The emcee noticed that the leaders sometimes
peeked, then, she said something meaningful: “It’s okay to go against the rules,
as long as it’s legal.”
After the delicious lunch,
which they had provided, we started our third activity. It was the serious
part. We were divided in five groups. Each group was given a topic to discuss and
were ought to make a strategic plan for it.
Ours was the “cultural factors and effects” in conducting business
considering other country members of ASEAN.
My group mates were all experts of their industries. Their ideas were amazing. They thought out of the box. Their reasoning was so different from
theories we read from books. After forty-five minutes of collaborations, we
came up with our output and each group then presented their ideas in
front. I could not discuss any further
because it was too technical.
On the last activity, the speaker
asked us to stand up and face the north. None of us knew where the north was so
we just faced anywhere. Then the speaker
concluded that we were all not ready for the ASEAN integration and that ended
our first seminar goal—strategic planning.
The rationale of all the
activities was that, engaging in the ASEAN integration, we are all
blindfolded. Making a strategic plan
will be very risky if we do not know where we will be going. To have an
advantage over this integration, we must prepare, study, and be sensitive to
any changes it will bring us.
After ten minutes break, the
second speaker took part. He was a
Registered Financial Planner and a speaker in one of the CNN Philippines
segments regarding finances. His topic
was “Investing in ASEAN Setting”. I learned a lot from his lecture. I learned that before one could invest, he
should have the SPG—save, protect, and grow.
Save means that one should
have adequate savings first. The proper
way of saving is that, every time the income or compensation gets in, ten to
thirty percent of that should first go to you so you could budget the rest for
your expenses.
Protect means life plans and
emergency funds. Aside from savings,
some of your money should be invested for life insurance so that in case something
happens to you, you and your family are secured.
Grow means investing in bonds
and stocks. After having your savings
and protection plans, you are now ready to let go of your money for a long time
and wait for likely returns.
There were so many lessons he
shared more than the three key points but I could not tackle every points
specifically.
The day ends with a
dinner. I almost forgot about the
certificate but when I did remember, I asked the secretariat for it. She said there was no certificate for the
event. I was not surprised. I even felt
nothing, just happiness. I did not care
for the certificate anymore. The
experience was worth it. I may not have
a certificate, but I have enough pictures with me anyway.
I never expected to learn
something new like that, so I promised myself to attend many seminars if I could
[as a new year's resolution].
