The Pot Money
9.20.2004
An article I read in one of the message boards...
something to think about --- I do not say we should be ethno-centric, that will have it's pros and cons... but perhaps we can learn something from this:
(thanks to Ernie, and the Author, Rodel Ramos)
Thinking Aloud
by Rodel J. Ramos
“NO ONE SHOULD PROFIT FROM OUR COMMUNITY?”
Not a few people believe that “No one
should profit from the activities in the
Community.” They reason that what ever you do or give
for the Community, do it for the love of our people,
nothing else. Personal interest should be put aside. I
questioned this belief at one time in the planning of
the Centennial SkyDome Festival.
I was arguing about the marketing strategy of selling
50,000 tickets for the event. I wanted to give
commissions to sellers and agents in order to motivate
them. Someone said firmly, “I don’t want anybody to
profit from this project.” My answer to that statement
was, “For years and years and years our people had
sacrificed their time, efforts, talents and money for
this Community. They have taken back nothing. It is
time to give them something at least for gasoline
expense. Besides, if you want to sell 50,000 tickets,
you have to give them the right incentive and the best
motivator is money.
We all know that those who accommodate
organizations by going to their benefit dances, donate
or sponsor their activities spend from $3,000 to
$5,000 a year. If they do not get something back, how
in the world are they expected to continue supporting
the Community?
Most of us are not millionaires who can continuesly
support our people without feeling the pain and
becoming broke. There are also many in our midst who
are just struggling to keep both ends meet. Many
officers and members are already sacrificing their
families for our people. And they get nothing out of
it, not even a thank you.
Most don’t support
Some of our businesses are already the
milking cows of organizations. Yet we hear some people
proudly say that they do not cater to them. “Mahal ang
bilihin sa kanila.” I even heared someone comment,
“Bakit ako bibili sa kanya, pagka yumaman iyan,
pagyayabangan pa ako.” Yet when we need advertisements
or sell tickets, we squeeze them to death.
How many of us support our lawyers? We would rather go
to Canadian lawyers. The reason of some is, “Mga
tsismoso ang mga Pilipino. Baka malaman pa ng buong
bayan na ang anak ko ay nagnakaw sa tindahan,
nagcarnapping o nahuling nagdrugs.” Or “Baka malaman
pa nila na nagbankruptcy ako.” But lawyers are sworn
to secrecy. I know that Attorney Bayani Abesamis does
not tell anybody about his clients. When he was
handling the San Lorenzo Ruiz case, in spite of my
being a “bilas” he never told me anything about it. I
always asked him how it is going and he would just
tell me, “Ayos lang.”
One Filipino lawyer talked about his disappointment.
He said that he supports a lot of organizations
sponsoring that and this project. “But they never come
to me when they have cases or when their children are
in trouble. It is ironic. A Canadian friend ask me to
do some of his work because he is overloaded and pays
me a lot less than the normal fee. What is painful is,
I find out that they are Filipinos, sometimes friends
of mine.”
But we cater to Filipino doctors. The reason is
obvious. How do you tell a Canadian doctor, “Doctor,
masakit ang kasukasuan ko.” O “Doctor, may almuranas
ako.”
Compare this attitude to those with the Chinese or the
Jews. Observe how they have become progressive while
most of us remain middle class or poor. The Chinese
cater to the Chinese businessmen. They help and trust
each other or give discounts to their own race. They
would rather give the business to their own people.
And because the money circulates among themselves,
their people grow richer. In return, they can support
their Community needs - built cultural centers,
housing for the Elderly, temples etc. They also create
jobs and develop their entrepreneurship. They are able
even to loan money to their citizens to put up
businesses and support each other.
This is their formula in the Philippines, how the
Chinese were able to control many of our
manufacturing, importations, trading, banking,
telecommunication and other services. Taiwan, Hong
Kong and China lend their citizens in the Philippines
money, discounts and credit lines through their
Chamber of Commerce and other organizations. Helping
each other instead of giving their money to other
groups is the secret formula of their success.
The Jews have the same attitude. They cater to each
other’s businesses and give credit to their fellow
Jews. Compare this to our businessmen who kill each
other’s business by dropping their prices to the
losses of everyone in the industry.
I have been a member of the Jaycees and we support
each other’s businesses. The Freemasons have a vow to
support, protect and help their own brothers except on
murder. Of course there are codes of ethics they
follow. The Iglesia ni Christo do the same and they
are all progressive.
Of course this can be subjected to abuse. Some of our
leaders are there to promote their products and
services. But if we are buying from Canadian Companies
and other ethnic groups, why not our own kababayan.
There is a saying, “Sino ba ang magtutulungan kung
hindi tayo din.” But then, others have a “one way
traffic” attitude. Puro pakabig, walang tulak. And our
system is already being abused and nobody is
benefiting from it.
We are not talking here of people who join to swindle
others of their money. We are talking of legal
businesses. In fact, no one had become rich joining
organizations nor had anyone stolen money of
organizations. All that we hear are rumors to
discredit those in position of power.
Those who have the above mentality, I implore you to
rethink your position. This formula is the cause of
our failure as a Community. We have used this for more
than 3 decades in Canada and for centuries in the
Philippines. I would rather that we adapt the line,
“Everyone should profit from our Community.”
Otherwise, there is no reason for us having one?
Labels: Business
posted by Jdavies @ 9/20/2004,
0 Comments:
The Author
J.Davies
Jdavies lives in Quezon City, Philippines and has been blogging since 2002. A brand manager in a leading technology company and a freelance new media/web strategy consultant, he has refocused his blogging from personal, political & sociological observations, to marketing-related efforts and Internet trends that are relevant to his career and branding advocacies.
About This Blog
This blog is a depot of thoughts and observations on marketing trends which remain personally relevant to the Author as far as his marketing career is concerned. Having evolved from the personal blog of Jdavies, much of the earlier work contained herein are laced with personal speculation, political views, and similar advocacies. These posts are being kept for posterity's sake and for no other reason. No effort is being made to claim that the author will not contradict himself from his previous positions or that such advocacies are absolute.
Contact
Request access to my Linked-in Profile
