The LT Group’s Michael G. Tan
More than a decade ago, when his daughter was in primary school, Michael “Mike” G. Tan, now 48, called me regarding her homework on massive Roman numerals.
After I told Mike his solution was correct, he said, “Why are kids forced to memorize symbols for big numbers they won’t use at all? They should be memorizing multiplication tables!”
I agreed, and couldn’t resist saying: “Mike, you actually have time to tutor your kids!”
In this aspect, at least, the president of the LT Group, which includes Asia Brewery and Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco, takes after his father Lucio. When Mike and his siblings were growing up, their father used to assign them Mandarin passages to commit to memory.
“We had to recite passages in front of him,” said Mike.
Study really, really hard
Unlike parents who claim to be too busy with work or hobbies, the taipan and his son devote time to things that matter.
There was nothing trivial with the way Mike and his siblings were educated. Mike and elder brother Bong studied in Xavier School, then they continued high school in Singapore’s Dunman, a rigorous Chinese-language school.
Mike does not like to be in the spotlight. But since I studied at the neighboring girls’ school, I have heard about his academic prowess.
“I did OK in Xavier, but in Dunman, the Chinese lessons are extremely tough. I was near the bottom of my class. My exams were given in Chinese as a second language. I had to study really, really hard.”
After graduation, Mike took language lessons at the Beijing Chinese Language and Culture College. He next studied in Beijing University.
“Again, I had difficulties with Chinese. I even had a tutor,” he said.
Context
Mike studied History, and we embarked on a lively discourse. How wars might have enabled almost all European nations to rule their part of the world for a time. How the early unification of China affected its people.
Mike’s birthday? Answer his riddle: “the last day of the last sign of the zodiac.” I learned I was born in the first sign of the zodiac, a few weeks younger than him.
The best places in China: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou? “Those are big modern cities. Go to the smaller ones, Xiamen and Dalian; they are more progressive than Makati.”
Beautiful places? “Qingtao, beside the lake.” Favorite place in the world? “Istanbul.” Really?
“I used to think Paris is the most beautiful city,” said Mike. “But now it’s Istanbul.” He reeled off the attractions: the Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, the Bosphorus River. Istanbul is also at the crossroads of East and West, he said.
History helps Mike put events in context. Take religion.
“In the Bible, we read the Letters to the Romans and the Corinthians, but Christianity would be better understood if put in context. If only teachers would emphasize that Corinth is a city in Greece, or that Rome was the center of the empire for centuries. Teach history and religion, parallel topics, at the same time, to get the proper context.”
Or work. “In business, we need to know what the context is, to better understand why things are happening.”
Context is why Mike takes the time to read serious works. When I commended him for graduating at the top of his Civil Engineering class at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, he said, “I was a big fish in a small pond.”
“Gladwell?” I was referring to English-Canadian journalist Malcolm Gladwell’s book “David and Goliath,” which talks about top dogs and underdogs, big and small fish in small and big ponds. We segued into Gladwell’s ideas, and told him, “Mike, I have to tell the readers that you read Gladwell.”
He said, “Well, you can tell them that I read Kishore!”
The Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, Kishore Mahbubani is a former diplomat. I have read his incisive articles in Time, Newsweek, New York Times, but have yet to venture into his books.
“Read his books!” Mike was emphatic. “Singaporean diplomats are pragmatic. They don’t take sides, whether for or against China, the US… They analyze things in context.”
Pay your dues
Mike the history buff was a revelation, but Mike the engineer I know well. We both love the TV comedy “Big Bang Theory,” especially the character Sheldon, arguably the nerdiest of them all.
When I complained that Beijing pollution triggered my asthma, Mike uttered one word: “coal.” Then he explained a particular method of burning coal that produces air particles so minute that they remain suspended in the atmosphere.
Engineering for Mike is the ideal background for any field. “After you learn engineering, everything else is easier. In UBC in my time, the top students were from engineering.”
Mike and wife Angeline’s children are doing well in school, something Mike attributes to his wife’s parenting (a story in itself).
“I remind my children that they should study hard, and that a good education is one thing I can give them. We never know what is going to happen next. My father used to tell us that nothing is certain in life, that we should not take things for granted. I want my kids to be able to stand on their own.”
Would he force his children into the family business? “No. If they want to, but it’s still best to work outside, for other people, first.”
To the younger generation working in family businesses, Mike advised, “Pay your dues. Be patient. You can’t expect to become the head instantly. Contribute your ideas first.”
Mike’s dearest wish? His answer was wistful: “A quiet life.”
And his father? “Beside him, I pale in comparison.” We’ll take that in context.
Next week: House of Hilton
Queena N. Lee-Chua is on the board of Ateneo de Manila University’s Family Business Development Center. E-mail her at [email protected].
