The third generation

He had grey-white hair around his balding scalp. He had a back severely hunched and he walked very slowly that one might hear the creak of old bones with each step. One would have to get so close to him to hear his voice, which was almost a whisper.

But when Washington Sycip had something to say, everybody listened. His passing was a big, big loss to the community. He was the grand old man of the business community, a Philippine pillar and icon, and one of the old guards of the  country’s economic development.

I saw him as the businessmen’s version of Jedi Master Yoda — small in body build, but wise and powerful, a towering figure needed by businessmen, some of whom are just crooks in sleek suits and Hermes ties.

One thing he always warned about — the curse of the third generation in Chinese family-run business.

SyCip believed that no single Filipino-owned Chinese empire in the Philippines has lasted for three generations.

It’s a curse that may change, but SyCip no doubt had warned about this in the boardrooms of the Filipino-Chinese owned conglomerates.

He sat on the boards of many of these Chinese-owned companies, including Lucio Tan’s companies.

But we have yet to see Tan’s succession plan. With his tried and tested business acumen, it may just succeed.

The taipan, during his Chinese birthday last September, had an enigmatic smile when he was asked him about his succession plan.

“I will look for an entrepreneur who would like to buy (and) I will sell (everything),” Tan said, seemingly in jest and with an enigmatic smile.

He turned serious, but smiled again when asked if he meant what he just said and broke into an even brighter smile when asked if he was kidding.

Only Tan knows for sure what he will do, but rest assured that there is indeed a succession plan.

What is certain is that he is visibly happy with how his business has grown to where it is now.

“I am happy,” he said.

Tan’s vast empire spans a wide range of businesses — from cigarettes, to skyscrapers to Greek style yoghurt — and it has made him the fourth richest man in the country with a net worth of $4.2 billion, according to Forbes.

At 83, he no longer runs the day-to-day operations of his various companies and is now able to relax. He wakes up at 4 a.m. everyday to play golf; tries to take naps in the morning and afternoon, and graces cocktail parties every now and then.

But one Chinese family may yet prove wrong the so-called curse of the third generation as warned by Sycip. This is the family of low-key taipan Carlos Chan.

Chan, chairman of Liwayway Marketing Corp., which is the maker of the iconic Oishi brand, continued the business his father founded – “gawgaw” or cornstarch which is used for laundry or for cooking. It’s under the household name Liwayway. Nowadays, the business still exists, but has become very small, Chan maintains it for sentimental reasons. There are only around 20 people in the gawgaw factory, but Chan has expanded the empire to become the snack foods giant that it is now.

Now, Liwayway has more than 100 snack food and beverage products, at least 8,000 workers, more than 700 distributors and at least 16 plants in China.  It is also present in nine countries : Philippines, China, Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, India and Africa.

Chan’s children are actively involved in the business. If they are able to pass this on to succeeding generations, then it’s already a deviation from the so-called curse of the third generation. I have no doubt they will, especially with the guidance of chairman Chan.

SyCip’s wisdom in foretelling things had already been proven right. He was like a seer who saw danger when nobody else did. He predicted the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the oil crisis in the Middle East.

Whether or not SyCip would be proven wrong by the country’s taipans is still anybody’s guess. I am certain that at least in this instance, SyCip, if he were still alive, would be very happy to be proven wrong.

And if that happens, the old man would be smiling in his grave.

My first brush with death happened when my grandfather died when I was in college. He was my mentor and he always told me to grow up to be one fine lady. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” He said he would watch wherever he would be. Sometimes, I would forget he is watching and end up doing things he wouldn’t do.

I am sure SyCip, in his trademark red tang suit, is doing the same thing, still keeping a close watch on the taipans wherever he may be.