'CATSFather': A celebration of a visionary and his legacy @ Grand Hyatt Manila
It takes guts, passion, vision and a lot of hard work for a business to grow from a small car accessories, tires and servicing shop in Greenhills into a leading force in the local automotive industry. The CATS Group definitely has these in spades, as it recently celebrated 30 years of innovation and success with an evening of festivities that were quite cinematic in scope.
After all, the event, held last Oct. 28 at the Grand Hyatt Manila, was also a celebration of the CATS Group founder Felix Ang’s 60th birthday. And what better way to honor a visionary and his enduring legacy than to hail him as a Godfather?
The Francis Ford Coppola classic was the perfect inspiration for the double celebration, as The Godfather is his all-time favorite movie. But more than the filmic theme, the movie’s driving message uttered by its leading character Don Vito Corleone, is a reflection of how the birthday celebrant cultivates relationships and runs his very successful business: “Friendship is everything. It’s almost the equal of family. And family is the most important thing in life.”
Beyond the words and accolades, there were also special song numbers dedicated to the man of the evening, with Ang’s daughter Gia singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” and a surprise production number from his wife Grace. The whole family then gathered to sing “Happy Birthday” to their beloved patriarch as he blew the candles on his cake, and more greetings and anecdotes followed from friends and business partners.
“I seized every opportunity as it came, even up to the point of sacrificing a formal education. Experience taught me the hard way, but I thought to myself, if I don’t make it, there is no turning back; I just had to keep moving,” Felix Ang’s reflected in his birthday speech. “CATS is the greatest legacy of my life, having gone this far. It is such an amazing journey and I consider myself very blessed.”
Spain National Holiday
On the occasion of the Spanish national Day, the Embassy of Spain in Manila hosted a reception of the official residence of the Ambassador in North Forbes Park on Oct. 10, with 25 Spanish and Philippine companies sponsoring the annual event.
The visitors also enjoyed flamenco guitarist Emilio Caracafe’s original work, Una vuelta al mundo (Around the World), a tribute to the 500th Anniversary of the Circumnavigation of the World. The said commemoration precisely constituted the central theme of the speech of Ambassador Jorge Moragas, who highlighted the multicultural nature of the crew on board the ships and the technical achievement that the technical first circumnavigation of the globe entailed. Photos by Joey Viduya
