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People who have suggested that I should retire and just sit back and enjoy the “fruits of my labor” do not really know me. I have been working all my life. Since the first time I walked with my mother from our Tondo house to Divisoria until today, I have always been an entrepreneur. Today, I still start my day with a brisk walk early in the morning. But it is true what I said in past interviews: “I will probably die as an entrepreneur.”

Why do we celebrate the new year? Why do we go through all the trouble of going back home to the provinces or gathering everyone around the dinner table before the clock strikes midnight? There is a psychological importance to bidding goodbye to the old year and to welcoming a new year. A new year signifies hope and a new beginning. It is as if the turning of the new calendar can erase everything unsavory about the previous year and giving everyone a clean slate for the incoming year. A fresh start to life.

One of my staff asked me recently: “Sir, what was your Christmas like when you were growing up 25 in Tondo?” I do not know why but my memory immediately took me back to Mary Johnston. Mary Johnston Hospital (MJH), run by the United Methodist Church, is a health care provider that has been in existence since 1906. In its 118 year history, MJH has been tending to the health needs of the people of Tondo. But it is not their glorious history nor their commendable public service that came to mind, it was one of the Christmas parties they organized on behalf of a benefactor for the underprivileged kids of Tondo that I remember the most.