This story is inspired by true events in Manila, Philippines in the early 50s. Mawan is a rags-to-riches refugee from China, like a few other famous Filipino Taipans. He stowed away on a cargo ship in Shanghai bound for Manila. Upon reaching Manila, he jumped ship in the dark of night and found his freedom from great poverty to become a billionaire.
eastwind journals
‘True Tales’ Series – Volume 37
July 31, 2023 – Archives tr380
By Bernie V. Lopez, eastwindreplyctr@gmail.com
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He slept in front of a bank in Plaza Cervantes, until the police shooed him away. He was forced to sleep under a nearby footbridge along the bank of the Pasig River. For six months, he survived by collecting old newspapers and empty bottles (dyaryo bote), which he retrieved from garbage dumps or asked from residents house-to-house. At times, he was treated kindly, but other times, he was shooed away. He was never hurt by bad treatment. He took it as part of life as a refugee. He was tough and full of determination.
He was a ‘no-English-no-read-no-write’ kid. Maning, the bank manager, who often saw Mawan loitering outside the bank and was getting annoyed, asked him in Pilipino where he was from. Mawan answered in Cantonese. It was the beginning of an instant friendship, as the manager was once a Shanghai boy himself. Mawan blurted out his story of adventure. Maning was totally awed by his toughness and bravery, because, once upon a time, he was Shanghai beggar. He adopted Mawan as his own son, and gave him a job as a janitor at the bank. He slept at the garage of the manager’s Chinatown home.
Maning could see the great potential in Mawan. So, he asked a Chinese bank clerk to teach him to read and write in English, which they did during coffee breaks and lunch. So, Maning paid both student and tutor overtime pay. But what accelerated his learning was the old torn pocketbooks residents gave him during his dyaryo-bote rounds. In three short months, he could read and write fluently.
In just six months, Mawan graduated from janitor to clerk to supervisor at the bank. In another four months, he talked to Maning.
MAWAN – Sir, I would like to ask permission to resign.
MANING – Why? You are not happy here?
MAWAN – Sir, I think I will earn more money putting up my own junk shop, if you will not be offended. I can put up my junk shop in your vacant lot beside your home. I think I can earn more money than working at the bank.
MANING – Fantastic idea. I have always been worried squatters moving in to the lot. It will be a big headache throwing them out, as there is a law that I need to find a place to relocate them. You can build a small shack and guard the place at the same time.
Mawan organized a team of 9 teenage urchins as junk collectors. Mawan invested on 9 cheap makeshift wheeled carts to speed up the junk collection. They covered half of Chinatown. So that he was not harassed by policemen, he had an ID for the collectors signed by Maning, the prestigious bank manager whom the policemen respected.
The vacant lot was getting to be too congested for the tones of junk his team collected daily. So, he asked the drivers of the pick up trucks to come twice a week instead of just once. The drivers also had IDs signed by Maning, who was not being dubbed jokingly as the Junk King of Chinatown. He regarded that as a complement, and was so happy for Mawan. True enough, Mawan earned more money than as a supervisor at the bank.
MAWAN – Sir, I have another request.
MANING – What is it this time? You want to move to another business with more income.
MAWAN – You can really read my mind, Sir. I would like to become a stock broker. I learned from the bank how much stock brokers earn if they work hard and have a good set of clients.
MANING – That’s a big jump, Mawan. You need to ….
MAWAN – (Interrupting.) Sir, I know what to do. I have enough savings to rent a small office two blocks from the junk shop. The junk shop will still operate, run by the best collector I have.
MANING – I do not know your collectors. I don’t trust them taking over the vacant lot.
MAWAN – (Showing him a document.) Sir, here is the sample lease agreement they agreed to sign, renewable every year. Any violation and I tell police to throw them out.
MANING – Wow, you think of everything, my son.
MAWAN – (Elated in being called ‘my son’.) Dad, if you trust people, they will also trust you. Trust is contagious.
MANING – (Elated in being called ‘dad’.) Maybe you should charge them a little rent or percent of income.
MAWAN – No need, dad. I have learned to ask the Lord for wisdom in my businesses. He always gives me the best opportunities. So I give back to him in return by giving to others.
MANING – And since when have you become a Christian?
MAWAN – I have been seeing this priest in Binondo Church since last year. He baptized me two months ago.
MANING – Why didn’t you tell me?
MANING – I know you are a devout Buddhist. I was afraid to tell you.
MANING – I am so happy for you, that you have turned to be a good son. Here is another gift from the Lord for you. I will ask my bank to endorse your stock brokerage to our Trust Department. How’s that?
MAWAN – Wow. See, I told you, dad. The Lord is my Shepherd.
The stock brokerage started slow, as Mawan was just learning the ropes. He did not want to go big time. He knew there were pitfalls he had to jump over. Eager beavers had come and gone. Then, it happened. There was a sudden surge as the stock market went super-bullish. Mawan rode the storm and made a killing.
At that time, China bought most of the global supply of coal, which was fuel for cement plants, inducing a nationwide coal shortage. Cement stocks fell to their lowest point and that was when Mawan poured all his savings to purchase stocks of the largest cement plant in the country. He ignored Maning’s warnings that it was a dangerous move, because he had this gut feel based on his faith in the Lord.
When the shortage was over, and coal was once again available for cement production, Mawan’s stocks soared to the stratosphere, and at the peak, he unloaded at 105 times his purchase price. He in fact caused the stock to fall as many investors followed his move.
Mawan paid for the education of his 9 junk collectors who ballooned to 23. The junk shop evolved into a bank branch for Maning. Mawan’s team evolved from junk collectors to bankers. Maning started to learn lessons from Mawan’s faith. In time, he went to the Binondo Church priest and was converted to be a Catholic.
Mawan was wondering what gift he could give his dad on his birthday in gratitude for all his success. It must something expensive like a car or building. But he knew his dad would not care about such gifts. Finally, he gave him a Bible he bought at Binondo church, a small simple one that his dad could take with him wherever he went. His dad embraced him and wept.
In ten years, at the age of 33, Mawan became a billionaire and overtook his dad and mentor. On top of his vast empire, he had the wisdom to discern the temptation of greed as the enemy he had to grapple with. To overcome that temptation was easy for him. He just gave and gave left and right, putting up foundations, schools for the poor, hospitals. He donated 90 dialysis machines to hospitals nationwide, on condition they prioritize free service to the poor.
In all that pendulum swing from a lowly stowaway from Shanghai to a billionaire in Manila, adored by many, Mawan was given the shortest interview on camera by Fox News.
TV ANCHOR – Sir, I hope you do not mind a quick ten minute interview.
MAWAN – Sure.
TV ANCHOR –What advice can you give the many aspiring to be billionaires?
MAWAN – The principle is simple – the more you give, the more the Lord gives to you. It’s an ever-ending cycle of love.
TV ANCHOR – Please expound.
MAWAN – That’s it. End of interview. I have nothing more to say.
JOURNALIST – Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.
The 12-second interview went viral in cyberspace.
every path is unique
no one can live your life for you
gurus can only give guidelines
you flap your own wings
you watch your own sunset
you carve your own destiny
in your own way, in your own style
excerpt from author’s book Wings and Wanderlust
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More Inspirational Articles – eastwindjournals.com.
FOR THOSE WHO NEED HEALING, spiritual or physical (depression, anxiety, loneliness, terminal cancer, covid, diabetes, etc.) – say an online healing prayer with one or both healers below. Terminal patients have been healed in cyberspace. All you need is to have faith and to ask the Lord –
1) Father Fernando Suarez – www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UP3LHBgtIc.
2) Sr. Raquel Reodica, RVM – www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAZcwNimBSg
Download free e-book ‘Healing Stories of Sr. Raquel’ at eastwindjournals.com/2021/08/13/healing-stories-of-sr-raquel-e-book-free-download/).
Author’s book. At age 26, the author (eastwind) drifted through Europe, hitchhiking 25,000 kilometers for three straight years. He wrote a book on his adventures, Wings and Wanderlust. He learned deep insights that radically changed his view of life, which he wants to share with readers looking for themselves or wanting to catch the wind. More about the book (get a copy) = https://eastwindjournals.com/2023/02/25/more-about-the-book-wings-and-wanderlust/
Author’s Credentials. Blogger – ex-Columnist (Inquirer) – Healing Ministry – ex-Professor (Ateneo University) – Documentary Producer-Director (freelance, ex-ABS-CBN, ex-TVS Tokyo) – ex-Broadcaster (Radio Veritas) – Facebook “Bernie V. Lopez Eastwind” / Pages “Eastwind Journeys and Journals” and “Mary Queen of Peace”.
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