| Wilson Lee Flores: The Passions of a Writer Interview by Stephanie Coyiuto Tay for The Philippine Star newspaper (Note: I am still researching when this was published?) | |
 Thus, being able to meet Wilson Flores, then already a writer I admired, greatly thrilled me. When I asked him for advice on how to be a good writer, he gave the ten-year old me one simple answer: “A good writer is a good re-writer.” A decade later, and I still treasure the advice Wilson gave me. My admiration for him as a writer has only grown throughout the years. Wilson, a multi-faceted Philippine Star columnist who won three Carlos Palanca literary awards while a first year business student at the Ateneo de Manila University, has recently been nominated as Finalist in the 2003 Catholic Mass Media Awards for “Best Business Column” and “Best Opinion Column.” Wilson is also a Philippine correspondent of Hong Kong-based “Yazhou Zhoukan” (Asia Weekly), the world’s largest international Chinese newsweekly magazine.  Wilson writes in English, Filipino, Chinese and even took special Spanish language courses at Instituto Cervantes because his theory is that an average person can master at least five languages. He was Managing Editor and columnist of the Ateneo’s “Guidon” (university paper), wrote Filipino poems in every issue of the Ateneo’s “Matanglawin” and was founding President of the Ateneo’s multi-awarded Celadon (Chinese students organization). Wilson has authored five books on Philippine business leaders commissioned by the De La Salle University Press and once edited a German doctorate scholar’s book on the Edsa 1986 revolution in his Ateneo philosophy class. Unknown to most people, Wilson’s both parents died when he was young and he has since been very independent. Although he considers writing as his hobby, and devotes more time to what he describes as “mundane money-earning chores,” he has learned to enjoy writing the most. He believes that writers in the Philippines have three main inter-related roles: First, in a third world country like the Philippines, a writer should not only entertain and educate but should also become agents of social change and reform. Second, a writer should also be a conscience of society, reminding people about truth and goodness despite the absurd environment we live in. Lastly, in a corrupt society and unjust society like ours, writing for the sake of self-expression or for art’s sake only is not enough – writers should be brave and revolutionary in subverting the prevailing corrupt and inefficient order that we have in the country, or else the country will forever continue its non-stop economic, social, political, moral and cultural decline. Writers should not accept things as they are but should be more critical of things around them. Here Wilson talks more on his passions as a writer who is keenly interested in diverse subjects – from criticizing corrupt politicians, interviewing the world’s wealthiest billionaires, poking fun at showbiz stars, discussing history, foods to once analyzing trends in America’s comic books. Philippine Star: I heard that you read and memorized the entire encyclopedia as a kid – is this true? Wilson Lee Flores: Yes, I read three sets of whole encyclopedias of my neighbors, because our family didn’t own one. I walked two blocks down the road at night and borrowed one volume after another, devouring information in the same way kids ate ice cream in summer! There was another next door neighbor of ours whose dad was in the tobacco business, and I also borrowed two different sets of their encyclopedia one volume at a time. I remember a lot of things easily, but I didn’t seek to memorize them. I doubt if my neighbors’ kids ever read those volumes they had in their bookcases.  Philippine Star: Why did you have to borrow the encyclopedias – why didn’t you just buy one set? Wilson Lee Flores: I was a voracious reader, but almost all the books I used to read were borrowed from classmates and friends, because my dad died when I was seven years old and my mother was a teacher who couldn’t afford all the books that I wanted to read. Our mother raised us all by herself. I learned to love books, literature and history from her Philippine Star: How does it feel to be interviewed for a change, since you seem to have yourself interviewed so many colorful personalities in all fields? Wilson Lee Flores: It’s fun to be able to answer your interesting and thought-provoking questions. The first time I was interviewed was for the “Guidon” university paper at the Ateneo, when I was in first year college and had won three Palanca literary awards. This beautiful junior student interviewed me for one hour, but when I read her report it was only a one-paragraph news lang pala! In my first ever television interview a few years ago, David Celdran of ABS-CBN 2 came to my home and interviewed me not about me, but about my favorite Labrador Retriever dog who’s also a champion named Duchess! By the way, for your added info lang, Duchess is happily married to another dog of mine whom I named Clinton. Philippine Star: Is it true that you are now a movie actor too; that you will play a role in the forthcoming epic film “Mano Po 2”? Wilson Lee Flores: Yes, and my role is supposed to be the second husband of Zsa Zsa Padilla after the murder of her first husband Christopher de Leon! (laughs). No, I’m only kidding. It wasn’t really a role; I just agreed to play a dakilang extra in the fascinating China wedding of Zsa Zsa and Boyet. Mother Lily and Roselle Monteverde-Teo of Regal Entertainment recently invited me to Shanghai for the shooting of the epic drama “Mano Po 2” directed by Eric Matti and written by Roy Iglesias. Mother Lily first wanted me to play the dad of Zsa Zsa, but I said I wasn’t married yet and I’m younger naman than Zsa Zsa, baka it would be bad for my public image (laughs). Mother later said I should play the role of the master of ceremonies in the wedding, but when I read the script and saw that I had to keep shouting in solemn rites, I requested to play Boyet’s younger brother who’d only smile and clap hands during the wedding rites. If only Mother Lily would ask me to play the first boyfriend of the beautiful Zsa Zsa, baka OK pa and I wouldn’t charge her any talent fees (laughs). Philippine Star: Is it true that you idolized your late mother Mary Young Siu Tin, that you once even wrote a long article on great men whose mothers influenced them? Wilson Lee Flores: Yes. Great leaders whom I admire such as U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and the liberator of the Philippines from Japanese militarism General Douglas MacArthur – all of them had great mothers who shaped their lives. In the then 1999 Asiaweek magazine’s call for readers to nominate the “Asian of the Century,” the person who had brought the greatest good for the whole region, I nominated my teacher mother as “a symbol of the moral courage and priceless contributions to Asian history of countless faceless and unheralded Asian women”. The editors chose my nomination, published my late mom’s short bio and wrote in the editorial that she was “the clear winner.”    Philippine Star: What are your favorite books? Wilson Lee Flores: My first favorite book was a colored MacMillan textbook book on “Daniel in the Lion’s Den”, which I read when I was seven years old. As a kid, I read almost all the Hardy Boys, Perry Mason and even Nancy Drew novels, plus other popular novels. Later, I read all kinds of literary works, especially all the novels of Ernest Hemingway and Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I recently read all the novels of Indonesian writer Pramoedya Ananda Toer, a former political prisoner of ex-dictator Suharto, who I believe is ASEAN’s most deserving writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. My favorite books have always been biographies of achievers, history, business and economics, science (not science fiction), comics, novels of all kinds from the literary to the popular ones, and poetry.   Philippine Star: You have not mentioned any Filipino authors… Wilson Lee Flores: I enjoy reading Filipino writers, such as the country’s best living novelist Nick Joaquin, the late Bienvenido Santos, Alfred Yuson, Jose Dalisay, national artist Virgilio Almario, Jose Lacaba and others.   Philippine Star: What other books interest you the most? Wilson Lee Flores: Apart from biographies and history, I have many books on the Jewish people’s inspiring history of survival and accomplishments in 2,000 years of diaspora, many books on Chinese history and culture, on East Asia, many books on Filipiniana topics, many books on physical fitness. Ever since I’ve started earning my own money, I have collected thousands of books from all over the world in my specially-designed library. Buying books is my only real luxury. I think the number and vast range of topics of my books are already comparable to the collection of Thomas Jefferson, the Renaissance Man whom I admire very much. My childhood dream was to build a simple house with a huge 2-storey library with stairs to go up bookcases and a vast garden of full of trees and greeneries.  Philippine Star: How did you become a writer? Wilson Lee Flores: My late mother wanted me to become a doctor or a novelist. Can you imagine, a mother from a Chinese family wanting her son to write novels? It was I who said I had no interest in medicine, even though an older cousin from my dad’s clan is the country’s most multi-awarded cardiologist Dr. Dy Bun Yok, whom I admire very much. I also said no to being a full-time novelist, telling her that this is not America or China; that I don’t want to starve because not many people here read novels. I took up a business course. My mother was remarkable. She explained that many tycoons come and go, but great novelists influence ideas and cultures of mankind forever. Not wanting to disappoint her, I promised her that I’ll learn to write somehow, and that’s the reason I started writing. Philippine Star: Have you had negative feedbacks to your columns? Wilson Lee Flores: Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) National President Joel Cadiz and many other nationalists expressed strong objections to my column, which vigorously supported the Bush policy of war to kick out Saddam Hussein in Iraq. At that time, I was led to believe by U.S. and British intelligence claims that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. I still strongly believe the world is better off now without Saddam Hussein, but I couldn’t fully answer a recent question from a graduating student of Grace Christian High School whether that war was right or wrong. Philippine Star: Any violent reactions from the many politicians whom you criticize once in a while? Wilson Lee Flores: Ex-President Fidel Ramos once invited me for a 2-hour meeting in his office, where he expressed his disappointment about my jokes on his alleged anomalies on the Centennial project, PEA-Amari reclamation project and other scams, and his “revenge” on me was making me drink many cups of dark barako coffee filled with liquor for two hours while listening to his erudite explanations why all these allegations by his political enemies are malicious falsehoods. He jokingly said that if I was not his friend, he would already throw me out of his office building’s window. Philippine Star: What is the most controversial article you have written so far? What is your response to the critics who do not agree with what you have written? Wilson Lee Flores: There have been many columns I had written which might be considered controversial, such as my once discussing this phenomenon of men from the country’s traditional power lite marrying starlets or beauty queens who are not too intelligent – resulting in the future generations of our elite to look more physically beautiful but with lower quality of brains and genes. I asserted that since we have a fake or dysfunctional democracy in our semi-feudal society, this is one phenomenon which can give others a chance to rise in power and wealth to take the place of our so-called old elite. I had also written several columns tackling our culture of corruption. Another column of mine was my assertion that leaders who cannot be faithful to their spouses cannot be expected to be honest in government, which Winnie Monsod and Oca Orbos used as the topic of their Debate TV show. I do not seek to write on controversial topics, I just wish that some of my columns can help “subvert” and chip away at the pervasive culture of corruption which has impoverished the Philippines for centuries. Constructive criticism of our imperfect democracy, our underperforming government and inefficient society from writers like me will hopefully help push reforms. These constructive criticisms within our democratic framework are a thousand times better than the illegal military coups of rightwing zealots or the dangerous bloody revolution now being waged by the misguided idealists of the New People’s Army. Philippine Star: Are prominent people angered by your often controversial columns? Wilson Lee Flores: One of my readers, Atty. Wilfredo Chato, once invited me to speak in their Rotary Club in Greenhills and he introduced me as “a columnist not a calumnist”. At least, when I make criticisms, I do not indulge in malicious personal attacks or calumny, nothing personal. I hope that those I make fun of do not take my criticisms as personal attacks. Kris Aquino once said that she reads my columns though I was sometimes nasty at her. Actually, I admire this beautiful and smart woman very much, and I had on a few occasions criticized her because I don’t want her to waste her immense talents, her leadership potentials and her vast influence as a role model on the youth. I admire the late Ninoy Aquino and ex-President Cory Aquino, and it is disappointing to see her ruin her life in public that way. When her producer Mother Lily heard I was recently writing a column on her troubles and that I diagnosed her as having a psychological pathology that needs professional help, Mother Lily invited me to dinner with Kris because of her concern, but Mother Lily didn’t know that I had then already written my column and did not change my opinion that she needs professional help. Philippine Star: Is it true that while you were in college, you had written many literary works, including an unpublished novella of 150 pages? What is the title and plot of that novella? Wilson Lee Flores: My unpublished novella is entitled “The Enigma of San Felipe”, which tells the turbulent and tragi-comic history of the island municipality of San Felipe from the colonial era to the 1980s. Since you’ve mentioned it, I think I will look it up and see it it’s worth publishing. I was in college studying a business course then when I wrote it, so I just set it aside after finishing it. That novella is a microcosm of the real history of the Philippines, my version. It is part satire, part magical realism, because I was then very impressed by the magical realism styles of South American novelists like Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Due to our tragic history of 333 years of brutal and despotic Spanish colonial misrule, and now being again colonized by our so many dishonest and corrupt leaders ever since, the Philippines has become Asia’s Latin American country. Philippine Star: Why do you say the Philippines is Asia’s Latin American nation and how are we different from Korea, Singapore, Taiwan or Vietnam? Wilson Lee Flores: We have to call a spade a spade. The Philippines had the misfortune of having been colonized by Spain. Most of the chaotic and unstable societies in Latin America are former colonies of Spain and Portugal. Look at Chinese-majority Macau, when the Portuguese colonized this territory, they did not develop industries, foreign trade or a good civil service, but only a most notorious casino monopoly where they derived taxes. In contrast, Asian nations which had been colonized by Britain were better off. Even America had a splendid record in the Philippines, but their 50 years here was too short compared to Spain’s destructive 333 years. Those Asian societies which received Confucian Chinese civilization, such as Korea, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore, they have become “economic miracles” the very instant that socio-political stability and free enterprise economics were institutionalized. I hope that the Philippines can exorcize a lot of the negative cultural and moral influences of the Spanish colonizers, in order for the Philippines to become more progressive. We in the Philippines have more in common with Argentina, Venezuela or Paraguay than other Asian societies. Philippine Star: What are the serious problems of Latin American nations and the Philippines? Wilson Lee Flores: Like the Latin American nations, Philippine society has very high public debt, very low national savings rate, huge disparity between the few who are wealthy and the majority masses who are poor, terrible graft and corruption in government, the military and police organizations, plus military coups. It is tragic that our semi-feudal society and the perverse culture inherited from our Spanish colonizers have condemned the Philippines to be similar to Latin Americans, where you have a distortion of democracy into an absurd democracy only of the elite or the oligarchy. Philippine Star: What do you think can be done to save the Philippines from this tragic condition you had described? Wilson Lee Flores: I reject the utopian and bankrupt ideas of the Communists and their radical left allies, but I am also wary of rightwing fascist groups and their messianic ideas. The Philippines needs cultural and moral revolution in order to save democracy and to ensure that free enterprise economics be viable. We need to have more enlightened political, business, media and other leaders with the guts to subvert and reform the perverse culture and semi-feudal social system bequeathed to us by the Spanish colonizers. Look at what Lee Kuan Yew had done to Singapore, he literally scolded, cajoled and disciplined the Singaporean people towards progress. In Malaysia, Prime Minister Mahathir has pushed for cultural, moral and economic reforms, not hesitating to even scold his own people in his dream of strengthening Malaysia. In China, Taiwan, South Korea and even Japan during the Meiji era, the enlightened power elites of these societies used patriotism, work ethic and national discipline to modernize these once backward societies. Philippine Star: What’s wrong with the traditional power elite of our society? Wilson Lee Flores: In the Philippines and in much of Latin America, many members of the traditional power elites have been morally decadent, selfish, self-absorbed, wasting their nations’ rich natural resources on frivolous pursuits and pervasive corruption. Look at Doña Victorina, Capitan Tiago and other decadent local elites of Rizal’s novels – they are still in charge of our society today. In the Philippines, among the sources of hope for real cultural and moral reforms come from millions of overseas Filipino workers, the millions of expatriate Filipinos now citizens of progressive foreign countries like America and Canada, the entrepreneurial Chinese minority if we can still preserve our traditional Confucian values and not become part of the decadent and effete power elite. Philippine Star: Is it true that you had lost money despite making your restaurant bar quite popular, that you had also excelled in real estate and insurance sales? Wilson Lee Flores: When the Philippine economy was still very robust in the 1995 and 1996, I sold a lot of real estate. In those years, I had no time to write anything, to read, to sleep, and I learned to take quick meals inside the car. I then had two drivers who alternated every other day, because I slept only four hours daily and worked daily, except during All Saint’s Day and during Holy Week. Out of boredom due to the real estate slump during the 1997 Asian crisis and later the Erap crisis, I impatiently got a franchise for a restaurant bar and made my huge outlet quite popular by aggressive promotions. However, the site chosen for me by the franchisor was a lousy location, so I had to cut my huge losses and closed it. This is the third time in my life that I lost a lot of money, and it came at a bad time when most of my past earnings were invested in real estate which now have no incomes and could not be sold due to our bad economy. Philippine Star: What do you mean this was the third time you had lost money? Wilson Lee Flores: I’ve lost money twice before, but always bounced back with more earnings and wiser – first time when my dad died when I was seven years old, later again when I was only age 23 when my mother became critically ill and comatose for two and a half years, my sister Marilou and I decided to spend all her 20 years’ life savings to sustain her with four full-time nurses and the best medical care. Philippine Star: How did you cope with your third experience of losing money? Wilson Lee Flores: Never lose hope. Work harder, have faith in God and in yourself, continuously exercise by doing treadmill daily in the gym to increase my physical and psychological stamina. Ever since, I’ve steadily bounced back again and become definitely wiser. I’ve returned to my first love of real estate and plan to soon go back to constructing affordable middle-class homes for sale. I’m also doing other activities which are financial in nature, which now eat up most of my time. Philippine Star: What lessons have you learned in losing money? Wilson Lee Flores: Losing and earning money to me are all like a game only, because I’ve always maintained a very spartan and disciplined life devoid of luxuries and extravagance. I guess I’ve learned from my late mother’s simple lifestyle, that one could achieve happiness and fulfillment beyond money. I believe it is also good to have taken risks and lost some money while still young, then it is easier to recover and grow stronger than before. I do not fear losing and will continue to make calculated risks in the future, because what is to be feared more is not to have tried at all. Losing money is nothing, what is worse than losing money and worse than even death is to lose hope and determination. I learned it is more exciting now to earn money after having experienced losses, it’s like happiness is sweeter if you’ve known sadness, and you’d live life more fully and passionately if you’ve known death or near-death experiences. Philippine Star: Who are the people in history whom you admire the most? Why? Wilson Lee Flores: I admire men and women of strong will, character and determination who had changed the world for the better, such as Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar both of whom were conquerors who loved literature. Did you know that Alexander the Great slept every night with a dagger and a copy of Homer’s Iliad poetry epic book under his pillow? Few people know that Julius Caesar was not just a military and political genius, that his literary writings such as the 'Commentarii de Bello Gallico' about his military campaign in Gaul, covering the period from 58 BC to 51 BC; and 'De Bello Civili', covering the events of the civil war between Caesar and Pompey in 49 BC and 48 BC, these were masterpieces. Caesar's commentaries are masterpieces of Latin style and prose. For centuries, they have been used as a first reader, introduced to Latin language students after basic grammar lessons. Through the first half of the 20th century, The Commentaries were used as basic text of America’s liberal education. The Commentaries are still used today as a primary source for teaching the early history of Western civilization. King David of the Jewish nation was not only a decisive political leader, he was also a talented poet. China’s legendary Mao Zedong changed history with his earth-shaking revolutionary reforms and he also inspired his people with his magnificent poetry.     Philippine Star: You were in Singapore last month, can you comment on the education system there? Wilson Lee Flores: I foresee Singapore as becoming the education center of ASEAN, like Boston in the U.S. east coast and like Cambridge in England. Look at their National University of Singapore (NUS), it is one of the few truly world-class universities in all Asia. Singapore has invested so much money in education at all levels, both the state and the private sector. Singaporean leaders are aware that their small resource-poor nation state can only remain globally competitive by developing their human resources. In the Philippines, our myopic political leaders are confused about our priorities and they seem to be always gloating that we are sending millions of our most skilled workers overseas. Many of our short-sighted leaders do not realize that this drain of skilled labor and intellectual wealth will forever condemn our country to perpetual poverty, if we don’t overhaul and invest more in education. Instead of hiring one a half million state employees in an over-bloated bureaucracy, instead of spending too much for military supplies and war, why not cut government expenses and corruption elsewhere, then pour all our money into education and into increasing salaries of all our teachers? I’m biased, because my late mother was a teacher. Philippine Star: Why have you gained a reputation as a biographer of tycoons, writing about our taipans and even exclusive interviews to the world’s richest people? Wilson Lee Flores: My great-great-grandfather Dy Han Kia was already third generation here in the Philippines, but unlike his father and grand-uncle who didn’t succeed, he made himself a wealthy lumber and furniture tycoon in the Spanish colonial era and started a remarkable clan in the Philippines. Though I did not inherit his wealth, I plan to honor his memory by writing his inspiring and fascinating saga. I always admire the “rags-to-riches” entrepreneurs not so much for their vast wealth, but because they possess that magic of having amassed wealth and success by themselves in their lifetimes – by dint of their hard work, genius, iron will and by the power of their indomitable dreams. Philippine Star: Who impresses you the most? Please just choose one and no diplomatic answers. Wilson Lee Flores: Actually, this is not a diplomatic answer, but the truth. Your question is difficult, like asking me to choose between an apple and an orange. For sheer guts, breadth of imagination and their amazing grasp of China’s 5,000-year-old history, I admire the late Tan Yu and Lucio Tan. For meticulous obsession with efficiency, strategic planning and management systems, John Gokongwei, Jr. is very impressive. Henry Sy is admirable for his consistency, his trustworthiness and his quiet business style which does not reveal his innermost iron determination to always be number 1 in his field. All of these self-made taipans have egos bigger than shopping malls, which actually benefit the Philippine country due to their nonstop reinvestments and dynamic competition. Of them all, Lucio Tan is the most mysterious, the most controversial, and he is also the only taipan to have directly clashed with four Presidents – Marcos in his last years over his attempts to take control of Tan firms, Cory Aquino due to PCGG sequestration orders, Ramos due to tax evasion and sequestration cases, and even Estrada over conflicts with big Taiwanese airlines. Lucio Tan’s business career is like a suspense-filled telenovela, with people wondering, what’s going to happen next? Philippine Star: Did your ethnic Chinese background give rise to any discrimination in the various fields of work that you do? Wilson Lee Flores: Fortunately, none pa naman. In fact, I think my Chinese background may even be an advantage, because I had been educated in Western culture, Filipino culture and Chinese culture, so I have three unique perspectives with which to critically view events and things. We can derive wisdom from the best of three cultures. I guess the Jews of America or Europe feel the same way, that their Jewish cultural tradition actually enriches their way of thinking. Philippine Star: What do you think of our present government? Wilson Lee Flores: When “Time” magazine asked me to rate President Gloria M. Arroyo a year ago, I rated her A+ for efforts and C- for accomplishments. Perhaps, I can revise that to A for efforts and C for solid accomplishments. We have a leader with the best education and great work ethic, but she seems hobbled by her deep-seated insecurities and her strong instincts for political survival that she has not dared push far-reaching reforms. Due to her unique circumstances of rising to power and her hopes to win the election next year, she has focused on a lot of populist policies instead of asking the nation to take the bitter medicine of difficult socio-economic reforms. Philippine Star: What is your unsolicited advice to President GMA? Wilson Lee Flores: I hope she realizes that I criticize because I want her to succeed, because she is the captain of this ship that we are all riding on called the Philippines. If I were the President and would want to ensure my election victory next year, she should allow close family members and top national-level officials to be prosecuted for corruption. Look at former President Kim Dae Jung of South Korea, he allowed his son to be jailed for corruption while he was in power. Look at former Peru President Alberto Fujimori, he didn’t hesitate to kick out his wife from the palace and to divorce her. GMA should kick out incompetents or crooks, no matter how blindly loyal. Our government now is not reformist enough, this could not go on like this. President GMA should promise to the nation bold reforms and totally new policies if she wins next year, or else her election victory would be a hollow or pyrrhic victory, with her inheriting an increasingly bankrupt government and a deeply-divided demoralized nation. Philippine Star: What is the most important thing you have learned from all these years of writing? Is it worth it? Wilson Lee Flores: I learned from writing that there are so many among the silent majority of the people who are basically decent and hopeful. I learned that despite all the horror stories in our headlines or the shameless corruption by our leaders, a lot of readers out there still pray for simple joys and nourish dreams of a better tomorrow. I enjoy receiving letters from readers. Before I regret not replying to all, but now I respond to each and every letter. In my writings, I learned to be humble, because we do not know everything and the need for learning is boundless. I learned that a good writer, or one who hopes to be a good writer, should never cease being interested in all things and all people, should never stop learning, should never stop hoping, and that we should maintain a healthy dose of skepticism always. Writing is really worth all the efforts, it has been described as the highest form of art; it is a great as self-expression. In developing nations like the Philippines bedeviled with so many problems, writing just for art’s sake or for entertainment is not wrong, but I feel it is too much of a luxury. Hopefully, our writings can help spark the flames of idealism, the light of truth, and .ignite the passion for radical socio-cultural reforms! |
Thursday, October 25, 2012
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