Hans Sy, Jr.
Vice President, SM Engineering, Design & Development
My childhood dream was to be a fighter pilot. When I was a kid, I had so many books on jet planes, and then I realized my eyesight would never let me become one. I had a high grade: 800 at one point.
My dream now is to do what I do and make it even better. I’m working for SM right now, so my dream is basically to take it bigger than what it is, because it’s not enough to be dominant locally. The dream is to be able to match the achievements of my predecessors and at least maintain that level of performance. Success means being content with yourself. It’s that sense of self-fulfillment that I know at the end of the day. I’m happy with what I’ve done, I’m happy with who I am. The fact that you’re satisfied with what you’ve done. My business icon is, no question, my grandfather, Henry Sy, Sr. He’s done so much that his actions have more than inspired a lot of people to deliver even more than what has been done. He’s been such an inspiration to us, through both his actions and the way he lives his life. The best things my parents (Hans Sy and Carol Sy) taught me are the family core values of humility, diligence, hard work. We’re very happy that, you know, at the end of the day, we don’t really have people who talk bad about us because we’re generally nice people. The best part of my job is that I’m able to do things that no one else can do and that’s what keeps me going. We have a very hectic schedule and a lot people ask me, “Why do you work the way that you work? Why do you bother, why do you stress?” At the end of the day I tell myself that God gave me an opportunity to be in a place where I can make things happen or where I can make a difference. Legacy to me is the story you leave behind for people other people to tell. It depends on what you’ve done. Is it enough that people will talk about it? As you can imagine, remembering the stories of the past, it’s only the big ones that stand out.
In 30 years, I’d like the Philippines to evolve into the country that it should have always been. We all know the stories about the ‘60s; we were an international superpower. Hopefully, we get back to where we were meant to be. There is no question in my mind that we should be up there among the other nations because we got everything. All we lack, really, is good governance and discipline.