Tessie Sy-Coson: We celebrate not history, but the future
Many thoughts came into my mind as the confetti and balloons descended on us during the celebration of 60 years of #AweSM last Monday at the Mall of Asia.
On my right side, across the aisle, I saw Tessie Sy-Coson, seated beside her mom Felicidad Sy and brother Hans Sy, all of them looking upward with the rain of confetti almost covering their faces.
It reminded me of what Tessie earlier said about SM turning 60: “We are celebrating not history, but the future.”
That is typically Tessie, the one I first met in the late-‘70s, so very hands-on at SM Makati, which I remember having such chic, fashion-forward window displays that I always made it a point to pass by to see what the mannequins would be wearing next.
What happens next, what tomorrow’s look would be, obviously was always top of mind for Tessie. I was fortunate to have lunched in her chic home (as she was not the multi-tasking Forbes lister yet at that time) and I saw how well-put-together her busy life then was as a homemaker and, at the same time, SM Department Store’s visionary. Once a fashion retailer, always a fashion retailer. Because even as she is now busier with corporate and banking matters, Tessie still makes it a point to oversee the merchandising for SM. I can’t imagine how she manages to do it all on a typical working day.
Then I remember how Hans, during the days of our eating club (which included Loren Legarda and Kiko Pangilinan when they were not senators yet, and Robina Gokongwei who made us laugh together with hubby Perry Pe and his witty bantering with fellow lawyer SP Sumulong) would talk about work, work, work even as we were supposed to eat, play and relax from work. Years after, Hans would bask in the construction of SM Arena, recalling its minutest details.
I also remember how I would see their sister Betty (Elizabeth) at Cafe Elysee which was my fave at SM Makati, with the macaroni au gratin which I never got tired of ordering and which I dearly miss. Artist and family friend Juvenal Sanso would always proudly remind me that he designed the Cafe Elysee logo for Betty. The cafe is gone but now Betty has her plate full as she oversees, among other properties, the Conrad Hotel where the China Blue restaurant is sheer heaven for lovers of really good food.
Work, work, work is the mantra ingrained by Henry Sy Sr. in his children Tessie, Hans, Betty, Big Boy (Henry Sy Jr.), Herbert and Harley. This is probably the most important lesson we have learned from the Sy family: an admirable work ethic that the third generation now embraces, and that we could all ponder on and emulate. Coupled with that, such humility ingrained in their souls.
Seated on my left was Millie Dizon, SM’s indefatigable marketing and communications senior VP, an SM stalwart who has devoted her life to this company and family that has showed this country what industrial success is all about. It is so awesome it deserves more than just a shower of confetti.
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