The LT Group’s Michael G. Tan

MORE than a decade ago, when his daughter was in primary school, Michael “Mike” G. Tan, now 48, called me regarding her homework on massive Roman numerals.

After I told Mike his solution was correct, he said, “Why are kids forced to memorize symbols for big numbers they won’t use at all? They should be memorizing multiplication tables!”

I agreed, and couldn’t resist saying: “Mike, you actually have time to tutor your kids!”

In this aspect, at least, the president of the LT Group, which includes Asia Brewery and Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco, takes after his father Lucio. When Mike and his siblings were growing up, their father used to assign them Mandarin passages to commit to memory.

“We had to recite passages in front of him,” said Mike.

Study really, really hard

Unlike parents who claim to be too busy with work or hobbies, the taipan and his son devote time to things that matter.

There was nothing trivial with the way Mike and his siblings were educated. Mike and elder brother Bong studied in Xavier School, then they continued high school in Singapore’s Dunman, a rigorous Chinese-language school.

Mike does not like to be in the spotlight. But since I studied at the neighboring girls’ school, I have heard about his academic prowess.

“I did OK in Xavier, but in Dunman, the Chinese lessons are extremely tough. I was near the bottom of my class. My exams were given in Chinese as a second language. I had to study really, really hard.”

After graduation, Mike took language lessons at the Beijing Chinese Language and Culture College. He next studied in Beijing University.

“Again, I had difficulties with Chinese. I even had a tutor,” he said.

Context

Mike studied History, and we embarked on a lively discourse. How wars might have enabled almost all European nations to rule their part of the world for a time. How the early unification of China affected its people.

Mike’s birthday? Answer his riddle: “the last day of the last sign of the zodiac.” I learned I was born in the first sign of the zodiac, a few weeks younger than him.

The best places in China: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou? “Those are big modern cities. Go to the smaller ones, Xiamen and Dalian; they are more pro- gressive than Makati.”

Beautiful places? “Qingtao, beside the lake.” Favorite place in the world? “Istanbul.” Really?

"I used to think Paris is the most beautiful city,” said Mike. “But now it’s Istanbul.” He reeled off the attractions: the Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, the Bosphorus River. Istanbul is also at the crossroads of East and West, he said.

History helps Mike put events in context. Take religion.

“In the Bible, we read the Letters to the Romans and the Corinthians, but Christianity would be better understood if put in context. If only teachers would emphasize that Corinth is a city in Greece, or that Rome was the center of the empire for centuries. Teach history and religion, parallel topics, at the same time, to get the proper context.”

Or work. “In business, we need to