A stalwart of the Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Inc. or FFCCCII, Lily Lim is the organization’s executive director and the vice-chairman of its Media and Public Information committee.
Lim started as a teacher and went on to build a consumer goods distribution company. It was an engagement that brought out her gift for enterprise, which she enhanced with the Filipino-Chinese values she acquired growing up.
Essential to Lim is helping others and doing her part for society while serving as a leader, endeavors that are both a calling and an interest to which she has given vent by being active in the FFCCCII.
The Daily Tribune interviewed Lim, who guided us around the organization’s office in Binondo, Manila.
Daily Tribune (DT): The Chinese observe certain traditions and practices to attract good luck in their lives and businesses, especially during the start of the year. Would you like to share with us some of them?
Lily Lim (LL): First of all, Kung Hei Fat Choy to the Daily Tribune. The celebration of the Chinese New Year ends when the Lantern Festival takes place, and this is during the full moon. During this time, Chinese lanterns are hung, and inside them are words and phrases that are supposed to bring good luck, such as happiness, wealth, and excellent health. The merrymakers take turns guessing what these words are and what they mean.
During this time, it is customary to eat peanut balls. These are tiny balls that grow in size when dipped into boiling water. In the middle of the ball is sweetened sesame seed. Eating it signifies a year full of sweetness, while the roundness of the ball symbolizes perfection.
And then, if you walk around Chinatown, you will see a lot of pineapple vendors. That’s because people display pineapple in their homes because the Hokkien word for the fruit, ong lai, means “fortune come.”
You will also see small leaves that look like rice grains, which signifies a good harvest in the coming year.
DT: Chinese traditions symbolize what one looks forward to and hope for, and that’s why Chinese and Filipinos would say there’s no harm in practicing them. But beyond the observance of these traditions, what makes the Chinese successful, especially in business?
LL: To be successful is not easy, but it can also be easy. Why? It’s all a matter of practicing the values of sipag at tiyaga. You have to be both hardworking and patient. Because only some things will go smoothly. In life, there are ups and downs. As long as you are hardworking, determined, and patient, there’s nothing that you cannot achieve.
DT: We are interested in your Chinese roots. So, tell us about your family. When did your family come to the Philippines?
A: I am a fourth-generation Filipino-Chinese. My great-grandparents landed first in Zamboanga City. Then, after some time, my grandparents returned to China, then came back again, this time with my grandfather and my granduncle. After staying for several years in Zamboanga, they moved to Manila. So, my father and my uncles started here anew. Initially, they collected empty bottles and resold them.
DT: So, what were your parents engaged in?
LL: We had a small business, a drugstore. That’s because my grandfather’s sister also had a drugstore in the Binondo area. She was married to a doctor, and they put up one they put one drugstore there.
My grandfather put one in Quiapo, and my uncle put another in Ongpin street. So, all the brothers and a sister were into drugstores.
DT: What were the Chinese traits that they possessed?
LL: They were very resourceful and hardworking.
DT: Did you immediately plunge into business after college?
LL: No, I first became a teacher. When I was young, the teacher in my school was rigorous. I eventually took up AB and majored in Psychology, and I wanted to share positive values with young people.
Moral education, as now, was fundamental because it deals with character. Everything starts from childhood, and that’s how education is essential.
DT: What about your siblings? Did you have brothers and sisters? And what do they do?
LL: We were seven in the family. Four sisters and three boys. And all the girls were all teachers. We all started as teachers in our professions. All of us. My mom was an outstanding teacher to us at home. She was very strict.
DT: How did your parents raise you?
LL: My upbringing was such that our parents provided our basic needs. But you would not have any single cent. No extra expenses and no extra buying, and no extra activities. So, if you wanted something that needed to be more basic, you had to work for it.
As young ones, we had only eyes and ears. We were not allowed to raise questions, and we were not allowed to talk while being asked. So, we just followed instructions.
DT: We heard that the Chinese favor their sons or men more than women. So, what was it like in your family when you were growing up?
LL: Luckily, our family was very open. Everybody was equal. However, my grandparents at that time favored a little bit the side of my father’s only sister, the youngest. But no complaints were heard from her brothers because they loved their sister. But on our side, my mom and father were equal. Of course, sometimes you would notice that something special would be given to the boys. But if you didn’t mind, it didn’t matter at all. It was all a matter of attitude.
DT: What about later on in life, when you started working? Did that present any challenges for you, that men were more favored?
LL: To this day, I am still trying to show that women can do something. That’s why I have not stopped learning. I also got my motivation from my mother, who was into sports, which develops your character. My mom was a basketball player in high school. She had to stop studying during the Japanese occupation and was trying to pass on her dreams to us.