By Irene Leonico
As Manila hosted the 31st Asean Summit last month, several activities among the world’s top leaders circled around the theme “Partnering for Change, Engaging the World.” According to the event’s website, the theme reflects the Philippine government’s advocacy to promote unity with and among Asean member states and its global partners.
A forum entitled “Entrepreneurship in the Digital Economy” concluded the five forums of the Asean Business and Investment Summit. It discussed the role of the digital economy in its aim to increase inclusion in the region. Nick Nash, Group President of SEA Group, opened the discussion as he shared the three key dimensions on why Asean is a unique destination for global investors. One of the topics centered on the region’s great sense of optimism for the future.
The Asean region is unified in its optimism that cooperative businesses may bring forth benefits to all parties concerned. According to Michael Czinkota, a professor in International Business at Georgetown University and University of Kent, “Friends and adversaries do not require winners and losers. With all the physical, technical and information resources now easily available, we must search for the spiritual soul of business, and make it catch up with the physical body. We all must contribute to find new paths to help others by sharing their burden. They in turn must be willing to share ours.”
As we enter a new year, it may help to share optimism in our own communities, be it on our online feeds and offline relationships. We can take a uniting gaze at the pain our broken ties had caused by our differences in opinions, decisions and preferences. There is much room to foster optimism in our common aspirations; from a global, regional, local lens.
We may had been exposed to hurt and injustice from what had been amplified on the news in the outgoing year, yet it is still possible to emerge as one resilient society. We can co-create optimism inspired by the lessons from our sufferings and other’s misjudgments. Sometimes, we need not to look farther to restore bonds within our own professional, social and familial ties. It may help to look at one’s eyes to apologize or extend forgiveness to those who had shaped us for who we are today.
I have never been more proud of being a Filipino than I am this year. We had been endlessly thriving and continuously hoping for clarity in dim.
I simply cannot say it enough: look how far we’ve come with a different take on optimism. We are bleeding, but we are still breathing. Happy New Year, Philippines! Manigong Bagong Taonpo sa inyong lahat!
Ireene Leoncio is an aspiring global citizen who was born and raised in Manila. She is on a study leave as a faculty member of the Marketing and Advertising Department of the Ramon V. del Rosario College of Business of De La Salle University. Leoncio is currently a PhD Marketing research student in the United Kingdom and in-training to be a yoga teacher. She earned her master’s degree in Washington D.C. She worked for multinational companies managing global brands in Manila, New York City and the San Francisco Bay area.
The views expressed above are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official position of DLSU, its faculty and its administrators.