Wilson Lee Flores: A passionate writer

There is one childhood memory of mine that I distinctly remember. It happened some 10 years ago, around the time when I had just read The Story of My Life by Helen Keller. Back then, to the mixed amusement and frustration of my parents, I wanted to become so many things – but at that particular time, the writing career especially held my fascination. Apparently, Helen Keller’s sentiments, "Literature is my utopia; here I am not disenfranchised" struck me deeply. Like her, I "loved writers whose minds bubble up in the sunshine of optimism – fountains of joy and good will, with occasionally a splash of anger and here and there a healing spray of sympathy and pity."

Thus, being able to meet Wilson Flores, then already a writer I admired, thrilled me. When I asked him for advice on how to be a good writer, he gave the 10-year old me one simple answer: "A good writer is a good re-writer."

A decade later, and I still treasure the advice Wilson gave me. My admiration for him as a writer has grown throughout the years. Wilson, a multi-faceted Philippine STAR columnist, won three Palanca literary awards while he was just in his first year as a business student at the Ateneo de Manila University. Last October 21, he won 2 Catholic Mass Media Awards for "Best Business Column" and "Best Opinion Column." Wilson is also a Philippine correspondent of Hong Kong-based Yazhou Zhoukan (Asia Weekly), the world’s largest international Chinese newsweekly magazine.

Wilson writes in English, Filipino, Chinese and even took special Spanish language courses at Instituto Cervantes because his theory is that an average person can master at least five languages. He was managing editor and columnist of the Ateneo’s Guidon (university paper), wrote Filipino poems in every issue of the Ateneo’s Matanglawin and was founding president of the Ateneo’s multi-awarded Celadon (Chinese students organization). Wilson has authored five books on Philippine business leaders commissioned by the De La Salle University Press and once edited a German doctorate scholar’s book on the Edsa 1986 revolution in his Ateneo philosophy class.

Unknown to most people, Wilson’s parents died when he was young and he has since been very independent. Although he considers writing his hobby, and devotes more time to what he describes as "mundane money-earning chores," he has learned to enjoy writing the most. He believes that writers in the Philippines have three main inter-related roles: First, in a third world country like the Philippines, a writer should not only entertain and educate but should also be agents of social change and reform. Second, a writer should be a conscience of society, reminding people about truth and goodness despite the absurd environment we live in. Lastly, in a corrupt and unjust society like ours, writing for the sake of self-expression or for art’s sake only is not enough – writers should be brave and revolutionary in subverting the prevailing corrupt and inefficient order that we have in the country, or else the country will forever continue its nonstop economic, social, political, moral and cultural decline. Writers should not accept things as they are but should be more critical of things around them.

Here, Wilson talks more about his passions as a writer who is keenly interested in diverse subjects — from criticizing corrupt politicians, interviewing the world’s wealthiest billionaires, poking fun at showbiz stars, discussing history and food to once analyzing trends in America’s comic books.

Philippine STAR: I heard that you read and memorized the entire encyclopedia as a kid – is this true?

WILSON LEE FLORES: Yes, I read three sets of whole encyclopedias of my neighbors, because our family didn’t own one. I walked two blocks down the road at night and borrowed one volume after another, devouring information in the same way kids ate ice cream in summer! There was another next- door neighbor of ours whose dad was in the tobacco business, and I also borrowed two different sets of their encyclopedia one volume at a time. I remember a lot of things easily, but I didn’t seek to memorize them. I doubt if my neighbors’ kids ever read those volumes they had in their bookcases.

How does it feel to be interviewed for a change?

It’s fun to be able to answer your interesting and thought-provoking questions. The first time I was interviewed was for the Guidon university paper at the Ateneo when I was in first year college and had won three Palanca literary awards. This beautiful junior student interviewed me for one hour, but when I read her report it was a one-paragraph news lang pala! In my first ever television interview a few years ago, David Celdran of ABS-CBN 2 came to my home and interviewed me not about me, but about my favorite Labrador Retriever dog who’s also a champion named Duchess! By the way, for your added info lang, Duchess is happily married to another dog of mine whom I named Clinton.

Is it true that you idolized your late mother Mary Young Siu Tin, that you once even wrote a long article on great men whose mothers influenced them?

Yes. Great leaders whom I admire such as US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and the liberator of the Philippines from Japanese militarism General Douglas MacArthur – all of them had great mothers who shaped their lives. In the then 1999 Asiaweek magazine’s call for readers to nominate the "Asian of the Century," the person who had brought the greatest good for the whole region, I nominated my teacher mother as "a symbol of the moral courage and priceless contributions to Asian history of countless faceless and unheralded Asian women." The editors chose my nomination, published my late mom’s short bio and wrote in the editorial that she was "the clear winner."

What are your favorite books?

My first favorite book was a colored MacMillan textbook Daniel in the Lion’s Den, which I read when I was seven years old. As a kid, I read almost all the Hardy Boys, Perry Mason and even Nancy Drew novels, plus other popular novels. Later, I read all kinds of literary works, especially all the novels of Ernest Hemingway and Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I recently read all the novels of Indonesian writer Pramoedya Ananda Toer, a former political prisoner of ex-dictator Suharto, who I believe is ASEAN’s most deserving writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. My favorite books have always been biographies of achievers, history, business and economics, science (not science fiction), comics, novels of all kinds from the literary to the popular ones, and poetry. Ever since I started earning my own money, I have collected thousands of books from all over the world in my specially-designed library. Buying books is my only real luxury. I think the number and vast range of topics of my books are already comparable to the collection of Thomas Jefferson, the Renaissance Man whom I admire very much. My childhood dream was to build a simple house with a huge two-storey library with stairs to go up bookcases and a vast garden full of trees and greeneries.

You have not mentioned any Filipino authors…

I enjoy reading Filipino writers, such as the country’s best living novelist Nick Joaquin, the late Bienvenido Santos, Alfred Yuson, Jose Dalisay, national artist Virgilio Almario, Jose Lacaba and others.

How did you become a writer?

My late mother wanted me to become a doctor or a novelist. Can you imagine, a mother from a Chinese family wanting her son to write novels? It was I who said I had no interest in medicine. I also said no to being a full-time novelist, telling her that this is not America or China; that I don’t want to starve because not many people here read novels. I took up a business course. My mother was remarkable. She explained that many tycoons come and go, but great novelists influence ideas and cultures of mankind forever. Not wanting to disappoint her, I promised her that I’ll learn to write somehow, and that’s the reason I started writing.

Have you had any negative feedback to your columns?

The Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) national president Joel Cadiz and many other nationalists expressed strong objections to my column, which vigorously supported the Bush policy of war to kick out Saddam Hussein in Iraq. At that time, I was led to believe, based on US and British intelligence claims, that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. I still strongly believe the world is better off now without Saddam Hussein, but I couldn’t fully answer a recent question from a graduating student of Grace Christian High School whether that war was right or wrong.

Are there any people whom you have angered by your columns?

One of my readers, Atty. Wilfredo Chato, once invited me to speak in their Rotary Club in Greenhills and he introduced me as "a columnist, not a calumnist". At least, when I make criticisms, I do not indulge in malicious personal attacks or calumny, nothing personal. I hope that those I make fun of do not take my criticisms as personal attacks. Kris Aquino once said that she reads my columns though I was sometimes nasty to her. Actually, I admire this beautiful and smart woman very much, and I had on a few occasions criticized her because I don’t want her to waste her immense talents, her leadership potentials and her vast influence as a role model of the youth. I admire the late Ninoy Aquino and ex-President Cory Aquino, and it is disappointing to see her ruin her life in public that way. I do not seek to write on controversial topics, I just wish that some of my columns can help subvert and chip away at the pervasive culture of corruption which has impoverished the Philippines for centuries. Constructive criticism of our imperfect democracy, our underperforming government and inefficient society by writers like me will hopefully help push reforms. These constructive criticisms within our democratic framework are a thousand times better than the illegal military coups of rightwing zealots or the dangerous bloody revolution now being waged by the misguided idealists of the New People’s Army.

Why do you think the Philippines is Asia’s Latin American nation and how are we different from Korea, Singapore, Taiwan or Vietnam?

We have to call a spade a spade. The Philippines had the misfortune of having been colonized by Spain. Most of the chaotic and unstable societies in Latin America are former colonies of Spain and Portugal. In contrast, Asian nations which had been colonized by Britain were better off. Even America had a splendid record in the Philippines, but their 50 years here was too short. Those Asian societies which received Confucian Chinese civilization have become "economic miracles" the very instant that socio-political stability and free enterprise economics were institutionalized. I hope that the Philippines can exorcize a lot of the negative cultural and moral influences of the Spanish colonizers, in order for the Philippines to become more progressive. We in the Philippines have more in common with Argentina, Venezuela or Paraguay than other Asian societies.

What are the similarities between Latin American nations and the Philippines?

Like the Latin American nations, Philippine society has very high public debt, very low national savings rate, huge disparity between the few who are wealthy and the masses who are poor, terrible graft and corruption in government, the military and police organizations, plus military coups. It is tragic that our semi-feudal society and the perverse culture inherited from our Spanish colonizers have condemned the Philippines to be similar to Latin Americans, where you have a distortion of democracy into an absurd democracy only of the elite or the oligarchy.

What do you think can be done to save the Philippines from our tragic condition?

I reject the utopian and bankrupt ideas of the Communists and their radical left allies, but I am also wary of rightwing fascist groups and their messianic ideas. The Philippines needs cultural and moral revolution in order to save democracy and to ensure that free enterprise economics is viable. We need to have more enlightened political, business, media and other leaders with the guts to subvert and reform the perverse culture and semi-feudal social system bequeathed to us by the Spanish colonizers. Look at what Lee Kuan Yew had done to Singapore, he literally scolded, cajoled and disciplined the Singaporean people towards progress. In Malaysia, Prime Minister Mahathir has pushed for cultural, moral and economic reforms, not hesitating to even scold his own people in his dream of strengthening Malaysia. In China, Taiwan, South Korea and even Japan during the Meiji era, the enlightened power elites of these societies used patriotism, work ethic and national discipline to modernize these once backward societies.

What’s wrong with the traditional power elite of our society?

In the Philippines and in much of Latin America, many members of the traditional power elites have been morally decadent, selfish, self-absorbed, wasting their nations’ rich natural resources on frivolous pursuits and pervasive corruption. Look at Doña Victorina, Capitan Tiago and other decadent local elites of Rizal’s novels — they are still in charge of our society today. In the Philippines, among the sources of hope for real cultural and moral reforms are the millions of overseas Filipino workers, the millions of expatriate Filipinos who are now citizens of progressive foreign countries like America and Canada, the entrepreneurial Chinese minority if we can still preserve our traditional Confucian values and not become part of the decadent and effete power elite.

Is it true that you lost money despite making your restaurant bar quite popular, that you also excelled in real estate and insurance sales?

When the Philippine economy was still very robust in the 1995 and 1996, I sold a lot of real estate. In those years, I had no time to write anything, to read, to sleep, and I learned to take quick meals inside the car. I then had two drivers who alternated every other day, because I slept only four hours daily and worked daily, except during All Saint’s Day and during Holy Week. Out of boredom due to the real estate slump during the 1997 Asian crisis and later the Erap crisis, I impatiently got a franchise for a restaurant bar and made my huge outlet quite popular through aggressive promotions. However, the site chosen for me by the franchisor was a lousy location, so I had to cut my huge losses and close it. This is the third time in my life that I lost a lot of money, and it came at a bad time when most of my past earnings were invested in real estate which now have no incomes and could not be sold due to our bad economy.

How did you cope with your experience of losing money?

Never lose hope. Work harder, have faith in God and in yourself. I continuously exercise by doing treadmill daily in the gym to increase my physical and psychological stamina. Since then, I’ve steadily bounced back and become definitely wiser. I’ve returned to my first love which is real estate and plan to soon go back to constructing affordable middle-class homes for sale. I’m also doing other activities, which are financial in nature, and now eat up most of my time. Losing money is nothing; what is worse than losing money and worse than even death is to lose hope and determination. I learned it is more exciting to earn money after having experienced losses, it’s like happiness is sweeter if you’ve known sadness, and you’d live life more fully and passionately if you’ve known death or have had near-death experiences.

Who are the people in history whom you admire the most and why?

I admire men and women of strong will, character and determination who have changed the world for the better, such as Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar both of whom were conquerors who loved literature. Did you know that Alexander the Great slept every night with a dagger and a copy of Homer’s Iliad poetry epic book under his pillow? King David of the Jewish nation was not only a decisive political leader; he was also a talented poet. China’s legendary Mao Zedong changed history with his earth-shaking revolutionary reforms and he also inspired his people with his magnificent poetry.

Do you think your Chinese background gives rise to any discrimination in the various fields of work that you do?

Fortunately, none pa naman. In fact, I think my Chinese background may even be an advantage, because I had been educated in Western culture, Filipino culture and Chinese culture, so I have three unique perspectives with which to critically view events and things. We can derive wisdom from the best of these three cultures. I guess the Jews of America or Europe feel the same way, that their Jewish cultural tradition actually enriches their way of thinking.

How would you compare the Filipino Chinese tycoons like George Ty, Henry Sy, Lucio Tan , John Gokongwei and Alfonso Yuchengco and others with the ethnic Spanish tycoons like the Zobels, Aboitizes, Aranetas, Madrigals, Elizaldes?

What is inspiring about most of the Filipino Chinese tycoons is the fact that most of them were rags-to-riches entrepreneurs and immigrants who had to overcome more social, economic and other disadvantages in their rise to success. Most of them exemplify the traditional Confucian values such as hard work, frugality, self-discipline, sacrifice of self for family and the enterprise, endless love for learning. I was probably the very first writer in the Philippines to use the word taipan to describe these business leaders, whose Confucian moral values and cultural outlooks seem to have more in common with their peers all over Asia. In contrast, the ethnic Spanish tycoons such as the Zobel-Ayalas, the Aboitizes and others come from a totally different tradition, with roots in Spain or with Western-style corporate cultures.

What do you think of our present government?

When Time magazine asked me to rate President Gloria M. Arroyo a year ago, I rated her A+ for effort and C- for accomplishments. Perhaps, I can revise that to A for effort and C for solid accomplishments. We have a leader with the best education and great work ethic, but she seems hobbled by her deep-seated insecurities and her strong instincts for political survival that she has not dared push far-reaching reforms. Due to her unique circumstances of rising to power and her hopes to win the election next year, she has focused on a lot of populist policies instead of asking the nation to take the bitter medicine of difficult socio-economic reforms.

What is the most important thing you have learned from all these years of writing?

I learned from writing that there are so many among the silent majority who are basically decent and hopeful. I learned that despite all the horror stories in our headlines or the shameless corruption by our leaders, a lot of readers out there still pray for simple joys and nourish dreams of a better tomorrow. I enjoy receiving letters from readers. Before I regret not replying to all, but now I respond to each and every letter. In my writings, I learned to be humble, because we do not know everything and the need for learning is boundless. I learned that a good writer, or one who hopes to be a good writer, should never cease being interested in all things and all people, should never stop learning, should never stop hoping, and that we should maintain a healthy dose of skepticism always. Writing is really worth all the efforts, it has been described as the highest form of art; it is a great as form of self-expression. In developing nations like the Philippines bedeviled with so many problems, writing just for art’s sake or for entertainment is not wrong, but I feel it is too much of a luxury. Hopefully, our writings can help spark the flames of idealism, the light of truth, and ignite the passion for radical socio-cultural reforms!

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For more comments or suggestions, e-mail the author at steniecoyiuto@yahoo.com.