BREAKFAST WITH "EL KAPITAN."

The Association of Young Filipino-Chinese Entrepreneurs (Anvil Business Club) had an exclusively rare and intimate "table talk" time with no less than business tycoon, Dr. Lucio "Kapitan" C. Tan, who regaled the 25-member audience with his "off-the-record" insider information about many of the "blue chip" companies, as well as his time-tested business practices that served him well to be one of the country's most successful Taipans.

Eschewing his usual round of golf to meet with the Anvil members, Dr. Tan arrived at the Wack-Wack Golf and Country Club half-an-hour in advance from his regular routine – 5:20 a.m. to be exact – way ahead of the earliest delegate who turned up at around 6:00 in the morning.

While Dr. Tan is more well-known for his legendary business interests in tobacco, brewery, trade, banking, real estate, aviation, hospitaity, chemical industry, animal husbundry, tourism, education and other sectors (with an aggregate market value of above 20 billion US dollars), few know him as a dyed-in-the-wool Sinologist, where he enlightened his young crowd with his exceptional knowledge of Chinese history and the classics – even incredibly reciting entire verses of Li Bai (李白), Du Fu (杜甫), Wang Wei (王維), Meng Haoran (孟浩然), Li Shangyin (李商隱), and Li Yu (李煜) poetry from memory. In the almost two-hour discourse, the revered cigarette-and-liquor baron shared his business wisdom, giving tips on how to "breathe life into 'dead' enterprises."

Dr. Tan must have enjoyed the company of these young entrepreneurs so much that he decided to stay for another hour before hitting the green. For many Anvil members, it was a surreal and unforgettable experience to have a conversation with a genuine Taipan up close.

Thanks to "El Kapitan" for sponsoring the breakfast, too!