Tatang built a hall for ‘iNay’

“I never imagined attaining big success. Whatever I have achieved did not happen overnight; ever since my teen years I have devoted many, many years of my life to non-stop studying, diligent work, and dreaming of a better future.” Henry Sy Sr. to The Philippine STAR, 2006

At the Assumption College (AC) campus in San Lorenzo Village in Makati, there is a handsome five-story edifice that has changed the landscape of the school — literally and figuratively. It is the Henry Sy Sr. Hall.

Inside the hall, inaugurated last year by Mrs. Felicidad Sy, Tessie Sy-Coson, Hans Sy and Elizabeth Sy, there is a special place for “iNay: Circle of Leaders and Learners.” It is a home for programs that provide life-skills and transformative education for adults.

Sy, fondly called Tatang by rich and poor, young and old alike, left this world last Saturday, Jan. 19. He leaves behind a grieving family, but a legacy so huge he will virtually be immortal.

His legacy not only includes a string of supermalls nationwide and the country’s No. 1 bank — it also includes several learning centers, schools, scholarships.

Sy, the richest man in the Philippines, not only gave people jobs. He equipped countless young people with the skills needed to teach them “how to fish.”

At Tatang’s wake at the Heritage Memorial Park last week, his life was celebrated by over a kilometer-long (maybe two-kilometer-long, in fact)  row of wreaths that eventually spilled over to the driveway and the roads outside the funeral chapel.

A multitude gathered to pay their last respects. Aside from top government officials, tycoons, taipans and friends of the Sy family, there were several students and little children from schools he funded who bade him farewell. I even saw kindergarten students!

Truly, Tatang not only built malls, he nurtured minds and  created a future for legions.

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From 2016 to 2018, I served in the board of the Assumption Alumnae Association and was thus privileged to witness the inauguration of the Henry Sy Sr. Hall. If you haven’t set foot in the AC campus in a long time, this will be the first thing that will catch your eye.

“This building is not hollow blocks and cement. This is a place, a nurturing place,” Assumption College president Dr. Pinky Valdes promised during the building’s inauguration.

“And what’s going to happen here is to give love, and second life. When you come here in your thirties, forties, fifties, sixties and seventies, everybody is welcome. This is a place that will generate this tremendous energy that pushes you.”

A marble marker inside Henry Sy Sr. Hall reads: “My father is the visionary…I make things happen.” — Tessie Sy-Coson.

The Henry Sy Sr. Hall at the Assumption College in Makati.

The plaque further states the mission of the place, that it is “dedicated to adult transformative education that nurtures a circle of leaders and learners.”

Tessie recalled at the building’s inauguration that it was her father who decreed that she study at the Assumption College in San Lorenzo “over 50 years ago.”

Tessie said, “Many of you might be surprised why this is the Henry Sy building. Actually, it was my dad who made me study at the Assumption for college.”

Grateful for the school’s role in her life, and honoring her father at the same time, Tessie said she and her siblings want the Henry Sy Sr. Hall to be a catalyst in the community, as each SM project aims to be.

 Designed by architect Willy Coscolluela, the Henry Sy Sr. Hall is comprised of state-of-the-art facilities in a five-story building. It includes the Paradiso Exhibit Hall; Pamana Museum; Liwanag Innovation Center; Little Theater; Biyaya Gathering Hall; Chinshi Contemplation Garden; Entheos; Harmony Review Room; Discovery Room; and Ani Culinary Corner. These venues are available for the transformative education of adults.

“I can also continue my learning here,” Tessie pointed out.

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Pinky recalled that decades ago, Henry Sy pulled her aside and said he was going to build more malls in the country than another prominent family would.

“And I looked at him and I said ‘He’s gonna do it.’ Little did I know it would be his daughter who was going to do it. And his son.”

“We are deeply grateful for this building because Tessie said we have forgotten the students once they graduate. What she wanted originally was a center for women leaders but we thought we’ll be nice to the men as well. This is for everyone,” Pinky added.

But admittedly, there will be a focus on women with the “iNay: Circle of Leaders and Learners.”

During the inauguration of the Henry Sy Sr. Hall at the Assumption College San Lorenzo are (from left) Sisters Bernadette and Isabel, r.a., Tessie Sy-Coson, Felicidad Sy, Assumption College president Pinky Valdes, Elizabeth Sy and Hans Sy.

“Because I asked her, ‘You know Tessie, tell me the truth. Everybody says in the Philippines, men and women are really equal. To be honest, when you look at the world, I think in the Philippines, we’ve already have two female presidents. So, I said, ‘Tessie tell me the truth, are we really equal?’ And she said, ‘Not yet.’ So my plug is always we need to have equal representation in corporations.”

Pinky says that the building makes concrete what the Sy family believes, which made Tessie and her siblings nod in agreement. “This building is a sign that the Sy family really cares about people. You didn’t have to do this. You could have put your money somewhere else. Why in a school? Why did you do this in La Salle, in Miriam, in Assumption? Why in a school? Because I think the Sys understand there’s only one thing that would change society — education.”

According to AC dean Ola Regala, “The Henry Sy building gave us a venue for expanding and enhancing our ongoing education for adults specifically teachers, alumnae, corporations, and those seeking a place for transformative learning. At Henry Sy, we do spirituality and art for transformative experiences under the programs of iNay: Circle of Leaders and Learners. We are also launching CASA (Counseling and Assessment Services at Assumption) soon. This center will provide services to meet the personal, educational and mental health needs of the local community.”

“Education is a rock you have to break through. But the rock is actually fear. And when you break through, the flower blossoms,” Pinky Valdes concludes.

Thank you, Tatang, for breaking through many rocks and letting a field of flowers blossom.