Written by Cez Nunez

Written as a compilation of biological sketches, Taipan focuses on the life of Filipino-Chinese businessman, Lucio Tan. It explores his roles as husband, father, friend, employer in the light of how others have observed, lived and worked with his thought-provoking wisdom and childlike wonder.

Certainly some of the pieces in Taipan are stronger than others, at least in terms of narrative lenght (some are frustatingly slender) - they all, however, do not try too hard for profundity or novelty. Instead the simplicity of the written accounts effectively make the stories linger and sink in further into the reader. Each piece leaves one more curious to gain a more thorough understanding of this unfamiliar figure who is known to be publicly shy and who has had his share of media branding.

The strenght of Taipan relies heavily on how the editors did not restrict themselves to conversations with notable figures. There are interviews with a broader range of people (a bank janitor, a former officer of Tan's airline, an accountant, etc.), their key relationships present the further Tan's full complexity. Done in a family-album coffeetable book form, it is necessarily as "up close and personal" (as one chapter is titled) and as intimate as one can get with Lucio Tan.

It is in the exploration of Tan's life - the weaving of anecdotal trivia, his personal oddities and quirks that results in the possibility of making one rethink and reinterpret one's own values and belief systems. It becomes a rich source of information for those interested in the philosophies behind a successfully human businessman:

He carries a small pad of yellow paper around with him all the time: at  social gatherings, weddings, business meetings, on airplane trips, during visits to schools, even at family dinners. And there hekeeps track of his appointments and schedules, adjusting the details as he marches through incredibly busy days. But he also uses the pad to take note, write down information - on a new word and its meaning, a new idea, a new process. And this is how he has become an expert on how tobacco is grown and treated, how cement is mixed, how banks can be turned around, how watermelon seeds are best cracked."

Perhaps this is one of the few publications about a "taipan" that does not focus on economics - if anything the subject is loosely interspersed with practical wisdom that is easy to digest, slipping down so comfortably one at first hardly notices them. And this makes the book's thesis simple: that the genius of Tan is certainly the product of spirituality, environment, personality, sheer hardwork and persistence; that Lucio Tan is special is undeniable but the book takes a further step into demystifying and challenging the view that "genius" can only be defined by achievement. Taipan illuminates "genius" as a living process without mystery but that which everyone has if they seek to learn as well as to live in service of others.

December 5, 2007

Manila, Philippines