Diligence & Thriftiness: Chinese-Filipino businessman's struggle for family business

World
Europe

02:49

In the Philippines, as well as in other parts of Southeast Asia, ethnic Chinese members of society are known for their hard work and talent for business. CGTN's Barnaby Lo met a Chinese-Filipino businessman who inherited a failing family business but now has one of the most well-known Chinese pastry stores in the Philippines.

Seeing the weekday foot traffic in Eng Bee Tin's flagship store in Manila's Chinatown, it's hard to imagine that once upon a time, the Philippines' most well-known Chinese pastry store was struggling.

GERRY CHUA ENG BEE TIN OWNER "My checks would bounce every single day. It came to a point where we couldn't pay our suppliers. No one wanted to even sell us sugar and flour. So I decided to make our products myself and sell them, that's why I have burn marks on my skin."

As the eldest among four children, Gerry took it upon himself to save his family's business, one that began with his grandfather, an immigrant from China, selling pastry on foot. Gerry's first attempt at innovation was to use corn oil instead of lard to make their pastry products softer. That didn't work, but Gerry didn't give up.

BARNABY LO MANILA "So this is how bad the situation had been at one point for Gerry Chua. He would hang out outside this supermarket just to get a little bit of the cold from the air-conditioning inside. Little did he know, however, that this is also where opportunity will come."

GERRY CHUA ENG BEE TIN OWNER "One day I asked a saleslady what ice cream flavors were on sale, and she said, 'Purple yam'. I heard a voice then that told me to make yam pastry, so I bought six bottles of purple yam and made pastry."

So if you're asking why there's purple everywhere in Eng Bee Tin, it's simple. Gerry hit it big with ube or yam-flavored pastries. Mr. Ube, as Gerry's now known, continues to grow his business, but he says he's slowly giving the reins to his children.

GERIK CHUA GERRY'S SON "One of the things that he taught us was to be frugal. But not to be frugal on everything but to be frugal on things that you really don't need. But he always told us to never skimp on the quality of our products."

Big shoes to fill but generation after generation, Chinese-Filipinos have proven they're capable of building on the hard-earned fortunes of their immigrant forefathers. Barnaby Lo, CGTN, Manila.