In the first quarter of the year, the Chinese Filipino Business Club, Inc. (CFBCI) proudly presents the Life Skills and Motivational Seminar (LSMS) at Sky 1 Tower, Binondo, Manila, on April 21, 2024.

Before the commencement of the seminar, Mr. Richard Alviar greeted and reminded the scholars about the policies, attendance, and to prepare for the graduation program. Proceeding, in relation to the seminar’s topic, the hosts, Mr. Joie and Ms. Danna, asked their co-scholars if they consider themselves confident and their journey towards achieving that level of confidence. One of the scholars from UDM said that “hardships in life built my confidence”.

Subsequently, President Samuel Lee Uy greeted the scholars delightfully and started his Serendipity Talk about the “Lent Season”. He asked the graduating students to choose from Pope Francis’ Fasting Tips, and most of them explained the fifth tip, which is to “fast from worries and have trust in God.” Mr. Uy then ended his Serendipity with some advice, “in life, you will face lots of challenges, but instead of focusing on the negative side, focus on the positive ones."

Moving on, Mr. Uy requested the scholars to watch a video entitled “History of Trade Routes with Kishore Mahbubani” that was followed by a question, “as the President of the Philippines, what would you do about South China Sea?”. This was answered by a scholar from UP that “We can be pro-people without being neutral. Instead of pleasing western people, we should focus on building our own defense.”

Furthermore, the speaker of the talk titled “Building Confidence: Understanding your GROWING PAINS," Ms. Jannie Dell P. Garcia, is a CFBCI Alumna 2022 and a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Bachelor of Arts in International Studies from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines. Her talk revolves around the emotional difficulties experienced during adolescence and pre-adulthood.

Scholars then had an activity wherein they were able to look back to their childhood and be creative while writing down their experiences from their toddler, high school, and present years. This was followed by creating a circle form with their row mates and shared their written experiences with each other, which made the other scholars cry as they opened up wholeheartedly.

Lastly, the talk highlighted Self Transcendence, Happy Memories, and the Good Signs of Change, which includes letting yourself see the opportunities in front of you, allowing rich and eternal appreciation of your hard work, looking inward, and not letting struggles to keep you from your true potential. After a meaningful and creative discussion, scholars ate their lunch sponsored by Vice Chairman Linda Lao as she celebrated her birthday with CFBCI Scholars.

菲華工商總會訊：本會為培養「點亮未來」助學方案受助生全方位的成長，開闊學員們的心靈，讓他們吸收新知識，成為德才兼備的青年，每月定期邀請學友會成員，以其專業舉辦主題講座。四月廿一日（星期日）上午，假本會八樓禮堂舉辦今年的第四次修養講座，共一百零四名受助生及學友會成員出席。理事長黃書瑋，文教委員會主任曾煥眉，青年企業委員會主任杜祖蔭，文教委員會副主任留牡丹、莊南文，青年企業委員會副主任黃愛儀，文教委員會理事張其安等領導同仁到場聆聽，並給予專業指導。

當天的主講人是二零二二學年以第二榮譽畢業於菲律濱理工大學(Polytechnic University of the Philippines)，並獲得國際研究文學學士學位的受助生Jannie Del Garcia。本次講座主題為「樹立信心：瞭解成長的煩惱」。

講座開始前，首先由文教委員會主任曾煥眉致歡迎詞，接著理事長黃書瑋勉勵所有學員「在生活中，你會面臨很多挑戰，但與其關注消極的一面，不如關注積極的一面。」然後播放了基肖爾·馬凱碩 (Kishore Mahbubani) 的貿易路線歷史影片，觀看後，與學員們互動提問題：「假設你是菲律濱總統，你將如何處理南海問題？」一位就讀菲律濱國立大學的學員回答：「我們可以親民，但不能中立，與其討好西方人，不如專注於建設自我的防禦」。

理事長黃書瑋也分享對近期社會所關注的卡加延省中國留學生議題的一些想法，他指出，外國學生人數增加，對菲律濱有很好的經濟效益，可促進當地人新的就業和創業機會，尤其是在住宿、交通、零售、餐飲和電信等領域。他呼籲，我們應該要以理性的態度來對待這議題，並期盼大家能夠努力成為和平使者。

隨後進入主題演講，主講人Jannie的演說內容包括青春期和成年前所經歷的困難，及青少年到成年期間所遇到的挫折。主講人讓學員們進行了一項活動，回顧自己的童年，發揮想像力，寫下從幼兒、高中到現在的經歷，並且敞開心扉和其他與會學員互相分享，期間說到動情處，學員們甚至紅了眼眶。