There is a section called Global Pinoy Center in nearly all of the malls of SM Prime Holdings of Henry Sy. It is solely dedicated for overseas Filipino workers and their families.

Obviously the lounge was set up to honor the overseas Filipino whose remittances fuel demand for products sold in the malls.

The lounge is not for the elderly or for senior citizens, according to Hans Sy, president and chief executive officer of SM Prime Holdings. He said they are provided with a different kind of service which he believes they need more.

According to Sy, the malls serve the elderly ‘by providing them with free transport inside SM Mall of Asia as well as various health and wellness activities in SM Malls.

The free rides cost money. But apart from the service, Sy believes the impulsive Filipino buyer including senior citizens and the elderly invariably go home with something bought from one or some of the tenants in the malls.

The mind of Henry Sy works in a way that tells him that serving the people through conveniences such as parks not provided by government and ‘special people’ such as the senior citizens and the elderly has the ancillary effect of having a little business. But his son Hans, pointed out that the free service is not designed to raise sells. ‘We feel good if they buy some stuff, but my father feels just as good if they enjoy the free service that the malls provide.’

Henry Sy started with shoes on a small shop along Rizal avenue in 1958. Sy thought that if each or a majority of the 300,000 people in Manila at that time buys a pair of shoes and he makes a profit of just one peso a pair, he will be in business.

He had with him two certified public accountants, the late Cesar Recinto and Senen Mendiola from Occidental Mindoro. Sy has kept Mendiola up to the present time, although he is no longer that mobile. Mendiola continues to keep his loyalties to his friend. He has a few shares in the original Sy business.

The next Shoemart opened in Makati in 1962. Then came the problem of running out of shoes to sell.

That gave Henry Sy the idea of going into what his son Hans calls soft lines, products like fashion and other home necessities.

Today, Henry’s business empire covers 42 malls all over the country including 16 in various provinces. The first of a string of malls opened in 1985 in North Edsa.

Hans Sy said in an interview the company will keep alive Henry’s Sy’s business philosophy of public service because he has proven that there is money to make serving the people.

SM Prime Investments, the holding company that owns the malls, has five divisions including the supermarkets, retail operations and department stores.

The other ‘virtue’ of Henry Sy is conservation and healthy concern for the environment.

According to Hans, his father makes sure that the water from the central air conditioning system is recycled. Money is saved. Mall of Asia is ‘zero waste water,’ according to Hans.

In Antipolo, Henry Sy has a four-hectare property which he converted into a catch basin. Hans Sy said the basin can impound water for three hours of rains in cats and dogs.

The basin does not give Sy money but it helps prevent floods and save lives and property of poor people in the area.