Clockwise from upper left: Michael Christian Martinez, Southeast Asia’s first figure skater in the Winter Olympics. Henry Sy Sr., builder of the Philippines’ first ice skating rinks. PCCI President  Alfredo “Fred” Yao. From OFW to top caterer:  Engineer Alex Michael del Rosario. Philippine Stock Exchange CEO Dr. Hans Sicat  

When you cease to dream, you cease to live. —Malcolm Forbes

Despite a lack of resources, Michael Christian Martinez’s inspiring dream recently focused the international media spotlight on the Philippines at the Sochi Winter Olympics. The 17-year-old Martinez was not only the country’s lone competitor there, he is also the first figure skater ever to represent a Southeast Asian country!

In business terms, who would attempt such an unlikely dream, such as South Korea with Samsung, Taiwan with HTC or China with Huawei and Lenovo?

Thanks to visionary “rags-to-riches” taipan Henry Sy Sr. for dreaming of and pioneering the first-ever ice skating rink in the Philippines at SM Megamall in 1992. Sy told me before that the reason for this totally unheard-of idea was his love for ice skating during his foreign travels. This is the reason CNN and other media highlighted the fact of Martinez as “being an unlikely competitor from a country without snow.”

Philippine STAR senior vice president for sales and marketing Lucien C. Dy Tioco said: “Saw this kid practicing at SM Southmall skating rink three years ago and my jaw dropped as he did the Biellmann spin. I thought to myself, “This kid should be in the Winter Olympics. And what do you know, he now is!”