TOYM Acceptance Speech 2013

The Outstanding Young Men Awarding Ceremonies

Malacanang Palace

December 19, 2013

Response from the TOYM 2013 Awardees

by Chris Tiu

His Excellency, President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III; Bienvenido Tantoco III, President of the TOYM Foundation; Mrs. Judy Roxas, Chairperson of the Gerry Roxas Foundation; Jose T. Pardo, Chairman of the TOYM 2013 Board of Judges; Ryan Ravanzo, National President of JCI Philippines; Congresswoman Leni Robredo, Member of the Board of Judges; Dicky Puyod, Chairman of the TOYM 2013 Search, to my fellow TOYM 2013 honorees, to our families and special guests, good afternoon to you all!

In behalf of this year’s awardees, I want to express our utmost appreciation for citing us among the great individuals in the 54-year history of the TOYM foundation. We feel unworthy to be standing amidst such distinguished and admirable individuals when there are many other young Filipinos out there who have so selflessly dedicated their lives for the betterment of our dear country. For this, we feel truly humbled and blessed!

A CHANGING WORLD

Our world is changing. Because of global warming, we are experiencing typhoons on an unprecedented scale. We can now do virtually anything on the go, from reading the paper, to watching movies, to booking an airline ticket.

We often hear the phrase, “Iba na ang kabataan ngayon”.  If you’re guilty of saying these words before, malamang hindi ka na nabibilang sa kabataan. The youth have information and resources at their fingertips and are a creative, capable, and intelligent generation. On the other hand, this may mean na iba na rin ang value system nila. We accept as reality many things which would have been considered scandalous to older generations. Because of modern day technology, we hardly have to wait for anything anymore and therefore, there is less need to be patient and persevering.

SELF FIRST

Consumer behavior is changing. The youth have become more fashion forward, and embarrassed to repeat an outfit because your entire social network can see what you are wearing with the advent of smart phones.

Measuring of ones self worth has evolved to the number of friends, followers or LIKES that one has on ones social media sites. Thus, encouraging the user to ‘keep up’ by posting more photos of himself, who he associates with, what he buys or where he eats.

In fact, ‘selfie’ has been named the word of the year by Oxford Dictionary. Don’t worry, if you lost me or don’t have any idea as to what I am talking about, that just means you don’t belong to this generation. “Selfie”, as defined by Wikipedia, is a self-portrait photography usually taken by a camera or a camera phone.

In an article earlier this year, Time Magazine has noted some negative traits of today’s youth, such as, lazy, narcissistic, materialistic, feeling of entitlement, less concerned with community. This is a cause for concern because these so called “Millenials” will be our future leaders!

This is why, in its 54-year history, the TOYM foundation, with its theme of “Inspiring a Nation of Heroes”, plays an even more important role today. By using modern day tools, it can reach out to our youth and propagate its core values of excellence, integrity and most importantly, a deep sense of service to community

SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE

Despite the many changes we have witnessed throughout the decades, from climate change, technology, buying habits, to our attitudes and behavior, there are some things that remain and SHOULD remain constant. And these are the timeless values that the TOYM Foundation espouses – excellence, honesty, humility, simplicity, sacrifice, and charity just to name a few. Regardless of age, gender, social class, race or religion, these principles serve as guiding pillars for human conduct that are proven to have enduring and permanent value.

In order for our country to progress, we cannot accept the “pwede na” attitude. Pursuing excellence cannot be learned overnight. It involves a process and tremendous commitment. Once it develops into a habit, it becomes a lifestyle. This is what we call virtue! The foundation of heroism in the Ignatian Spirituality is Magis, which means “more”, - being more, doing more! However, this simple motto requires a higher spirit for it to attain its fullness, which means that our motivation must transcend our own causes for a greater, higher being.

One of the world’s greatest leaders, the late Nelson Mandela constantly reminded his people that: “We should always be patient even if things are going bad, because great things will happen”. He also said, “what truly matters is the small acts of kindness towards others”. These words are very appropriate for our modern world where “selfies” are the in thing and everything has become so convenient that we need not bother to go out of our way for the good of others.

ROLE MODELS

We, too, have Mandelas in our midst.

             Emerson Atanacio, in Social Entrepreneurship

             Dr. Nicole Curato, for Sociology

             Dr. Custer Deocaris, for Science Communication

             Former Gov. Miguel Dominguez, in Government and Public Service

             Dr. Alonzo Gabriel, in Food Science and Technology

             June Cabal-Revilla, for Community Development

             Dr. Karl Reyes and Dr. Paolo Silva, in Medicine.

There is no question that the youth are constantly looking for role models, people they can emulate. Mainstream media and Hollywood do not often provide us with the best models, we know that. On the other hand, the most powerful influencers are those who are ‘real’, those we can interact with in our everyday lives, those who are one of us. Whenever we meet people who inspire us, we feel a sense of relief, that there is hope for the future! And even more, a force of motivation giving us that second, third, and fourth wind, to do more ourselves. Most of the time, our heroes don’t even know the magnitude of the impact they have on others. They just do what they do best, in their respective fields, with utmost excellence, integrity and service to the community.

Hence, I would like to thank our dearest family and friends who have served as our personal heroes. Your example and your faith in us inspire us to serve!

I would also like to thank our Lord for this blessing. To God be all the glory! We are merely His instruments.

Last Sunday, the priest gave a beautiful homily about real joy. He said “joy is not in receiving. But rather, it is when we give, that we receive.” We are immensely honored to be given the TOYM distinction and we are even more inspired to continue giving by living a life of virtue, discipline and other-centeredness. It will take some courage to relay this message in today’s world, but like Mandela and St. Ignatius, we need to go against the wind!

This year’s theme is “Inspiring a Nation of Heroes”. But heroes need heroes too. And heroism starts within each one of us.

Thank you!