Last weekend was with a difference. My tennis club was invited to a friendly match in Siquijor (pronounced Sikeehor), an island southwest of Cebu (pronounced Ceebo), Philippines, and long known, wrongly or rightly, for mysticism and witchcraft as far as I can remember.
We got there alright, but not after some confusion over the departure of the vessel that is to take us from our jump-off point in Dumaguete (pronounced Domagete) and slicing through a harrowing channel that tossed and battered our puny little boat with its merciless waves for the good part of almost an hour.
Siquijor is rural. But beneath its bucolic surface is a discovery I would long remember and probably revisit. The people are A-1 friendly, the food great and, the biggest surprise of all, the island is ringed by about twenty resorts of varying shapes, sizes and prices but sharing one common denominator - all are owned by foreigners married to Filipinas. The resort we were billeted in, The Blue Wave, is owned by a Scot who is now a Dumaguete resident.
And I found, not witchcraft and mysticism but peace and solitude. For more than a day in my harried life, I saw real darkness in the dark of the night; sweet-smelling air, sans particles of dust hitting the sides of my nostrils and freedom from the sound of vehicles. All these allowed me to find real intimacy with a treasured companion – a book co-authored by Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki, titled “Why We Want You To Be Rich.”
Donald and Robert need no introduction, at least for people who are inclined toward their self-development; who, instead of TV soap operas, watch educational shows, instead of fiction, read educational books. At any rate, both are super rich and successful beyond any measure ordinary mortals like us can envision. Oddly enough, both are eager to help others with the qualities and desire to do and be what they have done and become. Hence, this book.
But why must we be rich? Other than those who adhere to the “Blessed are the poor” yarn, I guess it is pretty obvious why we should all get rich, isn’t it? More murky are the questions, “what is meant by the word ‘rich?’” and “how rich is ‘rich?’” and many other questions.
“Rich,” in the context of this article, is money rich. “How rich?” is a pretty relative question. I am 60 years old and semi-retired. By “semi-retired,” I mean I am no longer actively employed but still work with a multi-national company as a consultant on technical writing, which I could do either in the office or at home. My home mortgage is fully paid, my children are both through with college and are working. I have two, albeit, old cars and my home stands on piece of land worth millions of pesos. By average standards, I am “rich” but with not much money.
Interestingly enough, and probably to the consolation of the money-poor, Donald and Robert consider money as plain “number,” a yardstick or a milestone, of their knowledge. Both are hungry for knowledge, both study hard and both do extensive research to allow them to leverage their knowledge to make money, more money than most of us. The book, therefore, is not about “what” investment vehicle one must use to get rich but “how” to choose the right vehicle to get to the same end. And this requires knowledge, lots of knowledge.
The book opens with a loose analysis of “lack of education” as the source of the current problems the U.S. is facing. Both went on further to say that the real cause of the world’s problems lie on the people’s lack of “financial education.”
I am zillions of miles away from these guys in stature but I firmly believe in the wisdom espoused by their book and I intend to share with others my own interpretation of the reasons behind the personal financial mess a lot of us are in.
Tags: buys, education, extensive, financial, island, knowledge, research, revelation, zillions
