#CHINESE TAIPAN FULL#

He endeared himself to ordinary people like us.ĭuring a book signing or a lull in every occasion, people gravitate toward him for picture taking and he relished it. Imagine, comparing me to one of the richest industrialists in the Philippines. It sounds corny but the audience loved it. The more the audience blurted into laughter. “Look at Dan (he was referring to me, also a past president of PB-USA), he looks like Lucio Tan” (the Filipino-Chinese billionaire taipan). On another occasion, he shared with us that some Pangasinanes have Chinese blood in their veins.įor example, he said, “Look at Ads Diaz (a former president of Pangasinan Brotherhood-USA who is so tall at 6’4” for a Filipino), he looks like Limahong” (a Chinese pirate) who built a channel in Lingayen named after him.) The crowd chuckled loudly. Our language or nomenclature as a people is Pangasinan, Pangasinanes or Pangasinense.’ Sensing that I was correct, FVR did not rebut me. President, I believe that there’s no such thing as Panggalatok. “My fellow Pangalatoks, kaya ba natin ito? I was a little bit unnerved by the term “Panggalatok.” So during the Q&A portion, I corrected him, ‘Mr. In one instance, he told his audience of mostly Pangasinenses. He had a reservoir of humor - some corny and some hilarious. He always had some tales, jokes and wisdom to share. He was never a dull nor boring person to be with. Whenever we were together hosting him during symposia, lunch, dinner book signing, and what have you, he shed off all pretenses of formalities as a stateman befitting his position.įVR, Tabako or Steady Eddie as he is also known, mingles with us like an ordinary guy or common tao. He was charismatic.

He was born in Lingayen, but was raised briefly in Asingan, Pangasinan where his father was a five-term congressman. We share some things in common like language, politics, cultural make-up and anecdotes, among others. Ramos is one of the most admired presidents of our Motherland - who restored democracy and who recently passed away at age 94 - let me show some vignettes of my close interactions with him through the years before, during and after his presidency.Īfter all, he is my cum-provinciano from Pangasinan. It's recommended from an entertainment perspective rather than for any historical gleanings that might be achieved.BECAUSE the late 12th Philippine President Fidel V. But, despite it's failings this book is easy to read and is a lot of fun. In addition, the historical facts thrown up tend to be treated on a lowest possible common denominator for the reader to 'understand'. It is less successful at portraying the situation from a Chinese viewpoint and much of the stereotyping is crude to the point of banality. This book raises the issues of Imperial trade, the duplicitousness of Opium smuggling, the strained heirachical positioning of both Chinese and Imperial British society and touches on many of the taboos and prejudices of the British community. The story rapidly turns into a swashbuckling adventure combined with a liberal dose of romance. The book is about his struggle to maintain his pre-eminence amonst the China traders, establish his kith and kin to take over the dynasty after him and to turn Hong Kong from a small rocky island into the centre of Britain's Asian Policy. The hero of the book is Dirk Struan: The Taipan (Taipan having a first amongst equals type of meaning). It conjures up some excellent historical imagery and introduces many of the most important historical developments of the era.

However, for all these problems it is an immensely fun book to read.

#CHINESE TAIPAN FULL#

The book is also full of the grossest racial and sexual stereotyping in the best traditions of Hollywood. It is not exactly historically accurate, taking huge liberties with established facts. This is a real blockbuster of a story set around the establishment of Hong Kong in the turbulent days of the 1840's.

Chinese taipan