Today was a great day. We were invited just yesterday to a reception with the Filipino Secretary of Science and Technology, Fortunato dela Pena. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortunato_dela_Peña
Secretary dela Pena is an appointee of President Duterte and we were so honored to be able to attend a reception with him and the agency leaders. The reception started at 4PM on the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) compound which is where we work every day. Yesterday we heard that the Secretary likes singing but we weren’t 100% sure what that meant for us. Now we know to always be prepared with some songs to sing during some official meetings or gatherings 😀
I looked at the program when we first walked in and it looked pretty standard for this type of event – starting with registration, then ice breaker and speeches and the some photo opportunities and networking (whew, it seemed like karaoke was not on the agenda). Immediately once Secretary dela Pena entered the room, the reception started with the ice breaker portion of the event. We were divided into 4 groups (probably about 10 people each) and we had to compete for various things. One example – we had to line up according to our waist size and the first team to get in order correctly won. Yes, you heard me correctly – waist size. So everyone was quickly scrambling, looking at each other and calling out numbers (presumably the size pants they wear). This was definitely a first for me, and I guess a pretty good way to break the ice! Lots of laughs and getting to know one another quickly. We then heard some speeches from the IBM Philippines General Manager who was there, as well as Secretary dela Pena about the importance of innovation and the work the IBM team is doing here. It was an amazing experience to have some face time with a senior government official and for him to acknowledge the work we are doing for DOST. They had a pig roast for us…which is usually only done for fiestas and special occasions. It was a special event with lots of colorful decorations as well. After the speeches were completed, they called up 2 DOST employees who were asked to sing. They were amazing singers and then of course we all were encouraged to jump in as well. Now, we all got pretty comfortable with karaoke last weekend…especially after a few drinks. This time, we were in business attire with no alcohol. So a slightly different environment! But it was great and we had such a wonderful time. The STARBOOKS team sang a song with our Director and everyone was just jumping in and singing whenever they felt like it. I really love this…I think I need to bring back karaoke to IBM meetings in the US (and perhaps to our meetings with government officials / politicians as well!). Maybe the world would be a better place if everyone just sang together and laughed more 😀 Once again, another great cultural experience and just one more thing to make me love the Filipino people and culture even more. Here are some photos from the reception today as well as some from the DOST flag ceremony yesterday which takes place every Monday morning at 8AM on the DOST compound.
Flag ceremony on Monday mornings. Monday’s are “white” day so everyone wears white shirts. The flag ceremony consists of a prayer and a civil servant pledge plus a song. It was great to be a part of it.
The Opposite Side of the World 