A simple attempt to move the world.

 

I was struck by the words uttered by someone I admire in one of his interviews. He said that the difference between depression and hope is purpose. When you find a purpose, it is really difficult to be depressed. When you have certainty about what you are doing, who you want to be and what you want to do, the commitment to that purpose pulls you through.

…can you ever guess who said those words? No..not Barack Obama…it was Will Smith…okay, so I did not borrow this thought from a great philosopher but from someone who played the lead role in Hancock and Men in Black just to name a few, but he verbalized what I want to say today.

What is our sense of purpose? Why are we all here? Clearly, we could have spent this afternoon elsewhere. We could have watched a movie or spent time with our family but we are here.

There is no need to remind each one of us that we are currently living in a middle of a difficult time. Financial news are becoming the new headlines. It scares me whenever I read news about more job cuts, more declaration of bankruptcies by supposedly stable companies and it was beyond my imagination that even governments or an entire country’s economy such as Iceland’s could run kaput. This is the kind of reality we are facing right now. It would be an understatement if I say that the whole world is in near panic.

In times like these, we are dragged back to the basic rule of the jungle which is “survival of the fittest”.

In our own little way, we pledge our support to all Filipino Accountants. We are here to ensure that we continuously grow in our profession because in times like these, only those who are the best and the brightest survive.

We have prepared a well rounded line of different topics that aim not only to increase our knowledge in accounting but make us well rounded individuals.

Thank you for coming and I hope that at the end of the day this event has served its purpose.

 

Delivered to a group of Filipino Accountants as an opening remark during the Second General Meeting at Al Raha Rotana Hotel, Abu Dhabi on 23rd of Jan 2009.