The ukelele was the earliest stringed instrument I ever played. I was influenced by my late uncle, Tito Ariste who played the harmonica as well the ukelele.

My love for the instruments grew during our visits to Arumahan, Lemery, Batangas in 1960s and 1970s. The magic of music is often heard from a neighbor and a relative across the street who played the banduria and guitar to the tunes of rondalla music.

At Manila Science, my parents bought a nylon stringed guitar (approximates that of a classical guitar) at Raon Street in Avenida Rizal. It played good music till my sophomore year at UP Diliman, later it was replaced by a good looking classical guitar.


Then in Brunei, I got a brand new Made in Japan Yamaha classical guitar from a local shop in Kuala Belait. It became a permanent member of the Kuala Belait Catholic Church choir. So every Sunday from 1981 to 1988, I played the guitar either for church choir, Filipino Community Cultural Presentation for the Sultan's Birthday - playing and singing "Anak" and jamming with Alan Smith who was an office mate at Brunei Shell.

The better guitar came into being when an expatriate from Brunei Shell sold his Aria Classical Guitar - that was a beautiful and sweet sounding guitar. My ignorance of guitar during that time made me miss to identify its specification like type of wood used. Sadly, I lost the guitar in Brunei in 1996 to a dishonest Filipino after sequestering it. At his most recent visit last April, Pg Redzuan planned to assist me locate the Filipino who is now working at Brunei Shell to recover the guitar.

So, for many years I missed playing a classical guitar until GSI bought one at Yamaha store in SM Megamall in 2001. Used by the member of GeoMinstrels, the GSI band, the classical guitar proved to be a reliable instrument. With some polishing and varnish work, it will easily beat those that are on display at JB Music store.

Searching for a quality classical guitar was my pre-occupation that started in the first quarter of 2005. While attending an IBM Forum in May 2005, I tested several guitars from Spain, Japan, Mexico and US at the Yamaha store at Plaza Singapura on Orchard Road, Singapore. Prices ranging from US$500 to $2000, I was not convinced of its value considering that the sound was exceptionally good.

One summer afternoon when I was searching for a classical guitar instructor at UP College of Music, I was introduced to Tabo Derecho, a luthier or guitar maker. He played his Derecho Guitar made in 2003 and I was impressed of its clear tone and presence. A week after, I met Tabo at my office and played his guitar. I owned it the next day and has been an occupant in my GSI office. With a new teacher, Eugene Apa, a son of a luthier, I have been discovering innovative ways to produce better tones and music.

For two years, my Derecho guitar has been continuously producing quality classical guitar music!

Labels: Alan Smith, Arumahan, brunei shell, Classical Guitar, Derecho Guitar, Kuala Belait, Lemery, Raon, UP, Yama Guitar

 
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During the 2nd General Membership Meeting (GMM) of the Philippine Software Industry Association (PSIA), held last April 24, 2007 at the Philippine Intercontinental Hotel in Makati, Dina Salonga, chairperson of the Membership Committee assigned me as the programme emcee.

It was a really a challenge to be the emcee on that day as the keynote speaker was Prof. Winnie Monsod. Mareng Winnie, is a renowned economist and media personality. With the coming election in May 14, she talked about the economy, polity and a bright future ahead of us.

For an ice-breaker, I opened the session in saying that it is a unique GMM because software business will not be discussed but politics. So, I said -

Tonight we will discuss about Plato who described everyone of us. He said, "Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber."

Towards the end of reading Prof Monsod's resume, I finally called on her. I said -

Fellow officers and members of PSIA, let me quote Charles De Gaulle : "I have come to the conclusion that politics are too serious a matter to be left to the politicians." Allow me please to call on Prof. Winnie Monsod, the best person to talk about politics than any politician.

Here are the other quotations I ad-libed in the meeting :

"The problem with political jokes is they get elected." Henry Cate VII
"Politics is for the present, but an equation is for eternity." Albert Einstein
"Nothing is so admirable in politics as as short memory." John Kenneth Galbraith

So on the next PSIA GMM on May 21, we will see more jesters elected and brilliant minds punished.

Labels: CEO blog, Dina Salonga, Efren Ricalde, election, election 2007, GMM, philippine election, Philippine Software, plato, PSIA, software, University of the Philippines, UP, Winnie MOnsod

 
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Returning back to the Philippines from an eight-year stay at Brunei Shell Petroleum in August 1988, there was an immediate need to acclimatize myself to the new business environment and establish a network. Reading an advertisement from a local newspaper of a seminar at Meralco Foundation, I immediately visited its office to get and submit an application form.

The seminar, "Problem Analysis and Decision Making" was held on September 13 - 17, 1988 at Green Valley Country Club, Baguio City. Exposed mainly on software and hardware subjects, the training gave me a new insight in looking at new knowledge and opportunities especially in business.

On the very first day of the seminar, I was surprised that a former classmate from UP College of Engineering in Diliman, Gilbert Azagra, was one of the trainors! He put me on the spot when he introduced my name and said : "my classmate and seatmate at UP Engg whom I ask some help during exams." Gilbert, still with Meralco, took Industrial Engineering while I did Geodetic Engineering.

As the seminar materials where distributed by Gilbert, he opened up the session by sharing a quotation of Thomas Watson, Sr. - "You cannot be a success in business without believing that it is the greatest business in the world. You have to put your heart in the business and business in your heart."

Since then the quotation stayed in my heart. Ten years later, I read it again to myself, and put it into use when GeoSpatial Solutions hit the road as a start-up company.

Labels: Baguio, Brunei, CEO blog, entrepreneur, Geodetic, Geospatial, Gilbert Azagra, Industrial, Meralco, quotation, Ricalde, UP, Watson

 
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MSHS 38th Recognition Day Speech
22 March 2001
Theme : “ Manileño : Onward to a Meaningful Transformation”

Manila Science High School
Padre Faura Corner Taft Avenue



The MaSci Students : Agents of Change

Efren E.S Ricalde, '71
GeoSpatial Solutions
President/CEO


Introduction

Thirty years ago, when I was a graduating senior student, we were fans of the Beatles. We danced to the rock and roll music of the fabled ‘70s. Taft Avenue was dotted with trees; we played softball, volleyball and the banduria. Coke was 15 centavos and Sarsi, 10 centavos. Needing a new attire for the graduation, I sold my book “College Physics” by Weber, Maning and White at Recto to buy a Hickok belt. Being one of the poor students, my parents can not afford to buy a new one.

Since freshman, I was Einstein’s avid follower. What coincidence that at my senior year, I belonged to IV-Einstein, the honor section. I bought books on relativity and attended Professor Joe Valenzuela’s lectures at UP Diliman. One limerick I recalled was about time dilation in a relativistic travel :

“There was a lady named Bright who traveled much faster that light. One day she left out of sight and came back the previous night”.

Reading mostly Einstein’s contribution to science, I didn’t realize Einstein’s profound influence not only to theoretical physics but more important to our day-to-day experience as science students and alumni when I read the following quotations:

“Gravitation cannot be held responsible for people falling in love”:
“If the facts don’t fit the theory, change the facts.”

And there is humor in his definition of relativity:

“A man sits with a pretty girl for an hour and it seems shorter than a minute. But tell that same man to sit on a hot stove for a minute, it is longer than any hour. That’s relativity.”

Finally, Einstein couched us :

“Never regard study as a duty, but as the enviable opportunity to learn to know the liberating influence of beauty in the realm of the spirit for your own personal joy and the profit of the community to which you later work belongs.”

Enough with Einstein, allow we then to share with you my experience in relation to our theme tonight “Manileño: Onward to a Meaningful Transformation”. On which I would like to suggest a sub-theme “MaSci Students – Agents of Change”.


Transformation to the New Economy

The wind of change is howling vigorously. The ubiquitous Web and Internet technologies tremendously transformed the way we do our daily activities, school works and businesses too. Indeed, this change created a paradigm shift – the transformation from the Old Economy characterized by industrialization to the New Economy of knowledge based industries.

Those who resisted by ignoring the pervasiveness of the Web and customer empowered Internet systems were “amazooned” and doomed to fail. In this paradigm shift, the science and technology entrepreneurs played a major role in the creation of an enterprise, and emerged winners.

Who are the winners? “The battle for supremacy in personal computers is over, and few will survive,” published in BusinessWeek in 1983. “The winner is IBM”. Computer guru Esther Dyson advised entrepreneurs of small computer companies to go instead to the restaurant business. However, a young Texan, named Michael Dell, a college student at the University of Texas in Austin, didn’t know enough to be frightened off. With his $1000 savings, he started selling computers out of his college dorm at the age of 18.

Ten years later, in 1993, IBM lost $4.97 billion, the biggest loss in American corporate history. Job eliminations rose to 100,000 in December 1993.

Who were the wild dogs that brought down the poor, old, arthritic, and misshapen IBM? Dell Computer for one. Dell has learned how to talk to its customers, while IBM talked to itself. With July 2000 revenue of $15B, Dell is still leading the pack.


What did we learn as a MaSci student?

Albert Einstein, Time Magazine Man of the Century said, “In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity”.

As MaSci students, that is exactly what we learned – being keen in identifying opportunities in our classrooms, homes and communities. Without us knowing it, we all developed the sense of science and technology entrepreneurship. We have sharpened our saws to have competitive advantage from among the high school students being recognized in the Philippines for the year 2001.

So, you are the science and technology entrepreneurs. An entrepreneur is best described by Kent, Sexton and Vesper in the Encyclopedia of Entrepreneurship:

They said that “Humanity’s progress from caves to campuses has been explained in numerous ways. But central to virtually to all of these theories has been the role of the ‘agent of change’ the force that initiates and implements material progress. Today, we recognize that the agent of change in human history has been and most likely will continue to be entrepreneur.”


What is our success cookbook?

As science and technology entrepreneurs and agents of change, what is our success cookbook? Oliver Clayton, in his book “Planning a Career as a Business Owner”, wrote that an entrepreneur should be aggressive, competitive, goal-oriented, confident, decisive, an achiever very early in life, a loner in your final decision, persistent, an optimist (to an extreme), hyperactive mentally, a dreamer, a calculated risk-taker, a perfectionist and intuitive.


And where do we go from here?

We have the best domain knowledge derived at MaSci. So are our academic values and competitive culture. We are ready to go.

But how we do sustain the goals, dreams and aspirations in a transformed environment? What barriers shall we construct to arrest the marauding forces of fierce competition and globalization? What walls do we build to protect us from exploitation, environmental degradation, commercialization and social decadence?

There is no better effort than reinventing our mind set :

Being a leader is one. “Leadership is the ability to get other people to do what they want to do, and like it.” said Harry Truman. In the New Economy the first comer succeeds. They eventually became leaders. These leaders are trustworthy, honest and competent.

Being a creative student is another. Julia Cameron said “Leap and the net will appear”. As students and science and technology entrepreneurs, we must now see beyond the walls of our building. I challenge all you to make a big stride and leap to your dreams. That’s creativity.

Being a believer of the Divine Creator is paramount. With God, everything is possible.


Finally, we will always win

And that is because of the MaSci students’ passion to create and innovate. Beyond our academic undertakings and successes are us – The Science and Technology Entrepreneurs. We may start small but dream big. According to Demosthenes, “we see small opportunities that are often the beginning of great enterprise.”

To our beloved teachers, school administrators and staff who crafted this sea of brilliant MaSci graduates, we thank you all for giving me the opportunity to share with that wonderful experience of being a proud MaSci alumni.

With all due respect, I would like to express my deepest appreciation to my teacher Mrs. Concepcion for believing in my dreams.

Mabuhay Kayong Lahat!

Thank you.

Labels: businessweek, CEO blog, change, diliman, economy, einstein, entrepreneur, Manila Science, MaSci, MSHS, relativity, Ricalde, Taft, UP, valenzuela

 
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My first encounter with Einstein was when I bought a second hand white colored book College Physics by R. L. Weber, M. W. White, and K. V. Manning. There I saw a chapter on relativity glowing as beautiful as the sunrise!

Then, came the second encounter when I bought a pocket book Relativity for the Million by Martin Gardner. Out my daily savings, I got the book from Alemars at Avenida Rizal as there were no National Bookstore at that time. Neither were there Mercury Drug as there were Botica Boei.

A group of Earth Science Students under Ms Nelly Ramos Rana visited Professor Jose Villanueva at the Physics Department of UP Diliman. There, we had some lectures on relativity theory of Einstein. After the lecture we played softball at the back of the Main Library. That was my third encounter and at the same time my first visit to UP Diliman, my university alma mater.

The fourth encounter came on the last day of my junior year and closing of the MaSci school year 1969-70. As I got my school card, I read : "promoted to IV-Einstein". With 35 of 68 incoming senior students in IV-Einstein, it was a huge challenge being in the honor section.

Much later, a day before our graduation day on May 1, 1971, the the book went back to one of the bookstores at Claro M Recto. It was sold so I can buy a Hickok belt at Good Earth Emporium for my new black graduation pants.

Now, Albert Einstein is in my office permanently. Hanging on the wall in front of my office table is a 2.5' by 2' framed picture with a caption - "I M A G I N A T I O N - "Imagination is more important than knowledge" - Albert Einstein.

Dream come true.

Labels: alemars, boei, CEO blog, einstein, MaSci, physics, recto, relativity, Ricalde, Rizal Avenue, UP

 
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MaSci to GSI is a documentation of what I longed to share with human history. This blog stores snapshots of things I remembered that makes me today.

MaSci to GSI is not a history book nor an autobiography but links and networks of events, people and ideas as far as I can remember when I was a kid in our home in San Andres street near Singalong Church.

MaSci or Manila Science High School is a key milestone in my life. MaSci to GSI is a spectrum of experiences, knowledge and creative insights.

Before, I only know about my parents home. It crafted my integrity, resiliency and flexibilty. MaSci trained me to become a competitor - an honest and hardworking gladiator.

At UP, I became a First Quarter Stormer! UP my beloved gave my parents a beautiful dream.

Brunei Shell Petroleum made me a photographer, book worm, tennis player, Singapore tourist, and a family man. It changed my technology mindset. GSI or GeoSpatial Solutions, Inc shaped by entrepreneurship and dreams.

GSI, paves my vision for common good, entrepreneuship and nationalism.

This time, I may be able to answer questions, observations and eccentricities such as why I like photography, classical guitar, tennis, physics, poetry and dreams; that as a kid at 9 years old I would stand beside Nanay's sari-sari store in the evening and scan the sky using my home made telescope almost everyday.

Why I can feel and smell the weather. Why I can visualize the photo I going to take the night before a photo contest? Why I went to MaSci, UP, GSI and IBM? What made me an entrepreneur like my Nanay, who is a sari-sari store owner for 40 years! Why are my parents successful in discplining their eight children - including me.

Why I love my parents, kids, teachers,colleagues and soul-mate so much. Why do I dream of making people close to me successful?

Why do I dislike thieves who stole in the middle of the day? My relatives, officemates, honest Filipinos, and God know all of them!

Why I like Ms Cruz of RPES, Mr Valbuena of UP Geology, Ms Suzette Badon of UP Geography, Ms Nelly Ramos Rana & Ms Concepcion of MaSci, Prof Hernandez & Prof Vila of UP Geodetic Eng'g, Engr Bert Tato of GEP, Consul Hermes Dorado & his wife Susan of GSI, Gabriel and Jocelyne Leiva of UNISYS, Mr Jimmy Ledesma of Meralco, Ms Lynette Lim of Zenshin, Mr Jajo Quintos, Peter Laud, Loke Peng Yuen, Tesa Abaya of IBM.

Why I admired IBM.

This is dedicated to my Tatay (father), Enrique and my Nanay (mother), Virginia who are now in peace with God. They are my heroes!

Plato said - "the beginning is the most important part of the work."

This blog starts today, a very important part of my life.

Labels: CEO blog, Gabriel Leiva, GSI, IBM, Manila Science, MaSci, MSHS, nelly rana, plato, quintos, Ricalde, UP, valbuena, zenshin

 
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