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Mega Global Corporation’s Marvin Tiu Lim on the Value of Malasakit
Business & Career | December 6, 2021
With many suffering from the aftereffects of the pandemic, Marvin Tiu Lim shares how Mega Global is always ready to lend a helping hand.
The word “malasakit” doesn’t have a direct English translation. Others may throw out the words “care” or “compassion” as a substitute, but for Marvin Tiu Lim, it shouldn’t have to have one. Instead, he sees the Filipino word as a responsibility to have malasakit for his fellow Filipinos.
Likewise, Mega Global Corporation’s Chief Growth and Development Officer takes it a step further by including malasakit as one of its core values. Ever since the world was plunged deep into a pandemic, Marvin made sure that they were doing their part to help.
A Helping Hand Amid the Pandemic
“Since the pandemic started, we have been launching initiatives that will help Filipinos in this time of crisis,” he begins. “We have ensured the safety of our employees, as we believe that their security should always come first.”
Moreover, donation drives were held—with the company providing droves of canned goods and PPEs to various LGUs, hospitals, NGOs, and private organizations. “We have run our Mega Malasakit Kitchen during the first few months of the pandemic, and rolled it out until early this year—ending in a Mega Bigay Sustansya sa Pasko feeding program, [where we were] distributing meals to service frontliners and less fortunate families nationwide,” he adds.
Currently, they’re keeping the train going with their Mega Bigay Sustansya health and nutrition program, where they currently feed more than 800 children in 6 provinces. Marvin shares, “We will continue to do so in the coming years because this is our responsibility to the Filipinos who have been continuously supporting us.”
According to Marvin, it’s healthy for a business to recognize the role they play in supporting the nation—beyond just corporate interests. “Being a producer of mostly essential goods, we understand that Filipinos depend on our products to be able to bring food to their table. Hence, even before the pandemic, we have been consistent in our mission to help the nation through every crisis.”
On Resilience and Recovery
In order to make all of the above happen, Marvin explains that the internal machinations have to be very well-oiled. “A good business resiliency program is needed in order for a business to survive—most especially during uncertain times. In Mega Global, we have put up safeguards and redundancies in our internal systems to make sure we can still function if anything bad happens. We need to ensure our operations are never hampered during any crisis.”
This meant that management regularly communicated and pivoted in accordance with external events. “Being nimble even as we grow larger is very important to us, [as] we have to be able to make critical decisions quickly.”
The secret to replicating this kind of success? Understanding your business at its core. The master of his craft lays down the basics of how to get it right: “It seems difficult, but it is simple. Know your brand’s purpose and communicate from there. Do not get lost in saying so many things that you deviate from your brand’s why.”
“There are so many touchpoints and ways to get attention to your brand, however, you must stay true to what your brand’s purpose is,” he adds. “You have to communicate authentically and the right people will respond well to your campaign.”
And for all his wit and expertise, Marvin also insists that working 100% of the time will never work out well. Rather than a direct divide, he believes that they’re intertwined. “Work is not only growing and improving the business but also growing and improving ourselves as a person.”
But he also mentions the exception of when life comes running at you, the best you can do is live it at the moment—citing Matthew 7:7-8 as the passage he lives by.
“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye. shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh. findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”
Matthew 7:7-8
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Pinky is the President and CEO of Progressive Laboratories, Qualibet Testing Services Corp. and KPP Powers Commodities. A chemist by profession, she is also the President of the Association of the Bureau of Animal Industry Registered Companies and Recognized Testing Laboratories (ABAIL). A humanitarian at heart, Pinky hosts a weekly online show called Grateful Tuesdays. On top of all this, she is also a wife and a mother of two.
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