More fun in birthday bash

THEY came, they celebrated, and they left.

Stars, businessmen, politicians, and friends came to the 28th birthday of Kenneth Dong recently. The party was held at Bellisimo Restaurant, which is owned by movie actor and director Cesar Montano and his wife, Sunshine Cruz.

Aside from the couple, other stars who came were Philip “Ipe” Salvador, Bayani Agbayani, Alvin Anson, and Patrick Dela Rosa. Salvador is a multi-awarded actor winning three Best Actor trophies from Filipino Academy of Motion Pictures and Arts Sciences (Famas), including for the controversial Kapit sa Patalim (1985). Agbayani is a noted comedian, television host, and actor. Former actor Dela Rosa is now a board member of Oriental Mindoro.

Heading the list of politicians was former Senator Miguel “Migz” Zubiri (who is planning to run again in the forthcoming national election); Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao Governor Mujiv Hataman; Mayor Tito Sarion of Daet, Camarines Norte; Mayor Patrick Meneses of Bulacan, Bulacan; and Mayor Rico Roque of Pandi, Bulacan.

Other prominent people who came included General Danilo Lim, deputy commissioner of Bureau of Custom; Atong Ang, Rommel Montano, Alynna Velasquez, Dra. Marichi Ramos, Lovelle Tee, Bobby Co and his wife, Francine; Boyet Ocampo, Edwin Cheng, Edward Que, and Richmond Lim.

Dong had a fun time with Ms Cory Quirino, a noted author and television and radio host. For the uninformed, she is the exclusive licensee and national director of Miss World Philippines, a national pageant that searches for Philippines’ representative to the Miss World contest.

Perhaps one of the highlights was when Cesar and Sunshine rendered a special song for the birthday celebrant. Dong and Cesar are friends as the latter also helps in promoting the former’s business. Cesar is a multi-awarded actor (1998’s Jose Rizal) and director (2004's Panaghoy sa Suba).

Dong, a visionary businessman, is one of the founders of Asuki Weighing System, Inc. He is very much involved in socio-economic assistance of local government units and was one of the semi-finalists of the Top 10 Entrepreneurs of 2012.

Currently, Asuki has eight branches, including the head office in Malabon. The seven others are located in Pasay, Pangasinan, Isabela, Cebu, Iloilo, Davao and Cagayan de Oro.

"We establish these branches to provide convenient services to our clienteles," Dong told this author a year ago.

"Davao has the biggest agricultural-based market in the Philippines," he replied when asked why Asuki is putting up a branch in Davao. He was referring to banana, pineapple, and cassava.

Dong was born in China and came to the Philippines when he was only 12 years old. That was in 1995. “We just wanted to visit my grandmother, who is a Filipina,” he admits. But he stayed in the country for good when his family opened a small store in Divisoria. The rest, so they say, is history.

Curiously enough, Kenneth never finished college. He took Bachelor of Arts in Psychology at Chang Kai-Shek College in Manila but never graduated. “But I have plans of pursuing a management course in the nearest future,” he says.

He was only 13 when he engaged in business enterprise. By the time he was 18, he was already running the weighing scale business with his brother-in-law as his pioneering partner.