The secret to a lasting relationship? Understanding and tolerance. (Photo by RUDY LIWANAG)

If a diamond is a woman’s best friend, a car is certainly a man’s closest ally especially if that “friend” is a Jaguar, or even perhaps, a Maserati.

While most women have not been able to decipher the strange affinity between men and their cars, Maureen Soong tries without so much effort to co-exist with it because of her husband Willie Soong’s “special romance” with his Jaguars.

Willie’s passion for the luxurious car started way back in 1995. While he was on his way home from London, he had a stopover in Hong Kong where he visited the Pacific Place, one of the popular display and office buildings, upon the recommendation of a friend.

His eyes feasted on with all the luxurious and expensive Jaguars displayed in the showroom. Although he was mesmerized with them, Willie never intended to buy one. In fact, when he saw the cars, his business acumen kicked in, and he began to contemplate the possibility of distributorship in the Philippines.

It wasn’t easy. It took him more than two years before he finally won the bid and had to beat six other contenders, including two other Filipino companies. He talked to the regional office in Singapore and started the spadework in March 1996. Maybe it was his marketing plan, or simply his love for cars, that finally brought him to London for the final documentation in July 1996.

To some, it may look like Willie had a smooth ride. But the truth is, his life wasn’t always on the fast lane. He just instinctively learned how to drive and stay on the lane. Willie didn’t come from a lineage of business-savvy families. His parents were both working professionals.

It was only when he was 17 and about to go to medical school, when his parents ventured into the taxi business. Being the eldest, it was expected that Willie would help out in the business. He would usually wake up at 4 a.m. just to read taxi meters then head to school afterwards for his lessons. After his classes, he would go back to reading meters before studying and doing his assignments. And he did this for 10 years!

His dream of becoming a doctor was shelved, maybe because his business acumen had been awakened or he just found it too fastidious.

“It’s a very long career. You’re always continuously studying because medicine is a field that is always dealing with new medical discoveries. It’s a continuing field of evolution for treatment. I found it very long, but I’m still very close to the medical profession,” Willie shares.

So, he took up business administration, major in marketing and finance, at the University of the Philippines-Diliman, and graduated in 1963. After that, he tried his hand at logging and peddling car stereos, but with no success. He hit it big in 1972 when he established Electro-Systems with his brother Hawthorne. And as they say, the rest is history.

While his romance with Jaguar continues, his love for his wife just keeps on going. The relationship between them is twice as strong as his bond with the cars whose foundations are built on passion. Theirs is built on love and companionship which even time fails to extinguished.

When asked how they met, Willie jokingly said “Through text,” to which Maureen laughingly retorted, “wala pang cell phone nun.”

They met through a common friend in a party. Willie also knew her cousins. “He knew my cousins. That’s why I was not afraid that he’s a bad guy,” shares Maureen.

The couple went through the friendship route. While their first meetings didn’t have the trimmings usually associated with romance and fairytales, when they did decide to finally be together, they kept their promise of forever alive through the years. They got married in 1977, and are blessed with four children - Louelle Tiffany, Marc Louis, Jason Olivier, and Angelica Eileen.

On being parents

He said: We never talk about our roles. It’s a relationship of best instincts. We do what we think is best. We have no agenda for ourselves. No intentions that I want my children to be closer to me than her, but we want to bring up the family under the best values. It shouldn’t be based on ambitions, greed, or wealth but to always have their feet on the ground at all times. To do that, we have to live a realistic life, and not a life of fantasy. They shouldn’t live in a world of unreality.

She said: One of my kids asked me, “Are we rich or poor?” I told them, “We’re neither.” We, at least, are able to give them good education. We can travel and give them comfort. They don't know what their lives are. They can’t say or think that they are wealthy.  They know that they have to work and earn everything. They know that nothing is free and comes easy in life. They learned that they should treat everyone equally.

On their relationship 

He said: These things are not a matter of love at first sight. It’s a process of discovery. Over time, we discovered positive aspects that made us pursue a longer and lasting relationship. That’s the foundation of our relationship and how we started. Most important in a relationship are understanding the expectations and the tolerance for the difficulties that you’re going through in dealing with the expectations. Di mo naman makukuha lahat iyan. Understanding gives you a broader perspective rather than being narrow-minded and being tolerant about expectations that you never fulfilled. These two things are important elements.

She said: (Being wife to a businessman) it’s difficult. I accept that he’s so busy with travels and business. Acceptance and tolerance, they are my middle initials. Even before we got married, we were supposed to be going out and he would be forever be a “no show.” Sometimes, he would come though it would be very late. But I understand because his business was just starting then.

On values and encouragement

He said: Values are important in all aspects – in your outlook, in the relationships, in the kind of people you deal with, in the friendship you want to keep, the way you deal with people. Hindi pwedeng, ‘Mayaman ito, I’ll be nicer to him. Ito naghihirap, hindi ko papansinin.” You can’t discriminate. I have my four values in life. I never talk about politics. Never talk about religion. Never talk about ethnic issues. When I say ethnic issues, I’m not just talking about races. Never talk about other people’s relationship. Lahat may mabuti, lahat may masama. Everyone behaves because of the influence in his life. You are what you are because of an influence, regardless of whether it’s good or bad. A person is a product of his experiences in life.

She said: If it’s for the good, go ahead. We’re not restrictive. We’re so democratic. We’re out of the colorful phase of a relationship. It’s not about what has been demonstrated, but it’s about what is unsaid that is more lasting and more meaningful. What is usually said can be forgotten.