April 18, 2025 update: Reflecting on the past, I've realized that some of today's traders really have no conscience.

The Boniu community was raided in 2019.

At that time, the NBI and the Bureau of Immigration jointly enforced the law, accusing us of being an unlicensed POGO gambling company. Dozens of people present that day were arrested, and I and some senior executives were spared because we were on business trips abroad. It is unbelievable that as a company providing peripheral services, we would be jointly enforced by the NBI and the Bureau of Immigration. However, it was later learned that it was an inside job with Filipinos colluding from within and without.

After the incident, I instructed the person in charge to rescue the employees at all costs, for three reasons.

1. Behind every employee is a family; employees are our partners, and we hire them and are responsible for them.

2. They are the company's most valuable assets.

3. Unconditional rescue of employees was the industry standard at the time.

Eventually, we rescued every employee.

Even though our profits as a peripheral support enterprise are far less than those of gambling companies, we still chose to face it head-on when faced with the high ransom costs of hundreds of thousands of pesos per person, and we were ready with the money the next day. Fortunately, at this time, friends reached out to help by pressuring through high-level government relationships, and the relevant law enforcement officers who violated regulations were investigated by the anti-corruption department the next day, which was a case of losing more than what was attempted to be gained.

And now...

Currently, there are still many large companies in the industry willing to take responsibility for their employees, being the first to step forward and actively deal with problems when incidents occur, which they have been and are still exemplary. However, a few companies or workshops, relying on barbaric growth and disorderly governance, on one hand, rely on employees to create value, while on the other hand, they disregard others' freedom and safety.

Perhaps small companies have their own difficulties, but humanism should be the basic principle that business owners need to adhere to. When we were just starting and faced difficulties, there were also cases of employees being blacklisted by the Bureau of Immigration or being arrested, and without exception, even if it meant borrowing money, our principle was to help them.

Perhaps giving up on employees is the optimal solution for business owners from an economic efficiency standpoint, but I hope they do not forget their original intentions and be humane.

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