 Aloha and Mabuhay. My name is Amy Ortega Anderson, your host for Pinoy Power, Hawaii, here on Think Tech, Hawaii. We want to thank you for tuning in every Tuesday at 12 noon to bring you empowerment. Our mission in Pinoy Power Media is to enrich, enlighten, educate, entertain, and we hope to empower you. On today's a very special day. I have a wonderful leader, servant, overall humanitarian, and always there, you can always count on Raymond Sabashan. Welcome to Pinoy Power, Think Tech, Hawaii. Thank you for having me, Ma'am. First of all, I just want to make sure that he is indeed, has proven his ability to lead by being voted president of Oahu Filipino Community Council. That's correct. So congratulations. Thank you. Okay, so when we hear of Raymond Sabashan, what would you like to tell the people about describing you? I just want to be the good guy. That sounds good enough for me. I just want to be the good guy. For me, it's more of my personal mantra. It's always better to be the better person. So wherever I am, whoever I am with, I'd rather be the nicer guy or the better guy than the people around me. But did you know that the bad guy gets all the attention? Let them. Let them. I'm fine. As long as I'm the good guy. It's like KSP. Yes. That's very enlightening and such an optimistic attitude to have. Because for me, being in the community, especially in the Filipino community here in Hawaii, we have a very diverse culture still. Even if we're Filipinos as a whole. We have our differences. Different cultures. We still have a regionalistic culture. It's hard to come together, but we're going there. We've been doing this since, well, 59 years already, since the state of Hawaii. The island councils, plus the United Filipino Council of Hawaii has been established there. So almost 60 years, and we're here still. That means that longevity is something that we can be proud of. Yes. We're resilient for a reason. And whatever the case may be, Raymond, it's a lesson that we all have to learn for life, especially our culture and crepe mentality goes back way in Biblical times. It's something that we have to deal with, but it's more of, how do we deal with it? I'm relatively new to the Filipino community. When I was just visiting Hawaii, you were one of the first people who welcomed me into the fold. Actually, I started as an entertainer. If you remember, around 2010, I was here for a visit. I was infatuated with your talent then, and being you as a whole person. You saw me sang at a funeral, and then you saw me eating at a fast food one night. Yes. This was December, I think, of 20th. You got great memory. Yes. Quality and good leader. Yes. December 2010. And then you handed me your card and said, can you come and sing at me, raise your program? And I was a nobody then. Well, I believe in giving people a chance because I like what I heard. So I have to share it to the world. You giving a chance is what we need in the Filipino community. I was just given a good break. That's why I am... You are lucky. I am where I am right now. I am just thankful of the people who trusted in me when I went into the community and started doing what I love to do, which is just... I am from the University of the Philippines, Diliman, and our motto is serve the people. So it's ingrained in me to just be there and help in whatever way I can do to help. It sounds like you were born to lead and to take people with you and come together. What I'm thankful for are my parents. My parents are actually here in Hawaii right now. They're visiting. Yeah. They're visiting. And I grew up actually in a very conservative family. There are five boys. I'm the middle child. So with that, it's always a competition when it comes to attention or something. I had... Boys are very competitive, but of course girls can be too. But we were church-grown as well. So we grew up with a church. And I guess that faith that my parents instilled in me made me have a good sense of what is right and wrong. And I'm bringing that into the leadership that I'm doing right now. So the strong sense, the strong moral compass that I have helps me deal with all the people around me. You know how it is. That's an asset, Raymond. Sometimes it is hard to be the one that's trying to do the right things when you're surrounded with a lot of negativism because they don't want you to outshine them. They don't want you to do well. It goes back to the crept mentality. But with your positive and optimistic attitude and great leadership, I know that we can change one person at a time. I have nothing to lose. You know why, when I was 25, I went through major depression. I was diagnosed clinically depressed then. And I'm very open about this. I'm not shy about it. Thank you for opening up your throat. It's because one of my advocacy is to, and it's real, depression is real. It's not just sadness, it's not just being low or disappointment. It's more profound than that. Like totally no hope, no care. You don't really care at all. That's when you stop caring for yourself, for the world and everything. And I went through that. The lowest of the low, when you have nothing in life to look forward to. I hate to be in that place. And I went through that when I was 25. The peak of your life. Supposedly. Actually, yes. I was at the peak of my life. 25, I was an assistant vice president of a construction and manufacturing company in the Philippines. Wow. Big role for a 25-year-old. A 25-year-old. Yes. And it was then that I realized that it was lonely at the top. If you're not surrounded by the people who would care for you. There's that saying. Yes. It's really lonely at the top. It came to a point that I can't even have just lunch with anyone. Or if I have to be with my friends, I have to beg for them or go out with me, I'll pay for everything, just go out with me. But see, 25. And I was already responsible with several hundreds of people. And it got me, it got into me, it's like too much too soon. And again, it's like I'm going through the cycle that it's too much too soon. Even with my presidency with the Oahu Filipino Community Council now. It was too much too soon too. But at least I learned already. I know how to hold back and I know how to dance with the crowd. I know how to filter my emotions. I know how to handle the people around me. I know how to handle myself. That's part of your good guy image. And that came from your very solid foundation of knowing what's right from wrong. Well, right and wrong is always relative. It's a philosophical conversation. But what's good for everybody? What may not be good for you, may be good for everyone else. And as a leader, you have to have that aspect. Are you willing to sacrifice? Actually, my spouse and I have some conversations every now and then regarding, why are we spending too much for the community and we're not rich. We're just getting by. Spending too much time, money, resources. Our wealth. That's right. And for me, I would get scoldings at 2 or 3 a.m. because I'm still in the computer working because I have a full-time job. And then when I come home at night, I have another full-time job working for my community to work. Again, I'm thankful that I was given a break. Well, I started with the Filipino. I started as an entertainer in the Filipino community. Yes. You sang for me, too. I sang, I do MCing, which you've always been a great supporter. Every time you would see me MC at concerts. There are several concerts that you're there and I love you. And thank you because you trusted in my talent. You bleed between being my son or my little brother. So that's where I started. And then people started noticing, too, that there's more that I could do for the community. And I was given a break when the Garcia brothers, Romeo Garcia and Probel Garcia, started hanging out with me and building me towards the community. So we started the Filipino-American Maharilika Association. You're coming out? Yes. It's the first Filipino association in Hawaii that's advocating for the LGBT. Yes. So we've been staging the Miss Maharilika USA every year at one of the biggest hotels in Hawaii. And it's been successful all the time. This is the third year that you've done that, yeah. And then because of my involvement with FAMAS, and then they got to see me ride and talk, and then Mr. Probel Garcia invited me to be one of the speakers of Gumi'l-Hawaii in one of their workshops, yeah, writing workshops. They have this yearly Labor Day workshop. So they invited me to conduct their workshop and the old ladies of Gumi'l-Hawaii. The wonderful ladies? Yes. At a band, Pasita. The wonderful ladies, yes. Nana Pasita Saludes, one of my mentors in the community. So from then on, that was like Labor Day September. They elected me as the president of the Anaktika Iluquan in December of that year. That's a quick sprint. That's a quick sprint, right. True. And then after that, it just happened. And the following year, I was nominated by Anaktika Iluquan in America as the vice president for the Oahu Filipino Community Council. And that's where I started with the OFCC, which is the federation of the Filipino associations on the island of Oahu. Yes, and it's a big responsibility. It's a big responsibility, true. Along with the umbrella organization of the United Filipino Council of Hawaii. Yeah, because being a president of the OFCC also comes with a seat at the board of governors of the United Filipino Council of Hawaii. And also a seat as an ex-officer member of the board of directors of the Philcom Center. So that's why on November 18th, we're going to have our president's call and reaffirmation night at the Philcom Center because we want to bring back. And we want to give back to the Filipino Community Center because that's our own. OK, with that thought, we're going to take a quick break here on Pinoy Power Hawaii. We come to your homes live from 12 to 12.30 p.m. every Tuesday. We will be right back. Hey, Stan Energyman here on Think Tech Hawaii. And they won't let me do political commentary. So I'm stuck doing energy stuff, but I really like energy stuff. So I'm going to keep on doing it. So join me every Friday on Stan Energyman at lunchtime at noon on my lunch hour. We're going to talk about everything energy, especially if it begins with the word hydrogen. We're going to definitely be talking about it. We'll talk about how we can make Hawaii cleaner, how we can make the world a better place. Just basically save the planet. Even Miss America can't even talk about stuff like that anymore. We got it nailed down here. So we'll see you on Friday and noon with Stan Energyman. Aloha. Aloha. My name is Mark Shklav. I am the host of Think Tech Hawaii's Law Across the Sea. Law Across the Sea is on Think Tech Hawaii every other Monday at 11 a.m. Please join me where my guests talk about law topics and ideas and music and Hawaii Ana all across the sea from Hawaii and back again. Aloha. Welcome back to Pinoy Power Hawaii here on Think Tech Hawaii every Tuesday at 12 noon. And today we're having a very candid conversation with my very special guest and he has proven himself by his determination, resilient, hard work, dedication, and just an overall wanting to do the right thing as a good guy. He is indeed my young idol and this is Raymond Sebastian. Thank you again. It's a pleasure to have you with us and helping us with our empowerment. And I know you've been very transparent in the things that you do, even worrying your emotions on your sleeves. So if you could care to tell us a little bit more about your personal life and... Sure. Well, we talk about how I went through the depression when I was younger. I was 25 and it's still recurring. I have to admit that it doesn't go away. And the reason why I'm very much willing to share this to everyone is I just wanna inspire people that despite having depression, it's a mental health condition. You cannot just switch it off. Yeah, throw it away and just shut it down. And it happens. When I was there, I was in... I was taking medication. It's cyclical. I'm taking antidepressant in the morning and I have to take sleeping pills in the evening. Until one time I just got so tired and I just, I talk about all the remaining pills in my sleeping pills bottle and I just swallowed everything. It was, I just, I didn't know. I said like a set of while ago, I just stopped caring. You got tired of that vicious cycle of just like going around and around. That's correct. You can't get out of it. True. And there's, it felt like there's, what's the point of everything? So I guess it wasn't really my time then yet. The Lord has better things in store for you, Raymond. So even with those number of pills that I took, I still woke up. But with the most painful headache you could ever imagine. I bet. And I was crying more when I woke up because I was so disappointed that I didn't die. You didn't succeed. I didn't succeed. But then again, like what you said, there could be a higher purpose for all of this. And for me, I guess there is. In which you are thankful for. And I'm thankful for. True, very true. Because I couldn't imagine how my parents would have reacted to it. Actually, my- That's really very cruel thing to do. Yes. And then after that incident, I- But you're not alone, Raymond. Yes. Mm-hmm. I know there are people out there. And look at me. This is the face of someone with, someone dealing with depression. And I'm so thankful that I have a very, very understanding spouse. Mm-hmm. Because- That matters a lot. That matters a lot. Because if I'm already feeling it, I'm already telling that it's here again. So you just have to bear with me for now. And again, learn how to talk. And it matters a lot when you have someone to talk to, friends. That can relate. Yes. Yeah, that can relate. Just someone who would judge you for what you're feeling or what you're going through. Someone who would just listen. And you don't need explanations. We don't need someone to empathize with us. It's just letting it out will already help. And again, I've learned how to cope with my condition, mostly because I think, then there's a higher purpose for me. There are more things that I could do for, not only for myself, but for my loved ones and for the community. And that's the reason to why I am where I am at. You lose your serve in being in the service of others. That's correct. Actually, idle minds are the devil's playground. So idle minds are the devil's playground. I cannot afford to be idle. To be idle. True. Yeah. You know why, Raymond? Because you have a very brilliant mind. And I don't want to get emotional because I can relate to everything that you're saying because my mom suffers from that same... She has a beautiful mind, brilliant, and the ability to love unconditionally. But she does suffer from what you've described. And I understand that world. I totally understand it. So I can relate to what you're saying. And thank you. Thank you for being so transparent. You're welcome, Madam Yemi, because, again, there are so many people out there who just don't want to talk or shut down about it. We hide it because we feel so ashamed. Because there's a stigma. There's a stigma when it comes to mental health. And some people would just, again, when you mention the crowd mentality, they may take it against you. And it's not good. You know, it's a condition. It's a health condition. And we just need to help everyone who have it. And, again, for me, there's so much love that we can give out into the world. We can always make this world a better place. Then why should we hinder anyone? Or why should we put down someone when they're on the right path? And I guess I just have a very different perspective when it comes to the world. I'm scenic too sometimes, but I'll just go with what's positive. That's true. Yeah. I need to learn to take more of the positive side. But I am very human. And I'm very emotional. But I can be feisty, too. You're not going to take me down without me having to fight for what I feel, my convictions. True. And it's good to have those convictions. It's good to have your own principles. It's good to have... We have to come to a point where in, we know ourselves. If we know ourselves, then no one can trample on us. No one can step on us. And that's what I've been trying to do in this community, too. I was called a proverbial newbie when I came in. I like it. We need more of you. For me, I guess, calling me a proverbial newbie, yes, I am new to the Filipino community in Hawaii, but really, like what you said, since I was a kid, I was in elementary high school, even when I was in college. I am a small town boy. I came from Luna Isabella, which is just a very small town in the middle of Isabella, Isabella Province in the Philippines. That's where you probably learn how to coexist in such a small environment, small place. Everyone knows everyone. Yes, yes. So, since everyone knows everyone, you have to be... You need to get along. First of all. First of all. Plus, my mother was the principal of the high school where I went to. And it's the only high school in our town. That's even more so because you're going to shame mama if you misbehave. So, we always have to be in our best behavior all the time because people are looking at us. Well, you are the role model, you know, principal son, so naturally you have to be in your best behavior. And then I went to the University of the Philippines and I was the first graduate of my high school to go to UP. And something that my mom was really proud of. Of course. Mother's pride. I guess I'm a mama's boy. Well, I know how to deal special with the ladies. That's an asset, okay. And so, when I was in UP, the depression was there already. And then I had to deal with it. But see... On a bigger scale because you're talking college, your master's. And I was alone. My parents were in the province. I was alone in Metro Manila. Then, you know what I did? I became a... I was a member of seven organizations when I was... That's a great way to keep yourself busy. Yeah, I was in UP. I was singing. I did musical theater. I was active with cultural, academic, and social organizations. And here, I was also with the student council of the University of the Philippines when I was in UP. So I was trained. And then when I went to the corporate world, few months after, I was already on the leadership role. I was already a supervisor. And from then on, again, too much too soon. I was on the fast lane. And it's the same... You're fast too soon. It's the same thing right now. But again, as I said, I think I learned and I'm still learning. There are times I still get tired, but I would think if not me, we would not do this. I know there are still people out there who would do this. I know too that the world will continue on revolving without me. And that's a good thing. It's a good thought to have because then that makes me feel not so special. You have to have that feeling. I was talking to Charles on our way here that... Thank you, Charles, for always being here and in the back scene. Yes. And then I was telling him you cannot be a leader if you're focused yourself. There are certain people in our community who are in leadership roles, or not just in our community, in general, but they cannot succeed because leadership goes into their head. Well, you know, it's okay if you focus into the things that you are really born to do, the talent, and accentuate that and share it with others. Because if you didn't develop that deeper confidence in you, how are you going to share it with others? So in a way, it's okay to focus but share. True. And you're doing exactly that. You are really born to lead Raymond and you like to move fast. You can't stay put or be stagnant because your mind is just running on high capacity more clever and your spirit is so well-traveled that you could survive anywhere in this universe because your ability to adapt, your ability to have respect for your surrounding, whether young, old, nature, or anything that exists in this world, I know you have a deeper appreciation and meaning for life. True. And that's correct too. And again, I would want to give back to my parents because of that because they have instilled in me their faith and their spirituality. So I still believe in the divine and there's a greater purpose in everything that's happening in this world. I always advocate or go for the underdogs or the marginalized because they need the help. There's just so much things to do in this world to make it a better place. Exactly. And you're doing everything you can possibly do in your capacity. That's the one that... That's the purpose. That's the one that keeps me happy. And that's the one that I enjoy doing the most. It's not the fame, it's not the honors, not the prestige because... But it's your passion. True. It's a hard work. Anyway, we've run out of time. I need to bring you back here and let's have more conversations on the LGBT that needs to be accepted all over in our community. But I want to congratulate you once again on your leadership. Repeat the date once again. Again, November 18, 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Phil Cumm Center. Please be with us. It's the President's Ball. And the reaffirmation night is the executive officers and directors of the Oahu Filipino Community Council. Also, we're going to award and recognize all the presidents of the unit organizations under the OFCC. And we will award the scholarships for our 10 outstanding Filipino scholars. Wonderful. Keep up the good work and the empowerment. And I'm so happy that you are out of the box and you think out of the box. Thank you. Happy at last. And thank you for inspiring me all the time. It's the feeling is mutual. So like we say, Thank you again for joining us here on Think Tech Hawaii and Pinoy Power Hawaii segment. We come to you live from 12 to 12.30 every Tuesday. And like we say, Much Mahalo.