PHL Consulate Staff Attends Basic Customer Relations Seminar, Learns More About Aloha Spirit
Officers and staff of the Philippine Consulate General, led by Consul General Gina A. Jamoralin (seated, center), attend a basic customer relations seminar with Ms. Rosemarie Mendoza (seated, rightmost) as resource speaker.
18 December 2017 HONOLULU — As one of its Gender and Development (GAD) activity for 2017, the Philippine Consulate General in Honolulu organized a Basic Seminar on Customer Relations, with special focus on the so-called “Aloha Spirit,” for its personnel at Halekulani Hotel in Honolulu, Hawaii on November 21.
The Philippine Consulate tapped the services of Ms. Rosemarie V. Mendoza, a noted Filipino American community leader and the Manager for Employee/Labor Relations for FCH Enterprises, Inc., one of Hawaii’s largest restaurant chains, with more than 2,000 employees all over the state.
In her lecture, Ms. Mendoza emphasized the importance of applying the spirit of Aloha, which is unique to the state of Hawaii, in dealing with the Consulate’s clients, which are mainly the applicants of its consular services.
According to Ms. Mendoza, the Aloha Spirit is the coordination of mind and heart within each person. More than a word of greeting, Aloha means mutual regard and affection that extends warmth in caring without expecting anything in return. The traits that express the charm, warmth and sincerity of Hawaii’s people are as follows:
A - "Akahai", meaning kindness to be expressed with tenderness;
L - "Lōkahi", meaning unity, to be expressed with harmony;
O - "ʻOluʻolu" meaning agreeable, to be expressed with pleasantness;
H - "Haʻahaʻa", meaning humility, to be expressed with modesty; and
A - "Ahonui", meaning patience, to be expressed with perseverance.
She also strongly encouraged the participants to be mindful of Aloha Spirit Law (Hawaii Revised Statutes 5-7.5) is indeed a piece of legislation in Hawaii which governs the work ethic and philosophy of Hawaii’s workers. The Aloha Spirit Law has been officially on the state record as the law of the land in Hawaii since 1986, transforming an unspoken, sacred social understanding into a piece of legislation.
Part of the seminar was a tabletop exercise where participants were grouped into five to make use of prepared materials and explain how they could apply the Aloha spirit in dealing with customers. END
Resource speaker Ms. Rosemarie V. Mendoza, 2nd from right, receives a Certificate of Appreciation and a token from Consul General Jamoralin. Joining them in the photo are Consul Joyleen E. Santos, GAD Focal Point and Ms. Rose Churma, who assisted the Consulate in this activity.
For more information, visit www.honolulupcg.dfa.gov.ph / www.philippineshonolulu.org or https://www.facebook.com/PHConsulateHonolulu.