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Family Reunion on the Information Highway
by Peopleasia@qinet.net
Mar 2001
Some people can't stand being with their families for long periods. Many people can't take working long periods. Now imagine
combining both of these things and liking it. Christine and Abigail Yap of the Yapster e-Conglomerate don't just imagine it.
They live it. JAIME BAUTISTA sits in on their little family shoptalk.
FAMILY REUNION ON THE INFORMATION HIGHWAY
With the interest in the Internet growing everyday, many young entrepreneurs have put up their own IT companies believing that a
dotcom company will take them down the information superhighway to success. According to cousins Christine and Abigail Yap, this
holds true for the second-generation members of the Yap family, but with one marked difference: they're taking the family car down
that road.
Christine and Abigail (or Abi for short) are two of seven cousins who head the Yapster e-Conglomerate, the newest and perhaps most
ambitious venture of the Yap family. While other young upstarts usually strike out on their own and create a single website, the
Yap cousins have created an entire holding company that has interests in Internet companies. And following Chinese tradition, this
conglomerate is an expansion of the existing family businesses.
The e-Conglomerate is divided into two main areas: the e-Business Subsidiaries which provide online services; and the Infrastructure
Companies, which support and enable their dotcom companies. A Yap cousin heads each of the companies under the conglomerate.
Under the e-Business Subsidiaries are four companies: Yapster e-Trade, Inc. (www.2TradeAsia.com) deals with online stock
brokerage and is headed by Christine. Yapster e-Travel (www.2TravelWorld.com) does online travel management and is run by
their cousin Annabelle. Their other cousin Sherman, oversees the e-Insurance company (www.2InsureAll.com), which handles
online insurance policy management. And their e-Learning company (www.2StudyIT.com), which provides web-based training in
IT and business courses, is headed by their cousin Arlene. Under the Subsidiary Companies, you have
Active Business Solutions, Inc. (www.Activebizness.com) which is run by Abi. It is a consulting company that develops web
applications for companies, automates back office systems and provides business consultation. There is also Yapster Shared
Services (www.Ysharedservices.com), which provides Internet hosting for companies with mission-critical Internet operations;
www.SourcePilipinas.com, which provides a horizontal exchange with local businesses; www.miningxchange.com, which serves as a venue
for vertical exchange for the global mining industry; and XIC Global which is a web-based call center that provides support and
online marketing. These companies are run by people hired by the Yap cousins and who have the necessary expertise in their
respective fields.
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