Home Special Note Michael Chen: Discover the Secret Ingredient that Makes Colon Province an Unforgettable...

Michael Chen: Discover the Secret Ingredient that Makes Colon Province an Unforgettable Destination

When visiting Colon Province, every visitor is delighted with its clear water beaches, natural parks full of exotic fauna, the cuisine full of Afro-Antillean flavors, the colonial forts, among many more. However, there is a secret ingredient that reaches the heart of each Visitor, one that with its smile and cheerful treatment invites you to return again and again.

Although this secret ingredient is sometimes limited by the media, which often only shows the negative side of many situations in Colon, there are people who are working to show the good. The best example is Michael Chen, President of the Colon Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture. This Colonense of Chinese descent in recent months has toured the Province to talk to entrepreneurs, citizens and show places that everyone can visit. For all this, The Visitor decided that Michael is the best person to describe the secret ingredient that makes Colon Province an unforgettable destination: its people.

What is the most positive feature of the Colonense and what is it due to?

“Colon Province is known for its free zone, International ports, for being a logistics region. But much more than this, Colon is culture, history, gastronomy, and the most important and most positive thing is its people. Great athletes, artists, people who stand out in culture have come out of Colon. That is the most positive thing, the people of Colon who are hard-working, forward-thinking, resilient and who move forward through their creativity and innovation. Unfortunately, the negative news stands out more than the positive ones.”

Colon is a Province that despite having so many limitations has given the country the greatest athletes and personalities. What is this grit and fighting force due to?

“Colon province has always been characterized by its creativity and innovation, as well as its resilience. It is just as the shield of the Province visually reveals, where you can see a Phoenix bird where we have always had to reinvent ourselves and come out of the ashes, to be reborn and succeed. And since in Colon Province sports is something a lot of people invest time on it, the boys generally always share time together through soccer games, baseball, basketball, it is the way that many do to move forward.

Since there are not many things to do or so many entertainment activities, people decide to turn their gaze towards sports. The best basketball players, soccer players, boxers, and even Panama’s first and only Olympic gold medalist have come from Colon. It is the competitiveness and the desire to push the Colonense forward.”

What differentiates the Colonense from the rest of the people in the country?

“You can distinguish a Colonense from more than a mile away, their idiosyncrasies, their culture, the aphrodisiac food, the traditions of their rich culture, art, all this will always make them stand out. Also, that way of moving forward and it is that the very character of the Colonense has a joy that spreads to everyone around him.”

What does the Colonense need to collectively develop its potential?

“I want to summarize everything with a single sentence that is a lack of belonging by all, here I include civil society, private companies, and the Government. The day that the people of Colon unite, those of the Government, private companies and civil society, and everyone realizes that we are the best hidden treasure, is going to be the day that we are going to move forward. We need unity, to have that sense of belonging to move the Province of Colon forward and from something that I have perceived as not so positive, we can turn it around and turn it into something that changes and improves our future through tourism, our gastronomy and culture through the secret ingredient of our province….we the people of Colon.”

What does it mean to be Colonense?

“For me, being from Colon is not an ID number, or how you look, what you believe in or where you live or work. It’s much more than that. For me, being a Colonense is what you do as a person for the place that offers you the opportunity to live and develop as a human being. “

Photo courtesy: Michael Chen

Previous article“We have to tell tourists about the history of each our dishes to create an experience full of flavor and knowledge”
Next articlePanaSea…Science, Nature and Aquaculture that Generates Social and Economic Development in Colon

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here