When bright, young minds meet

Conclusion

They’re a formidable powerhouse of brains and energy – this is what I honestly think of the 24 youth delegates to the 6th Hitachi Young Leaders’ Initiative held recently in Bangkok. The delegates came from all over Asia, and I had the chance to meet and bond with some of them while covering the weeklong event. Let’s meet our own delegates up close.

A fourth year Business Economics student at the University of the Philippines, Maida Marie Salcedo is the president of the UP Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations (HPAIR) as well as a member of the UP Economics Society. She represented UP to the United Nations Environment Programme International Children’s Conference and the 11th HPAIR Global Conference.

Katrina Camille Ng is a bubbly fourth year student at Ateneo de Manila University, taking up Business Management. A consistent honor student, Camille is also involved in assorted extracurricular activities. She is currently the vice president for international relations of Rotary International, a member of the Ateneo Debate Society and the Ateneo Lex. She was a member of the first Asian team to reach the Final Four of the Australasian University Debating Championship held last July 2003 in Malaysia.

Bent on becoming an attorney, Philip Ranada is a junior at the University of the Philippines College of Law. An academic scholar since high school, Philip is president of the UP Society for Environmental Lawyering and a member of the Order of the Purple Feather Society. Eric Emmanuel P. Ebro is a fourth year student at De La Salle University, taking up a double major of Applied Economics and Accountancy. A consistent university scholar, Eric heads the DLSU Economics Organization. In addition, he has been representing the school to various debate competitions.

It’s pretty amazing how they managed to come up with a couple of presentations, go through an Amazing Bangkok Race, and do community work in just one week. At the HYLI welcome dinner, while non-delegates were enjoying their scrumptious dinner at the ballroom of our home in Bangkok, the Four Seasons Hotel, the delegates were busy preparing for their performances. That night, each group of delegates was to do a presentation inspired by their country’s culture. Camille, Eric, Maida and Philip opted to do an arnis demonstration. Dressed in plain white tees and black pants and armed with their arnis sticks, the cool foursome showed just how impressive Philippine martial arts can be. The other countries gave it their all, too. The Japanese delegates presented a traditional Japanese dance, the Malaysians did a fashion show, the Indonesians presented a puppet show, the Singaporeans did a little dance number and the Thais gave a cooking demo.

Having been holed up in the hotel for two whole days, the delegates were raring to get out and an Amazing Bangkok Race was as good an excuse as any. For this race, the delegates were divided into four groups, with six delegates per group. A media representative and a Hitachi executive accompanied the group. With the four groups going through five stops, the organizers thought the activity would make the delegates work up an appetite as they had to make their way to Nippon Tei Restaurant once the five stops were completed. I had the privilege to be part of team 1, composed of Melissa, Theo, Abdul, Samata, Eric and Hiroko. Determined to win, we went through all the stops as fast as we could. We were also able to figure out the answers to the trivia pretty fast. Other tasks included composing a song, writing a poem, drawing a statue and buying a souvenir from the Jim Thompson Museum worth 1,000 baht. It was easy as pie for us until the unexpected happened. Our group was rushing to our last stop, this bridge in a park. We hurriedly got off the skytrain and made our way to the bridge. Feeling pretty good after hurdling all five stops, we thought of snapping some pictures so Eric, Melissa, Abdul and Samata sat on the bridge. From out of the blue came a cop on a motorcycle. Not conversant in English, he motioned the four delegates to come with him. Apparently, it was against the law in Thailand to sit by the bridge. He demanded that the delegates pay a fine. Running way behind the race, we all trooped to the small police station located inside the park like defeated soldiers. But the defiant Melissa, Eric, Abdul and Samata argued their case and after a while, the police simply let them go. Needless to say, our group arrived last at the restaurant. Nevertheless, our experience inspired us to call ourselves "The Sitting Criminals."

As much fun for the delegates was the community work in which they immersed themselves for two days. Khun Wasan Saenwian, executive director of Christian Care Foundation for Children with Disabilities showed pictures of the children, whom we would get to meet and bond with. Among the community activities were the making of hanging mobiles and clay molding. The students, donning their HYLI shirts and caps, went through a crash course on both activities since they were to help the children do the same the following day. After picking the children up from the foundation, we all rode a small boat to Ko Kret Island, a very small island known for clay molding. As soon as we reached the island, the students, along with the children, got busy. One group worked at clay molding while the other learned how to do hanging mobiles. Then the two groups switched work. When both groups were finished, the delegates gave another country-inspired presentation. This time, however, some groups decided to show presentations that the children could also join in. The Philippine group decided to do a game using the song Ocho-Ocho. While Eric and Philip sang the song, Maida and Camille demonstrated a hand game to the said tune.

To go back to the meat of the HYLI meet, I asked some delegates for their opinions on certain issues. Yumiko Takashima, a scholar at Keio University and currently completing her major in Cultural Policy and Assessment in the university’s Policy Management Faculty on rapid Asian urbanization: "Since we cannot stop urbanization itself, we should push government to decentralize its powers to local authorities and lead them to do the urban planning with public involvement."

Lim Fung Kit, a junior Civil Engineering student at the Universiti Sains Malaysia and a consistent dean’s lister, on Asian economy five years from now: "Asia will be a close-knit community with China being the magnate of growth. Asia will build her economy from within, intra-Asia trade will increase at the expense of Western trade. Asia will grow stronger as an economic region, at par with the FTAs (free trade areas) like the Nafta and the European Community."

Febi Mutiara, a third year Psychology major at the Atmajaya University in Indonesia, an excellent debater, a Sunday school teacher and a volunteer English teacher, on interracial marriage and social progress: "In my point of view, interracial marriage is not really a relevant issue that affects social progress since social progress itself means the fulfillment of basic needs and an increase in the quality of life in general. However, in individual cases, interracial marriages can serve as opportunities toward self-improvement and better understanding of others’ cultural values and habits. Thus, in general, interracial marriage can encourage social cohesiveness in culturally and racially diverse communities such as in Asian countries."

Gobind Rattivarakorn, a senior at Mahidol University International College in Thailand, majoring in Computer Science and a champion debater, on how close Asia is to environmental degradation: "Currently, though environmental problems are a big issue in Asia, it has not reached that point of extreme environmental degradation. But with Asian countries being the fastest growing economies, and at the rate these resources are being consumed and managed, the Armageddon of environmental degradation keeps coming closer."

Abdul Halim B. Abdullah, a third year student at the Singapore Management University with a degree in Architectural Technology from Singapore Polytechnic, on how he envisions the Asian economy five years from now: "The frameworks are currently in place to help bring about rejuvenation to the Asian region. I am fairly optimistic that we should be able to reach our former levels of growth. As a young leader and entrepreneur, the business that I run is in line with the Singapore government’s plans of encouraging innovative and creative SMEs (small and medium enterprises), an avenue of growth for Singapore itself."

The Philippines’ Eric Emmanuel Ebro on Asian growth and environmental sustainability: "Humanity’s future depends on the environment for sustenance, survival and industry, among others. Keeping this in mind, the question of choice between environment and growth becomes irrelevant. What we should be concerned about is how to manage optimizing economic growth while simultaneously minimizing environmental damage, with this dependence relationship – they should really go hand in hand."

Closer to home, I asked the Filipino delegates for their views on relevant issues of the day.

Maida Marie Salcedo: "I’ve always believed that the Philippine economy will prosper because of the efforts of small and medium enterprises, as was discussed by the speakers and the students in the forums.  There is much to be optimistic about in this regard because Filipinos are generally creative in coming up with new business ventures. The only thing we need to develop is the discpline and operations capacity of the Singaporeans and Japanese – but we’re getting there."

Philip Ranada: "I left the conference with more optimism than before. But I don’t think I got this from the speakers. Sure, the speakers at least told me that things can be done. Yet the overall impression on me was that the things other countries have been doing to great benefit were things already conceptualized by Philippine policy makers, but which have not yet materialized because of government corruption. Our country is one of great, unborn ideas. So it pains me to think that we could have been better than these other Asean countries."

Katrina Camille Ng: "After listening to the speakers, I did feel optimistic about the Philippine economy. I realized that everything that we have now started from dreams – beautiful dreams that people were passionate enough to bring to reality. While things may seem bad now, there is reason to hope that improvement will happen, especially because a lot of Filipinos, now more than ever, are determined to restore the Philippines to the glory she once enjoyed. Things will get better in the future, I’m sure."

And what have they learned from the Hitachi Young Leaders’ Initiative?

Eric: "More than anything else, there are actually more similarities than differences that Asians share. I have always viewed competition as something inherent among states and their people. However, my HYLI experience has actually infused an entirely different concept, and that is one of cooperation and an atmosphere of accord. Other than our exchanges on a common past, the HYLI participants have actually discovered how we all share the future of the region, thus highlighting the importance of collaboration, support and teamwork."

Maida: A lot! Cheesy, but that friendship knows no geographical barrier or racial distinction. Think globally, act locally: The problems of this world cannot be solved by monumental strategies, but by practical efforts made by individuals. From my community work experience, I learned never underestimate anyone’s (even if they have physical and mental limitations) capacity to do and be great. We can only begin to solve our country’s problems if we learn to love the country first. Countries like Malaysia and Thailand were worse than us 10 years ago, yet look at where they are now. And this is because these countries have a strong sense of national pride and love of country."

Philip: "First and foremost, cultural insights. I went into the conference not with the primary view of learning the technical or economic stuff that would be thrown about in the workshops or talks (although even here I learned quite a lot). Rather, real learning experience occurred during the coffee breaks, in-between talks, the lulls in the workshop sessions, while waiting in the bus stuck in traffic, etc. Really, people criticize the term ‘Asia’ because they feel that the region is so diverse that it cannot be put under an all-embracing concept. But talking with the delegates about lifestyles, languages, religions, and what-have-you made me realize that we share some common and uniquely Asian values so much so that, indeed, it is proper to speak of an Asia distinct from Europe or America. I refer here to that basic sense of spiritualism, respect for authority and traditions, concern for the feelings of others, and a whole gamut of other values which offer both pros and cons, and which Asia must continually refine to achieve only advantages."

Camille: "Words cannot describe the wealth of lessons that I received from the 6th HYLI, what I proudly consider to be the best international experience I’ve ever had. Every single person there, from the delegates to the moderators to our partners in the community work, had something to teach me. What I can say though is that this experience brought to life what I would call the Asian bond. I have come to realize that behind the extreme and beautiful cultural diversity of the region lies a certain connection. And I dare predict that it is this that will give rise to a more powerful and unified Asian community.

Care to give your personal definition of the acronym HYLI?

Eric: "My personal definition for HYLI would come from the values I believe it best represents – Harmony, Youthfulness, Labor, Integrity."

Maida: "Habang Young Laging Inspired. Hahaha, that’s so baduy!"

Philip: "It sounds corny, but I’ll go for Happy Young Listeners with Idealism. Listeners because, surprisingly for me, there was an open-minded atmosphere where proper decorum regarding when someone can talk was kept. I would have thought that the egos, intellect, and debate experience of many of the delegates would have meant a plethora of shouting matches and factionalism. But these leaders demonstrated to me what true leadership is about: The ability to shut up and listen. A particularly moving example was how one group patiently tried to interpret the message of a Japanese delegate whose brilliant ideas were stifled by a lack of proficiency in English. The synergy was excellent and productive of good results. 

Camille: "Helping the Youth Live their Ideals."

In a word, describe your HYLI experience.

Eric: "Insightful."

Maida: "Super!"

(Fact is, the word "super" captures everything that the recent HYLI was – super fun, super tiring, super exciting, super interesting, super people,  super Bangkok, and the super-duper list goes on.)

Philip: "Fulfilling."

Camille: "Blessed."

Good or bad economy, Tsunehiro Takahashi, Hitachi senior manager for external affairs, can only see a rosy future for these brilliant delegates. He adds that based on what has become of the past delegates, he is quite certain that this year’s delegates would play more important roles in their country five years from now or even sooner. As an "My message to the students is that they should try to rise in the world. They also have to have a prospective to raise the human being up higher. Also, I’m hoping that in the near future, they would come back to HYLI as a panelist speaker. Finally, when they are in power in the future, they will think about the next generation. And as we give them the chance or opportunity, next time they’d be the ones to give the next generation the chance to be a leader. So, if Hitachi can bring about that generation linkage, that is the time we can say that the Hitachi Young Leaders’ Initiative is a success."

CHEERS (Creativity, Hope, Enthusiasm, Education, Responsibility, Service, which, according to Asean Secretary Ong Keng Yong is what today’s generation must inspire the next generation with)!

* * *

E-mail me at ice_wave_42@yahoo.com.