Young leaders discuss people, planet and profit

Four outstanding young leaders from the Philippines joined 20 other delegates from five other Asian countries to participate in the 7th Hitachi Young Leaders Initiative held at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last July 11 to 15.

In an effort to provide analysis, recommendations and solutions to some of Asia’s most pressing problems, Philip Francisco Dy of Ateneo de Manila, Mark Gregore Gloriani of De La Salle University, Pamela Manuel and Carl Nicholas Ng, both of the University of the Philippines and the rest of Asia’s promising student-leaders were brought together for a week of expert forums, intellectual discussion, debate and sleepless nights.

HYLI was officially launched at a formal dinner at the beginning of the week, complete with ethnic Malaysian entertainment. The highlights of the evening though were the performances of the young delegates wherein they presented something unique to their country. Our very own contingent impressed the multi-cultural crowd with their performance of the classic dance Pandanggo sa Ilaw. Oohs and ahhs could be heard as the candle-bearing Filipino students gracefully moved around the stage.

The theme at hand was "Balancing People, Planet and Profit in Asia’s Future." Among the speakers was former Department of Environment and Natural Resources secretary Victor Ramos, who spoke on the need to transform environmental awareness into action.

The forum was held for the first two days of the initiative and featured distinguished speakers such as Yang Berhormat Dato’ Mustapa Mohamed, minister in the Prime Minister’s Department of Malaysia; Dr. Masahiro Kawai of the Institute of Social Science in Tokyo, Japan; Ismid Hadad, executive of the KEHATI Indonesian Biodiversity Foundation; and Dr. Chantavit Sujatanond, deputy director of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization Secretariat, from Thailand.

After the forums, the young Asian leaders divided into three sub-groups – Economics, Environment and Education – and debated on possible solutions and project proposals to address the issues on hand. "We were expected to produce an output that was radical but at the same time pragmatic," says Pam. "It was difficult but it’s something I really enjoyed."

At this point, one would probably expect that debates would get heated and tempers would start to flare. After all, these are people of different cultures, religions and belief systems; it’s hard to expect that these 24 individuals would get along right off the bat. Apparently, they did. "In a very real way, I learned that representatives from different countries can sit down, talk, cooperate and have a consensus on what they can do to address a problem they all have," shares Philip. "At the end of the day, I think what we will remember the most, aside from the output that we were able to give, was the friendships we were able to forge with each other." The immediate cohesiveness that the delegates showed enabled them to produce well-discussed, highly creative and socially relevant proposals that they were able to produce efficiently. Although their discussions often lasted until early morning, the delegates admit that it was the best part of their experience. "Definitely (the best part)," says Carl.

Probably the biggest advantage that the Philippine contingent had from their colleagues was their grasp of the English language. According to the Filipino students, their knack for communication enabled them to facilitate discussions between delegates from different countries and made it easier for them to share ideas and speed up their deliberations. "I think the most original Filipino contribution to the discussions was our excellent command of the English language," says Mark. "I think the Filipino really made a great impact on expressing our equally great ideas into a form that will be understandable to a lot of people."

Mark describes HYLI as an epiphany, saying that there were so many things he realized during the initiative. As a center for a set of diverse young Asian leaders to come together as intellectuals and create policies to benefit the continent as a whole, it’s hard to contest the eye-opening value of this initiative. From an intellectual standpoint, this was probably one of the most valuable experiences a young mind can undergo. I witnessed and learned much more than I ever expected, even from a journalist’s standpoint. The experience however, did not stop with intellectual matters. After all, leaders are supposed to be servants of the people. The second part of the HYLI experience was an immersion in the lives of the less fortunate. After all the university jargon was said, it was time they went out and met the people their policies would affect. (To be continued)

* * *

For questions, comments or complaints, please e-mail me at emailcarlramirez@yahoo.com.