BABA06 Beijing2009 Video Communique Part 01 Opening

By Kardison Lumban Batu, BEc, MSc

Lecturer of Polytechnic State of Pontianak, Business Administration

Westk Kalimantan

When a group takes time out for gathering at a retreat, the whole should gain benefit, it supposed to be and hopefully yes. Any amount of time taken to get away and focus on good leadership and collaboration will bear fruit in the lives of individuals and the social life! With a whole world of needs and possibilities facing us, how do we decide what to give our life and energies to? This retreat has always recognized that offered mutual benefit and contains social value for all of us to implement and apply that common good in Asia in our daily life and environment. From my perspective in the Retreats held in Beijing, our main objective is to eliminate all distractions from each and every barricade to allow the good deed work in a multitude of lives.

Here are a few things I’ve noticed and gained in the Retreat held in Beijing.

•    Renewed and refreshed, we are able to share the key truths that gave us a new perspective in Leadership, Networking, Cooperation, Caring, Social Life, and even Collaboration

•    Unity developed among us at the retreat spreads through the whole week as we return to fellowship and home.

•    Relationships at home are dealt with in a more positive and hopeful manner due to the chance to rest and find renewal in good relationship

•    Revived and restored teachers and leaders are better prepared to encourage and minister.

•    Developing deeper and more trusting relationships among us

•    Inspiring teammates to sprint to the finish on an important project for any purposes

•    Convincing each other on the ability and skill owning

•    Inspiring, encouraging all participants to become lifelong learners and agent of change.

•    Creating enthusiasm and negotiating during a difficult change

•    Negotiating a complex contract that benefits all sides

•    Nurturing a corporate culture that engenders loyalty and retention

•    Being Present not pretentious.

•    Reaching Out not looking down.

•    Understanding the role of the effective leader in an organization

•    Ability to assess our natural leadership style, and identify areas for development and improvement.

•    Learning how to make decisions to involve team members to a lesser or greater degree, depending on the circumstances of each situation.

•    Learning to communicate, delegate, and follow through effectively, to help the team deliver organization results and develop group capacities and strengths

Why should you go to retreat?

•    Leadership sharing. We have learnt on leadership by sharing the leadership skill since all the participants noticeable an enthusiastic person and available for future leader.

•    To get acquainted. Others benefit by gaining acquainted, the result of networking is always been fruitful.

•    To have Fun. It was a great moment and golden opportunity to have you all there and having fun as well.

I do strongly believe that in our deepest heart that we have strong wish to have reunion again, please do not let us meet once in a life time. Hopefully we can encounter at the next BABA, meeting, seminar, workshop or even the summit of Asian Leader in the near future. Keep you all in my heart.

By Pham Kim Ngoc (Ms), Helen Keller International Vietnam, Hanoi, Vietnam

Before joining the BABA6 retreat program, I was a little bit worried and wondered how this retreat would be. Only one week to become better leaders to build a better Asia? How could it happen within one week? And so on, many questions came to my mind that time.

However, those kinds of questions just disappeared when I first met my room mate Sadia, Pakistani who is very friendly and then the whole group of BABA participants. Everyone was so friendly that I did not think that we just first met for the first time and that we have been friends for a long time. I still remembered we were asked to draw portrait of the person of each other with one drawing without opening the eyes. It was so funny and everyone had his portrait at hand just within a second.

The following days came with the pechakucha presentations where everyone had to make one presentation of 10 slides with the limited time setting for 20 seconds per slide and we had to learn how to talk within this limit, it was also interesting though. It was great that we had chances to listen and interact with resource persons who have deep knowledge in many fields such as Johnson Paul, National Library Board, Singapore with the “12 Angry Men: Transforming Opinions and Groupthink”; On Creative Hats by Edward de Bono an “Think out of the box” idea; Mr. Shuichi Ohno on “The Nippon Foundation and Its Work”; Prof Amitav Acharya; Dr Anupam Saraph: “Technology and Democracy: Lessons from the Recent General Elections in India”. We also had a chance to climb the Great Wall and experienced how Great it actually is.

The last night ended with the Takbeer night and everyone wore traditional clothes of his own country. It was interesting to see how diverse it is in Asian countries that we, the young future leaders need to preserve and develop them in appropriate ways.

Yet, the retreat would not be extremely successful without the presence of Maki Honda, the Fanatic four, facilitators, Mary and Peking university staff who made this retreat unforgettable.

Many things that we learnt from the participants and scholars during the retreat have been applied such as “Think out of the box” idea and this has been practiced right after the Retreat.

After all, my questions and wonderings before the retreat were answered after the retreat finished. And the most important thing we have after this retreat is the networking that we hope we will build and develop it so that we can build a “better of yourself contributing to a better Asia.”

By Mohammad Afzal Hossain Akand

On the beginning of my writing I want say I am grateful to Ajit Kumar Barua, Chairperson, Bangladesh Scholarship Council for bringing me in a global community, Shawrabh Kumar Barua, President ,BSC Alumni Society, to help me as much as a man can & All BSC officials specially Jamal Bhai to be with me in all matters related to BSC.

A Better Asia: Future Leaders Dialogue is a retreat program by the Nippon foundation for its Alumni members. Over the last few decades the NFG had built an outstanding record of private philanthropy which has to date supported and implemented a variety of people exchange and human resources development projects all over the world. The almost 30,000 alumni across the globe therefore represent a vast and diverse pool of talent and potential

Building a Better Asia is a theme of Nippon Foundation. This theme has four key elements as shared prosperity, Common Security, Ecological Balance and Human Security.

The first element is shared prosperity. Economic growth is critical to Asia’s security and well-being. But it must be shared. The region must ensure that no country and sub region is left behind, or turns out to be a loser in globalization. The benefits of growth must be distributed evenly, both within and between nations. The task of eliminating poverty and depravation in all parts of Asia should be urgent.

The second is common security. A regional capacity for peacekeeping and peace building and humanitarian operations must be developed with the consent and active participation of all the countries.

Third element is ecological balance. Environment is truly the common heritage of mankind and the region. Environmental stress respects no national boundaries. Asia faces severe challenges to its environment. Rapid economic growth and rising energy consumption in Asia’s major economic players .So it should be balanced also.

Fourth element is human security. Unlike state or national security, human security focuses on the safety and dignity of the individual. Human security includes freedom from fear as well as freedom from want. Ensuring human security requires protecting human rights through national and international action.

Ensuring these four key elements BABA Retreat program is designed on three main goals. They are as below:

First, it hopes to bring together alumni of Nippon Foundation Group with leadership potential to discuss issues of contemporary relevance and importance.

Second, it seeks to strengthen the networks among these alumni.

Third, it endeavors to encourage Nippon Foundation Group alumni to work together for the benefit of their collective communities.

The third goal integrates the four key elements as “shared prosperity, Common Security, Ecological Balance and Human Security” of BABA. This is the way How The Nippon Foundation Think a Better Asia..

Now I am going to describe the retreat patterns and their probable outcome.

The retreat program was Sixth in number. It started 13th September and ended on the 20th September, 2009.The Nippon Foundation, Asian Dialogue Society and Peking University was the organizers. Global Exchange Centre of Peking University was the Meeting Venue .19 participants among 14 countries of Asia were present as the future leader of Asia. I was the only one participant from Bangladesh. This retreat program seems to be a think tank for the betterism of whole Asia.

Format of the retreat was split into four main categories. They were lectures, leadership activities, group discussions and organic study tours. The lectures set the tone for the retreat, by bringing up important contemporary issues and sharing the vast and interesting of the distinguished resource persons. There were various management-style leadership activities to impart a philosophy of leadership to the retreat participants. In what was termed an “open session,” retreat participants were made to come up with topics and trends to be discussed. Discussions were led by participants with the help of the resource persons and facilitators. Each night the resource persons were engaged in a long open conversation, where participants were encouraged to ask them about their leadership and life experiences. Study tours to get a sense of the hyper-local environment are arranged for the participants.

On The retreat, there was an emphasis on digital communication, in the form of audio, internet and video. Social media and various other web-based technologies were harnessed to get a discussion going before the retreat, and to ensure that it continues long into the future.

We had eleven Interactive sessions, several discussions, leadership planning, teamwork and Leadership session, and Group presentation how to build a better Asia.

There was a very good session by Mr. Shuichi Ohno, Executive Director, The Nippon Foundation on The Nippon Foundation and Its Work.

Mr. M. Rajaretnam, Program Director, Building A Better Asia: young Leaders Retreat, have several speeches which were very important for us to grow and mindset in Building A Better Asia He was the core person of this program

Mr. T Ogata, President, Nippon Foundation was another core person on that retreat program.

The session of Value Innovation by Johnson Paul, Deputy Director, National Library Board, Singapore was very interesting because we learned the mechanism how to make an idea into a project.

The session of Dr. William Sabandar on Cyclone Nargis Disaster Management gave us a true learning about Disaster Management which will help all the participants of Asia because we have frequent flood, cyclone, tsunami and earthquake.

The Session s of Anupam Saraph on Habits of Effective Leaders made us frequent with the habits of world leaders as Mahatma Gandhi, George Washington, Nelson Mandela,Mau se Tong, Sheikh Mujib and other global leaders.

The session of Professor Goodman on Education & Leadership was also very good because he discovered the linkage of education & leadership on the session.

Each of the sessions we learned how a leader behaves, how they think, how they work. We also knew about the influencing power of leaders, Using of thinking hats to influence others.

Most of the sessions and conversations we talked about the common things that we can share and the common goal we can target to achieve. Every time we were busy for the betterment of Asian countries. We planned how to work, how to integrate a plan and how to make the Betterism for Asian countries.

We tried our best for making a common strategy for the equal development in common goods of Asian Countries and sharing the knowledge base for the countries.

Finally we made a common projection of the participants on Building a Better Asia which is the strategy made by us for Building A Better Asia. Each of the participants gave their own target and strategy to achieve the goals and finally we integrated the goals by making an integrated target oriented strategy in a common platform which will lead us to our dream Building a better Asia through Building the common Good in Asia.

I want to thank The Nippon Foundation for doing better things for Asian people, Mr Rajaretnam for being a think tank for a Better Asia, Miss Vicky Honda For International Networking to make the dream Successful, Mary Kanniga for helping us in all the possible ways, Akira and Rina for being the Great Two Facilitators, My Friends i.e. all participants of the retreat programs in the retreat program for sharing their knowledge and feelings, All of the resource Persons for directing us in a creative way , Fantastic Four ,Yang Ying and Jessica from Peking University for guide us in all matters.

Finally I want to give my Salute to Ajit Kumar Barua, Chairperson, Bangladesh Scholarship Council & the Nippon Foundation for supporting the meritorious students of Bangladesh through Bangladesh Scholarship Council. And I promise that I will try my best to work with BSC and TNF. All other alumni of BSC and TNF should try their best to work with the organization for Building a Better Asia, The Dream of all Asian People

Let’s work…Lets think Out of the Box. For the Betterism of Asia.

Mohammad Afzal Hossain Akand

Assistant Director, Bangladesh Bank, Head Office, Dhaka

Email:roney0009(at)gmail.com

Report of BABA 6 Retreat in Beijing, China

By Ryuhei Sano

Asia-Pacific Development Center on Disability

Reconfirmation: Why Asian young leaders?

When it comes to the significance of BABA6, mainly three perspectives have been identified from my point of view. The first is “interdisciplinary approach”. Changes are normally brought about by network which consists of people with unique backgrounds. The second is “knowledge creation process”. It must be good for young leaders to get together and explore new initiatives by utilizing their potentiality. The third is “needs”. Social issues in this era have been beyond national borders, and we need to respond collectively.

For clarification, the following points should be considered why BABA is a timely approach: 1) jet engine which enables long distance travel shorter in Asia, 2) internet communication which enables information exchange quicker, reproducible, and multiple connections, 3) international banking system which enables finance move from state control to global free market system, 4) high level microprocessor which enables storage and manipulation of data in different Asian cultural aspects.

Lessons learned

Young leaders’ communication explained why Building A Better Asia should be organized. Good outcomes were such as strengthening human interaction; association between young leaders; making initial steps to promote economic and social development collectively as neighbors; and respecting particular culture in the diversity of Asia. Various sessions and follow-up conversations demonstrated the emergence of an information society in Asia, based on technologies enabling messages to flow through national boundaries, and creating a variety of new regional cultures.

Interactive sessions helped socialization among young leaders. It was necessary for all to go through this stage as the first step towards the integration of different perspectives that each participant had. Even though it was not always easy for participants to have good communication for collaborative activities, each leader must have learned Asia as a potential global leader through regional cooperation.

Suggestion

In the future, leaders should have more opportunities to interact with one another based on new findings of this gathering. It will give positive impacts on human development issues that we need to work in Asia.

Tamy Yamamoto M.D.

Master student of Community and Global Health

Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo

Participating in the BABA 6 retreat was an incredible experience and it has been the best opportunity I have ever had to share, interact and learn with people from different countries, cultures and backgrounds.

Before going to BABA 6, I had many expectations about this retreat, as I wondered how after a 1-week long retreat we could improve our leadership skills and most importantly, how 19 people from different countries, meeting for the 1st time, were going to be able to build a strong network to work together for the betterment of Asia? After the 1st few days of the retreat, I saw how it could be possible. As our BABA 6 family grew closer together, I was certain that this bond was going to last for long time after the retreat was over.

During the retreat we had many activities, each one with its own purpose. Starting with the ice-breaking activities, lead by the Fantastic 4, which helped us to feel comfortable sharing our thoughts and feeling as a family working together towards a common goal. The presentations by the resource persons, gave us the tools to become better persons and leaders. Being able to learn from their experiences and their advices was an extraordinary opportunity. The activities lead by the Facilitators (Incredible 2), especially the Pecha Kucha Morning, was an enriching experience where we could learn what each of the participants does in their own country and how each of us is already a young leader in his/her own field/area.

I found very interesting one of the last activities we did, which was “Creating a better Me”. After learning from the resource persons about leadership and the characteristics leaders should have, in this activity we had to make introspection and come up with ways to improve ourselves as persons and as future leaders. After it we had to share it with other people, and also ask for their advice on how to improve. Although it could had seem a difficult task, the trust and friendship developed during the retreat, made this activity easy and enlightening; getting good advices which I plan to work on.

Finally, I would like to thank all the people involved in this program, for giving me the opportunity to participate and for making it an inspiring and unforgettable experience. In this retreat, I not only learned about leadership, other cultures and countries, but also about myself. I hope our BABA 6 family can meet again in the near future and that through our friendship and network, we are able to work together to build a better Asia.

By Vanthana Nolintha, BBusCom, MEcon

Researcher, National Economic Research Institute (NERI)

Vientiane, Lao PDR.

When I was first recommended by one of my senior friends to apply for the participation in the BABA retreat program, I was not sure what I will gain from and how I will get engaged with this one week get-away. I was somehow convinced that this program was designed to help building the leadership skills and I therefore applied for this program. After being one of BABA families, I realize that the decision to join this wonderful program has been one of my best decisions I have made in my life. I will next try to put some of my key thoughts about this program in the remaining of this page.

BABA 6 helps connect me with many other young leaders who share the same passion of the betterment of Asia. One of the most interesting features of this program is the opportunity to meet with many different individuals from all walks of life. Each participant, in my opinion, is the true leader in the respective field who has contributed in his or her own way to make Asia and the world a better place. This network will allow a more productive relationship and cooperation on various aspects in the future.

BABA 6 makes me realize that even one person can make a positive change to this world. Throughout the retreat, I was given opportunity to meet, listen to and interact with various resource persons from different fields. Most of them are successful leaders of the world who, in many cases, start making a difference from themselves and later involve others to join with them to create positive changes.

BABA 6 re-confirms my belief that people can be different but we can live and share with each other. Many participants are very much different in terms of cultural, academic, professional, political and religious background. We however manage to break the ice, big thanks to FANTASTIC 4 and our facilitators, and establish a very strong bond which has proved to last even after the retreat. I believe if others in the wider community share this belief, we will not see many of the terrible problems in many parts of the world where people hate each other just because they are different.

Finally, I’d like to use this opportunity to thank everyone who makes this wonderful program possible and let me be part of BABA families. For my BABA 6 families, I thank every one of you from my heart for making my BABA 6 experience a fruitful and joyful one. By meeting and connecting with you, I discover another part in me that want to do something “out of the box” for the betterment of myself, my family, my society and the world at large. I believe we all will meet in many more occasions in the years to come. Let the end of the retreat mark the beginning of our life long relationship and join our hands for the betterment of Asia and the world.

(Sept 13 – 20, 2009)

I came to Beijing one afternoon in early Sept, where BABA 6 Retreat was organized from Sept 13 to 20, 2009. The weather was perfect and I was totally relaxed without any depression or pressures at all. I did attend similar workshops and retreats before, each time, I was so tired and worried as I had tried to fulfill what I was supposed to do. This time was completely different, I did not have to be responsible for anything, except, I was requested to prepare one presentation from home to share with everyone at the retreat. So interesting, because that was the first time to experience of Pecha Kucha presentation style, the topic was free of choice. I was supposed to present in ten slides to convey my ideas to the audiences with twenty seconds for each slide and not more than twenty words in each slide. My first thinking is that, it may be a bit tough for me as I am used to talking a lot whenever I have a chance to present and I thought that 200 seconds of presentation is just enough for my introduction only.

Pecha Kucha – style presentations

I have a habit, it is so much job orientation, that I always look forward to clear objectives set up at the beginning of each workshop or retreat and then review if those objectives are able to be achieved at the end. When Mr. Raja, on the first day, announced the retreat was for getting to know one another and building network for later on, I was so released. However, when I got more involved in later days I realized that I got a lot, more than my expectations. So what were the most significant things I gained for myself then?

First, a part from getting to know one another and building network, I did change a bit about my styles of a leader. I was so much Asian traditional orientation; never dared to step out of old box of thinking and not so much initiative as well.

Second, I was having so many privileges to be updated and shared with different perspectives from global speakers at the retreat on different international hot topics. Those topics are not new to all of us, but the motivations were that we realized our potentials of real leaders in this world, specifically in our Asia and our extended hands for sharing, discussing and solving international problems are inevitable with our full great honors. From those different perspectives, I feel like I have more encouragements and empowerments to work toward my communities and people living around me.

Third, I did learn valuable skills from Fantastic Four and Amazing Two, their approaching and mobilizing methods are what young leaders should learn for themselves. Amazingly, not only skills but also meanings brought to us throughout various games they facilitated, all were so meaningful. One of their games reminded me that it is not always good if a leader keeps chasing new things or new promotions but sometimes leaders should know where and when to stop for a while on their journeys, look back what have been done and value what leaders got and achieved . Diversity of designed activities was also one of special points need learning; interactions with different people, indoor and outdoor activities gave participants a sense of close cooperation, critical thinking and problem solving. Which, of course, urged and nurtured our common vision and bonding toward a betterment of ourselves and of an Asia.

One of the exercises with the Fantastic Four

Coming back to the meaning of this retreat; young leader with common good in Asia, yes, your leaders’ styles, your thoughts and your perspectives toward a better Asia may be different from mine. However, Baba 6 was a forum for such different leaders and different ideas from different countries in Asia to share and merge into one common vision. Moving forwards to one common vision of a betterment in Asia in the future, of which, efforts to build a better Asia may not possible for one individual but it is highly possible if a strong network with enthusiasm to share and act toward a betterment of Asia from all Asian families, especially, all BABA families. On the top of what had been going on in one week in Beijing, I have to say that the retreat really opened a new door to me. That door is not going from one room to another but it is a door outreaching my mind to a new world, where I have a network of fabulous international friends but importantly, I am empowered and motivated toward my next steps in my life. As a member of Baba 6, I also dedicate myself to a better Asia by trying my best to fulfill by current job of a development worker; working with the poor and vulnerable people to improve their lives. I believe that suffering from poverty and illiteracy are the main reasons affecting to a betterment Asia.

Tran Quang Tuan, Vietnam, Personal Reflection on BABA 6

Shuichi Ohno, Executive Director of Nippon Foundation spoke on the activities of Nippon Foundation . He also demonstrated the history , financing ,affiliation, budget ,recent programs, success rate of Nippon Foundation, .He talked about the future and future planning of Nippon Foundation The session was very good and enjoyable.. He answered several issues raise by the participants

10:30 Interactive session Technology and Democracy

Dr Anupam Saraph discussed on the election commission of India. He demonstrated his recent election and the election process of India. He also arose some issues which can be reformed for the perfect and transparent election in India. He talked on Privacy and secrecy of election commission. He insisted on Right to Information Act. He answered several issues raise by the participants from his lecture.

13:30 Interactive session: Value Innovation

Johnson Paul was the resourse person of this session. He talked about Innovation criteria’s. Techniques, Planning Process, Six Steps in Decision taking. he showed us a lot of examples and models of Innovation Ideas.

15:30 Walking in the streets of Beijing

Walking in Beijing city in different types of places, such as The Olympic Village and the free market, Software park we can find some thing positive, something negative and also others we don’t know how to make a comment. And the most important thing is to interview the people we met.This session was very enjoyable and fantastic because it was organized by fantastic four. Beijing people are happy people!

20:00 presentation on your achivements walking in the streets

Each group’s presentation is impressive and initiative.,All of the grups tried their best for finding and focusing the positive matters of Beijing. Actually there are very low negative thing in Beijing. Presentation session wasvery enjoyable and also lively.

Personal impressions or opinions

Li Bing Zhong:

Today most of the participants has a deep impression about the Nippon Foundation and identified with it much. And also our mind are experiecing an revolution and began to think about what the Nippon Foundation means to us, to Asia and to the world. Of course the most intersting thing for us today is to travel in Beijing and feel the Beijing culture. In sum, it is an intelligeable, creative and enjoyable day.

.

Mohammad Afzal Hossain Akand

Today I was very happy because I knew a lot of thinf about The Nipon Foundation.I have lack of Knowledge on this organization which was met today.The other two session was basically Khowledge sharing based.Today the city strreet walking was the best program for the because I like to know people and also like make friends.Meet the Beijing was a dream by me and this was partially filled today.The last session was also attaractive because everyone demonstrated what he saw in Beijing.

Mohammad Afzal Hossain Akand

from Bangladesh, is an Assistant Director of the Central Bank of Bangladesh. He completed his BBA course at Shahjalal University of Science & Technology, Sylhet, Bangladesh and enrolled in MBA program in North South University, Bangladesh. He obtained a scholarship twice from the Bangladesh Scholarship Council in 2004 & 2006, financed by The Nippon Foundation. He has been the General Secretary of BSC Alumni Association, Dhaka Center from 2008. He is very active in organizational work all through his educational career. He was the Associate General Secretary of Notre Dame Science Club in 2000, Organizing-Secretary of the Association of Business Administration Department from 2002 to 2004 and Treasurer of the graduation festival of the 11th Batch of SUST in 2006. He is a Life Time Member of RIM Band, SUST. He is interested in current issues as well as issues related to Development, Human Rights, Human Skill Development and Agricultural Development.

Ky Bun Heang

from Cambodia, and had completed her high school in 1998. In 2008 she has completed a short course of Facilitation Skill at SILIKA organization that supported by JICA, and at the same time has completed short course of accounting at ICS. At presently she has been studying at Build Bright University major of Accounting and Finance. For her experience, she worked as a Computer Operation with Ritexim Company Co., Ltd. in 1999, and in 2000 worked for Overseas Courier Service Company as a Customer Service. In June 2002 she has worked as Director of Computer School of Simply Help Organization that provides computer skill and tailoring skill to poor people who are living in rural area at provinces by free of charge. At present she is working as Administration and Finance officer in the Educational Supporting Center “KIZUNA” which was supported by the Nippon Foundation, and having a very valuable experience of opening NGO international in her country.

LI BINGZHONG

is a lecturer in History and Civilization at Shaanxi Normal University and was born in Shanxi Province on 9th Oct., 1975. He graduated from the History Department of Tianjin Normal University in 2005 and got his Master’s degree in historiography and graduated from the History Department of Nanjing University in 2008 and got his PH.D in historiography. He went to Bristol University as a visiting scholar in 2007. Currently, he is teaching world history in Shaanxi Normal University, and his research focuses on identity and identification. His main published articles are, “Turkey’s Basic Standpoint on the EU Membership”(European Studies, No.3, 2008); “About the Kurdish Issue in Turkey”(World Ethno-National Studies, No.3, 2008), “Reflections on Turkey’s Entry of the EU”(Journal of Nanjing University, No.4,2007), “The corporate structure of Medieval universities”(the Economic and Social History Review, No.3, 2007), “Some Reflections on the Welfare Institution Building in China”(Jinyang Journal, No.5, 2007) and “Medieval European Universities in the context of Rights”(Journal of Comparative Education Review, No.7, 2006).

Zhang Xueqiong

from China, is presently pursuing her PhD at Yunnan University, majoring in the History of International Relations of the Middle East. She was supported by Fellows’ Mobility Program (FMP) to collect relevant materials for her dissertation, “The Kurdish Question in the Contemporary Middle East” at Uppsala University, Sweden, 2007. In 1996/1997, she led a team to work on a Ryoichi Sasakawa Peace Foundation Joint-Research/Exchange Program (SYLFF/JREX). The final paper submitted to SYLFF committee, “The Influence of Cross-Border Tourism on Regional Economic Development and Cooperation between China’s Yunnan Province and Southeast Asian Areas” was evaluated as one of the four best projects and published by the Foundation in 1998. Ms. Zhang also has some other international exchange experience. In 2005, she was invited to join the world life-culture forum (WLCF) held in Gyeonggi Province, Republic of Korea. The theme of the forum was “A New Renaissance of Life and Peace in East Asia.” In 2006, she participated in the training course “Women’s Entrepreneurship and Microenterprise Development” held in the Gold Meir Mount Carmel International Training Center, Haifa, Israel. Currently she works for the government as Director of the Research Section at Kunming Social Sciences Association.

Sanjeev Kumar

was born & brought up in Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh- India), a small town between Lumbini, Nepal & Kushinagar, India. He started his career in the pharmaceutical sector but soon realized his real interest lay in the development sector. At the first opportunity he shifted to an NGO devoted to the education of female children. Since then there has been no looking back. While working in the development sector he did his MBA and a post graduate course in Rural Development along with several other training in Monitoring & Evaluation, Microfinance, and other similar courses so as to get a methodological understanding of the development sector. While working on projects of both national and international NGO’s in the last nine years, he gained extensive ground level experience on various issues such as Livelihoods, Basic/Vocational Education, Information and Communication for Development, HIV, Gender, Migration and Health associated Stigma. Currently he is coordinating the Livelihood Projects for leprosy affected people and their families in India, for Sasakawa India Leprosy Foundation, New Delhi. Apart from project management, he has remarkable coordination skills on participatory research activities. In the course of these assignments he has learned about the realities on the ground in the rural, semi-urban and urban sector in India. These have both humbled him as well as opened his eyes to the tremendous amount of work needed to ensure equal social and economic opportunities to all. He is keen on mobilising youth to become leaders by being a role model for them. Some day he hopes to return to his parental village and mobilize the local youth to work for constructive change within their community.

Bartoven Vivit Nurdin

was born in Padang, West Sumatera, Indonesia. She and her husband Irsan have a daughter. She is a lecturer in Lampung University, at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Sociology Department. She holds a doctorate in Anthropology, specializing in ethnicity, cultural change, environment and politics. She graduated from the University of Indonesia, Anthropology Department, Faculty of Social and Political Science with a Doctor of Philosophy (2006) and a Master of Science (2001). She is head of Lampung Culture Research Center, Lampung University, Indonesia. Her publications include “Budaya Makan Ibu Hamil Penderita Gizi Buruk” (Sains and Technology National Conference, Lampung University, 2007), “Ritual-Ritual dalam Tradisi Ngumo: Kearifan Lokal Masyarakat Adat Lampung Pepadun dalam Memelihara Hutan” (International Simposium Journal Anthropology Indonesia, Lambung Mangkurat University, Banjarmasin, Kalimantan Selatan, Indonesia, July 2008), “Perempuan dalam Mitos Matrilineal” (3rd International Symposium of the Journal Anthropology Indonesia, Udayana University, Bali, Indonesia 2002), and “Makanan dalam multikulturalisme: Kajian Foklore tentang makanan rakyat” (3rd International Symposiumof the Journal Anthropology Indonesia, Udayana University, Bali, Indonesia, 2002). She is currently doing reaseach in the Ethnography of Lampung Food, Ethnography of the “padi ladang” system of Lampung and the Dictionary of the Lampung-Indonesia dialect.

Husnur Esthiwahyu

is from Indonesia and is working at the United Nations Office of the Recovery Coordinator (UNORC) in Aceh and Nias, Indonesia. As a Kabupaten Recovery Forum Facilitation Officer she provides ideas, initiatives, and technical assistance for the local government in Aceh Province, Indonesia and coordinates with stakeholders in the district to enhance and ensure local development in the context of community driven recovery and reconstruction. She was involved in severa; humanitarian operations in Indonesia during the emergency response as well as recovery and reconstruction phase with different international organizations namely the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations. Ms. Esthiwahyu graduated from the United Nations mandated University for Peace under the Dual Campus International Peace Studies Program funded by Nippon Foundation where her research focused on humanitarian assistance in the combined situation of complex emergency and natural disaster.

Kardison Lumban Batu

is from Indonesia, is presently on his way to obtain his Phd at Gadjah Mada University (Indonesia) and Griffith University (Australia) and Jilin University (China). He worked as a lecturer of Business Administration at Pontianak State Polytechnic. He has conducted research on the implementation of total quality management and product quality performance to sustain competitive advantage in large size enterprises that have obtained ISO certification for firms in Indonesia and Australia. He was able to do this research under the Fellows Mobility Programme of Sasakawa Foundation and the Young Leaders Fellowship Fund of the Tokyo Foundation. He was awarded the Gadjah Mada University Young Leaders Fellowship under the Ryoichi Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship Fund (SYLFF) of The Nippon Foundation and Tokyo Foundation in 2006. He is currently researching the implementation of TQM and TQS in higher education.

Najiyah Martiam

is from Indonesia, and is presently working as an assistant researcher at the Center for Religious and Cross-cultural Studies (CRCS), Gadjah Mada University. She is also program coordinator of the Family Supporting Group (FSG) Tunas Bangsa, which is a non-profit organization supporting pediatric patients with leukemia, thalassemia and hemophilia at Dr. Sardjito Hospital, Yogyakarta. She is the personal assistant to the Regional Manager of Nippon Foundation and CEO INA Frontier. She is preparing to publish her book about Sufism which is inspired by her journey to Turkey under the Fellows Mobility Program of the Nippon Foundation. She was awarded the Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowships Fund (SYLFF) in 2007 to pursue her Masters at the Center for Religious and Cross-cultural Studies, Gadjah Mada University. She has worked as the producer of television talk show in TVRI (Television of Republic of Indonesia) on religious issues, as a coordinator of Media and Training Development in Planned Parenthood Association, an organization concerned with reproductive health and HIV/AIDS prevention, and as a religion tour guide at Via Via Café Jogjakarta. She also has experience in documentary film making.

Katsuaki Takahashi

from Japan, is presently working as economic cooperation attaché at Embassy of Japan in Lebanon as well as he is in charge of small grant mainly for local non-profit organization and aid partnership with U.N. agency as donor side. He worked as Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteer (JOCV) and senior officer at Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in Syria for five years, and then he studied Masters of Arts Dual Campus Program in International Peace Studies at University for Peace in collaboration with Ateneo de Manila University under the Fellows of Nippon Foundation.

Ryuhei Sano

from Japan, is presently working at the Asia-Pacific Development Center on Disability (APCD) located in Bangkok, Thailand. Participation in two youth activities mainly motivated him to work in Asia. One was his participation in a youth exchange program in ASEAN as a youth representative from Japan. The other was his stay with 4 young persons with intellectual and psychiatric disabilities at a welfare facility called “Group Home” in a rural community through the youth development program. Then he became the chief of international relations at the Japan Association of Community Workshops for Persons with Disabilities, and got engaged development projects in various countries. Since selected as the youth leader and invited to the international conference by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), he served IDB as a program officer in charge of youth and disability programs. One turning point in his life was when he became a monk in a rural Buddhist community in Northern Thailand. After that, he has been around many Asian countries to document good practices as the expert on knowledge management at APCD from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), particularly focusing on tacit knowledge which persons with disabilities in Asia uniquely accumulate.

Tamy Yamamoto Kohatsu

from Peru, is presently pursuing her Master Degree in Community and Global Health at Tokyo University. She worked as a research fellow in the Institute of Tropical Medicine “Alexander von Humboldt” (Peru), in research studies to develop new diagnostic methods for tuberculosis and clinical research in skin infections and HIV. In 2007, she received The Nikkei Scholarship from Nippon Foundation to study a Master and PhD Degree in Japan. In 2008, she participated as a research assistant in the project “G8 and strengthening of Health System: Follow up to the Toyako Summit – Opportunities for Overcoming the Health Workforce Crisis”. Currently, she is working on her master thesis entitled Risk Factors for Developing Pulmonary Tuberculosis in Diabetic Patients in Peru.

Sung-Woo Hong

is presently working as a lecturer and senior research fellow of the Institute for Public Affairs at Kyung Hee university, Seoul, Korea. He has got a Ph. D. from Kyung Hee university and a master degree from Ball State university, U.S.A. in the field of public administration and government. He has worked for the Institute of Human Society (IHS) of Kyung Hee University as a research fellow from 2000 to 2002. He had an internship in mayor’s office, city of Muncie, Indiana, U.S. in 2004 for two months. He also worked for the Center for Asia-Pacific Studies(CAPS) as a research fellow in coordinating the program on “Human Resources Development for Myanmar Civil Servants” funded by Sasakawa Peace Foundation and he made a presentation in the workshop on “City Planning for Social Harmony” organized by CAPS & VIAP sponsored by the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, Japan in 2008.

Vanthana NOLINTHA

from Laos, is currently a Researcher at the Macroeconomic Research Department under Lao PDR’s National Economic Research Institute (NERI), the country’s leading think-thank. He served as a Research Coordinator for Strengthening Economic Research and Monitoring in Lao PDR project supported by the Sasakawa Peace Foundation from 2005-2007. The project produced three research papers and contributed significantly to the capacity development for NERI’s researchers. He graduated with a Master of International and Development Economics from the Australian National University in 2008 under the Australian IMF program and with a Bachelor of Business and Commerce in 2003 from Monash University (Australia) supported by the Australian Development Scholarship Program. His research interests are the roles of FDI and trade for economic development; resource, and border trade. Some of his recent research papers include the roles of border trade for local livelihood; the prospects of border trade under the AFTA scheme; the saving behavior of Lao households; and an evaluation of the FDI-led growth and Export-led growth policies in the CLMV sub-region.

BATBAYAR Ulziidelger

from Mongolia, has a Bachelor of Business Administration in computer science and management from the Mongolian Technical University. He is presently involved in the project of promoting traditional medicine in Mongolia. He has worked as an Executive Director in Vansamberuu Mongolia NGO, under the Nippon Foundation, Japan since 2003. He is also the owner and director of the BAT Tour Travel Agency in Ulaanbaatar. He was elected as the 2007 Local President of Ulaanbaatar Chapter of the JCI Mongolia and became a Lifetime Member in 2007 and was elected the 2009 National President of JCI Mongolia . He successfully completed the 21st JCI Academy held in Tachikawa, Japan in July, 2008. He also worked as a Director of Kids AU Mongolia.

Sadia Khan

from Pakistan, is presently serving as an Executive Director in her family-owned business, while serving as an independent director on the boards of four financial sector companies, as an honorary committee member of the Pakistan-France Business Alliance, the President of the INSEAD Alumni Association of Pakistan and the Chairperson of the Alliance Française of Karachi. She is also a member of the external faculty of the Pakistan Institute of Corporate Governance. She started her career with Lehman Brothers in New York. Since then she has worked with various international institutions and local regulatory authorities, including the Asian Development Bank in the Philippines, the Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan and the State Bank of Pakistan. Her focus more recently in her career has been on corporate governance, previously as a financial sector regulator and now as an educator and practitioner. She obtained her B.A (Hons.) in Economics from Cambridge University, UK in 1988 followed by an M.A in Economics from Yale University, USA in 1991 and an M.B.A from INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France in 1995. She received a SYLFF Scholarship while studying at INSEAD and has subsequently participated in the Joint Research Exchange Program of the Tokyo Foundation.

Nirosion Perera

from Sri Lanka, is presently completing his post-graduate diploma in Tourism, Economic Travel and Hotel Management at the University of Colombo. He graduated from the National Institute of Social Development in Sri Lanka with a two-year professional diploma in Social Work in 2002. In 2003, he received a one year internship with several grassroots level organizations in India where he received exposure to India’s different cultural, social and economic practices and gained professional experience at the Academy of Development Science in Mumbai, the Deccan Development Society in Ahamadabadh and Coorg Organization for Rural Development in Kushalnagar, Karnataka. Nirosion is a founding member of a social work organization called Members of Young Social Work in Sri Lanka and is currently responsible for all projects in the peace programme unit at Sewalanka Foundation where he works as the project coordinator of the Community Peace Building Unit.

Pham Kim Ngoc

from Vietnam, is currently pursuing her Master of Business Administration at Troy University in collaboration with College of Economics, Vietnam National University. She has been working as an Administration and Finance Officer for Helen Keller International Vietnam (HKI-VN) office for more than 5 years. Her main duties are but not limited to handle all financial and administration related tasks, managing and monitoring HKI Vietnam office budgeting. She is also in charge of coordinating and liaison with local authorities to make sure the smooth running of the office. Ngoc holds a Bachelor Degree of Art, major in English at Vietnam National University, College of Foreign Languages and another BA in International Economics at the Vietnam Institute of International Relations. Before joining Helen Keller International, she worked as an Interpreter for The World Conservation Union (IUCN) on the Non-Timber Forest Products Project. Ngoc also worked as a volunteer for the International Marinelife Alliance, a US NGO working on marine conservation, for more than a year after graduation from Hanoi National University in 2001.

Tran Quang Tuan

34 years old, is from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Tuan has had a decade of work experiences as a development worker since he graduated from university. He has experience in management, project implementation, advocacy, poverty reduction, natural resources management and awareness communication campaigns. Applying participatory and right based approaches to motivate and facilitate the involvements of different stakeholders and communities into his development work, the ensuring of gender mainstreaming is one of principles in all of his work. He worked as a rural planner and a savings-credit officer in the center of Vietnam for nearly six years. Then he worked as a project manager for CARE International in Vietnam for more than four years in the south of Vietnam. He realizes there is always a big gap between local farmers and government officials and that a top down approach exists and is applied everywhere in his country. He connected with other NGOs working in Vietnam to do advocacy, where community-based groups are provided with a space in order to raise their voice toward their government officers and request that the formation and operation of such groups should be recognized and legally accepted. Those groups have then been able to get into formal contracts; borrowing loans from bank, doing marketing, trading activities and receiving other relevant policy supports so that they can improve their livelihoods. Tuan completed a dual campus master’s program in international peace study academic years 08-09 in Costa Rica and the Philippines.