LISTENING TO ASIA

Sunday, June 1, 2014

ON THE MATTER OF ASIAN LEADERSHIP

World economic forums are initiatives supposed to address and solve through discussions inequalities and other problems all over the world. How much was achieved in the latest, the World Economic Forum held in Manila? 

Very big issues were discussed which put the Philippines in the world map again as officials from various Asian countries came  Nguyen Tan Dung, Prime Minister of Vietnam, U Nyan Tun, Vice-President of Myanmar, and  Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, President of Indonesia, among others to interact with other Asian officials as well as our own President Benigno S. Aquino III. 

In reality, what can Asia contribute to the world apart from human resources -- whereby many countries have migrants coming from the Philippines, Indonesia, Bangladesh and India, among others -- seeking greener pastures for their families? 

I think that Asia is a beautiful spot in this world and contains much land and sea resources some of which  are still in their virginal state.  Many countries possess those places which tourists and locals seek so that they can enjoy peace and quiet, commune with Mother Nature and possibly link spiritually with the Gods and Goddesses they worship. There is utterly nothing wrong with that at all, except that Asia also seems to not really enjoy much development.

The Asian Development Bank came out with statistics that "in 2011, about 20 per cent of the population of Asia and the Pacific, or 743 million people were living in extreme poverty. However, a number of people are living just above the extreme poverty line, in near poverty, who cannot manage a decent daily livelihood...In 2012, about two thirds of the world's undernourished population lived in Asia and the Pacific. From 2010 to 2012, 13 percent of A and P experienced severe forms of hunger and malnutrition."

Moreover, "Despite economic growth in the Asian and Pacific region, the economic empowerment of

women lags behind. In 2012, there were only 62 employed females in the region for every

100 employed males, and the work they did was more likely to be in the sectors that are

vulnerable, poorly paid and less secure. For instance, in the Asian and Pacific region, 42 per

cent of employed females are in agricultural employment, compared with 36 per cent of

employed males."

In other words, development in A and P is not trickling down to the masses at all and food insecurity has become acute especially in our country. Many migrants from the provinces which were besieged by battles between the New People's Army and the military, between the Moro National Liberation Front in Mindanao and the government, have been driven away. Mindanaoans have come to MetroManila to seek peace and we see a lot of them establishing businesses here, as their original place not only experiences lack of peace but also intermittent electricity that hamper the continuous operation of their businesses

Also, everywhere in MetroManila, we see family vagrants, not individuals, living in carts or makeshift shacks just so they could have shelter in whatever form. Children learn to beg, as young as five or even 4, driven by their own parents to a life of ignominy.  They learn to ask for food from diners at restaurants, hanging their heads, or laying them down on the counters just to show their desperate hankering for food. 

So what can Asia contribute to the world, when despite the lush resources here  yet hundreds of millions are suffering from extreme poverty? When there is poverty, there is sleeplessness. When there is poverty, there are crimes lurking everywhere -- by people driven by hopelessness over the situation where everyday, they see other people wearing good clothes, having the best gadgets in town, and being able to afford to go to school. 

Yet despite all that, we don't have the likes of Syria wars, and that one over at Kiev, Ukraine. We are not prone to holding bullets and bombs or maybe not all the time as some hotheads in our environment are prone to do. 

Maybe in this manner, we can say that Asians are a reflective lot -- we like to think what we can do during extreme situations, instead of heading off to any suicidal act. After all in Asia we can find a lot of religions and spiritual practices that induce us to live harmoniously with Nature and other people. Maybe this can also be a reason for the abuse of our people -- our tendency to maintain peace at all costs. That is one Asian contribution worthwhile looking into.  

Another thing that I think we need do is mull over how we can contribute the kind of leadership that should be shaped in this world. What qualities of a leader can we offer the world that will bring about peace and development for all, especially the women who bear in their wombs the lives of the people of the world in the future?

There are some things that are worthwhile learning from the western books about leadership (I just read one by John Maxwell, a pastor), but we cannot readily be idealistic and say that all the ideas coming from there, based on material conditions are worthwhile acquiring. Rather, our leadership qualities stem from historical colonial conditions that our country, the Philippines has undergone -- which made us look inward and outward. That is the same with Indonesia, colonized by the Dutch, Bangladesh by Britain, and Vietnam by the France and America. China was also conquered by the different countries but one influence it has imbibed hook line and sinker are  the materialistic doctrines of Marx, Lenin, and Mao Ze Dong. It is difficult to say that she is still Asian at this time as in its present expansionist moves, it seems to decry that the world resources are for everyone, not just herself.  

The leadership qualities that we can offer therefore are those based on our deep historical, painful past that sought the reversal of our original roots which our heroes and heroines presented and pointed to us as worthwhile overcoming in order for us to be liberated and acquire genuine identity as a people. 

Asian leadership is worthwhile studying -- and learning from -- in order that our region and the world eventually will maintain peace. Let us seek to study it deeply and find out how we can trade ideas with other peoples of the world and stop altogether bloodletting and traumas from increasing. 

May everyone listen.