API Participating Countries --Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand

The 10th anniversary of The Nippon Foundation Fellowships for Asian Public Intellectuals (API) was held from 28-30 May at the campus of Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City, a suburb of Manila.

The anniversary celebration was jointly organized by the Nippon Foundation and API’s partner Institutions: the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, the Center for Southeast Asian Studies of Kyoto University, the Institute of Malaysian and International Studies of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, the School of Social Sciences of Ateneo de Manila University, and the Institute of Asian Studies of Chulalongkorn University, Thailand.

“The idea is to support civil society, but to support it from the professional knowledge standpoint,” said Yohei Sasakawa, chairman of The Nippon Foundation, which conceptualized and funds the program.

The two main goals of the API project are “To identify and nurture public intellectuals in Asia,” and “to form a community of these public intellectuals,” said Tatsuya Tanami, the foundation’s executive director.

Sasakawa added: “It is my fervent wish that this distinctive community will develop into an organization that can assert its collective intellectual and practical influence for the betterment of (their) societies.”

Fellows from the API program’s five participating countries (Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand) were brought together to celebrate the anniversary, and discuss the impact and future of API’s role in Asia, especially in regard to the area’s economic progress, social justice and position in a rapidly globalizing world.

The program allows fellows from the Philippines, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand to conduct a research project of their choice, for up to a year and with all expenses paid, in any or all of the five countries except their own.

The selection process for API fellowships takes place every year with the cooperation of affiliated universities and the Nippon Foundation, identifying the most promising and creative thinkers in these countries.

Another advantage of this program is that it supports regional meetings at which former and present fellowship holders meet to share their experiences and ideas - a further stimulus to increase regional cooperation and understanding among the best minds available – the Manila gathering was a good example of this.

The anniversary celebration consisted of three main events: 1) a symposium entitled Asia: Identity, Vision and Position; 2) a conference dealing with Asian Conditions, Communities and Directions; and 3) Creative Index: An Exhibition, a showcase of API fellows’ books and creative works.

Eminent speakers who joined the celebration were Dr. Benedict R. O’G. Anderson, known for his landmark studies of Southeast Asia and commentaries on historical and social developments; Dr. Krisana Kraisintu, 2009 Ramon Magsaysay Award recipient recognized for her research into drugs for the treatment of HIV/AIDS and making them more accessible, and Dr. K.S. Jomo, Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development in the United Nations Department for Economics and Social Affairs (DESA), who is an API Fellow, and is an internationally known economist who has contribution a great deal to the understanding of Asia’s changing position within the context of globalization.

Among the 270 recipients of the API Fellowships who completed their research, 88 are academics, 40 percent of the total. There are 39 NGO workers, and 35 creative personalities, including film directors. However, only 15 of the fellows are journalists (with only four from the Philippines), according to university professor Theresita Atienza, a fellow now serving on API’s regional committee who looks at the statistics. She told a local Manila reporter, John Nery,“Clearly, we need more journalists to apply for the fellowships.”

The API Fellowships Program was launched in July 2000 as a multinational program designed to create a pool of public intellectuals—academics, researchers, media professionals, NGO activists, social workers, public servants, artists, creative writers and others – committed to promoting mutual learning and contributing to public spaces which could generate effective responses to challenges through regional cooperation.

In 2006, Fellows formed the API Regional Committee and, subsequently, launched the Regional Project in 2008. This venture is currently ongoing and serves as the concrete realization of the cooperative effort initially envisioned by the Program.

The API is exceptional among institutional donors in funding as many as 30 fellows every year. In the next cycle of API selections of Fellows, applicants from Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam will be included.

Fellows who attended the celebrations said the API program is distinguished by its “continuity,” and the opportunity given to API fellows to work together on various regional projects, for example, “community based initiatives for ecological balance.”

In a briefing following the three day events, Fr. Bienvenido Nebres, the Ateneo president, told assembled journalists that API is giving opportunities to younger intellectuals to develop a regional point of view.