|
|
|
| Advocate of Altruism |
| Yohei Sasakawa of Japan |
“My way of doing things is to work quietly, with patience and continuous effort until all people understand.”
In today’s world of increasing conflict and complications, the mission of Yohei Sasakawa is never done. From seeking solutions to maritime problems, a cure for leprosy and providing sign-language dictionaries for the deaf, to ensuring that farmers produce maximum harvests, Mr. Sasakawa always tries to give his personal attention. As chairman of The Nippon Foundation, Japan's largest charitable foundation, he is seen as a pioneer in the private sector, playing a major role in guiding public-interest activities. Mr. Sasakawa, a graduate of Meiji University’s School of Political Science and Economics, has received many awards and is globally recognized for his philanthropic activities. Recently, he spared some time from his busy schedule to share his views with AsiaViews. Excerpts:
Among your many activities, your primary interests seem to be in the areas of sustainable development of maritime activities and the elimination of leprosy. What first attracted you to the subject?
As you know, Japan is a country where we hardly have any natural resources. Therefore we must depend on the importation of different resources. These imports are what support the lives of the people of Japan and the country’s economic activities. And they all come through the Malacca-Singapore Strait. Therefore, it is important that we have navigational safety there. In recent years, China’s economic development has been phenomenal. And it’s not only China but also Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam, are all developing their economies. I feel that it is very important that the sea is safe and sound for all these countries. That is the reason why I have taken an interest in the sea. When we look back at history, since the beginning of the 20th century, everyone thought the sea was limitless, that we could use it free of charge. We know now that the sea is not limitless. So we have to make sure we use the sea wisely, otherwise the survival of mankind will not be realized. Yet, I feel there is so little interest in the sea. I believe it is my role to appeal to the world on the importance of the sea.
You mentioned the importance of the Malacca Strait as an important sea route. Yet there are problems there, like piracy. How can the littoral countries of Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia address this problem and how can Japan help?
Our foundation has been involved with issues relating to the Malacca Strait for more than 40 years. In fact, we are probably the only institution involved in the issue. In recent years, piracy and other forms of maritime terrorism in that area have become a major problem. Therefore, I feel strongly that the littoral states cannot solve the problem on their own. We need to get the stakeholders -- users of the Strait -- to contribute to the solution of this problem. I wanted to create an international mechanism through which we can all take part. The governments have long been involved in negotiations on how to solve this problem, yet no agreement has been reached. So, I thought we, the private sector, should come up with a solution, an international mechanism, to solve this problem.
Are you proposing to establish a mechanism by which users would pay for the support of safe navigation through the Malacca Strait?
In international negotiations, there is what is known as track one diplomacy, which is inter-governmental negotiations. Then there is track two, which takes place in the private sector. We felt that track two initiatives may be able to stimulate track one in this case. I thought, for example, that the stakeholders in the private sector should pay voluntarily.
Through such a mechanism, we should be able to secure safe navigation and ensure environmental protection, as well as solve the problem of piracy. If we in the private sector start to do something like this, we feel that international organizations as well, as related governments, will follow suit.
Will this mechanism will be like a toll system applied to sea routes?
It’s a little bit different because we are thinking that it should be on a totally voluntary basis. For example, there is no charge per ship toll. What we will be doing, together with global maritime organizations and the littoral state governments, is to discuss what sort of budget will be needed to achieve certain navigational procedures in the Malacca Strait. That burden should then be passed down to users through maritime organizations.
What about the problem of environmental pollution on the seas?
Many people don’t realize how serious this problem has become. The seas all over the world have been polluted since the 1980s. Even today, people still throw their waste into rivers, so all the litter that people discard eventually reaches the sea. This happens in developing countries on a daily basis. So what should we do as we look toward 2050 when the world population is projected to reach six billion? It is not just a pollution issue. It is really about the survival of humankind. I think that is what is at stake, unless we change and stop discarding waste in the waters around us.
Is this a problem of education?
When we talk about education, we need political leaders, scholars, teachers and academicians to be involved, to really be aware of the seriousness of the situation we have on our hands. For each of the people in our lives, we need to be able to convey correct information about the seriousness of the problem, to establish some sort of policy mechanism that we can spread to different countries.
So, in other words, we also need the political will to make it happen.
Yes, but unfortunately, educational issues don’t get politicians elected or win them votes. So the priority given to education is very low, which is another very serious problem.
Another issue close to your heart is the elimination of leprosy. How did you first get interested in the problem?
My father lived in a village in which a young lady, whom I think he liked, disappeared from her home. In Japan during those days, the law required leprosy patients to be forcibly taken away and put in a special place. My father later learnt that this young girl developed leprosy and that is when he started to fight this disease and help those who were affected. I used to travel with him to visit the different leprosy hospitals in the world, where he would donate funds. He also wanted to find a way to cure leprosy patients. Unfortunately he was not able to complete his work of ridding the world of leprosy because he passed away in the middle of the task. I felt that I should continue with the mission and find out how we can help leprosy-affected people and free the world of this disease. Of course, I needed a strategy, a good policy to achieve that. And thanks to the cooperation of many people, I think we are almost at the end of the road.
Even today, in the 21st century, leprosy is a mystery disease. There doesn’t seem to be enough information about it and that is why people tend to discriminate against leprosy patients.
People discriminating against other people still exists in this world on a daily basis. I feel this is really the fault of society and yes, the right information needs to be given to the people of the world about this disease called leprosy. I once visited Indonesia and met an old lay who was living alone. I asked her if she didn’t want to go home and she said no, because her family would be stigmatized by her presence. In Japan too, families of leprosy-affected people do not accept them. This is still the sad reality today.
Today leprosy is curable and with early detection the patient will not be deformed like in the olden days. All over the world, the cure is available free of charge. Therefore, I feel that with this development all these tragedies should be dramatically reduced. Since the 1980s, 16 million patients have been cured, but they still meet with discrimination and are not accepted back into society. For example in India, many leprosy-affected people must beg for a living. This is very unfortunate and wrong.
I myself have taken two approaches to this issue. One is to appeal to international organizations, specifically the United Nations Human Rights Council. The Japanese government has also decided to take this issue of leprosy to the Human Rights Council, putting it on the official agenda. Ultimately, I would like to see this become a United Nations General Assembly resolution helping each member state to come up with guidelines to disseminate the correct information to educate the people about this disease.
The second approach I am taking is to help the leprosy-affected people who have recovered from the disease but who still live quietly in the deserts, in the valleys, where no one else can see them, because otherwise, they would be stigmatized. So, I have decided to help them come out and organize themselves, to stand up and speak out. It is through such grassroots work that I am organizing cured leprosy patients themselves to educate the world about the disease.
Of course, a lot of people ask, is that possible? I just feel that we need to act if we want to achieve something. And I firmly believe that we can succeed.
Do you travel around the world as the World Health Organization’s Goodwill Ambassador for the Elimination of Leprosy?
To be honest with you, I really don’t like the name goodwill ambassador, because there are many goodwill ambassadors in our society today. And these goodwill ambassadors come out for different events that international organizations organize. But the battle to eliminate leprosy is not like that. We have to go to the remotest areas, let’s say Africa or India. We must be on the frontlines, where the battles take place. And we must appeal to the top leaders and ministries of health of the country we visit. Only then, with their involvement, will we succeed. My way of doing things is to work quietly, with patience and continuous effort until all people understand.
Beyond leprosy, beyond maritime issues, as chairman of the Nippon Foundation, what will be your projects in the years to come?
Our foundation today is involved in a wide area of activities. I firmly believe that whoever we are, wherever we are, every human being should have three good meals a day. Having been born right after World War II, I know what it’s like to go without food. And so, starting from that concept, I have been involved in helping people increase their food production. For the past 20 years, my foundation has been involved in teaching poor farmers how to increase their productivity.
The second area that I did not mention earlier is that of public health. I feel that there are many people who are suffering from different diseases and the aftermath of disasters and it is as important to help those people.
Of course, one major issue that we are involved in globally, and which I seriously believe needs help, is the development of human resources. We have been helping in building primary schools and our support goes all the way up to higher education; even to people in doctoral programs around the world. This involves different sectors of society. I feel that with human resource development, a country can become prosperous, peaceful and very stable. I have dedicated my life towards this goal.
|
|
|
Your Letters | 
About Us | 
Contact Us 
