Fellows' Gathering

December 15, 2016, became a special day for me, as I had the opportunity to meet and have a short conversation with Dr. Sasakawa.

His presence was a “magnet” for all us Indonesian Sasakawa Fellows, particularly the Jakarta chapter. When we heard about his plan to visit Jakarta and to have lunch with us, we coordinated and adjusted our plans since his agenda was very tight.

Dr. Sasakawa didn’t only invite Sasakawa Fellows, but as is customary, there were also representatives from other entities, such as API, University for Peace, and the Indonesian Institute of Science. Therefore, we only had a very short time to re-introduce ourselves to him. Following this, Dr. Sasakawa gave a short speech, mainly covering his agenda and his experiences in Indonesia.

Dr. Sasakawa emphasized that one of his main goals was to discuss and try to eliminate the negative stigma associated with leprosy patients in Indonesia, by providing knowledge and understanding to the community. He stressed that leprosy is curable, and if the sufferer has recovered, the condition is not different from other diseases such as malaria, dengue, etc.

It is not caused by a curse, as many of the superstitious believe, and if treated early there will be no deformity, making early detection very important. Therefore, there should be no discrimination whatsoever against those who suffer from this disease and their families.

After the speech, we had some very good news. Dr. Sasakawa said that he was planning to visit Indonesia twice in 2017, and he was looking forward to having a wonderful time with us - his Indonesian family.

Terima kasih and (dōmo) arigatō gozaimashita!

Syafiuddin
Indonesia, 2016

Mr. Gujar was part of IMO delegation as IMO consultant for Needs assessment of SAR and DMDSS(Global Maritime Distress and Safety System) facilities of Myanmar. IMO senior advisor and he conducted National Seminar on Sar at Yangon to assist Myanmar.

Thet, 2014
Mukund, 2015
Hla, 2015

Jesus went to Myanmar for his vacation and met some Sasakawa Fellows there. Wonderful Reunion of World Maritime University-WMU Alumni (Sasakawa Fellows) in Yangon, Myanmar on 15th October, 2016!

Kyaw, 2009
Jesus, 2010
Thida, 2010
Swe Swe, 2010

It was the morning of August 24 when my cellphone received a message saying “Good morning. Professor Toshio Hikima will be arriving on September 8. Are you aware of this?” The wonderful news came from my good friend Armando Espiritu, a student of Professor Hikima at the World Maritime University in the late 90’s. The news of Hikima-sensei’s visit was finally confirmed by the professor himself in an email to me on August 30.

In retrospect, Hikima-sensei, as we respectfully call him, was my professor in Marine Electricity at the Marine Technical College in Ashiya City, Japan. I was his student in 1994 under the JICA Bilateral Scholarship Program. Being younger then, I was eager to learn new skills and acquire cutting-edge information from my studies. Japan is known to be a technological giant and a nation leading in scientific research. My studies, therefore, played a vital role in acquiring invaluable information in the realm of modern technology. Subsequently, in 2010, I was accepted for a WMU Master’s Degree program under the Sasakawa Peace Foundation.

Now that one of my beloved professors would be coming over to visit us, it was necessary that he be accorded the respect and beneficence that he deserves. On September 8 at around 1600 hours, we picked up Hikima-sensei and Capt. Sugomori at their hotel, and together we proceeded to the MARINA office. Right after the meeting with the MARINA officials, we headed towards the Coast Guard where a testimonial dinner in honor of Admiral Cecil Chen (s01) was being held. Admiral Chen announced Hikima-sensei as his special guest. After exchanging some pleasantries, we left the reception hall and decided to move to a karaoke bar. There we enjoyed singing, drinking and conversing with each other before we called it a day. Certainly, the visit of Hikima-sensei and Capt. Sugomori was a memorable one. It definitely is something that I will treasure for a lifetime, and I look forward to their next visit – Ja mata (see you again), Hikima-sensei!

Jose Romualdo Q. Denzon
Philippines, 2011