Where have all the years gone? Wasn’t it just a few years ago that I fell in love with Japan during my very first trip in 1975, and then, just like a magnet, it pulled me back to return, and then there was no turning back?
the ASEAN delegates fly back to their countries, rich with many happy memories of their experiences on board the ship and during the land tours and home stays in the six (6) countries. I had a very happy memory of the Ship program.
Autumn of 1975 – It was just a year after I graduated from UP Diliman’s School of Economics. My first job was as an Economic Researcher at the NEDA (National Economic and Development Authority). I heard about a program called Ship for Southeast Asian Youth, sponsored by the Prime Minister’s Office of Japan. Thirty (30) Youth Ambassadors of Goodwill from the Philippines will be selected on a competitive basis, by the then Presidential Management Staff of the Office of the President. Thirty (30) Youth Ambassadors from each of the five (5) ASEAN countries at that time – Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, and from the host country, Japan, will also be selected by their own governments. Nippon Maru, a Japanese cruise ship will be home for these 180 youth when it sails and sets port at each of the 5 ASEAN countries, with the final journey to be in Tokyo, before each of
I was back to Tokyo in 1977, now on a two-year research scholarship from both the NEDA and the Japanese government. I decided to proceed for my master’s degree at
Tsukuba University, and after graduation, returned back to NEDA to serve. But the pull of Japan was too strong to resist. When the chance came for a post for Deputy Director for Investment at the ASEAN-Japan Centre in Tokyo, I was nominated by NEDA for the post, to compete with other Philippine government nominees, with the Dept. of Trade’s Board of Investment doing the final selection. I made it! I took up my post when I was just 27, representing not only the Philippines, but all the ASEAN countries, with main
