NICOLE VILLAROJO was a senior student at the top of her class at De La Salle University (DLSU) when she joined the 9th Hitachi Young Leaders Initiative (HYLI) held in Indonesia in 2008.

Coming back from the three-day workshop, which was attended by 28 young leaders from seven Asian countries, she ran for student council president on a strong environmental platform.

Villarojo says it was HYLI that sparked her interest in the environment.

?We had to do an academic paper on energy management for the workshop. We had three months to prepare. I did a lot of research, I consulted my professors who talked to me about environmental economics. It was like taking another class,? Villarojo says on the sidelines of the HYLI Alumni Forum held in Singapore from July 4 to 6.

?When I ran for student council president at DLSU, one of my programs was to ban Styrofoam in the campus. Planting trees takes time, I don?t know how to clean rivers, but solid waste?that was something actionable. We produce 1,000 trash bags a week in campus. So we started the zero-Styro program. We encouraged people to bring their own ?baunan? or food containers and to use recyclable materials,? she says.

Villarojo graduated with a degree in economics and marketing from DLSU last year and now works with Procter & Gamble. Her zero-Styro program continues to this day and has been adopted by the DLSU system. ?Now they even have the brown paper bag movement,? she says.

A new paradigm

Villarojo is one of 120 young leaders from seven countries who attended a special HYLI Alumni Forum in Singapore for a vibrant exchange of ideas on the theme: ?Driving Asia to a new paradigm: What is Asia?s role in the global arena??

Another HYLI alumnus is William Panlilio, 29, who was also a senior philosophy student of Ateneo de Manila University and an experienced debater when he joined the 5th HYLI held in Singapore in 2002.
?I was a member of debate teams and we would go abroad three times a year for competition. But HYLI was my first time to attend something multicultural in scope. It solidified my decision to pursue an international career,? he says.

Pallid has a masters in international affairs from Columbia University and a law degree from Fordham University. Both are in New York City. He now works at the Permanent Court of Arbitration, The Hague, Netherlands.

Paolo Benigno Aquino IV, or Bam as he is popularly known, joined the 3rd HYLI held in Malaysia in 1999 when he was a 3rd-year management engineering student of Ateneo.

?It was my first time to meet students of other nationalities. It was an interesting and humbling experience. We were supposed to be at the top of our class and then we meet other people who are just as smart or even smarter, people who are accomplished or even more accomplished than we were,? recalls Aquino, 33, president of Microventures Inc., whose Hapinoy Project helps borrowers of microfinance.

All three remember the workshop sessions where they interacted with experts in the Asian region, followed by vigorous discussions and endless debates with other participants.

Diverse ideas

The ideas generated in the workshop were summarized in the form of a white paper sent to the students? respective governments, universities, as well as the private sector. The initiative gained substantial media coverage in Asian countries, highlighting the importance of nurturing youth leadership for Asia?s future.

This year was no different.

HYLI alumni from seven countries listened to speakers from different countries talk about issues such as strengthening Asia?s social infrastructure, developing its financial landscape, improving Asian quality of life, and tackling environmental issues and conservation plans for the region.

Speakers included Ambassador Muhamad Noor Yacob, Apec?s fixed term executive director; Teo Chee Hean, deputy prime minister and minister for defense of Singapore; Hidehiko Nishiyama, director general for trade policy, ministry of economy, trade and industry of Japan; Dr. Suvarn Valaisathien, former deputy minister of commerce in Thailand; Dr. Luuc Ngoc Trinh, director general of the Institute of World Economics and Politics from Vietnam; Filipino lawyer Antonio A. Oposa Jr., president of the Law of Nature Foundation and 2009 Ramon Magsaysay awardee for his passionate crusade to enlighten Filipinos to protect and nurture the environment.

On the last day of the forum, the 120 alumni from seven countries gathered in separate rooms to reflect, discuss and generate new ideas on ?How to drive Asia to a new paradigm.? The discussions culminated in a panel presentation.

Bam Aquino, who presented on the behalf of the Philippine alumni, reveals that it was difficult to condense the diverse ideas of 28 brilliant minds.

?As Filipinos we?re practically everywhere. So we decided to focus on bayanihan [community effort] as a core value that we can draw upon to make that paradigm shift. Wherever we are, whatever our niche, we can each make a contribution. Everyone is talking about Asia as the engine of growth. We?re hoping that aside from being an engine of growth, Asia can be a wellspring of viable alternatives. It?s time we showed [the developed countries] a more sustainable and responsible way of doing things,? he said.

The next level

The Hitachi Young Leaders Initiative (HYLI) was launched in 1996 and is held every 18 months. The program marks its 10th anniversary this year, which coincides with the Hitachi Group?s 100th year celebration.

Since its inception, there have been 224 participants, according to Yoichi Yamano, senior manager of external affairs for Hitachi.

?Most of the alumni are in government, university, as well as in the practice of law or working in private companies. Others have joined international organizations such as the United Nations, World Bank and the Asian Development Bank,? he adds.

HYLI was envisioned to identify and groom potential Asian leaders by bringing them together to discuss regional and global issues, says Dr. Tsutomu Kanai, chairman emeritus of Hitachi.

It provides a platform for outstanding university students to deliberate on regional and global issues and to interact with prominent government officials, business leaders, academic and NGO representatives, according to the Hitachi website. Students from seven Asian countries ?Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam ? are selected for the program.

These students hurdle a stringent process, consisting of written essays and interviews, according to Associate Justice Antonio Eduardo Nachura, who has chaired the Philippine selection panel for the HYLI program since the start.

In his closing remarks at the HYLI Alumni Forum, Takayuki Hirota, managing director for Hitachi Asia Ltd. says: ?[This is] an opportune time for deep thinking ? after economic crises, natural catastrophes and political upheavals in Asia. We believe these discussions can identify what it takes to bring Asia to the next level ? While we talk about bread-and-butter issues, we should also [consider] quality of life and the environment.?