Reflections on the Human Condition - Api-fellowships.org

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Komunitas Utan Kayu in Jakarta that has existed even
during the Soeharto ear as an example of the struggle
of the art community as part of civil society. Pornthip
Apisitwatana examines corruption in Japan and assesses
the effectiveness of the role of the Japanese civil society
in combating it. Kokaew Wongphan deals with
another component of civil society namely the media.
Recognizing its importance, she focuses on the need
for international linkages between the local media and
how such linkages can be established and strengthened.
Prasetyohadi deals in detail the question of access to
land by the farmers in the Philippines and Indonesia by
showing in particular experiences of both success as well
as failure of land reform in the two countries. Lastly,
Mariko Akuzawa discusses the question of universal
human rights, namely how human rights education
and dissemination are conducted in the Philippines
and Malaysia, and the differences and similarities of
the position of the two countries vis-à-vis human rights
conventions.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
All the chapters in this volume in one way or another—
either explicitly or implicitly— attempt to address
the agenda of improving the human condition and
transforming our world into what the late Ishak Shari,
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia professor and one of
the founders of the API Fellowships Program, aptly
called, “the earth for all humanity” (Ishak, 2002). We
hope readers will find the views and findings in this
book stimulating and important for them to digest and
reflect on. As the saying goes, ideas have consequences.
Hopefully these ideas will make the necessary impact
on civil society, public opinion, and policy-making and
implementation. Indeed we earnestly hope that the ideas
put forward by the API Fellows in this book will provoke
further thinking and even rethinking—contrarian as it
may be—in understanding the multi-faceted problems
of human lives. Only by such understanding, empathy
and commitment can we seek alternatives to what is
currently experienced by the people. In the ultimate
analysis, we hope this book as a concrete output of
the API Fellowship Program will contribute in its own
way towards the noble idea of transforming humanity
and civilization for the good of all and for ensuring
the sustainability of the API Community. Mr. Yohei
Sasakawa, the Chairman of The Nippon Foundation,
in his address at the opening of the 4 th API Workshop
rightly emphasized the need for “unity of knowledge
and action”. Of course, while the Fellows in varying
degrees have tried to follow this principle in their work,
we believe in the final analysis, it is the readers and the
general public who are the best judge to asses the extent
Ref lections on the Human Condition: Change, Conflict and Modernity
The Work of the 2004/2005 API Fellows
to which this principle has been fulfilled in this book.
REFERENCES
Abdul Rahman Embong (ed.). 2004. Globalization,
Culture and Inequalities: In Honour of the Late
Ishak Shari. Bangi: Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan
Malaysia.
Ishak Shari. 2002. The Earth for All Humanity. Bangi
Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
Mittelman, J.H. & Norani Othman (eds.). 2004.
Capturing Globalization. London: Routledge.
Stiglitz, J. 2002. Globalization and Its Discontents.
London: Allen Lane.
-----------. 2006. Making Globalization Work. London:
Allen Lane.
Weiss, L. 1998. The Myth of the Powerless State. Ithaca:
Cornell University Press.