Greetings to the 37th SSEAYP PYs,
Welcome onblog :)
Congratulations for now you are part of my family. Please, let me introduce myself. My name is SSEAYP. That is what people are familiar with to call me. But if you see my birth certificate, you will notice that my full name is “The Ship for Southeast Asian Youth Program” (I am sure you are curious to know which one my surname is :)). I was born in January 1974 based on the respective Joint Statements between Japan and the Republic of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Republic of the Philippines, the Republic of Singapore, and the Kingdom of Thailand. When I was 11 years old, in 1985, Brunei Darussalam joined the family. And when I turned 22, I have more new parents, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam that joined in 1996. 2 years after, Lao People’s Democratic Republic and the Union of Myanmar also joined as well in 1998. Furthermore in 2000, the Kingdom of Cambodia became the youngest parents that joined the family. I have been taken care by the Government of Japan (i.e. through the Director General for Policies on Cohesive Society of the Cabinet Office) and raised with the active participation and cooperation of my parents, the ten Southeast Asian countries.
I was born with purpose that I could promote friendship and mutual understanding among the youths of Southeast Asian countries and Japan. I could also broaden their perspectives of the world, as well as to strengthen their motivations and abilities in international cooperation by participating in various activities both onboard and in the countries to be visited.
I grew up from one country to another in Southeast Asia and Japan, and travel in a big ship which I call home known as the MS. Nippon Maru. Although they are 3 different ships to bear this named serving for me, but they made the same good feeling of friendship and mutual understanding among young people in the family. After they served me for more than 30 years, now (since 2009) I have a new home: MS. Fuji Maru. She was the first of the two near-identical sister ships built for the Japanese Tokyo based Mitsui OSK line. The 21,903-ton Nippon Maru entered service in 1990. These two ships were built at the Mitsubishi shipyard with the same hull design. The only difference between them is that Fuji Maru was completed with eight decks compared to Nippon Maru’s seven. My new home has 1 pool, gymnasium, casino, movie theatre, a two-deck high multi purpose room that can be used as a sports hall or hold 600 seats for corporate conferences and entertainment shows, 164 cabins all with sea views, can carry over 320 passengers and a crew of 190. But for me, whatever the ship is, still the spirit of young people inside are always the same, sharing friendship and mutual understanding.
For more than 3 decades I have grown and witnessed many extraordinary young people who created an ideal world as if there is no real world apart of the family, some were falling in love to each other (and in the real world they got married), and believe it or not I know many of those young people now became great persons as they were always great since joining the family. When I was 2 years old, the very early of my childhood, I witnessed an unforgettable event that inspires me and all the generations after that. It is the creation of a Nation called “PYAESS”, and since then the live of the nation begin. Let me share this story as Mr. Hideaki Terashita delivered during his keynote lecture to open the discussion program back in November 14, 2005, the year of the first discussion program held with the existence of Discussion Group’s Facilitators. He was the Discussion Program Advisor at that time.
He came onboard as the NL on the 2nd Program in 1975. And in that year, the NLs from six countries created the COC (Cruise Operating Committee). Together with the Administrator and the Ship Captain, they had a thorough discussion for one week from Japan to the port of assembly in the Philippines. The theme was a philosophical one, namely, what is the Ship for Southeast Asian Youth Program. Then, they finally concluded with a name of the country.
There was a British novelist by the name of Samuel Butler, who was born in 1835. He lamented over the state of society and wrote a utopian novel, “Erehwon.” This name for his utopian country is the reverse spelling of “nowhere.” From his example, they took the acronym for the Ship for Southeast Asian Youth Program, SSEAYP, and read it backwards and created a new country name, PYAESS. It is pronounced just like the Latin word for sacred, “pious.” They likened the ship to one community or one country. The youths who come together for this program are all citizens of the country, PYAESS, and have the responsibility to realize a Southeast Asia where co-existence and co-prospertity are realized and build a sacred “utopia.”
The realm of this country PYAESS is the ship, “Nippon Maru,” and the accommodation deck is divided into eight radiating territories with the bow of the ship as north. None of the PYs share cabins with someone from the same country of origin, living together regardless of differences in religion or personal background. The 30 of them created 6 groups composed of representatives from 6 countries each. The group names were taken from the 6 virtues of the PYAESS nation, Amiable, Brotherly, Courteous, Disciplined, Exemplary, and Friendly. Representatives from each group formed the Lower House, the COC was the Upper House, the COC Chairman (the NL from Indonesia) was the Prime Minister, and the Administrator too on the role of the President. As the voyage progressed, they agreed upon a Constitution, a Flag, A National Anthem, and Major National Ceremonies. The “Nippon Maru” Song, which has been passed on from year-to-year, was a folk song of PYAESS written and composed by Mr. Kitt Mier from the Philippines. Of course, during the long voyage, all these decisions caused divisions and friction, with each PY having different interpretations, opinions and thoughts. There were heated discussions. But the wealth of sensitivity towards each other, positive efforts, and the opening of hearts eventually created a “new community” onboard in the form of the PYAESS nation. They called it the Renaissance Days of the PYAESS nation. To this day, He (Hideaki-san) said that “I look back upon them like a dream.”
As I agree with Hideaki-san that the ideals and the grand aspirations of the early days of my life, exemplified by the PYAESS nation and the song, “Nippon Maru,” are tremendous cultural assets that should be passed on from year to year. He shared these events with you, PYs of my new member of the family, in hopes that you could feel the “passion” that the previous participants held for this program. And as he added in his speech that the program’s alumni spread throughout Asia, still share this “passion” as they kindly watch over this ideal ship for your new era, the Ship for Southeast Asian Youth Program.
Now, on the 37th year of my age, your journey with me will begin. It’s your time to vitalize the nation again, spread the passion after, and make your dreams real. Again, I welcome you to my big family because you are now the citizen of friendship and mutual understanding. Enjoy and see you in Fuji Maru. Bon Voyage!
(1) The 32nd Ship for Southeast Asian Youth Program, International Youth Exchange 2005 -Report-, Cabinet Office, Government of Japan
(2) www.asseay.org
(2) www.asseay.org
Written by Ari Yuda Laksmana
Illustration by Ari Yuda Laksmana
