The Magsaysay Awards are the most prestigious prize in Asia, and for good reason. The scroll of awardees since 1957 has been, by and large, a true honor roll of outstanding individuals and institutions working in Asia that have promoted “human development” with “courage and creativity” (the touchstones of these awards).
As in previous years, this year’s class of six awardees did not only inspire numerous lives; they have themselves led inspiring lives. One, in particular, is an inspiration for those of us who labor in ordinariness.
Syeda Rizwana Hasan of Bangladesh, a lawyer, has advanced the cause of environmental justice despite overwhelming odds. Through the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association or Bela, in which she serves as executive director, Hasan has successfully fought against the country’s pernicious ship-breaking industry (where old ships from abroad are salvaged as scrap, in dangerous working conditions), winning legal victories that have imposed fines on polluters, closed illegal yards and mandated “pre-cleaning” of all ships before entering the country.
India’s Kulandei Francis is a former priest who, in the choice words of the Magsaysay Foundation, is “a missionary in the truest sense.” His dedication to social work, channeled largely through his Integrated Village Development Project, has helped create a women-only network of savings and credit groups, with over 150,000 empowered and financially disciplined members who have entered into a direct relationship with financial institutions and thus enjoy preferential bank rates.
Cambodia’s Yang Saing Koma founded the Cambodian Center for Study and Development in Agriculture, or Cedac, which then developed the System of Rice Intensification. According to the Foundation, “SRI is based on a simple system of plant, water and soil management, and is suitable to Cambodia’s dominant pattern of smallholder farms.” In 15 years, Cedac’s SRI has spread to 21 provinces, supporting some 140,000 farmer-families and helping double Cambodia’s rice production in the last decade.
Ambrosius Ruwindrijarto of Indonesia has endured physical assault, death threats and mob violence in a decades-long struggle against the country’s illegal loggers. But together with his cofounders, their organization Telapak did not only uncover the mechanics of Indonesia’s lucrative timber trade; it also offered an alternative through community-based logging. Altogether, its network of community logging cooperatives manages over 200,000 hectares of forest land in Indonesia.
Romulo Davide of the Philippines, the preeminent agricultural scientist, is often referred to as the “Father of Plant Nematology.” His work, the award citation reads, “led to the development of Biocon, the first Philippine biological control product that can be used against nematode pests … thus making available a practical substitute for highly toxic and expensive chemical nematicides.”
These five awardees have several qualities in common, such as coolness under fire (Hasan) or persistence in the face of “bureaucratic inertia” (Davide). But it is striking that their life’s work was built on what they made of the advanced education they received: Davide’s doctorate and specialized training in the United States, Ruwindrijarto’s degree in marine science from Bogor Agricultural University, Koma’s doctorate from the University of Leipzig, Francis’ studies in commerce and philosophy, Hasan’s master’s degree in law from the University of Dhaka.
We also note that all five coursed their work through institutions, which they either founded (Francis, Koma, Ruwindrijarto) or joined (Hasan, Davide). The institutions’ multiplier effect on their work may ultimately be unquantifiable.
The astonishing story of the sixth Magsaysay laureate, however, offers a remarkable counterpoint to these patterns—and at the same time locates the true common element that binds all the awardees’ work together: that one individual can make a difference.
Chen Shu-Chu of Taiwan is a vegetable vendor, whose education stopped at the sixth grade, who continues to sleep on the floor, who eats only two meals a day. And yet … let the award citation trace the extraordinary arc of her ordinary life: “What is astounding is that over these years, just from her daily earnings as a vegetable vendor, she has personally given away over seven million Taiwanese dollars (US$320,000) to various charities, particularly for the care and education of children.”