Asian Youth Leaders “Pound the Rock”

Danish American social reformer Jacob Riis once said: “When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it.  Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it, but all that had gone before.”

It was in this spirit of “pounding the rock” that the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats (CALD) assembled 18 youth leaders from 8 Asian countries for the 3rd CALD Youth Political Academy (CYPA III).  Held on 25-29 July 2019 in Bangkok, Thailand, CYPA III challenged its delegates to come up with project proposals on how to strengthen youth participation in politics and civic education in hackathon/thinkathon format.

“I have always had this belief that youth is an important force for change and progress in societies”, said former Thai Prime Minister and former CALD Chairperson Abhisit Vejjajiva on Day 1.  He elaborated that this is because young people have ambition and energy, fresh perspective, and are still uncorrupted – characteristics which make them the ideal participants for hackathon/thinkathon. Other inputs on the first day included: Prinn Panitchpakdi (Democrat Party, Thailand) on P2P lending; Florian Rehm (Wildchain, Thailand) on conservation crowdfunding and gamification of giving; and overall facilitator Trisha Lord (Brave Heart Life, South Africa) on Thinking Environment as the key design thinking process for the event.

On Day 2, the hackathon/thinkathon formally commenced with the CYPA III delegates divided into 3 groups.  Later that day, the groups also had the opportunity to consult with a set of mentors which included: Pimrapaat Dusadeeisariyakul of Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF) Thailand Office; Therese “Gang” Badoy-Capati of RockEd Philippines; Jan Ramos Pandia (via Skype) of Qlue Indonesia; and Celito Arlegue of the CALD Secretariat.

After 24 hours, on Day 3, the groups were ready to present their project proposals: 1) Coalisian (Coalition + Asian): Think Tank for Tomorrow’s Democracy hopes to help getting the youth in Asian countries to engage, come together and share the political concerns in their respective countries by using Facebook as the main delivery system; 2) TILT (The Innovative Leadership Track) aims to tailor an effective regional internship programme with an accompanying performance tracking App called “Demo-Critique”; and 3) Youthopian (Youth + Utopian) which envisions itself as a social enterprise with a variety of activities, political and non-political, catering to the mind, body and soul of young people.

Thai Member of Parliament and former CALD Secretary General Kiat Sittheeamorn, after a difficult deliberation with the panel of judges, announced that Youthopian was chosen as the hackathon/thinkathon’s winning project.  He, however, requested the 2 other groups’ permission to incorporate elements of their proposals in Youthopian’s framework and line-up of activities.  Hence, Youthopian, with aspects of Coalisian and TILT, will guide the planning for CYPA IV in 2020.

To reward the young delegates after 3 days of hard work, the Democrat Party of Thailand organized a Tuk Tuk Tour / Culture Walk and hosted a sumptuous farewell dinner at Praya Palazzo Boutique Hotel. In his moving closing keynote address, Philippine Commission on Human Rights (CHR) Chairperson Chito Gascon highlighted the current existential challenge to the values of freedom, human rights and democracy. Addressing each delegate directly, he said: “Your generation had been presented this unique challenge of providing the necessary leadership to push back… You need to pound the rock, not knowing when you will succeed…  Every single strike that each of you has done will make the difference.”

Siripa Intavichein, CALD Youth Chair, was really grateful to have this youth leadership programme in her country. “This gathering for the CALD Youth Political Academy offered us a unique opportunity to discuss a range of matters that will inspire all of us here to come up with alternative innovative solutions to the issues and problem confronting the Asian region and beyond. If we work with the mutual inspiration and commitment with the aim to make our peoples live better and happier, the milestone to solve the issues for our region is not too far to reach.”