By Keita Sugai

　

Ceremonies were held at two Vietnam National Universities-Ho chi Minh City and Hanoi-on November 5 and 7, 2001, respectively, during which 20 graduate students were awarded SYLFF fellowships for the 2001-2002 academic year. These two universities share the 60th SYLFF endowment. In this article, Keita Sugai shares his observations regarding his first visit to Vietnam. He was joined on this visit by Isamu Maruyama and Ellen Mashiko.

　

　

　The streets of both Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi were quite impressive, in large part because they were full of motorbikes. During rush hour, it seemed almost impossible to maintain a safe distance between them. Yet, given just a little space, they managed to carve out for themselves what actually was enough room to avoid collisions with other motorbikes. Even if motorcyclists are in the midst of a large group of motorbikes, they are aware of their surroundings and become the masters of the street. This was my initial observation of those two Vietnamese cities.

　Vietnam National University-Hanoi (VNU-Hanoi), and Vietnam National University-Ho Chi Minh City (VNU-HCM) were jointly presented the 60th SYLFF endowment in March 1999, becoming members of the SYLFF network. VNU-Hanoi and VNU-HCM are the only national universities in Vietnam among approximately 160 institutions of higher learning in that country. The two universities are each pivotal comprehensive universities comprised of several previously separate colleges and universities.

　It was in 2000 that master's and doctoral students at the two universities first received SYLFF fellowships. A second group, of 20 students, received fellowships on November 5, 2001, at VNU-HCM, and on November 7 at VNU-Hanoi. The 20 new SYLFF fellows consist of 10 VNU-Hanoi and 10 VNU-HCM students, and 18 are master's candidates and 2 are doctoral candidates, being 11 women and 9 men who major in fields such as economics, history, linguistics, and literature. It was my good fortune to attend the SYLFF award ceremonies for these new fellows. I hope that the new SYLFF fellows I met in Vietnam will become masters in many fields.

　The award ceremony at VNU-HCM was convened by VNU-HCM's Vice-President Ngoc Giao Nguyen, and that at VNU-Hanoi by VNU-Hanoi's Vice-President Duc Chinh Nguyen. At each university the fellowships were awarded to the students jointly by the university's vice-president and Ellen Mashiko, executive director of the Scholarship Division of The Tokyo Foundation.

　The present time is a critical one for Vietnam-a period of fast-paced growth that is resulting in a range of problems that oftentimes cannot be resolved by that nation alone and that require the cooperation of the global community. In such circumstances, what is expected of the Vietnamese SYLFF fellows relates to SYLFF-Program founder Ryoichi Sasakawa's vision, which was based on a simple observation. As noted in Ms. Mashiko's speeches at the awards ceremonies, when Mr. Sasakawa saw photos of Earth taken from space, he was struck by the beauty of this planet's landmasses and oceans and by the fact that the globe had no geopolitical, cultural, or religious borders, nor any other comparable human-made divisions. Based on this observation, he developed a life-long belief that all people are members of one family, and that they all should have adequate shelter, food, health care, and education. Mr. Sasakawa transformed his belief into many practical measures, including the SYLFF Program, which he dedicated to the education and nurturing of future leaders who understand the importance of collaboration. I, as a staff member who administers the SYLFF Program, hope that the new SYLFF fellows will set good examples as leaders, proactively working towards a borderless world.

　

　

　

　In addition to the award ceremonies, a preliminary meeting of the SYLFF steering committee was held on November 5 at VNU-HCM. A joint meeting of committee members from both VNU-Hanoi and HCM also was convened on November 7 at VNU-Hanoi. During the joint meeting, the members of both university's committees agreed to facilitate the introduction of international fellowships, which will be awarded to outstanding graduate students for the first time in the 2002-2003 academic year. Personnel from the Scholarship Division were pleased to participate in these meetings and to observe firsthand the positive development of the SYLFF Program in Vietnam.