Asians of the Year

The year 2012 was filled with challenges and adversities.  As the region faced major political and social changes, personalities defied odds and rose above. Here are contemporarysia.blogspot.com’s Asians of the Year.

1. Psy  (and his Gangnam Style)

It’s hands down for South Korean Psy or Park Jae-Sang for 2012 Asian of the Year. From obscurity, Psy catapulted to international fame for his Gangnam Style (from the famous fashion district in Seoul), the first song to ever reach more than 1 billion hits on YouTube and his famous horsy dance step is just irresistible that even famous personalities tried to do it. What makes him and the song ticked last year is understandable. The song is so danceable, the lyrics so simple (no English but the phrase Gangnam style sticks) and the dance steps so easy to follow. But in a country that has made Hallyu (Korean Wave) its biggest export (besides Samsung and Kia), Psy is not your typical boy-next-door performer. In fact, he is the completely opposite of the handsome boy band members that fans all over the world swoon over.

2. Aung San Suu Kyi

(Photo from Aung San Suu Kyi's Facebook Page)

The Lady is hailed as a modern hero for Burmese democracy who has fought peacefully against the military junta. After being release from house arrest, she has continued to campaign for reforms in the country. When her National Democratic League won majority seats in a special election, Aung San Suu Kyi has actively toured the country and outside Burma to profess her faith in democratic reforms and sought the support of international community to help Burma get out of the dark. She made important trips to Thailand, host to more than 3 million Burmese, the United States and Norway to officially receive her Noble Peace Prize that was given to her many years ago. Suu Kyi not only serves as an inspiration to young people in Burma but to other countries in similar situation.

3. Malala Youzafsai

(Photo from The Guardian.uk)

The 14-year-old Malala Youzafsai became the face of girls in Pakistani struggling to attend school under the Taliban rule through her blog. Perhaps the modern-day Anne Frank, she wrote about how the Taliban in her native Swat Valley prevented girls from going to school and other human rights violations. Since 2007, the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley and imposed a ban on education of women. Schools that are found teaching girls are either burned or destroyed and teachers are harassed, threatened or killed.  On Oct 9, 2012, Malala, while riding a school bus from school, was shot in the head by a Taliban member because of her campaign for girls’ education. Critically wounded Malala was flown to London for treatment where she successfully survived. She has vowed to continue her campaign through her blog.

4. Pushpa Basnet

(Photo from Wikipedia Commons)

Pushpa Basnet has no family of her own. But every morning she wakes up with dozens little ones she called her children. The 2012 CNN Hero runs a home for children whose parents are serving prison sentences. The founder of NGO Early Childhood Development Center (ECDC) aims to give proper education and better lives to Nepali children behind bars. Her interest in the children of prisoners started at 21 when she was studying to become a social worker. There she saw many children living with their incarcerated parents because they don't have anyone to go to. While they are with their parents, this set-up exposes the children to things that they should not see or do and denies them the right to get education and be raised in a better environment. With funding from several international organizations, she helps female inmates make handicrafts to generate income while maintaining a day care center for very young children and a home for the adult children of prisoners.

5. Park Geun-hye

                                                                                    (Photo from Wikipedia Commons)

Park Geun-hye broke into South Korean politics 15 years ago but finally got the chance to be elected its first female president in 2012. She is no stranger to politics, being the daughter of a former president. Her father was seen as the man who turned the economy around but also left an imprint of military dictatorship with gross human violations record. When her mother was assassinated in 1974, she served as a de facto first lady to her father at the age of 22. There she had her first taste of politics. Her father was also assassinated in 1979. From then on until 1997, she stayed away from the limelight succumbed to her true calling. She challenged ex-president Lee Myung-bak in 2007 but lost. During her latest campaign, she publicly apologized for her father’s dictatorial rule amidst pressure from the public.

                                                                                                              

6. Benigno ‘Noynoy’ Aquino III

The son of two Filipino heroes won the elections in 2010 on a platform of good governance and by promising to eradicate corruption. Many believed that unlike his famous parents, he had nothing much to show because he lacks the savvy of his father or the empathy of his mother who became the Philippines’ president after the historic people’s power revolution in 1986. Others gave him just one year to falter and fail. But 2012 was an important year for Aquino. His third year in office was marked with robust economic growth, making the country more attractive to investments. Economic upgrades were given and many international bodies consider the Philippines a breakthrough. With the help of allies in Congress and Senate and his firm stance, important laws were passed. Among these were the Mining Law, Sin Tax Law, and the controversial Reproductive Health Bill. Aquino defined the strong tobacco industry lobby when a law on putting higher taxes on liquor and cigarette was passed. He also went against the ever powerful Catholic hierarchy when he supported a health and population law that that would give universal access to contraceptives, access to maternal health and free sex education to young people. His government also secured a peace agreement with the Moro National Liberation Front in Muslim Mindanao. These important legislations were attained in a matter of three years while his predecessors never dared attempt or if they did, failed miserably.

7. Xi Jinping

(Photo from Xinhua)

When the baton was passed on to Xi Jinping to lead China’s Politburo in November 2012, there was no doubt that he will walk the line just like the other chosen ones before him. He will be the top Communist Party member for 10 years. Known as a go-getter who wants to get everything done fast, he dislikes rhetoric and would rather choose to work silently. Based on his earlier speeches, he is determined to stamp on corruption among the ranks of the Communist party membership by saying that no one is above the law. In the matter of foreign relations, it is expected that he will maintain what China has been posturing all along, especially on the issue of territorial disputes and the country’s relationship with the West.

8. Unnamed New Delhi Rape Victim

(Photo of protesters in New Delhi, India)

Authorities and the media did not name the medical student in New Delhi who was raped by a group of young men inside a passenger bus in New Delhi. The 23-year-old took a bus with a friend to watch a movie when a group of young men accosted her and her companion. After raping her several times, she and her friend were dumped outside the bus. Suffering from serious injuries, she was flown to Singapore in the hope that she would survive the ordeal but she later on succumbed to complications. The rape and her death led to a barrage of protests in India and once again put to debates Indian society’s treatment on women. The chauvinist views have often clashed with modernization where women are often blamed for wearing 'indecent clothes' if they are harassed or raped by men. Violence against women is very common in India where 20 rape cases are reported every 20 minutes. This does not include those women who are made to suffer or killed by the relatives of their husbands for failure to pay the dowry. Protesters also blamed the police for their slow response and the general safety in the streets of India.

9. Shinzo Abe

(Photo from Wikipedia Commons)

Japan’s new prime minister is a comeback kid. After resigning from office in 2007 due to a stress-induced stomach ailment, his second bid in 2012 was surprisingly successful. The leader of Liberal Democratic Party became the Prime Minister again after his party’s landslide victory on December 26, 2012. During his first tenure, Abe showed his nationalistic side by visiting the controversial War Memorial, a shrine honoring soldiers of the war, including those who were accused of war crimes. This action irked neighbors China and South Korea, that accused Japanese imperial army of war crimes and rape of comfort women. Abe has since lied-low on his rhetoric to maintain sober diplomatic relations with their neighbors. But he is facing more challenges on the economic front and Japan's volatile political climate. 

Thanks to all who participated in my Facebook call to post their Asians of the Year. Special thanks goes to Susan Evangelista, Stiv Tividad, Leonie Ramos and Michelle Silva-Suela who willingly shared who they think should be this blog’s Asians of the Year. Happy New Year to you all!!!