AsianScientist (Jul. 26, 2012) – Six individuals across Asia will receive Asia’s premier prize, the 2012 Ramon Magsaysay Award, announced the Foundation on Thursday.
Established in 1957, the Ramon Magsaysay Award is Asia’s highest honor and is widely regarded as the region’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize.
Named after the third Philippine President, the prize was established in April 1957 by the trustees of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund based in New York City with the concurrence of the Philippine government.
The 2012 Magsaysay laureates are:
Chen Shu-Chu, from Taiwan. She is being recognized for “the pure altruism of her personal giving, which reflects a deep, consistent, quiet compassion, and has transformed the lives of the numerous Taiwanese she has helped.”
Romulo Davide, from the Philippines. He is being recognized for “his steadfast passion in placing the power and discipline of science in the hands of farmers in the Philippines, who have consequently multiplied their yields, created productive farming communities, and rediscovered the dignity of their labor.”
Kulandei Francis, from India. He is being recognized for “his visionary zeal, his profound faith in community energies, and his sustained programs in pursuing the holistic economic empowerment of thousands of women and their families in rural India.”
Syeda Rizwana Hasan, from Bangladesh. She is being recognized for “her uncompromising courage and impassioned leadership in a campaign of judicial activism in Bangladesh that affirms the people’s right to a good environment as nothing less than their right to dignity and life.”
Yang Saing Koma, from Cambodia. He is being recognized for “his creative fusion of practical science and collective will that has inspired and enabled vast numbers of farmers in Cambodia to become more empowered and productive contributors to their country’s economic growth.”
Ambrosius Ruwindrijarto, from Indonesia. He is being recognized for “his sustained advocacy for community-based natural resource management in Indonesia, leading bold campaigns to stop illegal forest exploitation, as well as fresh social enterprise initiatives that engage the forest communities as their full partners.”
“The Magsaysay awardees of 2012 are six remarkable individuals, all deeply involved in creating sustainable solutions to poverty and its accompanying disempowerment – whether in the forests or on farmlands, in exploitative industries or in inadequate education,” said RMAF President Carmencita Abella in a press statement.
The six 2012 Magsaysay awardees join 290 other laureates who have received Asia’s highest honor to date. This year’s winners will each receive a certificate, a medallion bearing the likeness of the late President, and a cash prize of $50,000.
They will be formally conferred the Magsaysay Award on August 31, 2012 at a public ceremony held at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC).
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Source: Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation.
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