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Present Needs, Concerns and Problems of Students

by Elizabeth S. Tapia

 

There is an ongoing trend towards commercialism, materialism and individualism which destroys the rich cultural heritage in most Asian cultures and societies.1

The South Pacific Island countries are highly dependent on the tourism industry as a major source of income. In Fiji, the tourism industry is a priority area of economic development... Many young women are being employed in the tourism industry, either legally or illegally. Prostitution is their source of survival.2

 

Text Box: 1Ms. Necta Rocas, “Asia” I Am Worthy, Young Women Demand a Violence Free World, (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1983) p. 19.

2Ms. Setaita Tamanikaiyaroi, “Pacific” I Am Worthy, (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1993) p. 45
      The voices of these two young women leaders echo the pain, problems and concerns of university students in Asia-Pacific regions.   Today's youth and students face tremendous difficulties and challenges. I want to share my observations and reflections on the contemporary needs, problems and concerns of university students in Asia-Pacific societies, particularly from the Philippines, where I come from.

      As I write this article. President Clinton has sent thousands of US Troops to Kuwait, hoping to keep back the Iraqi soldiers from re-invading Kuwait. A news article indicated that there will be no impending oil crisis, but there will be price increase as an immediate result of this situation. Then suddenly, two images came to me: one, of university students in Manila demonstrating against the hike of the oil prices and the exorbitant prices of basic commodities like rice, fish, medicines, etc. Another image is thousands of Asian women

 

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and men working in the Gulf region, including my sister, Ana, who is working in Kuwait to support her four-year old son and sick husband back in the Philippines.

The students in Asia-Pacific regions and elsewhere know very well how wars, political repression, poverty, patriarchy, racism and neo-colonialism adversely affect their lives and thwart their future. Many students have to quit school because of the high price of books, tuition, commuting, food and other basic needs in large cities like Manila, where higher education is available.

To understand the needs, problems and concerns of students and youth is to be confronted by the socio-economic, political structures that affect people's lives and livelihood. By understanding their needs and concerns at present, churches and concerned groups can begin to take their cause more seriously than before, and come up with strategic actions that will change the situations.

 

An Overview of the Asia-Pacific Region

Asia is a continent of contradictions. While it is rich in natural and human resources, Asia is the most depressed region in the world. Asia is home to eighty-five percent of the world's poor. The majority of Asian peoples are young, with over forty percent below fifteen years of age and only five percent over sixty.3 While the population is predominantly young, female, and poor, leadership in government and other institutions belongs to the old, male and elite.

Although the Asia-Pacific region is viewed as exotic, it is a vast, complex and volatile area. It has many sub-regions and cultures which we cannot fully explore in this article.

Text Box: 3Tissa Balasuriya. Planetary Theology, (NY: Orbis Books, 1984, p.55).
In Asia, religious, ethnic and linguistic pluralism abounds. However, there are several realities common to different Asian countries. A group of Asian Christian theologians identified five socio-economic and political realities common in the region:

•     colonial experience and debilitating structures of domination;

•     poverty of the many and opulence of the few;

 

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•     increasing marginalization of sections of our national communities;

•     the inferior and oppressed status of Asian women; and

•     growing international militarism and repressive regimes in Asia.4

 

Text Box: 4Virginia Fabellas and Sergio Torres, eds. Irruption of the Third World, (NY: Orbis Books, 1983) p 61

5Proceedings of the Asian Women's Consultation, November 1985, Manila, Philippines, p. 209.

6Asst. Prof. Reynaldo Ty, "Analysis of the Asian Situation", A Paradigm for Our Future. CCA Youth, (Hong Kong: 1994) pp. 36-37.
      Capitalism, neo-colonialism, feudalism continue to dominate many Asian countries.   People are divided through an interlinking web of racism, sexism, classism, casteism and militarism. Millions are poor, unemployed, exploited, starving and dying. Those who work for justice, peace and care of the environment suffer harassment, torture and death. Malnutrition is rampant and hundreds of mothers die while giving birth. Children are often forced to become adults soon by becoming wage earners of the family. Young girls and boys are sold for prostitution. Fathers or mothers are forced to migrate for work abroad, leaving their children behind. People work very hard, yet they earn very little. Civil war in the Philippines and ethnic conflicts in Sri Lanka and elsewhere yield casualties and refugees. The basic issue for the vast majority of our people is the struggle for life, the struggle to survive, the struggle to be human.

In an Asian women's consultation, women themselves analyzed the causes of their present condition as follows:

We are alarmed by the increasing poverty and oppression engulfing Asia today, resulting not only in the dehumanization of persons, but also in the extreme degradation of women.   Foreign domination, state repression, militarization and racial strife have reduced our people to being mere pawns in the deadly game of the powerful. In the interplay of these evil forces, it is the women who suffer most.5

Prof. Reynaldo Ty of the University of the Philippines makes an analysis of the Asian situation showing general trends in Asia today. Among them are the following:6

•     The USA is imposing only one economic model (capitalism) on Asian countries.

 

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•     The imposition of a monopolitical system or one type of political system, which is being assimilated in the region, is Western liberalism sometimes referred to as democracy.

•     There are specific aspects of the region: the increased role of people's organizations, the labour movement, the peasant movement. I would also include the women's movement and the youth movement.

•     The USA is playing a key role economically, politically and militarily in the region.

•     Many countries of the region, e.g. Brunei, the Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia and Korea, are either directly authoritarian or they have national security laws.

 

Thus the general situation in Asia is - Economic Crisis, Political Crisis, Ecological Crisis, Identity Crisis and Spiritual Crisis.

 

Some Implications for the Lives of the Students and Youth:

•     Hunger of the stomach and hunger of the mind and spirit. Education for what? to domesticate or to liberate?

•     Logic of domination or lesson of mutuality and partnership?

•     Continually increasing foreign debt means limited educational and career opportunities for students.

•     Poor health means unrealized human potential.

•     Poverty means never finishing school. Poverty means being pushed to commit crimes and use illegal drugs. Poverty means being forced to sell your body and your labour and impoverishment of the soul. Poverty means going to school with an empty stomach and worn out shoes.

•     Lack of genuine freedom of speech. "Culture of silence"

 

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Expressed Needs of Students

•     The Christian youth express the need to be involved in the decision-making processes, in all aspects of the life of the church and society.

•     Students in Asia-Pacific regions need to build and to sustain solidarity with each other and with the existing non-governmental organizations to become more effective and strong.   They also need the support and encouragement of adults in their pursuit of peace and justice.

•     They need to witness how the Church actively participates in the struggle of the oppressed and the poor; they long to have role models who use power and resources with accountability, mutuality and creativity.

•     Students   and   youth  long   to   live   in   a discrimination-free society, nuclear-free zones, they want to bathe in unpolluted rivers, not to be poisoned by the toxic fish, and not to be harrassed or tortured because of their political and religious beliefs. They say No to militarism, neo-colonialism, greed and apathy.

 

Concerns of Students

Based on my observations in the Philippines and some Asian countries, many students are concerned about:

•     social and political issues such as: human rights violations, domestic and sexual violence, absence of peace and stability in the region, redefining power and   national   security,   racism   or   casteism, regionalism, sexism and religious fundamentalism;

•     the high cost of college/university education;

•     a crowded, unsafe, substandard housing or dormitories;

•     peoples' movement and building solidarity network;

•     human rights, women's rights, indigenous people's rights;

•     spread of AIDS, discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS;

 

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•     breakdown of families due to migration, civil war, etc.;

•     pollution and exploitation of the environment;

•     the impact of labour migration and mass tourism on the family especially children and women;

•     the lack of role models for genuine, democratic and non-hierarchical leadership in church and in society;

•     educational systems in schools and universities - do the schools become tools of domestication or are they producers of agents for change and liberation?

•     pedagogical process: are the students subjects of history and learning? Are they trained to become critical thinkers or passive learners? Is the educational process participatory, gender-fair, and empowering?

•     growing number of school dropouts joining the labour force and being exploited by the transnational companies;

•     students, both in school and out-of-school, who succumb to the use of illegal drugs and would eventually be involved in crimes;

•     cultural alienation;

•     love, sex and marriage; and

•     seeking spiritual and moral guidance.

 

Youth: Visioners and Dreamers of Change

I regard the Youth of Asia as visioners and dreamers in the midst of problems and complex concerns.   They are courageous and committed.  In a recent conference, the Christian youth of Asia presented a vision:

This is our vision: a society where all people, regardless of natural or human barriers, live in harmony together and with all creation ...a social system that respects the ecosystem. This is our vision: a society that...

•     promotes common ownership of resources and equitable distribution of social wealth to all people;

•     promotes sustainable development based on social ecology;

•     is gender-sensitive, promoting collective decision-making, providing accessible social services to all;

 

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•   is just, upholding human rights and environmental protection, recognizing the role of youth, women and. indigenous people in community building, abolishing militarism in all its forms, destroying structures that are oppressive in nature.

Furthermore, the Christian youth of Asia point out that the realisation of such society calls for societal transformation of the present structures, adopting an ideology that advocates the liberation of humanity and a theology contextualized to the people's struggles.7

Text Box: 7A Paradigm for Our Future, CCA Youth, Hong Kong, 1994, iii.
With such vision, I believe women and men in campuses, local churches and the ecumenical movement must act together "to build and to plant" communities that yield fruits of justice, peace, prosperity and harmony.

 

 

Dr. Elizabeth S. Tapia teaches at the Union Theological Seminary in the Philippines.