Prof. Ishizawa Awarded 2017 Ramon Magsaysay Award

The Ramon Magsaysay Awards Foundation announced July 27 five individuals and one organization to award this year's awards, July 27, Manila.

The Ramon Magsaysay Awards are given out to individuals and organizations in recognition of their contributions to peace in Asia - often called the Nobel Prize in Asia. The awards have in the past been given to Mother Teresa. 14th Dalai Lama,  etc. who devoted their lives for the relief of the poor and starved in Asia.

The foundation hand picked Prof. Yoshiaki Ishizawa of Jochi University who stands foremost among many researchers of the World Heritage Angkor monuments in Cambodia. Prof Ishizawa has been at it for half a century and is known worldwide for his efforts to restore and conserve the monuments through the years under the Pol Pot regime amid holocaust and civil war.

Prof. Ishizawa made enormous efforts in rearing human resources toward conserving the Angkor monuments and thereby restoring the culture of Cambodia.

The awarding ceremony takes place on 31st next month. Prof. Ishizawa's research laboratory,  Jochi University, confirmed the itinerary via the internet.

Prof Ishizawa comments:

"I am much honored - thanks to lots of people who have helped me out over the years.

"I've always had my mind made up to help the Cambodians themselves awakening to the need of restoring Angkor Wat - an idea that, I believe, won me the award."

The Ramon Magsaysay Awards is an annual award inaugurated in 1857 in honor of the former Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay. The awards are given in five categories: government service, public service, community leadership, journalism, literature, and creative communication arts, and peace and international understanding. 

The 2017 awardees are Gethsie Shanmugam (Sri Lanka), Yoshiaki Ishizawa (Japan), Lilia de Lima (Philippines), Abdon Nababan (Indonesia), Tony Tai (Singapore), and Philippine Educational Theater Association (Philippines). (Nathan Shiga) 

Source: NHK