Since 1998, the Panasonic Scholarship Asia has been supporting students studying at universities and vocational training schools in various Asian nations. Many alumni who benefited from the experience of the scholarship program are now leading figures in business and research institutions around the world.
We have conducted interviews with alumni who received the Panasonic Scholarship Asia program. In these interviews, they shared meaningful stories about their experiences, including what they gained from the financial support they received, their educational challenges, and various encounters. Many alumni also expressed their thoughts on Konosuke Matsushita, the founder of Panasonic. The alumni cited the founder’s philosophy and ideology as major reasons behind their decision to choose the Panasonic Scholarship Asia among many other scholarships and how it allowed them to set and achieve high goals throughout their time as scholarship students, culminating in many accomplishments by the time they graduated.
The founder’s thoughts were an important turning point in each alum’s career and life, and in some cases, even those who had never traveled to Japan were impressed by Konosuke Matsushita’s philosophy and attitude toward business.
In response to this, we have launched a “Philosophy Learning” program on the subject of our founder’s ideas and values.
Learning sessions were conducted in nine countries (Cambodia, China, India Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam) that are home to the 2023 awardees (*And some 2022 awardees). A total of 136 scholarship students were eligible, and the learning sessions were conducted using curricula unique to each country.
The learning sessions were met with such high enthusiasm that it was hard to believe this was the first time a program like this was being held.
Learning Sessions That Touch upon the Founder’s Thoughts
The learning sessions were designed to provide students who were awarded scholarships for 2023 with opportunities they will use in their future lives and were conducted with a focus on the following four items:
- Students learn about the founder, Konosuke Matsushita’s business philosophy through his gems of wisdom.
- Each student selects one memorable gem of wisdom from the founder that was presented as part of the course content.
- Students then write a report on how they would like to apply the gem or wisdom to their future lives.
- The office for each country or region selects one person’s essay as the best work.
Following this, the Panasonic Global Contest was held to select the best entries from each country.
Below, we’ve listed some of the Philosophy Learning sessions conducted in each country.
●A remote lecture explaining as many as 30 of the founder’s gems of wisdom, personally conducted by the chairman/India
In India, a lecture was given online.
Manish Sharma, Chairman of Panasonic Life Solutions India Pvt. Ltd., personally explained as many as 30 of Konosuke Matsushita’s gems of wisdom in detail. He also touched on anecdotes left by the founder and his profoundly interesting outlook on life in a passionate lecture that lasted for more than an hour.
A scene from the online lecture held in India. Students listened with great interest to the lecture given by Mr. Manish, Chairman of Panasonic Life Solutions India Pvt. Ltd. The event was also shared on social media.
●A learning session in Thailand was also shared worldwide on social media
In Thailand, a training session was also shared worldwide through social media. The social media posts introduced the significance of this Philosophy Learning program by saying that learning the knowledge contained within the founder’s business philosophy, being equipped with the ability to profit, and continuing to grow in society will be important strengths for the nation.
Scholarship students participating in the learning session in Thailand.
A view of the learning session in Thailand.
A High-Level Contest with Excellent Entries
In February 2024, the nine entries that claimed victory following a fierce competition and became representatives of their respective countries gathered at the Panasonic Scholarship Global Contest, which was presided over by the Scholarship Office in Japan.
Each entry was excellent and unique in its arguments and viewpoints. This resulted in an intense selection process and made ranking the entries a challenge.
After a lengthy period of time with much discussion and debate, the office ultimately selected the top four entries as works of excellence. However, it goes without saying that the evaluation of each piece was closely contested.
■Award Recipients
●Top Award
Nguyen Thi Thuong/Vietnam
Title: A letter to the Legacy of Konosuke Matsushita
●Excellent Award
Wahyu Kisworo/Indonesia
Title: Human Being are Rough Diamonds
●Scholarship Award
Adrienne S. Tibi/Philippines
Title: Making People Before Products: Transcending Industries
Renee Claire Voon Zi Yin/Malaysia
Title: A Sunao Mind
What contributed to this high-level competition was the imaginative efforts of the various national offices and the surprisingly high-quality learning they conducted. This result can also be attributed to the serious engagement of the scholarship students who participated in the training program.
We feel that this Philosophy Learning has provided an unprecedented and valuable experience for the scholarship students. We sincerely hope they will continue learning from the founder’s philosophy and apply these lessons to their future lives. We also hope these values will be passed on to future scholarship students. At the same time, the Scholarship Office is committed to continuing this Philosophy Learning program, and we anticipate that the next session will surpass the current one, reaching even higher levels of quality in learning and competition.
