17th Asia Pacific Pharmaceutical Symposium (APPS)

This August, we joined the 17th Asia Pacific Pharmaceutical Symposium which was held in Showa University, Fujiyoshida City, Japan. This program lasted for 6 days, which was from 18th to 24th of August 2018.

The program started off with a welcoming party. We were introduced to Japanese traditional drum called Wadaiko. It was not only the rumbling sounds and rhythms of Wakaido that was interesting, colourful outfits of the performance made it more enjoyable. The dynamic movement of the performers as they jumped around, changing position, it captivated us. One of the songs performed was about Fuji mountain as we were at the Fujiyoshida city. Then, we were assigned to groups and introduced ourselves to each other.

For the following days, we attended a few symposiums and workshops. One of the workshops was about the role of pharmacist at a disaster site. We learnt that during that time, disaster site pharmacists’ job is not dispensing medicine, but help to allocate people to safety sites which involves planning strategy, maps and escape route. Also, we got an idea about the healthcare system in Japan and other countries through a sharing session in our groups. For Japan, the medical insurance is covered for everyone and as for Malaysia, the insurance is only for those who purchase it. Besides these, we had a health campaign at Fuji Q Highlands and bus terminal. We prepared a board to test public’s awareness about risk factors of hypertension. We leant a few phrases of Japanese languages for this campaign too! It was fun and interesting as we shouted our slogan in Japanese language, even made rhythmic. What an experience! One of the days was field trip day! Exciting as it sounds, some of us visited hospitals, while the others visited museum and castle. After that, we took an hour bus to Yokohama for treasure hunt. We had a great time looking for clues, hang with groupmates while exploring the beautiful city.

From this program, we had a better insight about Japanese culture such as their traditional music, confectioneries, sports and dance. We had a dance-together session in which they taught us one of the Japanese traditional dances – ‘Yosakoi’. The atmosphere was very lively and everyone jumped and hopped and danced around. The committee members invited students from confectionery academy to demonstrate the process of making confectioneries and I was just glad, to get this opportunity to make it myself. We made mochi with red bean and lotus fillings and this hands-on experience had a special place in my heart!

All in all, I would say that this program is a good platform for one to learn about the cultures of that place directly, the issues related to our professions and make new friends from all over the world. You might not believe it, but some of us are still in contact. Although it was just a 6-day program, but the bonding is strong and it was such an amazing and fun experience for me. I would recommend this program, anytime.

Written by :

Ng Jia Wei, Participant