SANTA CLAUS IS GLOBAL AND LOCAL A man dressed as Santa Claus in Rovaniemi, the hometown of Father Christmas in northern Finland, prepares to leave for his Christmas journey on
Saturday. —PHOTO BY REUTERS
Riitta Laakso was on a recent flight to Cebu where a stewardess asked the passengers during a trivia game where Santa Claus lived.
One immediately answered “North Pole!” and was given the prize for the “winning” answer.
Laakso later took the stewardess aside and told her that it was not exactly the right answer because Santa Claus actually lives in Rovaniemi, his official hometown in the Lapland region in northern Finland.
There, Santa Claus keeps the Christmas spirit alive, working 365 days a year spreading good cheer, warmth, and friendship, receiving and answering letters in their office, preparing gifts with the help of his merry band of Christmas elves, and in the company of reindeer sans the red nose.
Laakso should know, not only because she is the wife of Juha Pyykko, Finland’s ambassador to the Philippines, but because she has many fond memories of the magical Santa Claus Village about 830 kilometers north of the capital of Helsinki where she and her family will spend a few days after Christmas to ski and enjoy the peace, silence and serenity.
Closer relations
That Filipinos do not know much about the Santa Claus Village in particular and Finland in general does not surprise Pyykko, given the geographical, cultural, and historical distance between the two countries.
Thus he is committed to rectifying the situation by fostering closer bilateral relations between Finland and the Philippines.
Pyykko told the Inquirer in an interview that he was focusing his tour of duty here on three main areas.
First is on business facilitation, which involves getting more Finnish companies to invest in the Philippines.
Finland, he said, could help the Philippines by extending Finnish expertise in green transition, such as by putting up waste-to-energy facilities and in climate change mitigation, digitalization, and in education.
“Next year, we are increasingly looking into marine technologies, automation of ports, training in shipping. We are also looking into cybersecurity related to digitalization. And then finally, we might look into defense,” Pyykko said.
Among the Finnish companies already doing business in the Philippines is Nokia, which has moved from handset manufacturing to telecommunications solutions. River Recycle, on the other hand, is involved in cleaning up the Pasig River in partnership with San Miguel Corp.
At the consumer level, Pyykko said he would want to see more Finnish food and beverage on Filipino shelves. He is particularly excited about bringing into the country some alcoholic beverages as well as berry products.
“We have good, interesting things and specialty products like reindeer meat,” he shared.
In Cuba, a man also dressed as Santa Claus walks with children through the streets of Havana last Thursday. —Photo AFP
Migrant issues
The second exciting area is on migrant issues, to facilitate the entry to Finland of Filipinos who want to live and work there.
Pyykko said the Philippines is one of the four countries with which Finland wants to “intensify” relationships, given the increasing number of labor migrants from these countries that include Brazil, India, and Vietnam.
There are about 7,000 Filipinos now working in Finland, mainly in Helsinki, and the number is expected to grow fast over the next few years given the robust demand for professionals and skilled workers in Finland.
“We suffer from lack of labor, but we want to do it in a win-win fashion, … [in] a way that benefits both countries and I am really glad that I hear that the Filipino community enjoy their life in Finland,” said Pyykko, adding that most of the Filipinos working there now are involved in health services and in metal working as welders, while other sectors are also opening up to Filipino workers.
Finally, he said Finland is closely monitoring the geopolitical situation in the region, stressing his country’s firm commitment to peace and the rule of law.
“Obviously we know that developments in the South China Sea. I and the embassy follow that with concern and I have expressed the opinion underlying the respect for international law because for Finland like the Philippines, international law is really the safeguard for us in the big game of issues in the world,” he stressed.
Pyykko added: “As a small country, international law is very important to us because that is the backbone, that is the foundation because everybody is equal there. In front of international law, everybody is the same, that is why we keep on underlying it.”
World’s happiest country
To further enhance relations between the two countries, Pyykko expressed hopes that the plan to open a Philippine Embassy in Finland will push through and thus help Filipinos know more about Finland, not just about Santa Claus living there but also about why it is named the world’s happiest country for the sixth straight year in 2023.
He said that being happy is not about putting on a smiling face or laughing out loud, but rather about feeling content and at peace.
This elusive peace becomes even more important in an increasingly divided world. He wants to share with Filipinos one of the most important lessons from Martti Ahtisaari, the late president of Finland who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2008 for his extensive work in resolving international conflicts.
“He said many important things throughout his life, and this he said: Conflicts and wars are not inevitable, they are made up and created by human beings so human beings can stop them. Peace is possible, peace is a question of will,” Pyykko said.
READ: How Finland embraced being ‘world’s happiest nation’