Promoting World Harmony Day in Washington D.C. on 23rd & 24th August during the 2002 International Society of Poets Summer Convention and Symposium

"You who want peace can find it only by complete forgiveness." - A Course In Miracles.

"False imagination teaches that such things as light and shade, long and short, black and white are different and are to be discriminated; but they are not independent of each other; they are only different aspects of the same thing, they are terms of relations, not of a mutually exclusive character; in essence things are not two but one." - Lankavatara Sutra. There is only One World belonging to ALL, is that so difficult to understand?

For all the world's greatness and democracy, there is not a way great enough or democratic enough to stop people from starving to death much less stop killing each other. A civilized society that doesn't know how to solve conflicts in a non-violence way, instead killing one other because of differences in opinions is proof that society has not evolved.

"The greatest quest is to know what one must do in order to become a human being." - Immanuel Kant. Now, we must ask ourselves honestly, are we truly human by bombing one another to get even and killing one another to claim a piece of land? What justifies such an action? Mr. Kofi Annan said, "To save one life was to save humanity itself". We need to strive for greater humanity to save our world.

The implementation of "World Harmony Day" is by no means an end all solution to the escalating violence but rather an uplifting start of the world as one collective voice.

Don't you agree that as we progress we are in fact degenerating? Something is wrong with this world, because why do we need so much education, if education only deny us to have a better world to live in peace? (Maybe something wrong in our education system, either we don't know how to teach our children or we are teaching them the wrong stuffs!) Why can't we share this world and work together in the interests of mankind, to help make each other life better for the sake of the future generations.

"Fight fire with Fire and you will end up with ashes" and "An eye for an eye will makes the world go blind?" Is that what we really want for our world and the future world for our children's children? The fight for humanity, if carried out with more bloodshed, explosives or worst still, weapons of mass destruction, will serve not only to take away the lives of both guilty and innocent, it will also leave more wounds and scars in the environment, for our children and their children.

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference." - Reinhold Niebuhr.

World Harmony Day is calling for everyone who cares for the world to come together to help make this world right for our children because the power is in our hands to make it right for them. The objective of World Harmony Day is to remind the people of the world not to take peace for granted. In order for us to realize peace in the world, we have to cultivate a good heart. In short, strive to be a good human being. By having this thought, we are on the right step to reach success for peace.

As Confucius said,

"If there be righteousness in the heart, there will be beauty in the character. If there be beauty in the character, there will be harmony in the home. If there be harmony in the home, there will be order in the nation. If there will be order in the nation, there will be peace in the world."

How are the world communities going to create a balance world for peace to prevail?

If we notice the recent disaster in New York, the Muslim extremists are getting the upper hand. How are we going to tackle this problem? Because it will not go away if we refuse to go to the root cause of its problem - Palestine is the root cause to the world's problem. The extremists are using it as an excuse to cause trouble in the world.

After Sept 11, there is urgency to create awareness to highlight the importance to understand that "Tolerance of World Culture Diversity Equals Harmony." This world's problem came about due to the lack of understanding of each other's cultures. Thus, this led to the lack of understanding of one another's way of thinking and way of life. We need to integrate "World Cultures".

This is indeed truly a monumental task. Not one country can embark on this long journey alone despite how genuine and courageous its intentions may be. Besides creating an environment that is conducive to develop it further, it needs the world communities to lend its support by funding it. How and where are the areas that we need to focus on?

I believe it is time for the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Organization Islamic conference (OIC) to come together to take a major role in shaping the minds of the future generations of Muslims, especially after Sept 11 through education. They should not just focus on economics, it is very important for the Muslim world to make an effort to bring the awareness that Islam is Islam and culture is culture, they should not mix. Therefore there is a need to educate the Muslims of their true religion. ASEAN with its majority Muslim population can take the lead to harmonize the minds of all Muslims through education and come up with creative ways to integrate social, cross cultural and religious consciousness into the minds of every Muslims.

The youth especially the Muslim youth have to understand that in order to survive we have to link up with the world economy whether they like it or not, if not they will be left behind. No one likes change but change is inevitable if we want to progress. What we can do as individuals, is to work hard to maintain our traditions and values as we flow with the crowd. It is easier said than done, but by defying changes and using force to make a stand is bringing disaster not only to oneself but also to the entire world as happened recently in Afghanistan. Is that how our Muslim youth of the "New World" are going to evolve in the 21st century?

Only through Education can we build greater understanding among nations and societies. We need an education that emphasizes our similarities and not our differences. The best way to prevent extreme unsociable behavior based on race, religion and culture. This is something that needs to be inculcated in schools and through other formal educational institutions. The events and unfolding picture of international fundamentalism following Sept 11 only served to underline the urgency of the need for such a cross-cultural education system.

Another channel we could address is the root causes of violence. We can then build a culture of peace and hope for future generations by creating a website for the young to voice their political grievances. Through this website, we could pave the way to prepare a new era for our youth of today and tomorrow to work hand in hand with the government to provide them the opportunity to interact constructively. At the same time inculcate a shared responsibility in building a better world, this will instill much pride in our youth. A growth of government is not necessary when there is a growth of consciousness among the youth.

The world is getting smaller and smaller, a lot of effort had been made in economics to better our own circumstances not those of the world in general. We must ask ourselves why it is not happening? The answer is very simply because social and cultural developments do not bring in the revenue. If such an ambitious plan is to take off, who is going to fund such a program?

Unfortunately the whole world culture is to make money from one another and not to make money to give away. So here is our dilemma! How to change this culture of taking or greed? There is a need to nurture future generations with a magnanimous heart. This will be the key to our success in building a better world. We have to realize that the world belongs to us all and if we don't take care of it there will be no world left for us?

We hope the philosophy of cultivating a good heart and the World Harmony Day legacy could be passed down to the younger generations through the annual event of World Harmony Day. We might not be able to save the world, but at least it is a start and we hope that out there, we can inspire other like-minded people to join our cause of saving the souls of the world.

Sunflower Chong
8 June 2002