A call for peace and harmony

NINETY youth leaders from 12 national and international organisations as well as college and secondary school students from diverse ethnic and religious groups recently gathered to lend their voices to a call for peace and harmony in the country at a recent youth networking event held in Johor Baru.

Themed Youth Leaders, Driving the Future Force!, the event — with the aim of addressing concerns about mutual understanding between diverse ethnic groups in a global and national level — was hosted by the Johor Women Development Department in collaboration with international non-government organisation such as Korean Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL) and International Peace Youth Group.

Youth organisations such as GEMA Johor, IKRAM Youth, Sithi Global Johor, Malaysian Indian Youth Council Pasir Gudang and Pembimbing Rakan Sebaya ran the event booths together under the theme, Peace and Harmony of Malaysia through Interactive Leadership.

After taking part in interactive speech sessions and games, participants decorated the map of Malaysia with Post-it notes on which they wrote their wishes for peace. During the VIP congratulatory speech, Muhammad Haziq Zakaria, the Inspire Mind Academy founder who is a former Youth Parliament of Malaysia member, emphasised that this kind of opportunity is necessary for future leaders and youths because their mindset and perspective will be based on their experiences.

GEMA Johor vice-chairperson Amirah Dayana Azlan said: “It was satisfying to address the sensitive issue of differences in races and religions particularly in Malaysia, because it has always been a matter that is used to disrupt harmony in our country. It was great to voice out our feelings and the attitude we should adopt in terms of diversity to the younger gen-