Taiping Peace Park

Baba's thought for today.

"World peace and indivivual peace can be accomplished simultaneously. When the hand takes food to the mouth where it is chewed and swallowed, the nourishment spreads to every part of the body."

Taiping, my hometown, means everlasting peace. The town was so named after peace was restored between warring groups who were fighting over tin mining rights in the Larut district. Today it is significant that in 2001 the Taiping Peace Initiative was launched and a Peace Park was started in the Lake Gardens. The only indication of this park is a Peace Pole erected on a small one foot high platform as shown in the pictures. I wonder how many Taiping folks are aware of this or are seriously involved in achieving the objectives of this project.

The objectives of this group of interested parties are indeed noble. I quote from a speech made by Anwar Fazal, Chairperson of the Taiping Peace Initiative "I am particularly grateful to those who helped shape The Taiping Peace Initiative where we promote a triple peace - peace with ourselves (inner peace), peace with other people (social peace) and peace with the Environment (eco – peace)."

Many of us also subscribe to these three dimensions of peace. Taking care of one's well being, having high self worth, not bearing any grudges, being kind in our thoughts, words and actions, will work towards the cultivation of inner peace. With inner peace the cultivation of social peace will be a natural consequence whereby one will be able to put into practice the values that guide us in our daily lives. For peace with the environment we can play our part in many ways, for example, through a change in our lifestyle, through the way we dispose off our garbage, through recycling and reusing things , just to name a few. Maybe we have to get involved in the activities of this project!!

To follow further on the thought for today, societal peace, in the wider sense will include world peace. World leaders have their hands full with this as their main agenda. The absence of peace means that there is conflict. Thus to attain peace will involve identifying the nature of the conflict, then investigating into the causes of the conflict, be it insecurity, social injustice, economic inequality, political or religious radicalism, racism and even nationalism. World leaders are not having an easy time- they themselves are facing conflict in their endeavour to solve these conflicts!! It takes a lot to be a successful world leader!!