Quest for World Peace -- Impossible?

The Power of Y (Youth), the Quest for World Peace.

That was the main theme of the 2nd Chung Ling International Camp which I participated in, in July. The first time I heard of the theme, the first thought that hit me was: impossible. World Peace was such a gigantic, intangible topic which was very hard to handle. How could Youth, who are so young be able to do something which can greatly affect and change the world? However, after attending the various talks that were organised there, I came out having a whole new perspective.

In the talk, Yes I Can!, the speaker came forth and the first thing which he asked us to do was shout the words "Yes We Can" as loudly as we can. Certainly, it came forth as weird at first, but after shouting it, the speaker said: "Who knew you could do that right?" It was interesting cos what we perceived as unable to do and impossible, was what we could actually do in reality if we were willing to do so. The speaker showed us many other similar videos which gave us the self confidence to make a difference, and take the initiative. The only thing which stops us from doing what we can is, fear. We want to change something, but at the same time, we are afraid to do so. And somehow or rather, we had to identify this fear and seek to eradicate it. Unfortunately, the speaker didn't give us a direct solution to this. All he said was "This fear varies from every individual. Seek to find that fear of yours and solve it." Which I have to agree with him.

However, from a different perspective, there are some Youth who don't even want to help out or make a difference. In my opinion, I believe that this is a major problem because if we cannot even find a method to empower Youth, and we start an initiative, no one would follow. To me, the root problem of this lack of empowerment is ignorance. Youth are unaware about the misfortunes that other people out there face, they do not know that there are children out there who are being kidnapped and turned into child soldiers, they do not know that there are people out there who are surviving on two dollars every week. It is due to this ignorance which is why Youth are unwilling to make a difference. And some how or rather, it is the duty of ours to empower them.

Whether we can do it or not, is a big question. But whether we are willing to do so, is a question at a whole new level. Hopefully, when time comes, we wouldn't stand back and watch, but instead step forth and initiate.