Significant day today! March 16 is the 50th anniversary of Toda's sensei entrusting the youth to continue the spread of Nichiren Buddhism to the world and is also the 20th anniversary of Ikeda sensei's visit to Singapore! On such a special occasion, we have a meeting yesterday where SSA invited youth members from the SGI organisation in Asia. Countries attended include Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, Sri Lanka, Philippine and Thailand. During the meeting, youth representatives also signed a pledge for kosen rufu to be presented to Ikeda Sensei. SGI General Director also commented that is significant that this event is being held in Singapore, the Lion City.
On the actual March 16, SSA organised the First Youth Peace Interfaith Symposium at the Singapore Expo and it gathered resounding success. The theme for the symposium is "Humanizing Religions, Creating Peace" and the speaker for this first ever peace symposium is Mr George Yeo who is the Minister for Foreign Affairs. It is significant to note that the theme is also the theme for the peace proposal that Ikeda Sensei has submitted to the United Nation this Jan 26. My role in this event is part of the welcoming group where we warmly welcomed our foreign minister to this event.
"I choose hope because I feel a deep responsibility to do what I believe I am obligated to do - to pass the world on a better place than when I came into it"
- David Krieger (President of Nuclear Age Peace Foundation)
I choose hope for another reason. I choose hope because without hope we will never believe we can fulfill our dreams nor make the impossible possible!
"Let us extinguish the flames of hatred with a flood of dialogue"
- Daisaku Ikeda
A speaker at the symposium said something like we should not beat someone down because we were being insulted. This is because in peace time, we should not make enemy. We should make friend so that in war time, our friend will shot that someone down before it gets to us!
Well this is not advocating war or even killing. In the end, it should be si vis pacem para pacem - if we want peace make peace!
"A great revolution in just one single individual will help achieve a change in the destiny of a society and, further, will enable a change in the destiny of humankind."
- Daisaku Ikeda
Today, YMD chief said is a new departure and we should attain a higher level from before. We should set a new determination to start at a higher platform as we have succeeded showing our fellow citizens that what we have been doing is the correct path.
New goals! Renewed determination! Refresh faith! A new human revolution! Another step towards Kosen Rufu!
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