In conjunction with United Nations International Day of Peace 2024 on the theme ‘Cultivating a Culture of Peace’, the Soka Gakkai Malaysia (SGM) and Pure Life Society organised ‘Interfaith Music & Dance Festival’ for the public regardless of religions and ethnicities at the grand hall of SGM Selangor Culture Centre in Klang City. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly's adoption of the Declaration & Program of Action on a Culture of Peace. (internationaldayofpeace.org)
With the heightened geopolitical tensions, a UN resolution declared it a day for “commemorating & strengthening the ideals of peace both within & among peoples”. In many parts of the world, the day is marked by a minute of silence, peace education, intercultural dialogues & other activities that improve understanding between cultures.
As SGM President, Johnny Ng said in his speech at the ‘Interfaith Music & Dance Festival’ on 21st September, 2024 that “Disinformation is fanning the flames of hate and misinformation of multicultural practices in Malaysia are causing distrust within the multiracial communities. Therefore, the community leaders, parents & their children must ‘cultivate a culture of peace’ in getting them to understand each other culture and faiths by participating in this peace festival. That is the call we make today for the future.”
The festival aimed to promote interfaith understanding and harmony through music and dance which were presented by the participating partners of various religions: Islam, Christian, Hindu, Buddhism, Bahai. Each group presented inspiring performance based on their religion, showcasing love for peace, harmony, compassion and service to all.
At sideline of the event, I met Mohamed Abdi, Founder of Youth Empowerment Support (YES), a dynamic community-based organisation of diverse group of youth to make positive changes in the communities including uplifting refugee. YES provides opportunities for children & young people to take charge of their lives through human values.
Zulkifly Baharom is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
The User Content (as defined on Newswav Terms of Use) above including the views expressed and media (pictures, videos, citations etc) were submitted & posted by the author. Newswav is solely an aggregation platform that hosts the User Content. If you have any questions about the content, copyright or other issues of the work, please contact Newswav.
