In preparation for the National Youth Peace Assembly (NYPA), SGM Student Division (SD) members held a Peace Exchange Workshop which was held online on 14 and 31 August 2022. More than 60 local and foreign university students participated in the workshop.

Centring around SGI President Ikeda‘s 2022 Peace Proposal entitled, “Transforming Human History: The Great Light of Peace and Dignity”, the workshop explored the four themes of overcoming the climate crisis, abolishing nuclear weapons, advancing education for all and creating an economic environment that inspires hope and preserves dignity.

On 14 August, four guest speakers were invited to share about these issues. They were Tan Cai May, a Senior Programme Officer at Verra, the largest carbon offset registry, shared the positive actions youth can take to overcome climate crisis; Tan Leng, SGM Secretary-General who is also an Advocate & Solicitor of the High Court of Malaysia. He elaborated on the necessity of abolishing nuclear weapons and the importance of building solidarity by uniting civil societies.

Tan Cai May	Tan Leng

Lin Tan Yen Tzing who shared her teaching experience in Teach for Malaysia (TFM), stressing that the light of education should be allowed to shine on all children; and Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) ambassador Yasmin Harizal who shared the satisfaction of providing emotional support and improving work skills for women.

The students were then divided into 15 groups to discuss the themes in the peace proposal.

SGM Peace Committee Leader Joanne Foo called on the participants to do their best in their studies and to lead contributive lives as global citizens for the sake of creating a better world and in finding solutions to the problems of the world.

Lin Tan Yen Tzing	Yasmin Harizal

On 31 August, the students presented the outcome of their discussion and shared their insights on solutions to the climate crisis, nuclear weapons, education and economic issues. The chosen groups will then be invited to give their presentations at the upcoming NYPA in late September.

After the presentations by all groups, senior lecturer and researcher in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Assoc Prof Dr Angela Ng Min Hwei encouraged all participants to change their mindsets, turn what they have learnt into action, work together with others and contribute to world peace.