■ Hong Yan, Chinese : For me, peace is no war, at least. I think that peace should be people-oriented. It must stand for a harmonious relationship between peoples around the world.

■ Dale Kim, Korean :
Our biggest enemy should be any war that may happen to us due to the lack of understanding each other.

■ Park A-rim, Korean : I think that a war is one of the worst factors in breaking peace. When a war breaks out, many people suffer from the loss of their families and friends. A peaceful world should guarantee people’s right to live in a safe environment.

■ Kangsoy, Chinese :
A peaceful world is a place without any violence or war. In peace, nobody takes advantages of others’tragedies.

■ EhhLan, Malaysian : A peaceful world is a place where there is no threat of, or unnatural loss, of life as a result of the actions of another human being.

■ Ilhom, Uzbek : For peace in Asia and the world, all peoples, nations and states should be guaranteed fairness in politics. We see more people losing their lives, suffering from famine and fear of losing their family, friends and neighbors after the U.S. army entered Iraq than during the period of Saddam Hussein’s regime. The case of Iraq gives us a lesson that external power should not displace local people from the peacemaking effort. We can and need to support local peacemaking initiatives. However, external power should not take away the role of local people in the peacemaking processes.

■ Cheryl Chua - Dann, Filipina : I live in a war-torn Mindanao, southernmost part of the Philippines. Peace is not only the absence of war, but also ultimately the existence of socio-economic development within a community, so that people? basic needs are provided and conflict that arises from rebellions and insurgencies are avoided.

■ Zarina Jaamad, Malaysian :
A peaceful world is a place where people live without unwanted interference and in harmony and happiness. Respect for other peoples’ rights is also important.

■ C.C.I. Senaratne, Sri Lankan :
A peaceful world is a place where people live in freedom, and respect each other's right to live in a decent condition. Income level should be fairly distributed.

■ Deborah, G.C. Tambunan, Indonesian : Peace is a word that is uttered almost as frequently as truth, beauty, and love. It may be just as elusive to define as these other virtues. Common synonyms for peace include amity, friendship, harmony, concord, tranquility, repose, quiescence, truce, pacification, and neutrality. Likewise, a peacemaker is a pacifier, mediator, intermediary, and intercessor. While some of these descriptions are appropriate, they are still quite limited in describing both the nature of peace and the role of the peacemaker. Any attempt to articulate the nature of peace and peacemaking, therefore, must address those conditions that are favorable to their emergence. "Freedom", "human rights" and "justice" are among such prerequisites. Also, included are "proactive strategies such as conflict resolution, nonviolent action, community-building, and the democratization of authority."

■ Joel S. Ferrer, Filipino :
A peaceful world is a place where people live in harmony, synergy and love.

■ Kathy, Malaysian : A peaceful world is a world without boundary amongst its inhabitants, thus eliminating racial discriminations and misconceptions of other people. Peace is a condition that enables people to accept other races and religions as they are.

■ Diana Siam, Jordanian : Peace is having the ability to practice your religious or national ceremonies in any part of the world even when you belong to a minority group. In peace, nobody should be discriminated against because of different skin color, race, religion, opinion and way of thinking. You can be yourself, as you are. That is peace. A Muslim does not feel safe in other parts of the world because people judge Muslims on the basis of their religion. Peace is to let people live without worrying about getting hurt or discriminated against due to their religion.

■ Kim Ji-yeon, Korean : I don’t think that peace is merely a static state without any conflicts. In human society, conflicts always happen, for no society is composed of people of perfectly identical ideas. In a realistic sense, peace should be the process of harmonizing various opinions in rational and non-violent ways. To put it differently, peace is the process of developing better understanding of each other. A Chinese-Malaysian friend of mine also told me that a peaceful world is a place where different people live in harmony, and thus no hatred exists among people and no war happens among countries.

■ Park Yang-seo, Korean :
In dictionaries, peace is often defined as a state of not having a war. I absolutely agree with it. However, that is not enough. I would like to add the existence of a shared mindset to respect other people and their cultures. Without this mindset, a lasting peace is hard to achieve.

■ Shen Lan, Chinese :
A peaceful world is a place where people respect each other? religion and culture, and there is no war and no discrimination.

■ Bahattin Ignak, Turk : Peace is a condition in which people from different countries, cultures and religions can meet and do something together. No judgment about the value of different people is appropriate. Asians, Arabians, Africans, Americans and any others are the same people in terms of humanity. Believers of any religion must respect other religions, even though they do not believe in the same god. Tolerance of differences and dialogues with others are important. To build a peaceful world, we, as individuals, should start behaving honestly and respectfully to other peoples and other races. Then, governments and countries will behave so because they reflect their people? ideas.

■ Sarfraz Ali, Pakistani :
Peace means respecting each other and creating an atmosphere of mutual understanding without forcing your own ideas on others.

■ Thieza Clarito Verdijo, Filipina : Peace means “understanding.” My idea of peace before was simply having no war and conflict, but that is not entirely the case. Foreigners dread the Philippines, especially Mindanao because of news that it is infested with Muslims who are known to be terrorists. Marawi City is known to be a “notorious city” because of the presence of Muslims. People are often scared to hear about Marawi, let alone visit the place. This is because of the on and off war going on there.
Mind you, this conflict is not because Muslims are into creating wars. They take actions when they feel threatened. They want to protect what they believe is right. Before, I did not understand these actions. I am not Muslim but as I have been exposed to the culture of Muslims, after living several years in an area where there are many Muslims, I have come to understand their intentions. One Korean student of mine mentioned that she liked being in Mindanao but was afraid to go outside because of Muslims. I made her understand that Muslims are peaceful people. I may not totally understand the reasons behind their fights but I believe that understanding them is enough to start creating an atmosphere for peace.
The perception of foreigners and Filipinos alike is that Mindanao is a dangerous place due to the presence of Muslims and that war would erupt any time. Not all Muslims are into creating war, but actually they despise war. Muslims are not to be feared. They have their reasons for being tough and why they think they need to fight back. It is one thing that non-Muslims should start to understand. I am not trying to justify violence. However, there are many factors that contribute to this conflict, and I think we should understand this matter first before concluding that Muslims are bad people.
The first step to attain peace is to understand other sides. We need to understand that we are different because we are from different cultural backgrounds and our actions are governed by our culture. Then comes acceptance, accepting differences with our heart. Understanding and accepting differences are a cornerstone to creating peace. This will help us have smooth communication and learn from each other, and gain respect as individuals. Peace is to understand and accept that we are different individuals. Respect comes next.

■ Lyudmila, Korean-Kazakh :
Peace should be grounded in understanding and tolerance between peoples.