From Chairman

PEACE BEGINS WITH ME AND MY HOME

Peace is fragile
The fragility of peace is most evident in our families. What we take years to build will take minutes to break. One in three marriages in Singapore ends in divorce today. It has risen significantly from 2,708 in 1987 to 7,226 in 2007. Although 2008's divorce rate is not yet available, it is anyone’s guess going by a recent news report that the number of couples who filed for divorce rose from 7,061 in 2006 to a high of 7,226 in 2007. Twice as many children are impacted by the ravages of divorce. And the number keeps going up.

Peace is our innermost desire
Ask any individual. Everyone wants a peace-loving family and community. Peace is not the absence of conflict but the presence of love despite the conflict. Peace is learning how to manage differences and work through conflicting situations. As someone says, “Peace is not just how much we agree, but also how lovingly we disagree.”

Peace demands our utmost commitment and effort
Peace comes at a price. Building relationship is like riding a bicycle on a slope. We either paddle forward or slide downward. There is no stationery position. A do-nothing relationship will not do. We must make time and effort to build the relationship and pursue peace.

Peace begins with me and my home
Peace begins with us with small acts of kindness, gestures of helpfulness, readiness to apologise and to forgive. It is in everyday relationships, in looks, gestures, things said, things written, in the ups and downs of ordinary human discourse. Peace is the most challenging enterprise that begins with us.

Peace is what EMCC seeks to inculcate and encourage
This is our goal. We want to make peace-loving and peacemaking a way of life in our families, communities and organisations.

May you help us fulfil our goal by being our partner in this arduous but most fulfilling journey of peacemaking.

John Ng, Ph.D.
Chairman, Board of Governors, EMCC