Peace comes from wisdom, not raw emotions
The cessation of hostilities is welcomed in all 10 Asean nations and peace-loving people throughout the world.
But when a country is enjoying peace, there will be selfish leaders out to exploit race, religion, language, nationalism and all forms of identity politics to condemn others just to gain popularity.
Unfortunately, most of them succeed because people are usually more emotional than rational, including those deemed to be highly educated, intelligent, religious, or ought to know better.
Religions do not discriminate against people by race or language. Yet throughout history, devout followers have often victimised their fellow human beings, such as slavery was practised for over 200 years in America by White Christians who read the bible daily.
Today, we have a political party in Malaysia using the name of Islam playing the race card trying to win support from the majority of the voters, ignoring the fact that Islam spread overland to China soon after it was founded in the 7th century via the ancient Silk Road.
Much later, Islam was brought to Melaka in the 15th century by Muslim traders via sea routes and also by Muslim missionaries from China, including those that came after the seven expeditions between 1405 and 1433 led by Admiral Zheng He, himself a Muslim.
Mercifully, the powers that be in Cambodia and Thailand did not wish to play the nationalist card, unlike Trump. Sadly, most people could not differentiate between being ultra nationalistic and genuinely patriotic.
Trump may be a nationalist but he is not a patriot. Being nationalistic means to do everything for one's country, disregarding other nations and also the harm it may bring to its own citizens.
His 'Make America Great Again' (MAGA) slogan and tariff wars are hurting not only countries trading with the United States (US), but are also harming the American people and economy.
Patriots contribute positively to the nation and are admired universally. Nationalists may raise national flags, sing national anthems and engage in rhetoric, but these are just for show.
On the other hand, patriots silently study or work hard, are productive, pay taxes, do voluntary work, contribute to society and charity, and live in harmony with others.
Those who claim to fight for our country but look down on fellow citizens are actually hypocrites. Many choose the easy path by sowing hatred, instead of working hard to lift one's community.
Those living near country borders may have different nationalities, but they are largely the same people and lifestyles.
Many have family members and relatives living on both sides, not just at the Cambodia-Thai border, but also the Malaysian-Thai and Malaysian-Singapore borders.
It is unlikely the local people on both sides of a border would want to cause harm to one another.
But it is a different story when leaders of a central government or military are on shaky ground and use offence as the best defence in justifying an invasion or bombing raid to muster support.
However, all the countries that the US have bombed, invaded and occupied since the Second World War were back to square one. The best example is Vietnam. Today, visitors to Vietnam would be wondering how the unnecessary the Vietnam War had served the US.
In 1960, there were only 900 American troops in South Vietnam, which grew to 23,300 in 1964 and peaked at 543,400 in 1969, before withdrawing totally in 1973, with 58,220 already dead.
In 1995, the US and Vietnam established diplomatic relations, which allows for the resumption of travel and trade.
Although a few million Vietnamese were killed in the war along with several hundred thousand Cambodians and tens of thousands of Laotions, past hostilities were quickly forgotten.
This is because people desire peace much more than nationalism and other forms of identity politics. On our part, we must always have the wisdom to know what is good for our country, and not let raw emotions consume us and do stupid things. ‒ July 30, 2025
YS Chan is master trainer for Mesra Malaysia and Travel and Tours Enhancement Course and an Asean Tourism Master Trainer. He is also a tourism and transport business consultant.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
Main image: AP
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