Arirang of Peace

Arirang is a traditional folk song of Korea and there are many different versions of Arirang with similar lyrics. The music played in the video clip is a mob performance at a traditional district in Seoul, Korea. The lyrics is about a separation of two lover and its lyrics is portrayed sadly through the tune and the melody of the song. At the WARP Summit, the performers showed a slightly different rendition of Arirang. In the same tune, they added a deeper lyrics to hope for a better world. It talks about a person, who searches for this world and enters the new world of peace. There are many interpretation of the word, Arirang, but I would like to say, the song in general is about rediscovering the meaning of love and peace.

Many of the participants were inspired by this performance. They commented that this truly is heaven, because it overcame all differences. One youth group leader said that he has met the advocate of peace and his dream finally came true. I was not able to find a clip to revisit my memory of the performance, but it truly brought peace and harmony in the stadium, where people with differences became one.

Building a New World

Heath Ledger's performance of the Joker in the film, "The Dark Knight" was breath-taking. I have never seen an antagonist as the Joker played by Heath Ledger. His death after the film was an unfortunate tragedy. I first saw Heath Ledge on film in "The Patriot" that also starred Mel Gibson. On the screen, Heath Ledger played the son of Mel Gibson, who played a colonel fighting for independence. In the film, Gabriel Martin (played by Heath Ledge) speaks about a new world.

"They call this the new world. It's not. It's the same as the old. But, we will have a chance to build a new world. A world where all men are created equal under God."

America was considered to be a new world, as everyone was given the chance to start anew. However, it was only a new world with the same mentality and culture. There were still inequality between the race and the same system existed as the previous world. This applies to our world as well. What is the purpose of looking for a new world, if our mentality and culture continue to stay the same? This is why we need a different culture. This is heavenly culture. It is different than other cultures that we have seen so far in the history because it transcends other cultures. When we build this new world, we must lose the thoughts of the old and look forward to something new, where we are able to create equality in every part of the world.