COMMENT | While attending the Walk for Peace gathering at Wat Nak Prok in Bangkok recently, I was asked by two Vietnamese journalists from the BBC - why a non-Buddhist Malaysian had travelled all the way to Thailand to attend the event.

My answer was simple.

"Peace is a universal language. Malaysia, where I come from, is multiracial and multireligious. We were raised to respect other people's faith."

Later, I had the chance to ask Bhikkhu Paññākāra, chief monk and founder of the famed Walk for Peace USA, a question that has always been on my mind.

Why had he never come to Malaysia to promote peace? His answer surprised me...