The fulfillment of all fundamental human needs is largely dependent on water and access thereof. Be it socio-economic development, environmental preservation, even poverty eradication, none of these goals can be fully attained, without water. Yet today, fresh water remains a scarce resource and access to it has even posed as a root to conflict across regions and communities alike.

Take a second, Imagine the world is black and white! Visualize all flowers share one common color, all food one taste, and all music one tune. To picture this, is to envision a world with no beauty or splendor, a world without different shapes, colors or sizes. A similar synopsis may be directly applied to a civilization that celebrates differences in race, color or creed; a civilization that holds one demographic in higher regard than another. Now, suppose for a second, you are playing by a set of rules that determine right or wrong, good or bad, grounded on where you are from, or the color of your skin, a world that is racially discriminated.

ON Saturday morning a delegation of twenty two young people from the Malaysia- Palestine Youth Movement (MPYM) paid a courtesy visit to the headquarters of the World Assembly of Youth (WAY). This delegation was touring Malaysia from 28th February to 9th March 2013 with the aim to enhance the power and potential of youth development and peace building for Palestine. This tour focused on three-point agendas for dynamic transformation including Education, Economy and Social Development.

The year is 1952, the streets of Dhaka are filled with picket sign wielding students. They ask for one thing and one thing only; for the recognition of their language Bangla as one of the two national languages of then ruled by Pakistan, currently known as Bangladesh. Those students were shot and killed by the police. 21st February 2013 marks the fourteenth year commemorating these students from the University of Dhaka and Dhaka Medical College who peacefully demonstrated that day. Since February 2000, the International Mother Language Day has been observed worldwide for the purpose of promoting, preserving and protecting all languages used by the peoples of the world.

In an ever changing world, barriers are broken down and cultures merged, we look to language as an instrument for preserving and developing heritage. Mother tongues are equivalent to other tangible heritages as they contain immeasurable historical values which clearly indicate linguistic diversity and variety of cultural traditions throughout the world.