The Most Peaceful Nation

As you may have already heard, New Zealand was judged as the most peaceful nation on Earth by the Global Peace Index, topping such countries as Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Austria and Sweden. Yes, the land of the tough kiwi blokes are full of softies after all.

Hard to believe when you often see the typical kiwi as that Marlboro cowboy sort of toughie but with no boots. And I mean that literally. They walk the streets on barefoot. Maybe they just believe in their hearts that New Zealand is the land of the 'Lord of The Rings', and that they must walk in the fashion befitting a hobbit. But you must try it sometime because it is so liberating, and it brings back memories of our childhood days when we used to kick off our shoes from school and ran loose in the house, er, garden. (No slip up there, and I still stand by my story that it was Kraut, the german shepherd, who broke the precious vase that afternoon while I was the only one in the house.)

Seriously, though, it is not surprising that New Zealand tops the list. I mean this country has the perennial history of sending scores of troops overseas to war that came back seriously depleted. These guys are lovers, not fighters. They would just not admit it. C'mon, think about Russel Crowe, who is a kiwi, and you will figure it out. Hint, he won best actor in the Academy for his work in ''The Gladiator', but most of you will remember him more as that dapper, romantic but hallucinatory professor in 'A Beautiful Mind'.

Toughness is not innate. It is taught. I have seen how the kiwis raise their children, and to be tough is instilled at the youngest age possible. Young kids the age of Nathan and Pio are left to hang on a tree, or swing as high as three times their height. You can just picture out in your mind Mommy fainting at the first sight of this.

Yes, these kiwi kids are brought up to be rugby legends the likes of Colin Meads, or the more marketable Dan Carter who earns in the millions. No wonder New Zealand never run out of superb rugby players.

But that just must be it. I mean, how in real life would you see a bunch of heavy set guys grappling and tackling each other, almost always ending up bloodied, and yet come out friends after a round of rugby game? This is tough, man, and I know because I came from a brood of four boys and no girls. Our play was not as rough as a rugby game (not even close), but if one of my brothers as much as pinched me, we would have ended throwing punches at each other that would go on way past bedtime and even until the next morning (which I can still distinctly remember doing inside the car on our way to school!).

Inside the tough exterior of a kiwi lies a soft heart. It is the country that contributes the largest to the UN Peacekeeping efforts. It is the only country that has a very good relationship with its neighboring countries (well, you might argue that there is only Australia, but let me remind you that it is considered a continent). And most of all, it is the land of that skirt wearing dude who is best remembered for his dramatic role as a scholarly professor with a beautiful mind.