how often is it that, people are unable to agree on a common hero? to paraphrase a popular adage, one man's hero is another man's bonehead. yes, even in malaysia, we often have conflicting ideas on who are our heroes.
in malaysia, the older chinese community view tengku abdul rahman as a shining example of a "great malay leader" -- basically, someone who could sit down with a chinaman and have a drink of kopi, and even share a joke.
i suppose, back then, there was a genuine desire to become a self-governing people, and spurred on by the brutalities of the japanese army (back then!), which exposed the uncommitted heart of the british (who fled malaya at the first hint of japanese advancement), the peoples of malaya genuinely wanted to have their own land.
of course, back then, tengku abdul rahman was able to pull all the peoples of malaya together. he had the vote of the malays, because he was royalty; he had the votes of the non-malays, because he was easy-going.
he represented a real sort of balance...
in any case, i think that it is hard for us malaysians to have a real "hero" nowadays. of course, there is "pak lah", i.e. abdullah badawi, and he is a real nice guy. but after him, what comes? i wonder at the acceptance of the PAS crowd towards najib, and his cohorts. they will view him as too modern, too slick, too corporate, and perhaps - not really much of their own. i don't know, i heard that he "turun padang" almost every other weekend, so that's actually all up to the final crunch (the elections) to prove it.
so, the problem proves itself not unique to us malaysians.
fortunately, the bosnians (or at least, a significant minority) have come to the conclusion that erecting a statue of bruce lee will promote the values of "loyalty, friendship, skill, and justice". it was the brainchild of a certain Veselin Gatalo - a writer - and his friend, Nino Raspudic.
below is an excerpt from the BBC News:
The city remains ethnically split with Bosnian Muslims, Croats and Serbs divided since the 1992-95 war.
Writer Veselin Gatalo said: "Lee is a true international hero and is a hero to all ethnicities in Bosnia and that's why we picked him."
click the picture below for a link to the BBS News article:
and this picture sends you to the Zap2It article:
you know what? when i was a young kid, my hair was quite the "coconut" do... ala beatles. in fact, i quite liked the beatles then, as i do today. the mop-do was cool. but one of my friends looked at me one day, at an odd angle (right out of the corner of his eye, as he would have it said) and said to me, "ya know what? i reckon you look like bruce lee... not that much, but still... like bruce lee."
dear reader: can you see any similarity btw bruce's haircut to the famous mop-top below?
she love you! yeah, yeah, yeah...
this looks like the best of the lot. all together now: "yesterday.... all my troubles seemed so far away..."
maybe, malaysia should erect a statue of paul mccartney. after all, wasnt it he who penned that beatles number: "All You Need Is Love" ? well... him and that lennon fellow.
peace to the world...
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