Sunday, July 25, 2010

DO WE NEED HEROES?

WE have had too many pseudo heroes!

I never had any heroes per se until I was introduced to serious reading by my Form 4 English teacher Mr Tan Teik Hui. I was suspended from school for 2 weeks because I was reading Zane Grey in class during Science period. The chapter on Sound bored me to bits unlike the chapter on reproduction. It was Mr Tan who got me off the suspension when he missed me in class.

Even after that I can say two persons shaped my thinking and my gears – Bertrand Russell, Mahatma Ghandi and Che Guevara. Yah, you could say that they were my heroes.

Have I any home-grown heroes? A few like the irrepressible late Dr Tan Chee Khoon, the combative Srinivasagam brothers, the unassuming Dr Chen Mun Hin, the vociferous Karpal Singh and the “par cee beh toh” Lim Kit Siang. They were all opposition politicians, except for the Tengku. Tun Ismail and Tun Hussein Onn. It’s easier to look up to them as these named were towering above the other pretender/ tin-can politicians!

We were plodding on as One Malaysia until some upstart caused some a dislocation in 1969. We mended somewhat until 1981 when a major fracture caused the structural breakdown of our civil service, the judiciary, our police force etc etc etc!

The rakyat who voiced and voted for change in 2008 are my unsung heroes, so for now I don’t need no heroes until…………………



Out of the ruins
Out from the wreckage
Can't make the same mistake this time
We are the children
The last generation
We are the ones they left behind
And I wonder when we are ever gonna change it
Living under the fear 'till nothing else remains

We don't need another hero
We don't need to know the way home

All we want is life beyond, the Thunderdome

Looking for something we can rely on
There's got to be something better out there:
Love and compassion
Their day is coming
All else are castles built in the air


And I wonder when we are ever gonna change it
Living under the fear 'till nothing else remains
All the children say:

We don't need another hero
We don't need to know the way home

All we want is life beyond, the Thunderdome

Will our story shine like a light?
We leave only a mark!
So, what do we do with our lives?
Or end in the dark?
Give it all or nothing

We don't need another hero...


10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Jibby is trying to be a hero in Sarawak by handing out pre-election goodies.

new fart said...

Has anyone tried logging on to The Malaysian Insider? I tried many times but couldn't log on!

zorro said...

new fart....can't help you here....I don't read MI anymore.

Ahmad Toyol said...

What are you reading, Mr Zorro?

Ujang? Gila Gila? Kumtum? UrTV?
Mastika?

Heroine said...

Zorro
U should set-up mirror site in Bahasa Malaysia so that local graduates able to comprehend the real issues facing Malaysia; and not be brainwashed by mainstream media.
What say you ?

new fart said...

Ok, thanks Bro...

flyer168 said...

Bernard,

Yes, the rayaat, you & your Special Bunch who went all out to try "Change the Skyline" in 2008 are the "Unsung heroes"...

It is the "Voting Rayaat", even the everyday rayaat can be "Situational Heroes"...

After being shortchanged since 1969, the "Buck MUST stops here...with each one of us to be the "Unsung Heroes!"

Because I did what any "Sensible Intelligent Citizen" would or should do!

Just to share this ....

Philip Zimbardo: Why ordinary people do evil ... or do good (Hero) -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsFEV35tWsg&feature=related
September 23, 2008

*WARNING*- This video contains explicit images...but watch to the end to understand the message.

You be the judge.

Cheers.

Hean Tin said...

We view most of our leaders, from both sides of the political divide, with skepticism and cynicism. How to be heroes in our eyes?

Anonymous said...

Hi Mr Bernard,

I too was sent to you by the Chemistry teacher in SAS PJ in 1977 for skipping Chemistry lession.
You told me to pretend that you had whacked the shit out of me. Then you said one thing that I'd never forget... All Bernards' are great! Remember that for the rest of your life!

And off I went...the teacher couldn't wipe the smile of her face when I limped into class! Little did she know.

Now I know why you did this.

B. D'Silva

On behalf of LKS said...

The 10-year-old Education Ministry circular restricting the formation of non-Muslim religious societies in schools is the best example of Little Napoleons running riot in the civil service working against the national interests of educating a critical and creative generation of Malaysians and harnessing the multi-racial, multi-religious and multi-cultural assets of plural Malaysia.

What is the use of boasting about Malaysia as a model of ethnic, cultural, religious and biological diversity and Malaysia’s rich and unique cultural heritage when restrictions continue to be in place affecting the formation of non-Muslim societies in schools?

The Cabinet on Wednesday should scrap the 10-year-old Education Ministry circular restricting the formation of non-Muslim religious societies in schools as it is against Prime Minister’s 1Malaysia slogan and policy and the New Economic Model objective to educate a critical, creative and innovative generation of Malaysians.