Hero as defined on Dictionary.com:
he·ro
/ˈhɪər
oʊ/ 
Show Spelled[heer-oh] –noun,plural-roes; for 5 also -ros.
- a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.
- a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal: He was a local hero when he saved the drowning child.
- the principal male character in a story, play, film, etc.
- Classical Mythology.
a. a being of godlike prowess and beneficence who often came to be honored as a divinity.
b.(in the Homeric period) a warrior-chieftain of special strength, courage, or ability.
c. (in later antiquity) an immortal being; demigod.
Since young, the concept of heroes would refer to superheroes of the animated nature. It started from Superman, Spiderman of the Marvel and DC Comics family to Teenage mutant ninja turtles and Power rangers and Pokemon?! My favourite would be Charlie’s angels, very much like Powerpuff girls eh? Kickass hot babes that could take on 10 men and still manage to look fabulous in a skin-tight suit.
Robin Hood from the medieval times wouldn’t have thought that being an outlaw just doesn’t cut it in this day and age anymore. You need to be a superhero with supernatural powers or super weapons.
Isn’t this just the remedy for what’s lacking in humanity right now? A Superhero of sorts, to remind us that there is hope and man is not selfish by nature.
Even if someone were to just rob from the rich to give to the poor, I’d applaud and admire him. But we have this reality check called the Law. Defiance will put you behind bars and might even cost you your life and no intervention will save you, there’s no Sherwood forest where you can thrive with your Merrymen and live happily ever after.
That might the reason that (if) Robin Hood existed then, because anarchy and corruption was rampant.
So what purpose does the Law serve? Whose interests does it protect? The people? Or the State?
The Law justifies punishments for wrongdoings, morally and ethically. Yikes… it is not my place to state an argument on this.
Back to heroes, I’m inspired because of a simple gesture by Sebastian, which I believe that every average Singaporean would have faced during their daily commute.
He told a passenger on the train to give up his seat for a pregnant lady.
I think the common scenario during peak hours is everyone crowding at the train doors and when it arrives, everyone rushes to alight and to board, simultaneously.
Once in the train, the competitive ones zoom in for the empty seat and aunties are the best at this, they are ruthless.
I think it is only in this country that there are designated seats for the elderly, disabled or pregnant ladies.
There’s even the latest jingle by the dim sum dollies, train is coming, which was cute at first but it started to get grating when they blasted it way above comfortable volume.
The give-up your seat jingle is worse, I actually felt embarrassed listening to that, what has our society come to? That we need these constant reminders to be more gracious and considerate. Isn’t this within our inate ethical framework that need not be part of public education?
Back to Sebastian, most selfish brats would just feign sleep to claim ownership of their seat when obviously someone needs it more than their fat butts.
Many a times I did want to just tell them off, especially foreigners. But I did not.....
Sebastian did the right thing, most Singaporeans are just afraid and selfish, afraid of getting into trouble, afraid of inconvenience, afraid of looking you in the eye, afraid of being noticed, afraid of losing out to others, afraid of everything.
There seems to be this personal bubble of space, I think, that everyone creates to surround and exclude themselves from the environment.
If you come too close to someone's personal bubble, he/she might just move away and they carry their bubble along. So they're not affected, as long as nothing happens within their (tiny) bubble, they'll get on with their life.
In our society where fear is a deciding determinant in the way we conduct our life, standing out from the masses and just pointing out something which isn’t right, even when it means inconveniencing ourselves. That is an everyday hero, we need more of that.
Aloysius told me about Meng Hua, who witnessed a dirty old man harassing a young helpless girl on the train, yes it was in public on a crowded train, such audacity! The girl was too afraid to retaliate and the perpetrator just took advantage of her weakness. Meng Hua saved the girl and ran after the molester who tried to get away and dragged him to the authorities. Meng Hua might be petite but she's an impressive lady.
Everyday heroes don’t need superpowers or a costume, they just need to believe in what is right and what is wrong and that something needs to be done.
David Bowie sang ... We can be heroes.. (even if it’s) just for one day...
