Our Hero-S. Rajaratnam

What makes a hero? A hero need not fight crime or save millions of people from a gruesome monster, they can simply do something as simple as designing/inventing a product that will easily benefit the world. For eg. the inventor of the wheelchair has helped millions of disabled people around the world to be able to move about more easily. He is a hero to people around the world. A student who has helped a fellow classmate who is having difficulty in his homework can be considered a hero as well. The student is also a hero as his friend is now having an easier time with his homework because of him.

Are heroes only those who have acheived what they want to achieve? They are those who have contributed to and changed the lives of millions of people. Some of the goals that we might have have a selfish purpose behind it. For example, we may push someone off a chair just to embarrass them. We will achieve our goal of making them embarrassed, but do our goals actually benefit those around us? It would merely be an act of selfishness. Let's look at Lee Kuan Yew now. He had made Singapore into a lively and advanced business hub from its tatters after the Japanese Occupation. This was set as his goal, a goal which had benefitted at least 4 million people. To ba a hero, your goal should benefit everyone, instead of just yourself.


Some heroes do arise from coincidences, and there they put in their hard work to finally succeed. Let's take S. Rajaratnam for example. He met Lee Kuan Yew by chance at the Chinese Swimming Club. Both were unsatisfied by the prevailing political situation back then and arranged to meet up to discuss the situation further. As a result S. Rajaratnam became a founding member of the People's Action Party. In 1959 he resigned from The Straits Time to run for the Legislative Assembly seat of Kampong Glam. How did he put in his hard work? He joined the Malayan Tribune in 1948 and was appointed the Associated Editor for Singapore Standard from 1950 to 1954. He then worked for The Strait Times till 1959. He was then the Secretary of the Malayan Indian Congress and founder member of the Singapore Union of Journalists.

Source: http://viweb.freehosting.net/SRajaratnam.htm

Some of the challenges a hero may face will include temptations eg. bribery by loved ones. The people's opinion may also waver his stand in a decision, eg. threats of hostage, violence. He may also face difficulty in overcoming a possible greed for fame. However they do have their own personal qualities to help them overcome this.

Personal attributes like patience, modesty, empathy and good humour as well as interpersonal skills are important as basically, diplomacy is about human relations. They should also be curious about the people, places and culture they cover. But beyond these, they should possess the following qualities:

1) Patriotism and a sense of mission;
2) Networking and negotiating skills;
3) Integrity and honesty;
4) Adaptability and spirit of adventure;
5) Ability to work under pressure;
6) Entrepreneurial mindset;
7) Good management skills.

When Singapore became independent, S. Rajaratnam being its Foreign
Minister, faced many problems. One of them was to create stability in Southeast Asia. He thus created ASEAN to acheive this objective.

Source: http://www.spp.nus.edu.sg/ips/docs/pub/pa_tk_Eulogy%20onMr Raja_25 Feb 06.pdf




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