General Aung San (group 6)

Group 6: Pearlyn, Yen Ting, Fung Tein, Zhi Yun, Hue Kyee

General Aung San

What makes a hero?

From the dictionary, a hero is someone of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities. To us, a hero is a leader. A hero must always think of others first. A true hero is always searching for a way to help others. A hero is a person that has applies the ability to change the world and contribute a lot to the society. Contribution can be helping out the needy people in the society. A simple gesture or a simple act of kindness can make a difference. There is also a Chinese saying, ‘The time produces their heroes’. It means that heroes are produced in times of trouble, and in our opinion, they do arise from special circumstances. Most importantly, a hero is a person that everyone can look up to. General Aung San is definitely one of them.

So what makes General Aung San a hero? Here is little information about him, General Aung San was the Myanmar nationalist leader and assassinated hero who was involved in securing Myanmar’s independence from Great Britain. Aung San had joined forces with the Japanese previously as they had promised to help him in gaining Myanmar’s independence. However, after being skeptical of Japanese promises of Myanmar independence, he switched allies and joined the Allied cause. After World War 2, Aung san was given a post in the military, but he declined it and became a civilian official instead. After some time, he became the prime minister in Myanmar even though he knew of the possible threats that are present. However, he pursued on, not for his sake, but for his country. He wanted independence for his country so much that he is willing to sacrifice himself for it, and had worked very hard for it.

Through his acts, we could say that General Aung San is a hero. He exhibits the values of courage and gallantry, thus we conclude that he is a true hero.

Challenges a hero face

A hero usually faces challenges that are nerve wrecking and dangerous, to test for their abilities and see if they are fit to be called a hero and earn people’s respect. Heroes have to be able to overcome their fear and obstacles with wisdom and courage. Without able to overcome their fears, they won’t be able to face the difficulties ahead, and might just cower and surrender to enemies. A true hero would face whatever challenges they are having and never give up. Without the right character, a person will not be called a hero, as they are no better than cowards.

Aung San is a good example of such a hero. He endured all the sufferings to help Myanmar gain independence. Aung San had difficult decisions to make when he allied himself with Japan, as he cannot ensure that joining the Japanese truly help in gaining the freedom of his country. From this, we can see that for one to make tough decisions, one need to have the wisdom and must be able to foresee the possible risks in the decision he makes. Although time proves to Aung San that joining the Japanese is a failure, he did not give up, but switched his allies instead. He did this for the freedom and happiness of his people, thus we can say that he is truly heroic.

Aung San displayed perseverance, courage and wisdom while he fights for the independency of his country. However, Aung San was assassinated by his political rival, U Saw, together with his colleagues, including his brother, putting a tragic end to the legacy of this hero. Although Aung San had died long ago, his selfless, gallantry, perseverance and courage had thrive on, and people of Myanmar will never forget him, and by the others.

Sources: www.dictionary.com
: http://www.myanmars.net/myanmar-history/general- aungsan.htm


Comments on Group 5 (Lim Chin Siong) post.

About Group 5's post, we learn who Lim Chin Siong was, and all his notable deeds to Singapore. Lim Chin Siong is a determined person with a strong mind. Group 5 did quite a good job in explaining how some people were objecting to his reign of authority, and how some others looked him as a hero.

From some personal research, it was known to us that Lim Chin Siong was accused being a Communist, and had led the Chinese Middle School riots. Though he was insulted by many, he fought for what he believed and that was courageous of him, even though it meant defying the wishes of many higher ranking officials which was stated quite clearly by Group 5 why others looked up to him as a hero.

Though Group 5 did not answer the question on ' Do heroes arise from special circumstances?', it was overall quite well done, and we are convinced that Mr. Lim Chin Siong was a hero with many values that we must learn from.