Renowned local writer, Rehman Rashid, once said we are suffering from a dearth of heroes in Malaysia His thesis, voiced approximately a decade ago, still appears to be relevant despite the many changes over the years.

But there may be some who disagree. We have many heroes in Malaysia, they would argue. Just look at the Malaysians who swam the English Channel, climbed Everest, sailed solo around the world, and so on.

I do not want to dispute their abilities and achievements. I cannot see myself climbing Everest, swimming the Channel or sailing solo around the world. I salute them

What I am questioning here is the way we highlight such events (most of which do not even qualify to be recorded in the Guinness Book of Records, only in the Malaysian Book of Records!) as though they represent the limit of what our nation can achieve in terms of bringing forth heroes.

Witness the difference between two Malaysians - Abdul Malik Mydin and Lennard Lee.

The former swam the English Channel amid widespread publicity in Malaysia, with the benefit of a large budget and a thorough training scheme. His success was rewarded with a Datukship (pix).

Lennard swam alone, with only the support from his father, and still covered the same distance in about half the time that Abdul Malik had taken.

The huge publicity on Abdul Malik all through his well-funded preparations does not seem quite right.

And there are many other bigger issues which we should focus on.

Instant heroes

The root of the matter is that if it is true that Malaysia's abilities only stretch as far as that, then the situation is a real tragedy for Malaysians. The truth is, those whom we laud as national heroes only expose the rot in us and reveal how shallow the Malaysian race is.

The feeling that we lack heroes stems from the rapid development of the country. In our race to make Malaysia advanced as quickly as possible, arose feelings of weakness in the cultural and civilisational aspects. We became aware that we also need to have heroes in order to become a nation renowned on the world stage.

The largely fruitless search for heroes led to efforts to create an instant hero in the blink of an eye. Funds were invested and publicity arranged, and the goal was in sight. Unfortunately, finding a hero is not like building the twin towers. Despite the funds poured into the project, nothing was born from the power of Malaysian spirit and thinking.

A hero should be a role model for the general public. He must have performed a range of deeds which truly benefit society to qualify to be called a hero. A hero must be brave, and his actions must have a strong impact and bring about renewal in the nation. He is an individual who is capable of being a source of inspiration.

Perhaps those who swam the Channel can be included in this category, but let us not direct our search for heroes to that realm alone.

What about those who dare to question the powers-that-be? And what about those who have views which differ from the generally accepted norms? Are those with dissimilar visions not worthy of being respected?

ISA heroes

Just look at the early days of the fight for independence. Many in our nation were not confident about our capability to be independant. We had figures like Dr Burhanuddin Al Helmy, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Dato' Onn Jaafar and Tan Cheng Lok who dared think otherwise.

But, everyone wanted the nation to be independant. Sometimes there were conflicting visions, However, to say that of all of them, only Tunku Abdul Rahman contributed towards winning independance for the country is a major error.

All of them served loyally and meritously in the interest of the fight for independence, only their visions were translated into reality in differing ways, and their individual influences on the events leading up to independance varied.

In our search for a hero, do not be shocked if we find that many have been detained under the Internal Security Act, jailed or stained by propaganda. There are some who have performed many great deeds for the nation, yet have been shunned by the media.

Perhaps this is the reason why we feel that we have a shortage of heroes. Perhaps for that same reason, many are afraid to be heroes.

But just suffering all those trials does not make them heroes, nor does it disqualify them from being heroes. The yardstick to judge that by is the effect they have on society in general, how true they were to their ideals and their sincerity to their struggle.

At the end of this month, on Merdeka Day, the movie Puteri Gunung Ledang (The Gunung Ledang Princess) premieres. Aside from its commercial significance, they may also be a close link with the lack of heroism in our own collective psyche. Are we hoping that the multi-million ringgit filmwill be the cure, at least in the realm of make-believe?

Let August 31 this year be the moment we find the hero we seek, someone who can awake us from the deep slumber we have been immersed in for too long.

The Bahasa Malaysia version of this article appeared on Friday.

NIK NAZMI NIK AHMAD writes for Seruan Keadilan, Asia Times Online, IslamicCity and Aliran, amongst others. He also contributes to BBC World Service. His blog can be accesed here.