TIMEasia.com: Asian Heroes

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ASIAN HEROES
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Asian Heroes
From the nameless kid guarding his herd to famed freedom fighters, athletes, explorers and pop stars, Asia's heroes are men and women hard at work
By KARL TARO GREENFELD

I have been shot at once in my life. By a lisu boy in the north of Thailand, near the Burmese border. The report of the bullet was like the snapping of a branch. There was smoke. Then a whizzing sound followed by the scattering of leaves and pebbles. I dropped to the mud, unbuttoned my fly and emptied my bladder. My guide shouted something in Thai. The boy responded in Shan.

After we had established that we were nothing more threatening than journalists from another land, he explained he was guarding his village herd. Beside the deepest part of a stream, where two hulking water buffalo wallowed, the boy stood barefoot with his ancient musket, which still reeked of spent black powder. Rustlers had made off with a prized calf a few weeks ago, he told us. (How anyone could have stolen one of these snorting, muddy beasts was incomprehensible to me.) He held up his tired rifle—now that we were seeing it up close, it looked like a stage prop—and boasted that he would give his life for the village. As we stood around the muddy brook, smoking and watching the exposed, immense eyes and flaring nostrils of the submerged water buffaloes, the boy began asking us questions: Where were we from? Did we have water buffaloes there? We gave him cigarettes, chewing gum and a T shirt featuring the baseball and football player Bo Jackson.

I was shaken—grateful to be alive, embarrassed by my bodily cowardice—and never asked for the boy's name. In the intervening decade, my perception of the boy has evolved, from itchy-trigger fingered kid to unlikely, but representative, hero. He had been given a job. And his simple brand of valor lay in his determination to do it. Despite his questionable weaponry, despite his being unsuited to the role, despite his fear, he endeavored to complete the task that had been set for him. That amounts to the most basic form of heroism, and one that many of us—fathers, mothers, salarymen, farmers—can relate to. We may not always triumph. Indeed, we fail as often as we succeed. Our victories are small and private. Our defeats, too often, seem large and public. Yet we persevere. We do our jobs, complete our assigned tasks, guard our metaphoric water buffalo. And if the circumstances permit, a few are celebrated, while most of us labor—perhaps heroically, perhaps not—in quiet anonymity.

In so much of Asia, where the nation, group, tribe or village takes precedence over the individual, it is too easy to forget that pedestrian gallantry. There is a steady nobility in the husband or wife waking up early to earn enough to feed a family. In the student going through exam hell in one of Asia's supercities so that he may fulfill his parents wishes and graduate to a better life. In the grunt soldier manning his post, in defense of that nation, group, tribe or village. In so many of our days and lives, there is a low-wattage sort of heroism that we should take a moment to celebrate.

Each of TIME's heroes, in his or her own way, is representative of that grassroots valiancy. For all their fame, these are also folks who are simply doing a job. Performing their tasks admirably, going about their business, always showing up when they are expected—and needed. Last week, South Korea's Seol Ik Soo described the psyche of an Asian hero best when—after saving some 20 plane crash victims—he said, "I had no other thoughts but to rescue as many people as possible before I lost consciousness." East Timor's freedom fighter-turned-President Xanana Gusmao exemplifies a man taking office for the good of his people, and despite his own misgivings. Athletes like Sachin Tendulkar and Ichiro Suzuki, in their rigorous adherence to routine and tireless practice remind us that even in exalted venues before millions of spectators, they remain men at work. Taiwan's A-Mei is living, breathing, singing proof that a pop star can also achieve heroic status—in her case, as the embodiment of a Greater China that transcends political differences. Actor Jackie Chan, Chinese aids activist Gao Yaojie, the Karmapa, writer Makoto Oda, each of them has performed extraordinary feats by tackling their life's work with relentless devotion.

Certainly, that kid by the stream should have asked questions before he started shooting. But he was frightened, and alone, and he was doing the best job he could. To my mind, that's what makes a hero.

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