Letter of the Day | Do we need more national heroes?

THE EDITOR, Madam:

In recent times, the call for more national heroes has grown more intense. With these calls, many persons have been”nominated” to be so awarded.

In all of this flurry of calls, not much is heard about the criteria for such a prestigious award and what makes their respective “nominee” unique for this, apart from what is generally known about them.

This, in my mind, raises some questions: What are the criteria for the award for national heroes? Have these nominees met the criteria? Are the existing honours adequate to cover all our achievers?

A hero is defined by Google as a person who is admired for their courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities. To my way of thinking, nobility seems an indispensable criterion for such an award to be conferred. Further, to be noble is defined thus: having or sharing fine personal qualities or high moral principles.

The issue then is not merely one’s high achievements, but it should be of such a phenomenal height that it will not be easily duplicated and the accompanying requisite nobility of such an awardee would place the award beyond any reasonable controversy as it ought to be.

In view of all this, Is there a need for a new category of award? If this is so, maybe we could have a Global Achievers Award. This could be in two classes: a) for Global Outstanding Sports Achievers; and b) Global Outstanding Cultural Achievers.

CHARLES SIMPSON