(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-01-10 07:17

Do not blame our public for being cynical just because they no longer support impeccable moral icons.

The "Top 10 Nobodies Who Moved China", a spontaneous invention modeled on China Central Television's Moving China show is testament that our public has not lost the capability of trusting and being sympathetic.

Each year about this time since 2003, CCTV showcases names that struck Chinese heart-strings in the previous year.

Compared with the CCTV show, which awards winners handpicked by a carefully chosen group of dignitaries, the grassroots initiative does not even produce a uniform roster. That is why we are seeing slightly different lists online. But there is one thing in common - there are no big names on them. Just as some of the compilers confessed, they did it out of respect for the extraordinary deeds of ordinary folk.

The "nobodies" lists salute touching stories of individual citizens in life's cruel tests of personalities. A State functionary who sacrificed his or her life in carrying out official duties deserves to be saluted. Even more so is a private citizen's showing of moral greatness in similar situations.

We cannot stay unmoved listening to the story of the little girl who repeatedly refused to be adopted after her parents passed away, in order to take care of her mentally retarded brother.

We cherish profound respect for the 49-year-old teacher who built a school all by herself in the out-of-way mountains of Central China, and has been the only teacher working there for 21 years.

We find no words appropriate for our admiration for the pregnant mother who, in the middle of a life-threatening traffic accident, left her own 6-year-old daughter, who later died in hospital of serious injuries, to save five other children. We are especially impressed by her statement: "I do not regret."

Some of them may never make it to the rank of officially recommended moral examples. They are too common even to utter high-sounding explanations for their noble deeds.

These nobodies are the true heroes and heroines in our daily life. They constitute the moral spine of our nation. They give hope at a time when greed and shamelessness erode our minds.

For their quality as "one of us", their moral examples are more appealing to common folk like us.

(China Daily 01/10/2008 page8)