The world’s living legends

With the passing of Sir Edmund Hillary, New Zealand’s greatest hero, on the 11th of January 2008 at the age of 88, the world has lost one of its living legends.

My definition of a living legend, at least from the Malaysian perspective is a person who has been prominently featured in school history text books for at least the last 40 years and STILL alive today.

Very tough call, not many people can do that.

From the Malaysian perspective, perhaps only the following people can be considered so. Please correct me where I am wrong, and any additions are welcome:

Dr Mani Jegathesan, probably Malaysia’s greatest ever athlete, being still the only Malaysian sprinter to make it as far as the semifinals of not one but two Olympic 200m events. His time of 20.92s, set at the 1968 Mexico Olympics (yes, that’s 40 years ago) is STILL Malaysia’s national record.

Chin Peng, 83, long-time leader of Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) and was involved in the famous Persidangan Baling of 1955.

Shamsiah Fakeh – synonymous with rebellion, leader of Angkatan Wanita Sedar (AWAS), a left-wing political party in Malaya, set up in 1946. She has been sensationalised with sentences such as: “How could a beautiful Malay girl join the communists and achieve high rank at that?”

Rashid Maidin was a living legend until his death in September 2006, because he was a Malay senior leader of the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) and was with Chin Peng at the Persidangan Baling.

Lee Kuan Yew, 84 first PM of Singapore.

Other contenders that I can think of are in the entertainment industry, like Christopher Lee, 85, famous for his portrayal of Dracula between 1958 and 1974, then people like Mick Jagger and Paul McCartney, but I doubt it if they ever appeared in school history textbooks?! Encyclopedias of course.

The first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong, 77 will be a living legend next year, since it will be the 40th anniversary of his moon landing.

Mark Spitz, 57, the man who won the most gold medals at a single Olympics (seven in 1972), will be a living legend in 2012.

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