Simply heroic

Arief Budiman's viewpoint Not only soldiers can become heroes (The Jakarta Post, June 7, 1996) reminds me of what Martin Luther King Jr. said: "Everybody can be great...because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love."

This article is a refreshing paradox to his earlier article Should bad guys always win? (The Jakarta Post, May 20, 1996).

Muhayat, the bajaj driver who sacrificed his life to protect a woman passenger, is indeed a hero.

Arief Budiman's suggestion of erecting a small plaque on the spot where Muhayat was mortally wounded is welcome. By honoring simple people as heroes, society becomes homogeneous and democracy blossoms.

D. PRABHAKAR

Jakarta