JULY 21 — Everyone worships heroes, but talking about heroes, it seems that each and everyone of us has our own interpretations, and not every hero is like the Spiderman or Superman who will win the favor of majority of people in this world.

There is an idiom that goes like this: One man’s meat is another man’s poison. To say it in a different way, someone you think is a worthless thug could be upheld by others as a hero.

I have no objection to worshiping of heroes. Simply put, it is a kind of psychological need of humankind. Standing on the flat ground, we need a majestic mountain to look up to.

That said, at least the term “hero” has to be accompanied by a nobler definition than some have perceived it.

When the accused thief in the Low Yat Plaza incident was released on bail, both his hands were lifted high up. He appeared more like a revered hero in front of the camera than a despicable thief.

Not to be undone, the mobsters creating havoc in front of the popular IT mall on Sunday night were also idolized as heroes by some perverts on the Internet.

Heroism is all about concept. The hero that we adore reflects our own value system.

People say they can judge a person by seeing who his or her enemies are, but for me, I would say I can tell what kind of stuff is inside your head by seeing who your heroes are.

In a civilized society, very few would idolise the blood-thirsty IS militants as heroes, because we are all against acts of violence and we uphold humanity. In our eyes, heroes will confront and battle the evil and lead us to brightness. In other words, heroes are the personification of merit and righteousness.

Not everyone thinks the same way, though. Some people adore violence.

On January 7 this year, the attack on Charlie Hebdo’s Paris headquarters claimed a total of 12 lives. The IS terror outfit later commended the gunmen as “Holy War heroes.”

Well, that’s the more extreme case, but in this country, there is an alarming trend whereby individuals creating trouble or inflicting injuries on innocent people have not been served their due punishments but upheld as some kind of heroes by some perverted people.

Blame that on the narrow-mindedness of some. It seems that our eyes only register our own skin color. When we identify ourselves too strongly to our own community, that is when a powerful xenophobia will take shape inside us. Very soon we will begin to overlook the true nature of the incident, and crown the wrong guy as hero.

A hero will work his influences in the society.

The moment we uphold the wrong hero, negative effects will be produced.

Let’s make it very clear that a handphone thief is by no means a hero because his behavior has not brought any benefit to our society.

In a similar manner, gangsters creating trouble and hurting innocent bystanders are not heroes either, as they only inflict harms and doing nothing good.

A real hero is one that will hold out a hand to the victims of brutal assaults.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.