Mr. Wong Fuk-wing, you are my hero, and you have made all Hong Kong citizens proud!

If not for his heroic act of sacrificing his life at the early age of 46 in the course of attempting to rescue victims of the recent Qinghai earthquake, we would have never heard of him. An ordinary man, a truck driver, we would not remember passing on the street, Wong readily took time from his job to be a volunteer since 2002, going to any part of the country wherever there was need.

True to his conviction, Wong did not just donate a small part of his earnings, or perform some token service as most of us do. He lived to serve, and volunteering seemed to be his career in the past eight years. He never got tired of it. After helping out during the Sichuan earthquake in 2008, he drifted to neighboring Qinghai province to render his service to a start-up orphanage, when another equally severe earthquake caught up with him and took his life.

He did not have to die, yet he chose to risk his own life just to save more people. Had he run for his life as everybody did during the tremor, he could have done it with a clear conscience and nobody would have blamed him. If he did not return to the collapsing orphanage the last time after saving three children and one teacher, he would still be regarded as a great hero. But he did what he did, and that has made him so very, very great!

What is the driving force behind this great soul? Humanitarianism of course, but more out of patriotism. It is now well known that Wong started his volunteering career after reading a book published on the mainland. He felt compelled to serve his compatriots in need. That is what, in Buddhism, is known as love without any reason, the noblest sentiment. Willingly giving up his life for the love of the country, he is now totally at one with the people and the land he couldn't help loving.

Wong is our role model, but not one that everyone can emulate. But he has set a very good example for all of us, no matter who we are. As long as we have that love for the country, there is a lot we can contribute. We do not have to give up our lives as Wong did, but we can do much more, and should.

The author is a member of the Commission on Strategic Development

(HK Edition 04/20/2010 page1)