Bloodline plays no role in bravery

People across the country have been talking about high school student Liu Yanbing, who couldn't take the college entrance examination because he was injured while trying to stop a knife-wielding group from attacking passengers on a bus in Yichun, Jiangxi province, recently. The public feels that the media's attempt to associate his bravery with his family background - long association with the Party - is unwarranted, says an article in Qianjiang Evening News. Excerpts:

The media have highlighted Liu's family background and emphasized that his great grandfather and grandfather both were "outstanding" Party members in their attempt to turn him into a role model for youths. But by doing so, they have prevented people from wholeheartedly praising Liu for his bravery.

In fact, many netizens have been asking why the background of a person is important to distinguish his/her bravery. Is the act of Yi Zhengyong, who too risked his life to protect the passengers on the same bus, any less admirable?

By trying to associate Liu's act of bravery with his family background, the media have only succeeded in making ordinary people wonder whether bravery is the realm of people with a Party background.

The media always try to present as much details as possible about people who come to the help of others, but in Liu's case they have unnecessarily tried to make a greater hero out of him and thus unwittingly belittled the act of the good Samaritan.

The media should have focused on the bravery of Liu and its significance in a society that is becoming increasingly self-centered instead of digging into his family background and adding unnecessary color to his self-less act.

Dramatic presentation of a social incident or attributing a person's bravery to his "bloodline" is not only uncalled for, but also unnecessary, and the media should realize that.

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