After reading 3/4 through Bill Clinton's My Life autobiography
and watching Viggo Mortenson's performance as Aragorn again in the
LOTR trilogy, I can't help but compare these two leaders with our
MIW leader- or supposedly- Lee Hsien Loong.
Firstly, it's simple. When I read through Bill Clinton's book, I
feel inspired, I feel motivated and I can't help but incline to
agree with it- regardless whether his opinion is faulty or not. The
thing that struck me the most was the way he wrote.
Instead of writing and expressing his opinions in a far away, his
words are like a fireside one-on-one conversation. Close, no less
engaging and extremely honest. It just makes people feel like they
want to talk to you for ages. That's Bill Clinton's strength
throughout. His chrisma shines through out and his honesty just
enhances it to no end.
No wonder many Americans went to buy his book when it was released
just a year ago.
Now to Aragorn, the King Elssar of Gondor, the mythical Kingdom of
men in Middle Earth. Although he's a product and character of a
fantasy book, that doesn't make him less a leader than he is.
Because although he's one, the personality of Aragorn is no less
than any heroic general or King of the yester year.
Whether is it the Aragorn of the LOTR book or the Aragorn that was
done by Viggo Mortenson in the films, Aragorn is just unbelievably
chrismatic. Although he didn't consider himself to be able to lead
men at the beginning, as the time went by, he began to realise that
he was not only able to do that, he was able to inspire his men to
fight till the last man. And he didn't just talk and did nothing,
he was at the forefront of everything.
From the siege of Helm's deep, when Rohan was on the verge of
collapse under Saruman's orc army, to the summoning of Rohan armies
to help Gondor(his own Kingdom), to lead Legolas and Gimli into the
Paths of the Dead(despite the great dread of his own and his close
friends), to lead the Dead Army to relieve the Great Siege of Minas
Tirth and finally the confrontation with Sauron and his own army at
the Black Gates- he lead, he fought and he inspired. Everyone in
his army loved him. The Fellowship that was with him fought with
him. Even Gandalf was inspired by Aragorn to make the last
stand.
Anyone who listened to the speech that Aragorn made(in the film
version) would have been inspired to fight for him. Even the
audience was impressed. I listened to it and I just wanted to fight
for him! And considering that it's only a film and not real says it
all.
Bill Clinton and Aragorn are true leaders who not only inspire
people through sheer chrisma but also by the love they have
demonstrated to their peoples. They serve a purpose that was to
unite people, not divide people. They represent an age where not
only honour and love are respected, but also returned in happiness.
They were also people who prefer peace, and not war. Aragorn fought
against Sauron to bring
peace to the people of Middle Earth. Bill Clinton fought hard with
ultra rightists to bring America and the world together in hopes
for peace in our own earth.
The question now is asked: Is Lee Hsien Loong comparable to these
men? Or is he just a mere shadow of the people I have mentioned? Or
is he even worse than these two- one who cannot even hold a candle
to these great men?
Only people can tell- and as far as I'm concerned, not many can
agree that Lee Hsien Loong is indeed comparable to the likes of
Bill Clinton and Aragorn. [/i]
