Every heroes list that include Tien Suharto as a member is, well, I think is pretty messed up list. But as messy as it can be, I’m always curious, how our National Heroes died?

I always imagine heroes as some kind of person who always suffer and melancholic til the day they died in their mission of carrying hopes for people. They could be uber smart, or insanely brave, but suffer nonetheless. The likes of Tan Malaka or Minke would be more suitable to my heroes preference, rather than said, Tien Soeharto or Harun Thohir (Harun dies tragically, but for all the wrong reason).

It’s a silly believe of mine, but I can’t help it. I guess that’s because I found more romance in sacrifice. The story of the falling heroes, the story of a great person who receive a quick end because they choose something right rather than something easy (hence, it’s explain why they should have a hard life).

So I tried to make a little research of Indonesian National Heroes and the cause of their death. The list nailed down to 145, because I have to left out some really mysterious dude which I can’t find how and when they died.

After scrambling around, I found that our National Heroes are living a pretty long age. Most of them died because natural causes, like sickness or old age. The youngest hero is Marta Christina Tijahahu who died at a mere 17 on the Dutch boat. The oldest one is Abdul Kadir who enjoy a stunning (at least in my imagination) 104 years of life before he died in 1875. Suspiciously the ratio of heroes that dies in the hand of PKI compared to the Dutch is quite close, at 1:2.4. I guess it’s narrow down to the fact that the national heroes award is heavily influenced by political condition.

Anyhoo, it’s sure a big disappointment to my own ideal heroes. The average life of our national heroes is 57 years, 57 years! Man, I would be as happy as a pig in the sunshine if I can go through 50. This number is on par with the current Nigeria life expectancy. But well. for every disappointment and shattered imagination, there’s always a good news on the other side. It turns out that hero doesn't have to have a short life. So, if you never try to become a hero before, because you want to ensure a long happy easy life, this finding might change your mind.