Introduction
To Our Readers
A Hero of Our Time
In Search of New Heroes
Asia now needs men and women with moral, rather than political, authority
Gandhi & Nehru
They were opposite in nature, but they shared a passion for freedom and justice, and together created a giant of democracy
Corazon Aquino
A Philippine widow harnessed the power of prayer and protest to overthrow tyranny
Aung San & Aung San Suu Kyi
A daughter takes up the fight for freedom begun by her father
Ahmad Shah Massoud
This legendary warrior defied Afghanistan's Soviet invaders, only to be assassinated by al-Qaeda
Deng Xiaoping
The Maoist who reinvented himself, transformed a nation, and changed the world
Mohammad Hatta
Indonesia's other hero of independence was a leader of quiet strength
General Vo Nguyen Giap
In defeating the French at Dien Bien Phu, he heralded the end of imperialism
Sir Murray MacLehose
China's most forward-looking city owes much to a no-nonsense Scottish knight
General Douglas MacArthur
Victorious in battle, he went from soldier to statesman, and created a new Japan from the ashes of war
Mohammed Ali Jinnah
Pakistan, the nation the Quaid-i-Azam founded, needs him and his values more than ever
Lee Kuan Yew
Smart, tough, pragmatic—an enduring symbol of Asia itself
Akira Kurosawa
A master filmmaker with an eye for darkness and complexity
Amartya Sen
A philosopher and economist who preaches tolerance to a divided world
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
His voice was a conduit to heaven
Maxine Hong Kingston
She overturned traditional notions of what it meant to be a Chinese woman
Kenzo Tange
From Hiroshima to Tokyo, he defined the look of Japan
Hayao Miyazaki
In an era of high-tech wizardry, the animé auteur makes magic the old way
Farrokh Bulsara
As Freddie Mercury, he showed the world just how hard a Parsi boy could rock
Nam June Paik
His avant-garde installations launched an entirely new school of art
Han Suyin
In voicing her Eurasian identity, she defined a people
Gong Li
Her on-screen charisma gave the world an icon of Chinese resolve
Seiji Ozawa
A serendipitous sports injury led a Japanese boy to become a maestro
Salman Rushdie
The literary magician conjured up a new, postcolonial landscape
Li Ka-shing
The richest man in Asia built a global empire out of an ailing British conglomerate
Akio Morita & Masaru Ibuka
Friends and partners for 40 years, they made Sony an icon of Japan's rebirth
Stan Shih
The engineer who turned Taiwan into a PC-manufacturing powerhouse
Jerry Yang
How a student from Taiwan brought Yahoo! to the world
Momofuku Ando
A late bloomer invented the instant noodles that fueled the Asian Miracle
Narayana Murthy
From a Bombay bedsit, he launched an economic revolution
Hanae Mori, Yohji Yamamoto, Issey Miyaki & Rei Kawakubo
Four dazzling Japanese designers inspired the cloistered world of high fashion to look East
Muhammad Yunus
A Nobel laureate banker envisions an end to poverty
Chung Ju Yung
His iron will and just-do-it spirit propelled South Korea's industrial rise
Victor & William Fung
Hong Kong's masters of global manufacturing
Shigeru Miyamoto
The video-game guru who made it O.K. to play
Lakshmi Mittal
His boldness and spectacular wealth reflect India's growing financial might
Sachin Tendulkar
The greatest living exponent of his craft
Li Ning
China's legendary gymnast has combined sporting agility with commercial muscle
Jahangir Khan
Sport has no greater conqueror
Bruce Lee
Sometimes we need to forget the film star and remember the athlete
Efren Reyes
Pool isn't merely a beer-hall amusement—it's a path to the top
Tenzing Norgay & Sir Edmund Hillary
Courage and comradeship took them to the greatest heights
Rudy Hartono
His spellbinding victories showed a nation that anything was possible
Sadaharu Oh
Half Japanese by birth, all Japanese on the diamond
Mou Zuoyun
He went through hoops to help China take its place in the world
The Dalai Lama
Tibet's spiritual leader is otherworldly, yet deeply engaged in this world. With remarkable subtlety, he teaches patience, humility and compassion
Youk Chhang
A relentless investigator of Cambodia's killing fields seeks justice, not revenge
Guan Yi & Malik Peiris
Their scientific research on deadly diseases makes all of us safer
Thich Nhat Hanh
This Buddhist monk helped end the suffering of the Vietnam War
Eugenia Apostol & Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc
The Philippine press was terrified of covering a dictator's regime—until this duo came along
Kang Chol Hwan
A survivor of a prison camp exposes the horrors of Kim Jong Il's regime
Judith Mackay
Her work in tobacco control helps save countless lives
Mechai Viravaidya
By preaching safe sex, Thailand's Condom King became a legend
Ding Zilin
A grieving mother battles for the truth to be told about the Tiananmen massacre
Meena
She fought—and died at the age of 30—for the rights of Afghan women
King Bhumibol Adulyadej
Over 60 years, a beloved monarch has used his moral authority to guide Thailand through many crises
Mother Teresa
The Saint of Calcutta spread love to the unwanted, the homeless and the abandoned
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April 28, 2003 |
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October 11, 2004 |
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October 10, 2005 |
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