Today the whole of New Zealand will stop to remember a truely great man. Sir Edmund Hillary died at the age of 88 on the 11th January 2008 and this morning will be his state funeral here in Auckland. It is a massive event. State funerals are held for governing Prime Ministers and Governors general but this is such a great man that it is only fitting for him to be farewelled as a nation. His family have been gracious enough to allow a whole country to mourn his passing and celebrate his life.
He is most famous for his historic climb of Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world in 1953. He and Tenzing Norgay were the first people to reach the summit. It was a massive undertaking for a humble New Zealand bee keeper. He has then spent his life helping improve the educational and medical opportunites of the Sherpa people in Nepal. This is how he wants to be remembered. He was just a kiwi bloke. extremely humble, very loving and very gentle.
He is forever immortalised on our $5 note, the only living person to ever feature on our bank notes. It is our most used note and millions of New Zeaand people now hold that very dearly. There has been talk of renaming our tallest mountain to recognise him, or to have national holiday in honour of him. However we decide to celebrate his life and achievements he will not be quickly forgotten.
We are proud to be New Zealanders today. This is an historic day that will live on in my memory and my children's memories for many, many years.
Ka kite ano Sir Ed!
No comments:
Post a Comment