VIEWERS of director Feng Xiaogang's 2008 war epic "Assembly" must remember this scene: Protagonist Gu Zidi breaks down and weeps before the tomb of his superior officer, who ordered troops on a suicide mission to repel Kuomintang attacks at all costs during the Chinese Civil War in 1948.

"My fallen brothers are all martyrs. Why are they only identified as missing personnel of war?" the veteran sobs in exasperation and despair.

In order to buy time for the whole regiment to retreat, all 47 men except Gu died in action as sacrificial pawns for a collective good.

Despite this extraordinary bravery, Gu's fellow troops, whose corpses cannot be found, are deprived of their rightful place in the pantheon of revolutionary martyrs.

He embarks on an odyssey to seek his men's recognition as martyrs, but repeatedly finds himself up against official snubs, red tape and rigorous identity checks.

On the other hand, the obstacles he had to overcome also reflect how seriously people in those days took the glory of revolutionary martyrdom, of sacrifices for what they believed in as a holy cause.

What a sharp contrast to the way this ultimate glory and similarly coveted honors are dispensed today - often without going through proper, transparent procedures.

What's worse, wrongheaded official decisions to bestow upon deceased persons dubious, if not downright false, honors can rile the public, as a town government in southwestern China recently found out.

Zhu Jihong, a 29-year-old employee at Huangyi Town Government's Party Affairs' Office in Luzhou City, Sichuan Province, suffered severe head injuries after he fell in the toilet on July 24. He died of his wounds two days later.

A hero's death

Considering that Zhu was working overtime when he suffered the fatal fall, and given his impressive work record - the man is said to have juggled three jobs without any complaint - the local authorities honored him posthumously for "dying a hero's death while carrying out his duties." Zhu was also hailed as a "model Party member."

Tragic as the death was, it is mind-boggling that a fall in toilet should lead to the glorification of someone who clearly died of a cause other than work.

No wonder some Netizens are saying, not without jest, that even in the broadest sense of the word, it's hard to associate performing one's duties with relieving oneself.

To make matters worse, details disclosed by the local government showed that Zhu was chatting with his girlfriend online before his stumble, further confirming the popular belief that the posthumous accolades were unjustified.

However, the local government's publicity department has hit back at critics, saying that "Zhu deserves the honors. He volunteered to work on weekends for a raft of urgent public projects. His collapse was a result of extreme fatigue caused by overwork."

No offense to the hapless Zhu, but the fact remains that the use of "die a hero's death" is a blatant misnomer, which enrages many right-minded Netizens. After all, compared with people who lose their lives trying to save others' or safeguard public assets from being plundered, Zhu's death doesn't carry the same cachet.

The authorities' decision to cast him in that light may be inspired by genuine good will to his aggrieved family, who will be better compensated for their loss if Zhu is deemed as a "martyr." But distorted, self-serving interpretation of something that many still consider as sacred, and thus in short supply, has left a bad taste in people's mouths.

These kinds of unmerited honors have become notorious nationwide.

For instance, Chen Lusheng, a traffic police chief in Shenzhen, died last October 29 after choking on his own vomit at a lavish banquet.

One and a half months later, his superior officer, Xie Feiyong, applied to civil affairs authorities in hope of declaring Chen a martyr, the Southern Metropolis News reported on December 15.

Totally unaware of the fact that his colleague died of drunkenness, not in a crackdown on some drunk drivers going amok, Xie was quoted as saying, "Who would dislike a martyr from the ranks of our police squad? I feel proud personally if Chen is so honored. The title of martyr can bring his family more cash in death benefits."

Xie was later suspended from duty.

In a similar incident, Guo Shizhong, a family planning official in Xin County, Henan Province, died from cerebral bleeding in February 2008 after he drank himself into oblivion at a fete that was reportedly paid for with public money.

The subsequent official attempt to secure his promotion as a "martyr" and "model Party cadre" drew stinging rebuke for what many perceived as a whitewashing of the debaucheries that actually killed Guo.

Unearned honors

A spate of such undeserved recognitions have prompted many people to suggest that civil servants are showered with more generosity than they merit, even after death.

Many of the recipients of posthumous honors turn out to be civil servants, already a privileged class that gets to exploit social resources at the expense of the rest.

But what they have done to attain the honors that others can only aspire to sometimes makes a bleak mockery of heroism or martyrdom.

They are perceived or perceive themselves to be a cut above ordinary folk.

This is evidenced by the different way civil servants, at least those in aforementioned cases, are evaluated from their less blessed fellow citizens - as if their work and lives are worth more than others'.

This practice of commending civil servants for no outstanding deeds - or indeed for disgraceful ones - is detrimental to the nation's working ethos, said Sun Liping, a Tsinghua University sociology professor.

Moreover, what makes these honors, their recipients and those who award them laughing stock is China's anachronistic laws and regulations on granting posthumous honors. They employ wooden language redolent of the era when the country functioned along the lines of class struggle.

It's absurd today to hear that someone "died a hero's death while performing revolutionary tasks" while he or she may actually have died of disease or in an accident.

Another important reason that posthumous honors often stir up controversy is that authorities deny the public its right to know exactly what acts of heroism they are trying to laud.

The sheer opacity in which under-the-table deals are sealed often fuels cynicism and dismay: Is the honored person really so upright as he's portrayed to be?

While the authorities should be applauded for acting empathetically toward the grieving family, they should realize that granting unearned honors will only achieve the opposite effects, for an excess of bogus hero stories undermine the respect we feel for truly outstanding personalities.