International   

The name's Bond, Sir James Bond

By Hasan Suroor

Roger Moore

LONDON JUNE 14. At 75, and long past his "gun-and- gals'' phase, Roger Moore perhaps no longer cares whether he has his martinis served shaken or stirred but that famous James Bond glint was back in his eyes on Saturday after he was elevated to knighthood -ironically not for his celebrated on-screen adventures but for his work for children as UNICEF's goodwill ambassador for more than a decade.

And in his new avatar as Sir Roger, the former agent 007 was uncharacteristically modest as he dedicated the honour to the innumerable faceless UNICEF volunteers who worked tirelessly behind the scenes and never got to share the limelight.

``I accept this title on behalf of many thousands of volunteers and workers at UNICEF who dedicate their lives to helping the millions of children in need around the world today,'' he said in a newspaper interview. Mr. Roger Moore is the second James Bond character to be knighted after Sean Connery-the stylish spy with a taste for high-wire action and lots of fun on the side.

Because of his rather wooden looks and even more wooden acting, Mr. Moore remained a bit of a poor man's Connery and `connoisseurs' still believe that Bond has never been the same again after Mr. Connery.

The knighthood was announced as part of the Queen's birthday honours which included OBEs to the football celebrity David Beckham, and cricketer, Alec Stewart; a CBE for the India-born sculptor, Anish Kapoor; an MBE for the TV chef, Jamie Oliver; and Dame-hood for Anita Roddick of the Body Shop fame.

But the honours were not without controversy as accusations of favouritism were hurled at the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, for giving knighthood to the philanthropist, Christopher Ondajtee, who donated £2 millions to the Labour Party two years ago.

Brother of the writer Michael Ondatjee, he was a Tory supporter before he switched sides and joined the elite `million plus' club of Labour donors.

However, the Prime Minister's office strongly denied the knighthood was connected to the donation and insisted that it had been conferred on merit. "All knighthoods on the list have been vetted independently for donations to political parties by the Honours Scrutiny Committee as recommended by the Committee on Standards in Public Life. It is important that people are satisfied that the awards have been made for reasons other than political donations and in this instance Christopher Ondaatje is a wide-ranging and generous patron of the arts, education and other good causes,'' a spokesman said.

There was also criticism that as always the top honours had been handed out to the same old "Oxbridte elite'' with the lesser mortals being fobbed off with minor titles.

To many, the idea of continuing to name awards after the empire, when the empire no longer exists, sounded incongruous in Blair's `modern' Britain.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

International

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Israel, Palestinians to resume talks despite violence
• Gunfire heard as vigilantes attack Iranian protesters
• Democrats to push for open debate
• `Saddam' threatens to widen resistance
• Street battles in Caracas
• No summit-level talks now, says Jamali
• U.N. resolutions on Kashmir no more practicable: JKLF
• Thai held for possession of nuclear material
• Pro, anti-Musharraf lawyers clash
• Snag in space shuttle hardware detected
• Educational qualifications of MMA legislators challenged
• Korean rail link opened after 50 years
• LTTE hand suspected in EPRLF leader's killing
• The name's Bond, Sir James Bond
• Compromises needed on Kashmir: Advani

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu