A retired vet and an anaesthetist from Western Australia share the honour for 2019 after they used their medical and cave-diving skills to rescue 12 boys and their coach from a Thai cave in 2018.
Last month’s epic cave rescue has drawn attention to the issue of statelessness in Thailand - a crisis the country is trying to resolve urgently, especially for stateless children.
In Theravada Buddhism, ordaining to be a monk and donating the merit thus gained is one of the greatest honors that a person can give to another - in this case to the Navy SEAL officer, who died.
Of course we should have sympathy for the soccer team trapped in the cave. We should extend similar compassion to those caught up in long-term crises that are harder to tackle.