The Happiest Tiger
10.23
The Indonesian military has removed a statue of a grinning,
cartoon-like tiger from outside an army base after it sparked a flood of online
mockery.
The tiger is the mascot for the local military but the one at
the entrance to the small base in Cisewu — which had a broad grin and cuboid
head — quickly became a laughing stock after pictures of it were posted online.
Critics said it looked more a like a cartoon character than a
fearsome military symbol, and the web was soon flooded with mocking comments
and memes of the smiling beast.
“My head hurts trying to suppress my laughter looking at the
memes of the Cisewu tiger,” said one Twitter user Galcit.
With no sign of the furore abating, the military Monday removed
the mascot which had stood outside the base on top of a sign for six years.
Pictures posted online showed military personnel using hammers and chisels to
take it down.
“Tigers should look fierce because they represent bravery and
resilience,” local military spokesman Mokhamad Desi Arianto told AFP.
“When some people criticised the statue for looking funny, we
couldn’t ignore it.”
He said a new statue of a tiger would be erected in its place.
Web users tweeted “RIP Cisewu tiger” after news emerged of the
mascot’s demise, with some criticising the military for overreacting to online
jibes.
“I’m so sad that the legendary Cisewu tiger was destroyed, RIP
funny tiger,” commented Twitter user Blackvels.
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