HONG KONG: Thousands said farewell yesterday to a giant inflatable yellow rubber duck which has captivated Hong Kong, on its final day in the city’s harbor before it heads to the United States.
The southern Chinese city has taken the 16.5 meter-tall duck, conceived by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, to its heart since it arrived under tow on May 2 to cheering crowds.
Duck mania has gripped the city — and parts of the Chinese mainland — since its arrival, with hundreds of thousands of locals and tourists in Hong Kong flooding the streets near where the giant replica bath toy is moored to catch a glimpse.
Stalls and shops sold replicas and merchandise ranging from T-shirts to three-dimensional duck tote bags. Restaurants created special duck dishes.
In mainland China, copies of the duck made an appearance in several cities — prompting a rebuke from the communist party newspaper the People’s Daily for what it called unoriginal copycat behavior.
The duck was even embroiled in mainland politics, in the run-up to the 24th anniversary on June 4 of the Tiananmen suppression of pro-democracy activists by the army.
Internet searches on the mainland for “yellow duck” were banned after users circulated a mocked-up image of a famous 1989 photo, with tanks replaced by plastic ducks.
In Hong Kong thousands were seen taking their last look Sunday at the genuine duck, wishing it well for the journey ahead and thanking it for bringing joy to the Asian financial hub.
“I hope that it can bring happiness to the people in the different countries it visits,” 30 year-old Sam Tsang told AFP.
“The rubber duck has brought us a lot of happiness...I hope it will come back,” said 34 year-old teacher Tina Yip.
Shopping mall Harbor City, organizers of the exhibit, said in a statement the duck has “spread joy and positive energy to everyone in town and has received so much love and support from fans and media.”
Since 2007 the duck has traveled to 13 different cities in nine countries ranging from Brazil to Australia.
Hofman said he hopes the duck, which will now travel to the US city of Pittsburgh, will act as a “catalyst” to connect people to public art.
The duck was to be deflated early Monday before being shipped out.
“Missing you already ducky! Must let you go to bring happiness to people around the world!!” Annie Hung wrote on Hofman’s Facebook wall.
Duck tops the bill in farewell Hong Kong appearance
Duck tops the bill in farewell Hong Kong appearance
Arts festival’s decision to exclude Palestinian author spurs boycott
- A Macquarie University academic who researches Islamophobia and Palestine, Abdel-Fattah responded saying it was “a blatant and shameless act of anti-Palestinian racism and censorship,” with her lawyers issuing a letter to the festival
SYDENY: A top Australian arts festival has seen the withdrawal of dozens of writers in a backlash against its decision to bar an Australian Palestinian author after the Bondi Beach mass shooting, as moves to curb antisemitism spur free speech concerns.
The shooting which killed 15 people at a Jewish Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Dec. 14 sparked nationwide calls to tackle antisemitism. Police say the alleged gunmen were inspired by Daesh.
The Adelaide Festival board said last Thursday it would disinvite Randa Abdel-Fattah from February’s Writers Week in the state of South Australia because “it would not be culturally sensitive to continue to program her at this unprecedented time so soon after Bondi.”
FASTFACTS
• Abdel-Fattah responded, saying it was ‘a blatant and shameless act of anti-Palestinian racism and censorship.’
• Around 50 authors have since withdrawn from the festival in protest, leaving it in doubt, local media reported.
A Macquarie University academic who researches Islamophobia and Palestine, Abdel-Fattah responded saying it was “a blatant and shameless act of anti-Palestinian racism and censorship,” with her lawyers issuing a letter to the festival.
Around 50 authors have since withdrawn from the festival in protest, leaving it in doubt, local media reported.
Among the boycotting authors, Kathy Lette wrote on social media the decision to bar Abdel-Fattah “sends a divisive and plainly discriminatory message that platforming Australian Palestinians is ‘culturally insensitive.'”
The Adelaide Festival said in a statement on Monday that three board members and the chairperson had resigned. The festival’s executive director, Julian Hobba, said the arts body was “navigating a complex moment.”
a complex and unprecedented moment” after the “significant community response” to the board decision.
In the days after the Bondi Beach attack, Jewish community groups and the Israeli government criticized Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for failing to act on a rise in antisemitic attacks and criticized protest marches against Israel’s war in Gaza held since 2023.
Albanese said last week a Royal Commission will consider the events of the shooting as well as antisemitism and social cohesion in Australia. Albanese said on Monday he would recall parliament next week to pass tougher hate speech laws.
On Monday, New South Wales state premier Chris Minns announced new rules that would allow local councils to cut off power and water to illegally operating prayer halls.
Minns said the new rules were prompted by the difficulty in closing a prayer hall in Sydney linked to a cleric found by a court to have made statements intimidating Jewish Australians.
The mayor of the western Sydney suburb of Fairfield said the rules were ill-considered and councils should not be responsible for determining hate speech.
“Freedom of speech is something that should always be allowed, as long as it is done in a peaceful way,” Mayor Frank Carbone told Reuters.
