DAVID ADAMS provides a round-up of some stories on the odder side of life…
A man attempts to pour water on a woman in Slovakia in the revival of an Easter tradition. PICTURE: Video screenshot.
•Local men revived a Slovak Easter tradition on Monday by pouring water on women to celebrate the holiday and the beginning of spring.Dressed in traditional attire from the eastern part of the country, they walked to houses and drenched women with buckets of water. The women are also softly whipped with a whip made from thin branches of local willow. Afterwards, some of the band members danced with the women. Marian Oselsky, 23, a band member, explained that according to the tradition, “if a girl is doused with water…she becomes more beautiful every year.” – Reuters
Realistic pet plushies are displayed at the Pampanga Teddy Bear Factory, in Angeles City, Pampanga province, Philippines, on 10th March, 2023. PICTURE: Reuters/Lisa Marie David
• Philippines toy maker David Tan is flooded with orders from grieving pet owners who want to memorialise their dogs, cats, hamsters and rabbits with stuffed toys or ‘plushies’. Tan and a team of 20 employees use photos sent by customers to create life-like replicas of their deceased pets using synthetic fur that is airbrushed to recreate colours and markings of the animals. The process is different from taxidermy, which preserves the body of the animal, said Tan, owner of Pampanga Teddy Bear Factory. “It removes that ‘ick’ factor. This is actually one hundred percent, genuinely a stuffed toy,” he said. Each plushie costs about 3,500 pesos (US$65), which 38-year-old dog lover Jaja Lazarte said is a price worth paying for the memory of her Shih Tzu. “Although his ashes are here, and his memories are here, it’s so much better to see something that really resembles him,” Lazarte said. – ADRIAN PORTUGAL and LISA MARIE DAVID, Manila, The Philippines/Reuters
Alec Hsu shows to the camera patches depicting a Formosan black bear holding Taiwan’s flag and punching Winnie the Pooh at his store in Taoyuan, Taiwan, on 10th April, 2023. PICTURE: Reuters/Carlos Garcia Rawlins
• Taiwanese are rushing to buy patches being worn by their air force pilots that depict a Formosan black bear punching Winnie the Pooh – representing China’s President Xi Jinping – as a defiant symbol of the island’s resistance to Chinese war games. China began three days of military drills around Taiwan on Saturday, a day after the island’s President, Tsai Ing-wen, returned from a brief visit to the United States, where she met US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy despite Beijing’s warnings. Chinese censors have long targeted representations of Winnie the Pooh – created by British author AA Milne – over internet memes that compare the fictional bear to China’s President. Alec Hsu, who designed the patch, has been selling it at his shop since last year, but he saw a spike in orders after Taiwan’s military news agency on Saturday published a photo of the patch on the arm of a pilot inspecting a fighter jet. “I wanted to boost the morale of our troops through designing this patch,” said Hsu, who owns Wings Fan Goods Shop. Hsu said he has ordered more patches to meet the increased demand. Customers have included military officers and civilians. The patch shows an angry Formosan black bear holding Taiwan’s flag and punching Winnie the Pooh, with the slogan “Scramble!” – referring to what the island’s pilots have had to do with increased frequency over the past three years as China sends more aircraft into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone. The endangered Formosan black bear is seen as a symbol of Taiwanese identity. Taiwan was previously better known internationally as Formosa. – SARAH WU and YEW LUN TIAN with FABIAN HAMACHER and YIMOU LEE, Taipei, Taiwan and Beijing, China/Reuters.
