See and do

Ducking for cover

Written by Ben Blaschke

The Macau rubber duck. Wise investment or waste of money?

We’ve been keeping a close eye on this huge, yellow duck from our apartment window this past week as he prepares to say farewell in just a few days’ time and while he seems to be a happy young chap on the outside, it’s fair to say he’s been through a rough trot in recent years.

Coming at the considerable cost of HK$6 million to visit Macau’s shores, Mr Duck’s presence over the past month has been met with plenty of controversy. And it’s not the first time either.

Since first sticking its beak, so to speak, into global waters in 2007 this well-traveled bird has made headlines around the world – most notably when it was stabbed 42 times during a stealth attack in Belgium in 2009.

Pittsburgh residents were up in arms at the seemingly minute US$20,000 cost to have him in their midst in 2015 while Chinese authorities were far from pleased in 2013 when one man photo-shopped the yellow crusader in place of tanks in an infamous photo of Tiananmen Square.

In fact, Asia has been a difficult stomping ground for this duck, who over the years has deflated in Hong Kong, burst in Taiwan and been swept away in Chinese floods.

But despite all the challenges, we here at WGM will miss little duck face when he leaves Macau. Sure, the HK$6 million price tag is a bit steep, but at the end of the day what price can you put on a smile?