The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday defended one of the contenders in the party’s mascot selection competition, whose design has received wide publicity due to its resemblance to a rubber chicken toy and incorporation of elements perceived to be sarcastic toward the KMT, saying that the designer did not mean to troll the party with her work.
The mascot in question, designed by an 18-year-old named Wu Ching-ping (吳婧萍), looks like a yellow chicken man with what appears to be a blue worm with the face of a baby on its chest and the KMT’s party emblem on its rump.
It was one of 10 designs chosen by two judges, who were on Aug. 3 invited by the KMT Youth Department to evaluate the competition’s 108 valid entries.
Photo courtesy of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)
The department is to choose the top three designs next month based on the results of Facebook and street polls.
The “chicken” mascot design received attention from the moment the department launched the Facebook poll on Monday. As of press time last night, it had received more than 16,000 likes and been shared 3,200 times, compared with only hundreds of likes and dozens of shares for the other designs.
According to the competition’s rules, each like in the Facebook poll will be translated into one point, while designers are to receive five points for each share.
Some netizens said they believed that the “blue worm” is a direct reference to the demeaning nickname “blue maggot” (藍蛆) that some critics have used for KMT supporters, while others said that it was designed to insinuate that the KMT is a “parasite.”
Defending Wu’s design, department director Weng Shao-hui (翁紹輝) yesterday said that the designer is 18 years old and feels misunderstood by the public.
“That is absolutely not a blue maggot,” Weng said when asked whether he agreed with netizens’ interpretations of the mascot’s design.
He added that Wu is grateful that the KMT did not cave to public pressure and take her design down.
Weng said the “chicken” mascot’s popularity has its merits, given that some of the party’s candidates in the Nov. 24 local elections have approached Wu to ask for authorization to turn her design into a life-size cardboard cutout, including KMT Taichung mayoral candidate Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕).
In a video published online on Friday by the Chinese-language China Times, Wu said she chose the design because it has more potential to be funny and quirky than animals that are traditionally considered adorable, such as bears.
As for the “blue worm,” Wu said she wanted to combine elements of a chicken and a human being, so she decided to draw a human figure with blue curly hair, as blue represents the KMT.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
RSS