A temple has bestowed the robes of a tiger god on the Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp’s (KRTC) feline stationmaster Mikan (蜜柑), the cat’s official social media page revealed in a post on Sunday.
KRTC wrote on on social media that it was the company’s first-ever collaboration with Chaotian Temple (朝天宮) in Yunlin County’s Beigang Township (北港).
Mikan — named after the color of his orange coat — is a formerly stray tomcat serving as the mascot of the Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station since being rescued by the metro corporation’s employees in 2021.
Photo courtesy of Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp
Involving the cat in the temple’s celebrated annual procession around Taiwan would allow the corporation to promote public transportation, KRTC said.
“The Tiger Lord (虎爺) is a deified big cat and guardian deity of children and their pets, so Mikan’s association with him is doubly appropriate,” the company said.
The company said it would launch a painted train showing Mikan in his new robes at a family-friendly event on Monday next week featuring a performance by the temple troupe, adding that Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) is expected to attend.
Mikan is the Kaohsiung metro’s most popular mascot and has been credited with earnings estimated at about NT$40 million (US$1.27 million) over the past two years, according to the public corporation.
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