City beaks honour duck
Published 09 October, 2008, 16:10
A giant blow-up duckling has joined the prestigious ranks of Tel-Aviv's honorary citizens. The duckling, who sits firmly on the roof of the city hall, now shares the title with 79 other famous faces, including Albert Einstein and Shimon Peres.
Despite extensive explanations, the reasoning behind mayor Huldai's decision remains a mystery. The giant duckling is the brainchild of Dudi Geva, a cartoonist who aspired to take the edge off Tel-Aviv's heavily urban landscape.
After the artist's death in 2005, his children strived to commemorate their father's achievement. Taken by the presence of the duckling installed on the city hall roof, the mayor made the decision to grant it the status of honorary citizen.
“The duckling has become the city's symbol without even realising it. Families with children come every day to have a look at it. He makes the city a brighter and happier place,” Huldai said.
Honorary citizenship around the world is not only a symbolic position. Scottish comedian Craig Ferguson, the host of CBS's “Late, late show” in the US, has been on a mission to become a citizen of the United States by gaining honorary citizenship in all of its towns, cities and states.
Out of 50,911 localities, he’s so far achieved that status in 16,109 places, including exotic locations such as the Deer Park Nudist Colony in California.
The giant duckling may be the first inanimate object to be so highly recognised by its compatriots – but it isn't the most highly ranked bird in the world. That title is probably reserved for Nils Olav, a penguin at Edinburgh Zoo, who holds the title of Colonel-in-Chief of the Norwegian army and has recently been knighted by King Harald V of Norway.
According to the king, the penguin “in every way qualified to receive the honour and dignity of knighthood”.
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