Yesterday, a lone ostrich made news headlines nationwide when it was spotted sprinting down Federal Highway, a highway connecting the capital city of Kuala Lumpur and Klang, Selangor.
Jeff Sandhu, a producer for BFM Radio, was heading back home when he chanced upon the runaway animal just as he was exiting Jalan Gasing and turning into Federal Highway (near the University Malaya bus stop). It appeared to have been running, albeit aimlessly because it kept switching lanes, towards the Kuala Lumpur direction.
The quick-thinking producer whipped out his smartphone to video the ostrich and uploaded it onto his Instagram as well as Facebook. Jeff’s Facebook post has since garnered over 302k views and 1.5k shares. Needless to say, it became an instant viral hit on the interwebs, gaining the attention of some international portals including 9news.com.au and CNA.
The footage also sparked some funny discussions from netizens, with comments such as:
- “Okay, who played Jumanji and brought this guy out on the road?”
- “So why did the ostrich cross the road?”
- “Know what would be funnier? If a video emerges of a dude running down Federal Highway asking everyone, ‘Have you seen my ostrich?'”
- “FREEDOMMMMMMMMM!!”
- “Did someone tell the ostrich that it’s illegal to drive without a license?”
- “Boss, you won’t believe why I’m late for work..”
- “This is me running away from my problems.”
- “I’m late, I’m late, I’m late!” (a play on Alice in Wonderland’s White Rabbit)
- “I can see a local adaptation of Zootopia happening already”
- “Making my way downtown, walking fast, faces pass and I’m home bound..” (Vanessa Carlton’s “A Thousand Miles” lyrics)
And that’s not all. Some of our favourite brands and Facebook pages have also clearly taken a liking to our sprinting, feathered celebrity:
While some netizens have called the above Facebook posts cruel because they seemed to have been poking fun at a frightened and lost animal, others saw the humour in the marketing opportunities e.g. Digi, Huawei, Kilkenny.
Don’t worry, guys! Last we checked, Peekaboo/Chickaboo has been rescued by its owner and is now back at a farm, Ostrich Wonderlands in Semenyih 🙂
Featured image: Kilkenny Malaysia.
