Originally posted by udontknowme:
what buaya guy??
whats happening in singapore?
Australia awestruck by global outpouring for "Crocodile Hunter"
05 September 2006 1038 hrs (SST) 0238 hrs (GMT)
SYDNEY - Australians were surprised but proud Tuesday at the global outpouring of shock over the death of maverick "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin, who once said his countrymen found him embarrassing.
The Australian media coverage of Irwin's shocking death Monday by a stingray barb to the heart focused not only on his remarkable career but also on his massive appeal overseas, where the "ocker" Aussie adventurer was far more popular than he ever was at home.
"When I see what's happened all over the world, they're looking at me as this very popular wildlife warrior," Irwin once said of his megastar status abroad, especially in the United States where he was a huge cultural icon.
"And yet back here in my own country, some people find me a little bit embarrassing," said the exuberant broadcaster, whose thick Aussie twang was complemented by his trademark khaki Australian bush outfit.
Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio launched its early morning news bulletins with a look at the vast foreign newspaper, radio, television and Internet coverage of the passing of one of the country's best-known exports.
Other local media also noted that the 44-year-old Irwin's international popularity had outstripped his appeal at home, focusing on the US media eulogies to the man who had become the face of Australia in America.
"Irwin was probably better known overseas, especially in the United States, than at home," Melbourne's The Age newspaper said of the environmentalist killed by a stingray Monday while filming an underwater documentary.
Politicians also mourned the loss of a great ambassador for their country.
"He was a magnet, he was a drawcard, and he was well known around the world. Everybody knew him. He was one of those great quintessential Australian faces that people recognised everywhere," said Prime Minister John Howard.
Opposition leader Kim Beazly said the global reaction to the larger-than-life Irwin's untimely death was comforting for Australia.
"He did claim in his lifetime, Steve Irwin, that he was bigger than 10 bears in the United States," Beazly told reporters in Canberra.
"I think the case has been proven today, as in the United States on news service after news service, talk back show after talk back show, the man had become Australia's icon really for the rest of the world," he said.
The premier of the state of Queensland, where Irwin lived and died, said Irwin had been the most famous Australian on earth, notably in America where impersonations of his brash and loud manner are a dime a dozen.
"Whenever I travel overseas, particularly to countries like the United States, he was certainly the most well known Australian," said Peter Beatty.
"People didn't know who our prime minister was, or who our premiers are, but they certainly know Steve Irwin," Beatty said. - AFP/ir
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/palmnews/afp_asiapacific/view/228629/1/.html
