【2001 Archives】

It certainly makes for a haunting attraction.

001 ArchivesIndonesian town of Pontianak -- the capital of the West Kalimantan province in the island of Borneo -- is considering a 100m (328 ft)-tall statue of the maleficent female ghost it's named after, the Jakarta Postreported.

Kartius, the head for the provincial tourism, youth and sports agency, said that having the kuntilanak -- an alternate name for the pontianak, traditional vampiric ghosts in Indonesian folklore -- as the personification of the city "would be good for tourism."

SEE ALSO: Bollywood film trailer starring a friendly ghost goes viral, gets 10 million views in a day

The tourism head was reportedly inspired by the Merlion in Singapore and the Cat Statues in Kuching, Malaysia, both regional tourist attractions and personifications of their cities. Kuching means "cat" in Malay, and the "Singa" in Singapore means "lion" in Malay.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

"People say I'm a pagan, superstitious hillbilly [because of my idea]," Kartius told the Jakarta Post. "Those who call me a hillbilly are the hillbillies, because they never go abroad."

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The statue will tower over the city, and give visitors a good view from the top of the statue's head.

"I have never seen a kuntilanak, so if you have no idea how to make the statue, look at my face," Kartius joked.

But the idea hasn't been very well received. Already, a protest group calling themselves "Residents Movement Rejecting the Ghost Statue" (Gema Topan in Indonesian) protested the idea late last month, according to the local Pontianak Times. A building that's shaped like a scary ghost will surely provide for a scary atmosphere, one of the group's members was reported as saying.

People online aren't thrilled either:

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The representatives of the protest group Gema Topan were told by city council officials that it had yet to receive any official information about it from the provincial administration.

Kartius, the provincial tourism, youth and sports agency chief, may not be haunted by his own idea any time soon, however -- he is set to retire next year.

But the Jakarta Post reported that he has discussed the matter with Indonesia's Public Works and Public Housing Ministry, and that the central government would allocate special funds should the city council decide to build the statue. "The private sector has also offered to find investors," he added.

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