A man from the city of Binjai, North Sumatra has gotten quite the viral rep after putting his hometown on the map by punching banana trees, to the point that officials had to urge children not to emulate their hero and hurt themselves.
Indonesian social media has been rife with content featuring the man saying, “Salam dari Binjai” (greetings from Binjai) before making punching bags out of banana trees and landing bare-fisted heavy jabs on them until they collapse.
The man in the original video, who has been identified as Paris Pernandes, told local media outlets that he was a former national boxing athlete, which explains his form and strong punches. Before his newfound fame, Paris worked at a local minimarket chain.
The “Salam dari Binjai ” greeting has become Paris’ signature sign-off in his series of banana tree-punching videos. The first of such videos on his TikTok can be traced back to early August, where Paris managed to split a banana tree in half (RIP). The clip, which he made in response to a challenge, has been viewed more than 500,000 times.
@parispernandes_ semoga badang penjamban ga dihapus lagi🙏 #fypシ #fypdongggggggg #parispernandes #lucu ##perjamban #medan #binjai #ngakak
♬ JAMBANSLOMO DIDEPAN – celloszxz
Despite Paris’ impressive ability to knock out banana trees, he still had doubters who accused him that he had cut the other side of the tree. To prove his haters wrong, Paris posted this last month:
@parispernandes_ Balas @yogaapraw17 gak setingan ya abangdaa. salam. #fyp #parispernandes #binjai #medan #tinju #badangtiktok #lucu #fypindonesia #viral
♬ suara asli – parispernandes II🇮🇩
It seems that Paris has managed to punch his way through all the noise on TikTok and gained enough traction that his “Salam dari Binjai” videos have been cross-posted on other social media platforms, especially Twitter. In this TikTok below, which has been viewed more than 20.7 million times since it was uploaded in mid-October, Paris expressed disbelief about his videos getting so many views.
@parispernandes_ Balas @xoxo.084 gatumbang karna ada orangnya bang. salam dari binjai. #fyp #parispernandes #mma #viral #binjai #medan #lucu #ngakak #badangtiktok #fypindonesia
♬ suara asli – parispernandes II🇮🇩
“I didn’t expect that ‘Salam dari Binjai’ would go viral. If you guys want to make funny videos [using the greeting] then it’s alright, but don’t use it in a mocking manner,” Paris said in the beginning of the video.
Despite Paris’ showcase of his fists of steel in his videos, his most popular TikTok so far was one in which he jokingly attempted to punch down a coconut tree, which has 45.3 million views as of this article’s publication.
One might say Paris is a pioneer in the banana-tree-punching trend, so much so that many of Paris’ followers have jokingly said the trees might go extinct now, what with so many children in the region starting to imitate the act.
Alfahizu, a resident of Lubuk Pakam town in the neighboring regency of Deli Serdang, told Detik that he has been losing the banana trees his mother planted because children around his neighborhood have been punching them. Alfahizu claimed they said, “salam dari Binjai” after he scolded them.
Hendro Susanto, a lawmaker in the North Sumatra Regional Legislative Council (DPRD), has urged parents in the province to closely monitor their children to prevent them from punching trees like Paris.
“I urge parents to be diligent in controlling their children. Don’t let them easily imitate something that’s currently viral. If it’s a positive or a good thing, then it’s okay. But if it’s something that’s not really good, it could potentially be a problem in the future,” Hendro said today, adding that young people should find an “elegant way” to be popular instead of punching down banana trees.
Paris’ journey to fame has taken him away from Binjai. After quitting his minimarket job, he signed with a digital content agency owned by North Sumatra-based entrepreneur Indra Kenz. They are currently in Jakarta to guest star in TV shows as well as to record Paris’ first single, titled — you guessed it — Salam dari Binjai, produced by his favorite singer Anji.
