Private Joke?

This little statue lives just outside our vet office next to the garden. I've always found it quite odd but have never asked anybody where it came from or what/who it is supposed to be. Maybe its just a rather creepy Vietnamese version of a Garden Gnome?! But when you pay more attention he actually looks as if he's laughing so hard his eyes are clenched shut - laughing at something that none of us are aware of...