Singapore Goldfish Festival

Singapore Goldfish Festival

By Steven Tong, President, Fynnmood Goldfish Association

By way of introduction, Steven Tong contacted Steve Hopkins, of the Ohana Goldfish Club, to judge at the Singapore Goldfish Festival to be held in Banpong Thailand in November. Steve Hopkins suggested that Steve Tong contact Peter Ponzio to help judge at the festival. Unfortunately, Peter could not attend either. Steven Tong sent this great article to us about the festival, which we share with our members.

With all the help from hobbyists and commercial, Fynnmood was very proud to have pulled through the very first Singapore Goldfish Festival. At that point of time, never would I imagine (for the rest of 2007), there would be any other Fynnmood activities that can come close to this event. Not until Fynnmood was invited as goldfish judges in Thailand. The invitation was really an eye opening for Fynnmood and the Club is extremely honored to play a little part in this Thai event.

This prestigious event was graced by Her Royal Highness Princess Srirat, Royal Consort to HRH the Crown Prince of Thailand.

On the two sides of the stage were flanked with the portraits of the King and the Queen. The whole atmosphere was surrounded with royalty. I remembered how the Thai official briefed us about the rule when come to receiving the token from the Princess. We are supposed to walk briskly toward the Princess with our head 45 degree lowered down, no eye-to-eye contact with the Princess. No smiling, hand shaking or even say “thank you”. Just stretch out the hand to receive the token and then turn away. I’m not sure about how others feel, but all these rules and regulations actually got me so excited, I feel like a teenage boy getting ready to meet his superstar idol!

The event consists of 3 kind of Ornamental fish.

· Goldfish 200 tanks

· Guppy 120 tanks

· Flower horn (Luohan) 140 tanks

Like many other events, this event had its fair share of attractions too. There were many magazines on arowana, goldfish, flower horn, etc. on display, too bad they are all in Thai. There were commercial stalls showcasing their goldfish and odd ball (rare fish). A white alligator gar almost 4 feet long stand out among the exhibits.

As for the goldfish competition category, this event has raised the bar of the competition level to a new height. Some might heard of the regular competitions held back in Bangkok, however understanding from the Thai official, these entries were very different from those in Bangkok. It is not any hobbyist competition, it is a showdown between farmers and breeders, and as a result the entries standard was very high. Most fish were bigger in size compared to the rest of the competition in Thailand.

There are 6 categories in the goldfish competition:

· Buffalo Head Ranchu

· Blackie (Black Ranchu)

· Oranda

· Ryukin

· Lionchu

· Open (Dragon eye, Pearl scale, bubble eye, etc)

Judges were from UK, USA, Malaysia and Singapore. Every judge brings along their own set of standard from their respective country to judge the fish. Hence, it was extremely challenging for one fish to meet all these different standards of schools of thought. Any hobbyists who own the prize winning fish should be really proud of him/herself. Imagine the winning fish has to satisfy both the Western and Asian appreciate, this is something that not any or every fish can achieve.

It is really not easy to come together to agree on a certain fish. Judges hold proud of their standard and many times the judges went into strong debate. Smiles only broke through after the result was finalized. On the personal note, I’m really flattered to be a judge in this event. There is always so much to learn.