I was fortunate to be invited
to judge the guppy competition at this event
which took place May 25-29, 2005. My cordial
thanks go out to the Singapore Guppy Club
and CMP Asia Pte Ltd , Show Organisers who
made it possible for my attendance. This
event encompasses an Aquarium Fish and Accessories
Exhibition and Fish Competition which is
held biannually and is the primary show
case for the Commercial Tropical Fish Industry
in Asia.
The fish competition encompasses
all major species of the tropical fish hobby
and is divided into Discus, Goldfish, Arowana,
Guppy, Tetra, Barbs, Corydoras and Gourami,
Molly, Platy and Swordtail, Bettas, New
Species/varieties, and Marine Displays/Live
Rock. Sponsors for the event included some
big name businesses such as Tetra, Ocean
Nutrition, Qian Hu Corp., Royal Aquatic,
Eheim Pacific marine aquaria etc…
who provided cash prizes, trophies or lighting
or display hardware support for the show.
This year the Guppy Competition
took a new twist with the assistance of
the non-commercial newly formed Singapore
Guppy club who helped with the logistics
and locating independent Judges for the
guppy event. Formerly, the Guppy competition
was dominated by the commercial farm interests,
but this year, the Singapore Guppy Club
was invited to be a part of the fish competition
committee. Also this year the Guppy Division
had a Grand Champion, which elevated the
competition to the Discus and Goldfish sections,
with the exception of the Cash Prizes. Most
likely a sponsor will take up the guppy
competition tab for a cash price in future
competition.
The event was held in Singapore
at their main Expo Hall. Which encompasses
a huge 30,000 M2 area. The exhibition was
organized into a fish competition and display
section and exhibitor booths. There were
almost 200 exhibitors in attendance all
week at the show, a virtual Disney land
for hobbyists and a golden opportunity for
marketing within the industry.
Approximately 25 judges from
the various fish competition categories
were put up in several hotels throughout
the city.
Our accommodation at the Grand
Mercury Hotel was exellent and the view
from my room was a spectacular view of the
city. Organisers had scheduled bus shuttle
service to the expo halls daily. We were
issued ID badges, Itinerary and events programme
to fill our day each day if we so chose.
The local Guppy Club had a booth of their
own with a goal of increasing awareness
and membership
They also had some events
programmes of their own for Frank and myself
after the show closed daily.
The Guppy competition had
approximately 250 entries both from the
Commercial farm as well as private individual
hobbyists. Some entries came from as far
away as Israel and Sri Lanka. The classes
were divided into six main groups with 7
matched males as well as corresponding reverse
trio groups in the same classes. Classes
were grouped as follows:
Single Colour; Tuxedo Bicolour;
Mosaic/Variegated; Grass; Snakeskin/Cobra;
Any Other Colour/Open. The points spread
was different to what we were used to in
IFGA or WGC/IKGH competition and as we later
found out during a judge briefing, were
geared to the commercial strains of which
the show is of primary involvement.
We followed their rules as
a general guide to pointing the entrants
and had to refrain from personal bias during
the judging as best as possible. Many of
the entries were disqualified for being
in the wrong class! In fact some potential
winners were DQ’ed and out of the
competition! The pointing system was used
to judge the entries after a rough overview
and GC of the entries. Guppy judges for
the event were:
Dr. Audrey Fernando Yuen From Singapore,
Dr Frank Chang USA and Luke Roebuck USA.
Unfortunately Claus Osche could not make
it to the events he was to have made up
the team as the European contingent from
Germany. After a brief introduction on Wednesday
the judges for the fish competition had
a lunch and were briefed on judging rules
and ethics. We then proceeded to judge our
Guppy classes.
Here are some pics of the
guppy competition entries.
Simultaneously the other fish
species classes were also judged by their
respective experts.
The Bettas were top class
this year I was personally amazed by the
quality from Thai and Singapore breeders
Discus were also Top Class
as Singapore has some of the best Discus
available on the Planet
The Dragon Fish were a top
area of interest as usual at this expo.
The Other specias such as
Goldfish, Livebearers and Tetras etc were
all represented by the best of their species
available in the hobby
Official Opening day finally
arrived and we were fortunate to be invited
to attent the opening ceremonies with local
government dignitaries ( Minister of Trade
and Industry, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan). There
were keynote addresses as well as awarding
of the trophies for Grand Champions
There was also traditional
Chinese entertainment
Frank and I had a busy schedule as we met
many Guppy Club members from the SGC and
also several judges from all over the world.
We visited the trade fair
and checked out whats new in the industry
There were some very attractive
displays
After daily closing we were entertained
by the local club to dinner
and also had a BBQ dinner
and relaxation after my lecture
Frankie Koh and Foo Hong
hanging with Frank Chang and me at the BBQ
Chris Ng one of our Guppy
Labs contributors along with Eric, Luke,
Foo Hong, Loke, and Patrick
Eric, Shirley and Loke
The following day we did
some farm tours with Max teo from the SGC
who was so kind as to take time off to show
us around. We visited some shops in the
local Chinese neighbourhoods as well as
Qian Hu and Rainbow Farms (photo 29, 30)
The Discus and Dragon fish
were unreal there!
There was so much to do but
not the time to accomplish!! We were saturated
with tropical fish
Frank and I signed up for the Discus farm
tour on Saturday as well. Roy Cheok and
Chiu were also kind enough to take some
time to show us around. Chiu took us to
see Foo Hongs fish setup
I found this water changing
system to be the current state of the art
as used in Taiwan breeding rooms.
We met some friends while
at the show from Brazil and Phillipines,
friends who knew friends!!! I know now it’s
a small world
We discussed some future prospects
for more guppy exhibition in Singapore with
the SGC and things seemed very exiting for
the next biannual event. I wish to thank
the members of the Singapore Gupy Club,
namely Dr Ed Yeo, Roy Cheok, Chiu, Shirley,
Chris Ng, Patrick, Melvin, Foo Hung and
others
