Synergy ~ 众志成城

Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.

~ Henry Ford

Few years back, I used to be the "scout" for my goldfish club members to recce on new shipment of goldfish. Every week, I would wake up very early on certain weekdays, drove from nearly one end of Singapore to the other just to check out the newly imported Chinese goldfish. Then I have about 20 minutes to select and made my purchases before rushing to work by 8:30 am.

We would all meet up in the evening after work to distributed the fishes. I went on this routine for almost 5 consecutive years, every week without fail. It was madness, but very enjoyable; as I drove through the long journey in the early dawn, I was always excited about the suspense of guessing what varieties of goldfish the dealer would import for the week. These "reconnaissance sorties" had trained me to be quick and sharp to scan for the fishes I want amongst the thousands of newly arrived goldfish.

The learning continues long after the purchases. My friends would feedback on the fishes that I bought for them and as we grew the fishes, we continuously studied their development in order to refine the selection criteria. We also adhered to a strict quarantine regime for newly purchased fishes, where we learned through practical experiences on handling various goldfish diseases. The strong synergy resulted in accelerated learning. As we learned from each others' mistakes, we brainstormed for solutions and made rapid progress together in this hobby. Eventually, we became confident to form the first goldfish club of Singapore - the Vermillion Goldfish Club in 2003.

Nowadays, my work commitments and the goldfish breeding projects leave me with much lesser time to join my goldfish club members on their fish hunting trips. However, the teamwork and close knitted sharing stays strong in both the goldfish clubs I am associated with - the Vermillion Goldfish Club and the Oozeki Goldfish Club.

I am really looking forward to the 2 imminent goldfish shows - The FishHub Show and the Mid Autumn Goldfish Competition to meet up with my friends again. What "secret weapons" would they field in for the Goldfish competition?


The Oozeki Ranchu Club and the Vermillion Goldfish Club welcome anyone who wants to know more about the hobby to contact them.

Pictures:

1) My amateur cartoon of the Goldfish Fanatic
2) Photo taking and chit chat sessions
3) Pair of rare scarlet dragon eye pompoms, one of the most memorable catch in 2003
4) Harvesting goldfish to study the development
5) Oozeki Ranchu Club JMIFY 2009