I'm fascinated with the story of Qian Hu Fish Farm and the rise of the Managing Director Kenny Yap. A family business that started as a humble pig farm is now a multi dollar business listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange. Even the story of how they decided on their logo is an interesting one.
The Managing Director calls himself Kenny the Fish. The youngest of 7 brothers & the only one educated abroad, is featured in the media constantly. He has a website selling his many business books, one of which is called "Guppies & Yuppies. Kenny Yap - the fishy smell of success". Another "The rise of an Asian Entrepreneur" has him on the cover posing practically nude with bags of fish. Even you might be interested now ?
So what does Qian Hu do ? It supplies ornamental fish & it's listed on the exchange - wow. One weekend, we were wondering aimlessly around & when my brother suggested visiting their fish farm, I readily agreed.
A huge part of their business is the ability to successfully breed Asian Arowana. There were some selling for tens of thousands of dollars. They aren't edible (or at least I wouldn't eat a fish that costs $25,000), they aren't particularly pretty, they don't change colors nor do they talk. So what's the fuss ? They are endangered & also called Dragon Fish, enough said.
The company is obviously very proud of their MD cos there are walls (yup more than one) filled with newspaper & magazine articles all about him. He is after all the poster boy for Qian Hu.
We enjoyed looking at the fishes. I suppose if you have an aquarium at home, this would be a great place to get your supplies. We went kelong fishing last year & decided to keep the fish. After spending more than $100 to get an aquarium & accessories, the fishes lasted no more than 1 week. So much effort went to naught & the poor fishes....
A date with me as I re-acquaint myself with the city I left 18 years ago. Now returned with a young one & sharing stories of a working mum finding refuge in the place she used to call home.