New Cats On The Blog

... your One-Stop about the happenings in Asian cat fancy

I would like to take the opportunity to congratulate Cat Fanciers of Society of Indonesia (CFSI) on their very first CFA show, an international level recognized show that all Indonesians and to those whom had involved (which includes me!!) helping CFSI to make this show a reality and a success.

I’d flew to Jakarta, a 2 hours plane ride and another 1 hour car ride to a beautiful town called Bogor. I played my role as both CFA Ambassador as well as Ring Clerk. CFSI had organized a session ‘Meet the CFA Ambassador‘ a day before the show and it is certainly exhilarating experience for me to be the only ambassador. CFSI had even prepared some breeds during this session for Breed Presentation. Many exhibitors came and keen to learn about CFA show mechanics such as what do the ribbons represents, what it takes for a cat to be a Champion and Grand Champion (Premier and Grand Premier) and some (to my surprise) even asked how to make it to the Divisional Winner (DW) list. I will not be surprised that if we may see Indonesian cats in the DW.

The crowd on show day is certainly enormous and they were amazed with the beautiful cats that Indonesian CFA exhibitors had to offer. Having 97 cats in their very first international show is certainly something that fellow Indonesians can be proud of. This shows that there were many CFA registered cats in Indonesia.

I am certainly proud to be part of in assisting CFSI preparing them for their show. From 0% knowledge to their journey of successful 1st CFA show. This shows that we need to help and being supportive to one another for the success not just for any show but for the club as well.

Some pictures that I managed to snapped during my 2 days stay at Bogor, Jakarta.

Above: A day before the show

Above: Show Poster

Above: ProPlan, the main sponsor booth

Above: Another vendor’s booth

Above: Vitakraft booth

Above: The crowd watching the show

Above: Mr. Bob Zenda’s ring

Above: Some of the contestants

Above: Winners for the Household Pet category in Yaeko Takano’s ring

Above: Best Cat (right) and 3rd Best Cat (left) for the Championship class in Yaeko Takano’s ring

Above: 2nd Best Cat for the Championship class in Yaeko Takano’s ring

Above: Here am I acting as translator when Yaeko Takano commenting on the Best Cat in her Championship class, a white Persian

Ever wonder what is the purpose of a cat club? Have you ask yourself about this question?

Are you a member of a cat club? What does your cat club do and what do you benefit from it to be their privileged members?

Is a cat club’s main function is to organize competitions or shows for their members? Well, that is entire depends on the Objective(s) of the cat club. When a club was formed, they must have an objective(s) that act as a guideline and it is entirely depends on the club committee to uphold these objectives. Some clubs I personally knew exist in just doing competitions for members although they have other objectives.

So, what else do a cat club do besides holding competition? A lot!! To name a few; activities such as education to the public which in my opinion it’s very important. Educating the public about cat care, hygiene, their medical requirements, food, vaccinations etc so that the public would know how to take care a cat. Besides that, it would be great to have a cat club that actually approach schools to educate the younger generations. As they say, educate the youngs to benefit the future…

Is that all, if you may ask?

1. Working hand in hand with Non-Government Organization (NGO)s such as SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) , PAWS (Progressive Animal Welfare Society), MNAWF (Malaysia National Animal Welfare Foundation) etc in their effort to protect the welfare of our feline friends.

2. Educating those who intend to breed their cats in a responsible and ethical manner

3. Spread the words on the benefits of neutering cats

So, what are the criterias when looking for a cat club? Well, that depends. If there is only 1 cat club in your area or country, then you don’t have any choice of comparison. But if there is more than 1 cat club, you can ask members of each club. What are the objectives of their cat club, what are the benefits being a member of their cat club and most of all, how can a member able to contribute their services to the club.

Is it alright to ask a fellow club A member what he/she think about club B? Hmmm….. Some clubs do have some sort of rivaly with other club(s) and you may ended up hear all negative remarks instead of positives. A cat club (or any other club) should cultivate a positive environment instead of spreading hatred. I do not see any benefit at all by showing hatred towards another club. There were times, we cannot run away from low-level thinking people. What you need to do is to look at the committee members themselves. If the root of hatred coming from there, then do you think you want to join such club? I had seen and dealt with such people and it is best to stay away.

Next, some committee members may have personal agendas and they’d run activities for their own or certain individual benefits. In the end, members work hard just to benefit some individuals instead to the club.

When you join a cat club (or any other club), what you want is what you would benefit from being their member and most of all, you are enjoying yourself being their member. You may or may not choose the right club at first but the most important is that you learn something along the way. Get as much knowledge as possible and perhaps you’ll need to ignore the politics involve.

Question now is what it takes to be a committee member of a cat club?

Well, there would be an election of committee members during their club’s Annual General Meeting and you would need to gain support from members in order to be part of the committee. The members would know best your ability whether you can lead or represent their club.

(I personally do not think that a walk over election would benefit the club. Members should give a chance to elect their representative. Don’t be surprised that chances that a walk over committee may had been planned in the first place.)

Elect someone who is trustworthy and able to lead the club. Never elect someone out of desperation just because there is no suitable candidate. The future of the club lies at the hands of the committee. The last thing that you want is a President who are incapable to lead, a Secretary who only follows instructions blindly without thinking and a manipulative Treasurer. Plus, on a personal note, try and refrain to elect someone who involves in politics. The last thing you want is a storm in a tea cup!!.

First of all, sorry guys for being silent this few months. Had been really busy with both work and personal life. Anyway, I did found some time to prepare myself for this show. I was both an exhibitor as well as a CFA Ambassador. There were 121 cats registered in this 4 ring show.

The show was held in an exhibition hall at Summit, USJ approximately 30 minutes from Kuala Lumpur town. Rumours had it that this show was held in a very short notice, minimum fundings and even threats that this show will not took place. I was certainly impressed that the show not just materialized and manage to kick off smoothly, the show did went on without any obstacles or incidents.

There were exhibitors from Hong Kong and Thailand who came all the way campaigning their cats for the Top 15 Divisional Winners in the Asia-Latin America region. It was certainly exhilirating for me to see some beautiful and outstanding cats. The CFA judges were Carolyn Lyons from US, Yaeko Takano and Wakako Nagayama, both from Japan and Allan Raymond from Australia whom was the guest judge for this show.

For this round, I had entered my black Maine Coon, Molly in the Premiership Class and Akechi who will be competing under the Household Pet Class. There were 26 and 18 cats in the Premiership and Household Pet Class respectively. I knew both Molly and Akechi would have 38.5% and 55.6% chances to be the Top 10 Finalists but I did hope for the best in both of them.

Finally, Molly able to get into the finals twice, clinching 9th and 10th place as well as being awarded as 2nd Best Premier and 2nd Best Longhair Premier in the Premiership Class in the 2 finals. Akechi did even better where he went into 3 finals, a 4th placing and twice 5th placing.

Here are some of the pictures I were able to snap during the show.

Yaeko Takano judging an Abyssinian and an European Burmese

Carolyn Lyon judging a black Oriental and a domestic cat (Akechi was at the back of her; Cage 107)

Here is Wakako Nagayama judging an American Shorthair

Allan Raymond doing his finals for Household Pet Class

Here are some pictures of Molly being judged.

Here are some pictures of Akechi being judged

Akechi’s winnings…

and of course, Molly’s winnings…

Again, I must say a job well done by the organizer of this show for able to materialize this show for the benefit of the cat fancy and also for the fellowship of CFA exhibitors knowing there were threats that this show will not happen.

Kudos…..