New Cats On The Blog

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

I was fortunate enough to be able to attend 3 shows that were held since May 17 till end of May and yes it was really tiring and also I were away for every weekend in the month of May. It started in Jakarta where Cat Fanciers Society of Indonesia (CFSI) had organized a 4-ring AB CFA show and the judges were Pam Delabar, Carolyn Lyons, Marge Collier (all 3 from the US) and Rod U’ren, the guest judge from Australia. Then a week after that, the same judges were en route to Kuching, Sarawak where Sarawak Cat Club was also doing a 4-ring AB CFA show. At the last weekend of May, only Pam Delabar and Carolyn Lyons were at the IOI 2nd International Show in Kulai, Johor.

Despite the outbreak of H1N1 or better known as Swine Flu in the US and other parts of the world and also the last minute pull out by a sponsor in Kuching, all the 3 shows went pretty well. The show in Jakarta was held at the same venue as per last time which is POIN Square and there were about 175 cats being entered. The show started about 10am or so but ended up quite late, finishing around 8pm and everyone was indeed tired. Perhaps a lil advice to the show management that it is very important to have the judging schedule properly planned for the smooth sailing of a 4 ring show with 175 entries. The other thing I wished to highlight is that it is about the blatant imposition that was put on the foreign exhibitors’ wallet when they enter a Group 3 country such as Indonesia, the so called customs fee imposed to foreign exhibitors for just exhibiting their cats. Perhaps it is something for CFSI to look into this matter for the betterment of the cat fancy not just in Indonesia but as well as in Asia.

As for the show in Kuching, the show was held at Stampark Sports Centre at Taman B.D.C and the place was just nice to hold a 4 ring show. Despite a little chaotic situation with the last minute pull out from a local sponsor, a big thanks to the show committee for their quick and swift actions to rectify any shortcomings. Sarawak Cat Club was stomped and trampled, chewed and spit out because of outside interference of another club, but like a trooper, Sarawak Cat Club came out smelling of roses despite all the hindrance, the show was a success. Hats off to the club and show committee of Sarawak Cat Club. There were 107 cats registered for this show an improvement as more pedigree cats were entered this time around compared to their inaugural show.

Finally in Kulai, the show was held at the concourse of IOI Mall which provides very limited enclosure and the risk of cat escaping is pretty high. Just a bit of advice to the organizers of Kulai, try and get a better venue which is more conducive to the well being of the cats as it was done in an open mall and it is hot and with the Carousel going round and round, it just freaked some if not most of the cats being judged. Since this is the 2nd show in Kulai and if it’s going to be a yearly event then a better location for the show would be highly recommended and more space needed to accommodate probably a 4 ring show. Despite having only about 85 cats, the show started an hour late which began around 11am and had to end by 5pm.

Now, how these judges are being picked is beyond me but I do know of a club that had their EXCO pick one judge each and in my opinion, I think this is very fair compared to a single hand picking by a single individual.

Since Indonesia is the first show of the season (2009 – 10) in Asia, certainly a good kick off to the Divisional Winner list for 2009-10 and I wish all of you good luck. I am looking forward to the Annual which will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia this coming July. Hope to see a whole bunch of cat lovers there.