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.

Less than a week, I flew to Kuching as Sarawak Cat Club is having their very first CFA International show held on 20th December 2008 at Kuching Civic Centre. Congratulations to Dr. Huey Lee, President of Sarawak Cat Club and her team for their effort of affiliating one of the pioneer cat club in Malaysia with an international cat association, The Cat Fanciers’ Association (CFA).

Sarawak Cat Club and the show committee of Cat Friends of Asia-II Show had been working together to make both shows a success. Cat-City International Show 2008 had caused many people excited till some cat fanciers (so to speak) started poking their fingers into it with thousand and one questions even before the Show Manager had announced it.

Kudos to Dr. Huey Lee and her team for able to convince Sarawak Department of Veterinary Services to obtain quarantine waiver for cats coming from Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and other Asian countries after one man had failed in his attempt. This shows the determination that Dr. Huey Lee has for the betterment of the cat fancy in Sarawak.

Just to enlighten some of my readers and to avoid any misunderstanding, Malaysia consists of 14 states which includes the state of Sarawak and Sabah. The reason I highlighted here is that many foreign exhibitors had been confused that Sabah and Sarawak is actually another independent country (named Borneo).

Sarawak Cat Club’s inaugural show had opened the eyes of local exhibitors, educating them about pedigree cats; being some of them had never seen breeds like Korat, American Shorthair, Sphynx, Abyssinian and Javanese. We have a few CFA Ambassadors during this show and many thanks to Puan Zamina Zainal Ariffin and Adilah Roose from Malaysia, Rachaphol from Thailand and Vera Chan from Hong Kong for educating local exhibitors and the public about CFA. Thanks to Phebe Low, Ambassador Program Regional Coordinator for Asia/Latin-America for the Ambassador banners and leaflets. Thanks to Mr. Bob Zenda for conducting the CFA Clerking School in Kuching as well.

In this show, I play my role as the Entry Clerk where I received entry forms from all exhibitors and process their entries, Chief Ring Clerk for Judge Cheryl Pollock as well as exhibitor who shows 2 cats.

Above: The 4 distinguished judges, ring clerks and show committee

Above: Stormy, my blue European Burmese and Molly, my black Maine Coon resting in their cage.

Above: Stormy got 9th Best Premiership Cat in Jan Roger’s ring

Above: Molly got 10th Best Premiership Cat and Best Longhair Premier in Jan Roger’s ring

Above: Memorable picture taken with Wain Harding and Brad after the show

Above: Me and Cheryl Pollock

Above: Me and Bob Zenda

Above: Me and Jan Rogers

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Dr. Huey Lee for giving me the trust and confidence negotiating with Royal Canin for their support in this historic show; Head of Veterinarian, Dr. Chin, Senior Veterinarian, Dr. Chia for their undivided support in Sarawak Cat Club’s inaugural show; Samudra Court staffs for their great hospitality and not forgetting all exhibitors for the success of this show.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all….

For more info about Cat-City International Cat Show 2008, please visit Sarawak Cat Club website

Just 2 weeks after the Indonesia show, Cat Friends of Asia-II Show was held on 14th December at Amcorp Mall, Petaling Jaya. This 4-ring show was organized by Astaka Management and I was the Assistant Show Manager. The judges that we had invited were Cheryl Pollock from Australia, Bob Zenda, Jan Rogers and Wain Harding where all three of them were from the US. Intially, we had invited Pam Delabar, the President of CFA but she had cancelled her judging contract just 3 weeks before show day. This had upset my entire working committee and not forgetting the amount of money that had spent but instead of crying over spilt (bad) milk, we were very fortunate that we able to find a replacement judge in such a short notice and many thanks to Cheryl Pollock to able to make it in our show and having her is certainly fun. For your info, Cheryl Pollock had judged in Malaysia in 2006 during the MiCatz show held in Mid Valley, Kuala Lumpur.

Perhaps let me take the liberty to say this but in my opinion, as a responsible judge, he/she should not (and will not) burden a club in any way especially when it concerns monetary when they were invited to judge. It is certainly not easy for most cat clubs to raise funds to run a cat show especially an International shows. I’d observed that some judges had their own preferred airlines so that they can accumulate that extra flyer points but that is still ok as long as it doesn’t burden the club. I had also noticed that there were some had refused to fly with other than their own preferred airline although there is a cheaper alternative.

To clubs, just bare this in mind that you are paying for a judge for 1 sole purpose which is to judge. You are hiring them to perform a task and not paying for their expensive fares and wine and dine luxuriously with them. As long as the judges were provided with a reasonable place to stay with all the basic necessities, that is all that matters (read and understand CFA Show Rule : Article 26 - Judging Fees and Expenses and that is all you need to do!!) and please remember to have all written contracts what is covered and what is not during the duration of their stay to avoid any miscommunication or misunderstanding.

Anyway, back to the show, I must congratulate Puan Zamina Zainal Ariffin for being the most magnificent Show Manager I had ever work with. I must admit that there were some obstacles running this show but at the end, through her leadership and experience, we managed to run it smoothly (with some manageable minor hiccups). She did not dictate the committee and had specifically identified what roles or task each of her committee members need to do for the success of the show.

Besides being the Assistant Show Manager, I was also the CFA Ambassador manning the Ambassador booth, emcee and announcer for the show as well as coordinating with our sponsor, Royal Canin. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Royal Canin and Embellie Maine Coons Sdn Bhd for their sponsorship.

In this round, I showed my lil girl, Yelena, a brown mackerel tabby and white cat in the Household Pet category. This is Yelena’s very first time participating in a cat competition and I certainly impressed with her show temperament.

Above: Jan Rogers called upon all owners and had a short interview with them. Here am I being asked to tell the history of Yelena. Yelena’s previous owner had abandoned her when she decided to move to another location and I decided to take her in.

Above: Yelena got 6th Best Household Pet in Jan Roger’s ring

Above: Yelena got Best Household Pet in Wain Harding’s ring

Above: Yelena got 3rd Best Household Pet in Cheryl Pollock’s ring

Above: ‘Oooo look at her white furry tummy.’ said Bob Zenda. Yelena got Best Household Pet in his ring

For more details, please visit Cat Friends of Asia Show website.

Cat Fanciers Society of Indonesia or CFSI in short is having their very first 4-ring show and this biggest cat show in Jakarta, Indonesia was held from 29th-30th November. The judges for this historic show were Karen Lawrence (AB), Nancy Dodds (AB), Edward Maeda (AB) and Donna Fuller (AB). I was invited by CFSI to be one of their Ring Clerk and I am honored to be able to clerk for Karen Lawrence. She is certainly one funny lady and clerking under her is really entertaining and fun. The show was held in a shopping complex, POIN Square, approximately 35 minutes from the main city of Jakarta.

There were participants from Malaysia as well as Thailand but due to unforseen circumstances, the Thai exhibitors could not make it for the show. There were 149 cats registered in this show and I must say I am certainly impressed with the number in their second show just after 7 months from their very first.

Above: Royal Canin corner

Above: Me with the judges, VIPs, sponsors and part of the working committee

Above: I was assisting an exhibitor to show her Abyssinian kitten. He won 2nd Best Kitten in Karen Lawrence’s ring.

Above: An American Shorthair and a Siamese were also in the Kitten Finals.

Above: Me as Chief Ring Clerk whilst Tanto is my Asst Ring Clerk

Above: Karen Lawrence being interviewed by local media

Above: Malaysian exhibitors with their cats who went into the Finals in Edward Maeda’s ring

Above: Nancy Doods holding a near 8kg red tabby Maine Coon

Above: Nancy Doods showing the spectators a red Abyssinian

Above: The Malaysian red Abyssinian won Best Kitten in Nancy Doods’ ring

Above: Malaysian Siamese kitten won 4th Best in Donna Fuller’s ring

Above: Here am I posing with an exhibitor and her odd-eyes Persian

Above: On the 2nd day of the show, I was the Assistant Master Clerk as well as CFA Ambassador manning the booth

Above: The judges, working committee, Malaysian exhibitors and RC personnel

Above: At the end of the 2 days show, we had a BBQ dinner celebrating the success of the show

The Spring, a newly opened shopping mall in Kuching, Sarawak and it’s management had decided to organize a cat show during it’s grand opening. Therefore, they had invited me to be their very first guest judge in their very first cat show in their mall on 6th-7th September which I was very excited and delighted to accept the offer. The thought of being a judge in a cat show in a cat city was certainly over-whelming! (Kuching literally means cat in Malay language). With the help of their local prestigious Sarawak Cat Club’s experienced and talented committee members, the show was a real success and flawless.

I had been in communication with both the Spring management representative and Sarawak Cat Club on making this show a success and I had gave them some ideas about activities besides just a simple cat show or exhibition. We had activities such as coloring contest for kids, fancy cat dress, breed presentation, talks about cats and expositions by some vendors. You see, for a show to be a success, I strongly believed that everyone involved must play their role no matter how significant the role is. I had even spent some time talking with the vendors and suggested to them instead of waiting for ‘walk-in’ customers, they can educate the exhibitors and members of the public by having a brief introduction of their products. At the end of the 2-days event, the vendors were happy with their sales and all this comes down to a win-win situation.

There were some pedigree cats on exhibition to educate the public. Breeds such as Persian, Exotic, Maine Coon, European Burmese, Scottish Fold, Ragdoll, Turkish Van, Norwegian Forest and on the first day of the show, I had the honor to do a 30 minutes breed presentation to the exhibitors and the public; educating them how a pedigree (for example a Persian) suppose to look like, key features of the breed such as head and body profile and how certain breed differs from the other (Persian vs Exotic, Maine Coon vs Norwegian Forest etc)

Since the show was held in a public mall and big crowd is being expected, I had made my intention very clear to the show management that the benching and judging area for the cats must be condoned by proper barriers and signages of Do’s and Don’ts must be visible around the condoned area to educate the public of what they can do and what they can’t. Exhibitors were earlier been briefed by me on how to safeguard their cat(s), keeping them calm and to advise the public about the Do’s and Don’ts. The Spring management had even placed 2 guards for that purpose with also the assistance by the Sarawak Cat Club members.

Before I started my judging, I explained to the exhibitors and the public on what are the criterias that a cat judge is looking for during a competition. Since the cats in this competition in particular are non-pedigree cats; criterias such as cleanliness, temperament, body balance and interaction between cat and judge are very important. I adopted the open-judging style whereby I give a brief comment on every single cat I handled; highlighting the strong points of the cat as well as points that can be improved.

Since I am a CFA Ambassador, it is part of my responsibility to educate cat owners about the importance of neutering and spaying if the cat is not use for breeding or a genetic default such as kink had been detected. On the second day, I had another 30 minutes presentation entitled ‘10 Commandments of Responsible Cat Ownership and Breeder‘. As a judge of the show and ambassador to a well-known cat association, I strongly felt that it is also my responsibility to educate my exhibitors and public about the protection of a cat’s welfare in particular and animals in general. At the end of my presentation, I had stressed to cat owners and breeders that:-

1. Never treat cats as comodities
2. Respect animals the way you wanted to be respected
3. Responsibilities of finding good homes for their cats

Some of the winners

A token of appreciation presented by the President of Sarawak Cat Club

The show management committee and vendors

At the end of the 2 days show, I was very satisfied of what I had accomplished especially when I received very positive feedbacks from some exhibitors that they had enjoyed the show, my concept of open-judging and presentations. This also the feedbacks that I had received from the show management themselves. Furthermore, I always believed that a cat show is not about whose cat wins but a strong ground for cat owners to learn something to take care their cats; the right way.

Today is National Day for Malaysia. Therefore, being opportunist, Feline Society of Malaysia took the liberty and holds the Merdeka Cat Show at The Mall.

First of all, I will skip the crowd control part since I am getting tired to comment about that on every of their shows.

Above: Banner of the show. ‘Wow’ I must say since there were more breeds than just ‘the’ Persian and ‘the’ Maine Coon (yeah… yeah.. both are still up there… mascot mah for the club… )OK! For the benefits of those who doesn’t recognize the breed, please allow me to introduce them.
Back row starting from left: Siberian (way left) British Shorthair, Ocicat, Exotic, Abyssinian and Maine Coon
Front row starting from left: Maine Coon (again?), Maine Coon (AGAIN??), Sphynx, Persian (ahem), 3 Ragdoll kittens, Maine Coon (Zzzzz….), Maine Coon (Give me a break!!!) and Norwegian Forest (Phewww….). Just for your information that, 75% of the cats were belong to the committee ya… Need I show it in a pie chart?

We have the same judges as last week show in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah; Ms. Diana Rothermel, Mr. Rod U’ren, Mr. Wayne Travethan and Ms. Becky Orlando and not forgetting Master Clerk, Mr. Dick Kalamayer.

I wish to highlight some points here:

1. Foreign Exhibitor Harrassed!

An exhibitor from Hong Kong had complained to me that she was contacted by the President to attend a local TV interview which will commence at 6am on Friday morning. She had politely declined the offer knowing the fact she need some rest and it was too early for her. Then, the Treasurer called her up (and this is already close to midnight) and told her how uncooperative she is and how they needed shorthair cats to be showed on TV. This pisses the exhibitor off and she gave the Treasurer a piece of her mind. I was thinking that we have local members that has shorthair cats (knowing the fact the entire committee is only kaki semi-longhairs and longhairs!!) such as Abyssinians, European Burmese, Siamese, Oriental, American Shorthairs just to name a few. I do not think FSM is that pathetic for not having any shorthairs cats! Why the committee had not contact local members but harassing foreign exhibitors?? I mean what kind of hospitality that they are showing as Malaysians??

(SIGH…..)

2. Being barred from entering the show hall?

When I heard about this, I was shocked. I thought the show was open to public. To my agony of doubt, I found out that the victim was the Vice President of Feline Fanciers Society of Singapore, a CFA club. I was like…. what the @%^$&%$#$#&*^. Apparently a fellow exhibitor (whom the committee had tried very hard to throw her out of the club) had invited the VP as a friend to be her personal photographer and apparently he had no intention to set up a studio in the show hall. Therefore, it was just a miscommunication but question is, did the show committee clarify with the exhibitor or the FFSS VP first rather than base on ASSUMPTIONS before he was stopped at the entrance and publicly humiliating himself?

3. Benched close but yet too far.

There is an exhibitor who had walking difficulties (using 2 crutches as aid) and showing 7 Maine Coons in the show but he was benched the last row in the show hall. Although he had his wife and friends to help him but knowing him, being very supportive in local CFA shows and will bring not less than 5 cats in every show, I think it is very inconsiderate that he was placed at the back. Although with his difficulty, he still walk with his crutches to see his cats being judged and listen to comments by the judges.

4. A cowardly warning

When I was talking with the CFA International Division representative (Asia/Latin-America) and a Thai exhibitor, one of the show committee member came to me and said, ‘Becareful on your writings in your blog’ and walked off. 3 of us were looking at each other….. and we started laughing. The Thai exhibitor asked what is that all about and I replied that apparently some losers just could not take simple criticism which immediately kind of remind myself an old friend of mine who cares so much to his cats but disregard the welfare of his 2 children. What I am trying to say is, mend your own fences first before start mending others….

5. What the $%^$^#$!!

What is this???

What on EARTH is FSM asset (separator) being used as buffer for the judging tables? What kind of respect the club committee of doing this!!!

And what is this again??

Why different separators were being used and not using FSM separators in all the judging rings???

6. Last show?

An exhibitor told me that he was informed by one of the committee that this will be the last show for FSM. I was like ‘huh??’ and ask him whether that committee member was on high or intoxicated when saying that? Therefore, are they going to step down (finally could not take the heat?) or are the whole committee decided to stop showing (Yeah right!!)? But why? Why? and why? (Tears rolling down….)

I was at this show which was held at Kota Kinabalu last weekend (23rd & 24th August 2008) and I told myself that this is one of the show that I will not miss even I’m dead since the Show Manager had been bragging and promo about it like nobody’s business like a fish monger in a wet market (yeah yeah.. I know it is a repeat from my promo!!)

By the way, isn’t it by coincidence the ‘almost-whole’ FSM committee was there at the show as exhibitors? Actually no, they were there so-called helping Borneo Cat Club. Another FSM show? Well, after knowing the fact the Borneo Cat Club President had little knowledge on CFA shows, one can only guess. I truly understand I will not expect a perfect show but in summary of this show, it was by a bunch of people who called themselves elite in organizing cat show but it is a bunch of mess and believe me, the Show Manager himself said, at the end of the show, will do another show on his own and will not depend on others.

(I guessed someone had learned his lesson but it is a good move….)

This is what happened during the show…

1. Exhibitor’s Transport Drama - Part 1
An exhibitor arrived 1 hour plus earlier than my convoy from West Malaysia and she complained that she was made to wait for more than an hour with her 3 cats in order to have someone to pick her from the airport to the show hotel. The exhibitor called up the Show Manager and he said she had to join another group of exhibitors (meaning the West Malaysia convoy!!) and asked her to wait. She said she had paid the transportation charges and nothing in the agreement that states that it will be on sharing basis!

(OK! Perhaps there is a loop hole in this transportation fiasco but I felt pity for someone had been wait at the airport with 3 cats. Is there any double standards? God knows….)

2. Fraternizing with the judges
Well, it is nothing wrong with that but in my humble opinion that if you are an exhibitor for the next day show, it would be best that you do not sit in the same table as the judges. During dinner, I saw a couple ‘bagai pinang dibelah dua‘ (direct translation would be ‘betel nut cut into two’). Betel nuts are very popular among malays where they just gobble in their mouth and chew and later spit the tasteless goo everywhere and WARNING!!!! Chances that you may choked to death if this goo got into your mouth whether accidentally or not!!!

I managed to found this picture from www.summ.org!! What a COINCIDENCE!!!!

OK! OK! To put it in a clearer picture of this betel nut thingy, just imagine Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. Ahhhh…..

And yes!! THE QE and PP were also exhibitors for the show were fraternizing with the 4 judges.

(Memories came gushing into my mind….)

3. Exhibitor’s Transport Drama - Part Deux
Chaos at the early morning on the first day whereby the bus driver who suppose to transport all exhibitors from the show hotel to the show hall refused to accept cats in the cabin and insisted that all cats to be placed at the luggage compartment!! All the exhibitors were furious and guess what? The Assistant Show Manager was seen standing at one corner like a ‘tunggul‘ …..

(’tunggul‘ means a piece of wood that had no longer had any use for anything and I mean ANYTHING!!!)

Finally, one of a Malaysian exhibitor could not take it anymore, went and speak personally with the driver and finally the driver allow cats in the passenger cabin but the condition that all cats had to be placed at the back of the bus. Oh yeah, the sad part would be that the Asst. Show Manager did not join the rest of the exhibitors since he already had his own arrangement of private transport. Neat huh…

There is no show committee members in the bus which was initially ok before the bus driver took all the exhibitors for a joy ride since he is unsure where is the exact location of the show hall!!!

GOD!!!!!

Knowing the fact, we were already late, I called up the Show Manager and asked him to direct the driver to the exact location!!

Sigh!!

4. The Scuffle
The commotion had not ended at the bus ride but got heated up! While some exhibitors waiting in line for their cats being vetted-in, the Entry Clerk of the show was screaming at the top of his lung at a foreign exhibitor from Hong Kong (which is a lady) for the issue of RM50. This action angers the foreign exhibitor, not because of the RM50 but she told the Entry Clerk right at his face that, as a host and show committee, he should mind his manner when he open his mouth. Seeing the much tense situation and the Show Manager was standing right in front of me, I called upon him and told him, as Show Manager, he needs to clear the air up which to my surprise the Show Manager just shook his head and walked off!!

5. Vetting-in
Right after ‘The Scuffle’ incident, another drama at the vetting-in counter. I saw an exhibitor arguing with the vet for poking a thermometer into her show cat’s anal. Of so many CFA cat shows I had attended; Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Thailand, I do not see their vets using thermometer as part of the vetting-in. Out of curiosity, I questioned the vet on the sanitizer that they used to clean the thermometer after it was removed from the cat’s body whether they were really safe. I mean you are talking about 122 cats will be vetted and I just could not imagine cat number 122 being last poked by the thermometer and the risk of any sort infection or disease if the thermometer was not effectively disinfected. Again, I called up the Show Manager and voice my concern and finally the Show Manager asked the vet to only perform physically check the cat without using the thermometer unless the cat show signs of sickness.

(Phew!! God bless free of infection risk!!)

6. Crowd control
It was really bad. The crowd was enormous but there is no barricade between benching cats and spectators. Many spectators had poke the show cats, had went to the extent open up their cages or show tents and touch them without the consent of the owners which kind of upset to many exhibitors. Some exhibitors had even cover their cages using separators, towels and etc to protect their cats. Something that all Show Managers should be taken into consideration which is proper barricade need to be erected for the welfare of the cats.

7. Ambassador giving wrong info
I was fortunate to able to meet up with the Curator of Kuching Cat Museum and the Vice President of North Kuching City Council. While I was explaining to both of them about CFA shows and various breeds, one of them highlighted that he had earlier spoken to another Ambassador and he asked the Ambassador about the time taken for a club to get affiliated to CFA. I was shocked to learn that, the Ambassador mentioned it will take a years time for a club to get affiliated. I explained to both gentlemen that any club which is interested to affiliate with CFA will need to submit an application with supported documents before the CFA Board Meeting and it should NOT take a years time to get affiliated.

Anyway, I had done some research on my own for the show:

Wow… I wonder why there were many absentees from the FSM committee alone? Some said it is just for stuffing purposes just to make the catalogue look ‘nice’ with xxx number of cats but the irony part is that the Show Manager himself isn’t aware that he still need to pay the judging fee regardless the cat is present or not. I guessed the elite force could have ‘forgot’ informing on that part!!

Above: Here is Ms. Adilah introducing her Abyssinians to the Sabah Deputy Chief Minister and his wife.

The winners of the show:

The local newspaper write up about the show.

Bangkok…. here I come!! This was my next destination 1 week after the Singapore show. I was really excited since I had never been to Bangkok and spending 3D2N (although not long), I had spent the time there to the fullest. Nice food (especially the porks!!) and inexpensive beer (mind you since it costs 2-3 times more in Malaysia).

Anyway, CFCT short for Cat Fanciers Club of Thailand had hold a 4-ring All Breed CFA show at Bangkapi in the heart of Bangkok. The judges were Mr. Darrell Newkirk, Mr. Robert Zenda, Ms. Carla Bizzell and Ms. Wakako Nagayama and yes, I clerk in this show as well.

Special thanks to Mr. Surat to give me the oppurtunity to clerk in this show and I was under Ms. Wakako Nagayama guidance. Many had said that clerking under Waka-san is challenging and I admitted that at first but the secret of being a ring clerk is that you are suppose to work according to the judge’s needs and rhythm and not the other way around. I was there, as a ring clerk is not for the purpose of marking the flats / ribbons awarded by the judge and signing off the judges’ sheet but to make sure everything revolves in the judging ring is in order and everything went smoothly.

I certainly learned a lot when I clerk for Waka-san and she had never refuse to answer any of my queries and also gave her opinions on how to be an effective ring clerk. I asked her whether she would be interested to come back again to Malaysia to judge and she gave me a grin. Knowing the fact that Waka-san was ‘ditched’ after her judging contract was ‘conveniently’ voided by a club, I assured her that I am speaking to her on a personal level basis and not representing any clubs and she replied she will think about it. (Arigato gozaimasu, Waka-san!!)

Above: Benching area

Above: The crowd taking picture of a young Maine Coon

Above: The Thailand Prime Minister officiating the show

In the end, I had finally finished all of my clerking assignments as required by CFA and hopefully I will be a certified license CFA Ring Clerk soon. Hooray……

Since I was in Singapore to attend the CFA Asia Award Banquet, I took the oppurtunity to attend Feline Fanciers Society of Singapore’s show which was held at The Chevrons. Furthermore, I need to complete my assignments in order to be a licensed Ring Clerk (which I was denied such oppurtunity in my home country!!!). I was given the chance to clerk under All Breed judge from the United States, Ms. Carla Bizzell. It was Ms. Bizzell first visit to Singapore and she is a very attractive, jovial and a kind person.

The show hall was very conducive with soft music playing in the background that soothes not just the exhibitors, cats but also the crowd. The show had managed to attract a reasonable crowd. What is unique in this show is that for the first time, they had a CFA Ambassador booth manned by Ms. Phebe Low who came all the way from Hong Kong to promote CFA spirits to the public. (Well done, Phebe!!)

Here are some of the pictures taken during the show.

Above: The crowd

Above: CFA Juniorshowmanship

Above: I saw this cute lil girl walking around the show hall with her cat on leash and I had asked her to post with her cat.

I was invited again by Trubus, a popular Indonesia local agriculture magazine to be a guest judge in their cat show. This time, it was held at Museum Purna Bakti Pertiwi, Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (Beautiful Indonesia Miniature Park) or better known as TMII.

TMII is a fantastic place where it offers both local and foreign visitors who wish to get a comprehensive picture of the entire Indonesian archipelago but do not have time to travel around to see them. If you happens to be in Jakarta, TMII should not be missed. TMII is located in East Jakarta approximately 15-20 minutes drive from Jakarta main city. It is an extensive 300-hectare park presenting replicas of traditional houses, cultural artifacts, a park/lake which maps the Indonesian archipelago, and many museums. There are also an orchid garden, a huge bird park, an IMAX theatre, and also cable car and monorail rides to delight the younger visitors.

There were 76 cats competing in this round in 3 main categories; Imported Pedigrees, Local Bred Pedigrees and Non-Pedigrees. Each main categories were divided into sub-categories such as Adult Males, Adult Females, Kittens 3-6 months and Kittens 6-10 months. Here are some pictures taken during the show.

The Winners

This would be my 3 invitation as guest judge in Jakarta, Indonesia and I must say that the quality of Indonesian cats had improved in terms of grooming, health and even the cat breeds’ profile. This is due to the fact that the cat fancy in Indonesia had spread it’s wings to the international level whereby they just had a CFA International show hosted 3 weeks before this show. I hoped that the quality of cats will be continually improved and I am very sure Indonesia would able to produce top quality cats to compete in Asia.

I would like to thank to Trubus for inviting me again, Ibu Eva who had attended to me during my stay in Jakarta, my stewards, Pristi, Permana, Rico and Tonto whom assisted me during the course of the event.