Will Singapore be the first Asian country to ban shark fins?
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By Melissa Aw | Yahoo! Newsroom – 1 hour 58 minutes ago
Marine photographer Michael Aw has a bold dream -- for Singapore to ban shark’s fin by the end of 2013.
The 56-year-old, who will be launching a “No Shark Fins Singapore” nationwide campaign at Asia Dive Expo on Marina Bay Sands on Friday, hopes to convince all Chinese restaurants to remove shark’s fin from their menus. He also hopes to convince 50 companies -- hotels and major corporations -- to support the cause.
Speaking to Yahoo! Singapore earlier this week, he said, “We can do it. Let it be a Singaporean initiative and let us be the first Asian country to do this.”
Asked why he feels so strongly about the issue, Aw related his experiences as an underwater photographer and scuba diving instructor where he had personally witnessed the depletion of sharks through the years.
“When I first started diving in 1981, there were plenty of sharks -- in Malaysian waters, Tioman and even around Raffles Lighthouse in Singapore,” he said. “But in the late ‘80s, there were no more sharks.”
“Sharks reproduce very, very slowly… it’s just not possible to sustain the kind of demand that we have for shark’s fin,” he added.
Aw described the way that sharks were being culled for their fins and then discarded back into the waters alive as “cruel” and “wastage”.
“There is absolutely no nutritional value in the fin, and it’s basically just ‘fashion’ more than food. [Actually], it’s not even food.”
Aw also stressed that since sharks are already regionally extinct, more effort needs to be pumped into encouraging the conservation of sharks, especially with hundreds being culled daily for their fins.
“They’ve very important in the ocean because like the lion or the cheetah of the Savannah, they keep nature in balance”.
Strong online support
It seems Aw is not the only one who feels so strongly about the issue.
In January, he started an online petition to encourage Singaporeans to pledge their support for banning shark’s fin by next year. Within two weeks, the online effort had garnered an impressive 80,000 supporters.
When supermarket giants NTUC and Carrefour made the decision to take shark’s fin off their shelves earlier this year, Aw realised “that was the moment” to create an online petition to “take it to the next level”.
“And we went viral within the week,” he added, with a hint of unmistakable pride.
In the time since, Aw has recruited MediaCorp actress and Miss Singapore Universe 2009 Jessica Tan to be the face of his “No shark’s fin by 2013” campaign.
Underwater photographs of the actress posing with at least 50 sharks at the Bahamas taken earlier this year will be unveiled on Friday.
Progressive action plan
Aw, who hasn’t eaten shark’s fin for more than 20 years, stressed that the campaign needs to follow a “progressive action plan” with specific targets.
Once he has managed to convince Chinese restaurants and at least 50 companies to support his cause, he plans to petition openly for the government to ban shark’s fin by 2013.
Part of he and five-member team’s effort involves educating the young about sharks.
He plans to recruit 1,000 kids from the ages of 7 to 14 to assemble at Resorts World Sentosa in November to pledge: “I am the future, I won’t eat shark’s fin”.
Explained Aw: “The younger generation is the future. If we educate them, hopefully … we will [soon] have a generation of non shark’s fin consumers.”
Although he proclaimed that he was “101 per cent” confident of his campaign’s success, he admitted that it would not be easy convincing the relevant authorities to completely ban shark’s fin in Singapore’s consumerist market.
“Sharks do not have a very good reputation. You can’t protect an animal if you don’t understand it. We have to promote the true image of sharks -- they're not man-eaters.” -
�好�的 in the 1st place.
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The 56-year-old, who will be launching a “No Shark Fins Singapore” nationwide campaign at Asia Dive Expo on Marina Bay Sands
will there be a ban on serving sharkfin in Bay Sands restaurants?
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75% of Singapore is chinese, if you include PRCs in Singapore maybe 80% or more people in Singapore are chinese.
Singapore is not ideal candidate for banning shark fin. I reject Michael Aw's campaign of banning shark fin in Singapore. He is chinese, peranakan or what?
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If they tell me that sharkfins is bad for my health and prove it . Fine I accept that . Or else it's simply discriminating my cultural eating practice which is over a thousand years of history, by Western elements and their influence and i will not accept that! I don't tell them to stop eating beef or sheep , they should not tell me to stop eating sharksfins which I can only afford on my birthday !
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Michael Aw is peranakan or chinese?
Peranakans got eat shark fin?
Now I cautious of someone with chinese surname but promotes stuff that are against chinese culture and chinese interests.
Already got conned by another fucking bastard already. Once bitten twice shy.
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throw that moron into a pool with full of sharks. let see will he still ban shark fins anot?
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Originally posted by Bikeforceful:
If they tell me that sharkfins is bad for my health and prove it . Fine I accept that .
Or else it’s simply discriminating my cultural eating practice which is over a thousand years of history, by Western elements and their influence and i will not accept that! I don’t tell them to stop eating beef or sheep , they should not tell me to stop eating sharksfins which I can only afford on my birthday !
i feel likewise. why not ask the japs to stop whaling and the caucasians to stop eating beef. -
Cool,when is the event held?
got freebies for me? i am 14.
wait for holidays then i can do it
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What kind of bullshit is this?
There is so many species of sharks, the guy just wan to ban all sharks fins! The depletion of the sharks is due to global warming. And do he know that sharks is the predator of all the other fishes, capping the amount of fishes in the water. Killing more sharks means more fishes for humans.
Shark fin is full of collagens and it has anti-aging properties. Eat more of it can help to mantain your youth and give you healthy joints.
We should promote the campaign of eating shark fins. First, eating shark fin keep you young and beautiful. Second, it make you safer when you do diving. Third, we have more fishes for our future generations. Is it good?
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The most important fact is most of the fins that you buy in supermart and some shops. They are not really "shark" fins. They are actually by-products from other fishes. So we ended up in food wastage instead.
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"No Shark Fins Singapore" campaign launched
SINGAPORE: A "No Shark Fins Singapore" campaign has been launched at the Asia Dive Expo (ADEX) 2012.
It hopes to make Singapore shark fin-free by 2013 and is looking to convince all Chinese restaurants and companies to remove shark fins from their menus and corporate events respectively, and conduct active outreach programmes to primary and secondary schools.
Non-profit organisations that have shown their support for this ground-up shark conservation campaign so far include WWF Singapore, Project FIN, Fauna and Flora International, IUCN, Shark Research Institute, and Humane Society International.
- CNA/cc -
Originally posted by QX179R:
"No Shark Fins Singapore" campaign launched
SINGAPORE: A "No Shark Fins Singapore" campaign has been launched at the Asia Dive Expo (ADEX) 2012.
It hopes to make Singapore shark fin-free by 2013 and is looking to convince all Chinese restaurants and companies to remove shark fins from their menus and corporate events respectively, and conduct active outreach programmes to primary and secondary schools.
Non-profit organisations that have shown their support for this ground-up shark conservation campaign so far include WWF Singapore, Project FIN, Fauna and Flora International, IUCN, Shark Research Institute, and Humane Society International.
- CNA/ccwhere is ACRES?
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Ban!!! No!
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Aw, who hasn’t eaten shark’s fin for more than 20 years, stressed that the campaign needs to follow a “progressive action plan” with specific targets.
Once he has managed to convince Chinese restaurants and at least 50 companies to support his cause, he plans to petition openly for the government to ban shark’s fin by 2013.
Part of he and five-member team’s effort involves educating the young about sharks.
He plans to recruit 1,000 kids from the ages of 7 to 14 to assemble at Resorts World Sentosa in November to pledge: “I am the future, I won’t eat shark’s fin”.
Explained Aw: “The younger generation is the future. If we educate them, hopefully … we will [soon] have a generation of non shark’s fin consumers.”
Although he proclaimed that he was “101 per cent” confident of his campaign’s success, he admitted that it would not be easy convincing the relevant authorities to completely ban shark’s fin in Singapore’s consumerist market.
“Sharks do not have a very good reputation. You can’t protect an animal if you don’t understand it. We have to promote the true image of sharks -- they're not man-eaters.”What nonsense, If restraunts don't have sharks fin, How on earth are they going to make money?
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The level of ignorance is appalling...
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Michael Aw is arrogant to launch this campaign. His campaign must be defeated.
Chinese people must stand up to defend their culture against the likes of Michael Aw.
Chinese culture in Singapore has been under assault for quite a long time now, chinese schools destroyed, nantah destroyed, dialects suppressed.
If we continue to act passively, people like Michael Aw will take us for granted.
Tang found himself not merely participating in politics, but running for election. His reasons for this decision were very much based on his concerns over what was happening to the Chinese community and other minority communities, in Singapore.
Non-English speaking Singaporeans, including Chinese, Malays and Indians have, he says, been discriminated against unnecessarily under the PAP policies, particularly, for example the Chinese-educated, the Buddhists, the Taoists, the Hindus and the Muslims.
The discrimination, he says, takes various forms: Nanyang University was restructured; there is no Chinese-language business paper; there is discrimination in the intake of university students, in the engagement of university lecturers and school teachers, in the manning of positions in the army and police forces, and an absence of representation of the non-English-speaking Singaporeans in the decision-making process and in many top government posts. These are just a few examples.
"It is obvious that Lee and his family have already amassed vast amount of wealth. But nobody dared to speak up.
They are very powerful in Singapore. To maintain their high positions and wealth, they must have a monopoly of power. LKY has his relatives and cronies in the army, in the police force and everywhere. They have their fingers everywhere.
http://singaporeelection.blogspot.com/2006/05/feature-on-tang-liang-hong.html
Endangered species?
For goodness sake, Lee Kuan Yew practically filled the entire cabinet with inbred Peranakans.
For the last few decades in Singapore, the top positions in civil service, statutory boards, armed forces, GLCs have all along been going disproportionately to the Peranakans.
That is one reason why Singapore has been run to the ground.
Lee Kuan Yew worked with the Japanese Kempeitai and later the British colonizers to suppress the non-Peranakan Chinese.
That's why he has always been wary of non-Peranakan Chinese and could only entrust power to his own family members and his other Peranakan cronies.
http://tomorrow.sg/archives/2009/02/17/peranakans__going_the_way_of_the.html
Michael Aw's campaign must be thoroughly defeated. He cannot be allowed to succeed.
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ban sharks fins??then should ban abalone from cans and fresh too...along with ban on people using electricity as its using fossil fuels and producing more green house gases destroying ozone layer n planet.
then they should ban humans for being alivecause they are no more faster,cheaper and better.
what will happen next will be wars,destruction and invasion.theres should be a vote on banning it totally or seasonal thing or replacement for sharks fins usingartificial methods.
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oh why not? we have been the first to ban CHEWY GUM...why not add on to the list of "firsts OF BANS"? ban la ban la.... why not oso ban frog legs next? aiyo BAN GA LA BAN GA LA..
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NO WAY!!!
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Originally posted by Fcukpap:
oh why not? we have been the first to ban CHEWY GUM…why not add on to the list of “firsts OF BANS”?
ban la ban la….
why not oso ban frog legs next?
aiyo BAN GA LA BAN GA LA..
can ask fifi's advice how to ban...
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won't miss it anyway
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What has politics to do with this? What has race itself has to do w/ it?
Go figure out what the people do to the sharks after they get their fins. You dun kill it on the spot, but over time by leaving it to die.
So what if one day there's no more whale, no more sharks, how are we going to tell to our next gen just how the whale or shak looks like?
For that, I've stopped eating sharks fin eons ago
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i have never eaten shark fin in my life b4.... anyone believe?