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Thursday, May 14, 2009 at 10:15hrs 5 Comments »

Shark Love (EP3): Shark-fin friendly photographer

So if you’ve been following, I’ve been blogging about the love for sharks and how and why we should be treating these gnashing saw teeth fishes better in;
Shark Love (EP1): In conversation with Sharkman
Shark Love (EP2): Sharkwater and some shark facts

And on how I am keen in affecting change in an industry that, perhaps doesn’t actually play a part in the slaughter of sharks for Shark-fin soup, but may be in the right position to affect some, if only a slight change – a change in seeing Shark Fin dishes off banquet tables.

And just how am I going to do that?

Stop eating shark fin! There’s really no simplier way than that. Don’t have shark fin at your wedding. Tell your friends not to have shark fin at their wedding. A friend of mine had top grade birds’ nest at her wedding as the substitute luxury dish and everybody loved it. It’s really just a matter of changing your mindset to look to the future and focus on what REALLY matters. I think when you look at it that way, a bowl of soup is no substitute for a sustainable future for the generations to come.
- Jaki (Sharkman), lovesharks.sg

And it is just as simple as that – Don’t have shark fin at your wedding. Perhaps the soup really is a tasty item, but that is just the pork broth simmered in starch and crab meat. But probably the real truth is, it is an item of prestige that Chinese Asians have grown accustomed to serve at banquets to say “We have arrived, we can serve our guests the best”. But if we’ve been properly educated to know that this dish we are serving to our guests is actually more detrimental to their health than a matter of face, wouldn’t we think thrice about it?

But then we wouldn’t be Asian if it wasn’t all about face would we? Ok, so how about serving an alternative? Bird’s Nest? Abalone? I don’t have the answers here, but this is where we ought to be making those chefs work harder with a substitute. Take local TV celebrities Shaun and Michelle, their heavily publicized wedding dinner had them declaring live on National TV last Monday night, how they took shark-fin off their menu and served a substitute instead. So, it is possible.

My Pledge

I would like to encourage couples and their families to not serve Shark-fin at their dinner banquets. And to do that, I pledge to offer every couple signed up for Actual Day wedding photography with me, who are holding sit-down Chinese x-course banquets, who consciously decide not to serve any form of sharks-fin dish at their wedding, a S$100 credit¹. This credit can be used as a redemption for any products such as Canvas Prints, Photobooks or Wedding Books. This isn’t a time-limited offer, it will be an offer I will provide henceforth. I am providing this at a cost to myself, probably not the smartest business or profit margin increasing move, but I am doing this because I care. I care for the sharks that are being poached and sinking to the floor of the ocean with their fins cut off and I am doing so because it matters what goes into the mouths of the people I care about.

¹ Terms and conditions apply.

Affecting Change

Not wanting to pass judgment onto others, I have no intent of coming across as an evangelizing crusader for sharks who condemns others not keen in my cause. I just believe in saving the sharks, encouraging others by seeking alternatives and educating them on the truth behind sharks fin.

I would also like to encourage fellow like-minded photographers out there, who see the light (pun intended) and believe in this advocacy to come forward in educating others.

I’m not expecting an overnight revolution, in fact I’m expecting some kind of flak – “Are you crazy, who the hell are you? Cannot make it la. You so righteous meh?” – but I think it is a worthwhile move in advocating getting shark fin off menus. And I’m hoping for a change, no matter how slight it may be.

Thank you for reading.

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