Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Say No to Sharkfin!

Long time ago, I have already decided not to have sharkfin in the menu of my wedding day.



If you haven't already know about shark finning, here is what it is:

Shark finning means cutting off the sharks' fins, the only valuable part of its body, and flinging the poor thing back into sea.

The shark then undergoes a slow and painful death.

Needless to say, it’s a common knowledge that this is a cruel act and that the shark's population is on the verge of extinction.


All fishes are friends :) - Sharks from Finding Nemo


For the Chinese, serving shark fin soup at their wedding dinner is in the tradition. Parents especially, are often aghast at the notion of not serving this valuable food at the wedding of their sons or daughters.

If you do not serve sharkfins, does it means that your wedding is incomplete?
If you do not serve sharkfins, does it means that you are a cheapskate?
Is it wrong to replace sharkfins with other soup/food which might be more expensive that the shark fins itself? Such as scallops and suckling pigs perhaps?

There's a forum for those couples who opt not to serve sharkfins. Check out their opinions here.

Here's a response from the forum which I particularly like:
 "Initially my in-laws disagree, worry what guests will think. I responded, "Guests come to wish for our happiness and celebrate with us OR come to eat shark fin to justify their ang pow to us?". At the end, the soup (without sharkfins) was great.. and was the highlight of all 8 course menu"

Here's more reasons for not serving shark fin from this site:


So you CAN save a few sharks today by not serving them for your wedding! 
When the buying stops, the killing stops.

Like Michael Jackson said from Man in the Mirror:

I'm Starting With The Man In
The Mirror
I'm Asking Him To Change
His Ways
And No Message Could Have
Been Any Clearer
If You Wanna Make The World
A Better Place
(If You Wanna Make The
World A Better Place)
Take A Look At Yourself, And
Then Make A Change
(Take A Look At Yourself, And
Then Make A Change)
(Na Na Na, Na Na Na, Na Na,
Na Nah)



There is also misconception that sharks are dangerous, are man-killers and hence, deserve to be finned and boiled into a soup.

Fact #1: Each year there are about 50 to 70 confirmed shark attacks and 5 to 15 shark-attack fatalities around the world. While sharks kill fewer than 20 people a year, their own numbers suffer greatly at human hands. Between 30 and 100 million sharks die each year.

Fact #2:
Sharks-fin has no nutritional value is actually harmful since they bleach and chlorinate the fin to alter the colour and to get rid of the smell. All the taste comes from the stock that is used to make the soup and not from the shark cartilage – which is tasteless.


With the facts provided, let's us rethink the common reasons of serving shark-fins, it's because it's a glamour thing or because this dish is delicious now that you know that shark fin is tasteless and harmful.


Here's an awesome article written by Marcus Chan on the peril of shark-fin soup. 

Here's the video of an internationally award winning documentary by Rob Stewart:




Video of NBA athlete Yao Ming (姚明) addressing shark fin soup:







8 comments:

  1. i can live without Sharkfin.. :)

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  2. Interesting post! Sharks fin soup is a delicacy! Its so yummy! Its d dish most ppl look fwd to at wedding dinners cus we don't usually eat or will order sharks fin soup on a normal day. U knw, I find that its also very cruel to kill piglets!don't ya think? Poor little babies.
    Rojak, u happily whack sharks fin soup at wedding dinners too rite..:/

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  3. guess you won't be serving sharkfin soup in your coming wedding..:)..i will support you...protect the shark...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Angel: you r right that I will eat those sharkfins at other people's wedding. My rationale is the harm is already done cuz if i dun eat them, the shark won't come back alive. Just curious, if you've got one table of guests refusing your sharkfins when being served, how would u feel?

    John: u r right! Thanks for the support!! :D

    ReplyDelete
  5. Rojak, if they refuse I wud understand cus they r really against and serious abt it.Now I wonder if a pure vegetarian person wud also whack yummy char siew for example just becuz its served to them? Hmmmmm..but seriously,after knwing u for ages,I din knw u anti sfs until recently.I guess u meant u won't serve it but u don't mind eating it ya?
    :\

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  6. Livelove, you have a point there. I have a friend who did not serve sharksfin at her wedding and she does not eat anything that's got to do with sharks.
    Maybe in Rojak's case she does not want to serve sharkfins cos this will involve 20 tables x 10 bowls= 200 bowls of sharksfin which is significant much more than her one bowl that she would have at a wedding dinner?
    Rojak, do you mean it this way?

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  7. SPL: Bingo!

    Angel: Now that u said it, I feel bad for eating sharkfin at all. Point taken. I shall vow not to touch it from today.

    HAHAH...I know u since I was in primary school. I can't be so intellectual to ban shark fin back then right? I guess it started slowly when I become a diver and learn to appreciate the marine life. Having seen the beauty of underwater, it really scare me if this kinda beauty is going to vanish forever due to human act. RT Hmmmmm..but seriously,after knwing u for ages,I din knw u anti sfs until recently.

    ReplyDelete

Hi! Your comments are my vitamins!

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