Think About Not Eating Sharks' Fin

For all the cheer and significance of Chinese New Year and major Chinese festivals, I find them most irritating when it comes to food.

There are many points of argument on the food. I'm going to take a stand on sharks' fin.

There's a Chinese New Year saying: 年年有余 ("To have 'fish' (excess/abundance) every year")

That is the most hypocritical saying of all. The word "余" to mean an excess of or abundance of, when spoken also sounds like 鱼 'fish' in Mandarin. The sayings are always accompanied by images of precious carps, goldfish, arrowanas and whatever else expensive fish.

So the Chinese eat fish to signify abundance and wealth. So since sharks are 'fish' too, sharks' fin is merrily lapped up.

The irony- sharks are killed not by fishing, but by drowning. These predators of the oceans are being wiped out from cruel finning. If you're an avid diver, you will be able to see the imbalance in the oceans today compared to 10 years ago.

So in the years to come, when the world doesn't belong to us, it might very well face a scenario of 年年无余 [鱼] (no abundance and excess every year and no fish).

Then, no matter how much wealth nations accumulate, the world will never rid itself of pollution and ill health for the humans.

The friends and I can only do our bit within our sphere of influence. We take a strong stand against sharks' fin. We don't even attend dinners that serve sharks' fin. It takes many spheres of influence to create strong consumer ripples.

Help us.

See these cute angpows from this website? I bought them and shall use them to put across a very strong message this Chinese New Year.