TRY playing the game “Six Degrees Of Separation” see how separated you are from someone who owns a koi pond, and you’ll quickly realise that if it’s not someone you know directly, then it’s a friend or a relative of a friend. Such is the popularity of koi in Singapore. This popularity will be even more evident this weekend when the Singapore Koi Club hosts the first-ever and “biggest Koi show in Asia.” An estimated 1,500 koi of world-class standard, consisting of 14 sizes and 16 varieties, will be flying in to take part in the three-day event at the Singapore Expo. About 300 vinyl tanks will be placed in the show ground.

According to the Koi Club, the show will be rotated rotated yearly among 10 Asian countries —Singapore, China, Japan, Taiwan, Hongkong, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia and Brunei — and expects more than 100 overseas visitors to participate in the event. There will be around 50 booths selling Koi and relevant products, and a Koi auction is to be held on Saturday, from 1pm to 2pm and 4pm to 5:30pm.

One of the exhibitors will be Summer Koi Farm, an 88DB member, which offers a novel concept in Koi care: a “hotel” for your aquatic pets where they can stay in luxury while you’re overseas sealing a business deal or pampering yourself in an exotic spa. Koi can even stay long-term if you don’t have the space to build your own pond at home.

“ We provide professional care, including transportation, meals, medication and superb water quality ponds. Your kois will enjoy resort-style living,” says Summer Koi Farm owner Toh Kok Swee. They can also treat kinds of koi injuries and diseases, and even perform cosmetic surgery! “We provide specialised medication / consultation for your beloved Kois,” the resort claims.

Mr. Toh’s facility, located in rustic Jalan Kayu, offers koi owners a choice of mud or clear pond for rent. According to its website, Summer Koi Farm consists of ½ acre of rich soil suitable for Koi rearing. Pond water is sourced from a well that yields mineral-rich water that’s consistently churned out many Koi champions every year.

Speaking of champions, the most interesting part of the Koi show will be the race for the 1 st Asia Koi Cup. The prize money, around $30,000, is to be donated by the biggest breeder in Japan, Sakai koi farm. Time to start breeding your own koi!