History
The humble beginnings of Qian Hu go back to the 1980s when Yap Tik Huay, father of current Managing Director Kenny Yap, and Yap Tik Huay’s brother, Yap Hey Cha ran a pig farm, rearing pigs as a family business.
During that time, however, the Singapore government was in the midst of making efforts to relocate and eventually wipe out all pig farms in the country not only because of the pollution they were causing, but also to make room for other urban and residential developments.
The Yap family’s pig farm was no exception to the government’s actions and in 1985, they had no choice but to convert their pig farm into a fish farm. By this time, three of Yap Tik Huay’s sons, Yap Peng Heng, Yap Hock Huat and Yap Kim Choon, had begun working in the family business to lend a helping hand. The cubicles that originally penned in pigs were converted to concrete ponds for breeding guppies meant to be sold to local ornamental fish exporters.
In the Great Singapore Flood of 1989, the family’s entire stock of over 4000 fish was washed away in a heavy thunderstorm. Left with nothing, the Yaps had to start anew, renaming their family business to hallmark their new beginning. The family business became known as Qian Hu (meaning ‘Thousand Lakes’ in Mandarin) and Kenny Yap, together with his two cousins Andy and Alvin Yap, joined the business in hopes of helping to pull it back up on its feet.
Thus, in 1990, Qian Hu ventured into wholesale, island-wide distribution and began to increase the range and variety of ornamental fish they sold. Aside from the guppies, Koi and Goldfish they sold at that time, fishes from the Chiclid (Discus included) and Gourami families were some of the new varieties introduced. Besides that, Qian Hu also began to manufacture its own accessories in an attempt to branch out its business.
Then, in 1992, Qian Hu eventually began importing ornamental fish and exporting them worldwide, making a name for itself as one of the world’s leading exporters of ornamental fish. At the same time, Qian Hu took the opportunity to begin exporting its manufactured aquarium accessories.
On December 12, 1998, the company was incorporated under the Act as Qian Hu Fish Farm Pte Ltd to take over the partnership of Qian Hu Trading and Yi Hu, respectively established in 1988 and 1989.
Qian Hu Corporation Limited was listed on the Singapore Exchange’s (SGX) Stock Exchange of Singapore Dealing and Automated Quotation system (SESDAQ) in the year 2000. By November 2002, it was moved to the Main Board of the Singapore Exchange.
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