In memoriam of members past

Andrew McGill
1950 - 2005

We lost another of our members (#006) today, Andrew McGill, a staunch member of the BKKS and a reluctant pin collector. He thought we were mad, but eventually, after acquiring a considerable collection himself, he came around to our point of view. Andrew's collection came about by way of being presented with them as souvenirs by grateful Koi Show Chairmen for his work as a koi photographer. His claim to fame was that he had been appointed as 'Official Photographer' for several BKKS Nationals, Koi America and the SAKKS National in South Africa.

His Koi photography was but one aspect of his contribution to our hobby. Andrew was also the BKKS Collator, responsible for getting the BKKS news into the red pages of Koi Carp magazine on a monthly basis. Andrew had taken on this task since the day the BKKS/Koi Carp partnership was formed which must have made him one of the longest serving Council members.

Andrew also designed, developed and produced a Benching Admin Program which is used by many koi clubs both home and abroad to this day. He also created one of the training/testing parts of the BKKS JSC examination every year.

A man of so many talents, modest and truly selfless.

In so many ways, his memory will live on.

Vincent Chiu
1931 - 2004

The International World of Koi-keeping lost one of its finest ambassadors today. My friend Vincent Chiu (#003)finally succumbed to the heart problems that had plagued him for years, two months to the day before his 73rd birthday.

Vincent became a Koi keeper in 1979, was a founder member of the Taipei Nishikigoi Society founded in May 1987, and joined the ZNA in 1988. He went on to become a founder member of each chapter (6) of the Taiwan ZNA as it expanded.

Made Chief of the International Division of the Nishikigoi Keepers Society of China in October 1990, he was eventually elected to Chairman of the ZNA Taiwan District in 2002. He was also a ZNA Local Certified Judge.

Vincent confessed to speaking Japanese better than his own mother tongue of Chinese, English coming a poor third in his opinion. Nevertheless, Vincent’s language skills were much in demand and he often acted as an interpreter for visiting westerners in Japan and the Japanese abroad. He particularly enjoyed organising the ‘Fun Tours’ for Kato-san, an activity he was still involved with on the day he died. He was also discussing a potential visit to the Dutch National and the South East BKKS shows for 2005 just weeks before his demise. He was clearly an optimist, and determined to live his life to the full.

He leaves a wife, Lin-May Whea and three sons, Steve, York and Jonny, he will be sadly missed.

©2004 IPKC