Sheng Siong boss buys 130kg 'monster' fish to treat employees

Managing director of Sheng Siong supermarket chain, Mr Lin Youlong has bought a 130kg giant grouper to treat 2,500 employees, with all expenses bore by the man himself. 

The grouper, reportedly taller than an adult, is believed to be more than a hundred years old, and could even be as old as 125 years of age, reports Lianhe Wanbao.

The fish is understood to be rare and was caught in Indonesian waters, requiring six men to lift it onto the fishing vessel. 

After Mr Lin came to know of the catch, he decided to buy it immediately at S$2,000 and treat his 2,500 employees.

Every employee will be entitled to almost 70 grams of fish meat. 

Giant groupers are not easily caught, and normally, only one or two end up in the boats of fishermen every year, according to Mr Lin.

This is also the third giant grouper that Sheng Siong has bought, with the first two purchases made during June last year (2016) and February this year (2017). 

He said that the first two time they purchased the fish, they sold it at the supermarkets or to restaurants, but he wanted to share it with the employees this time round:

“Normally they only get to see it.

“I really wanted to let them have a taste.”

The fish will be prepared by three renowned chefs, before being placed in lunch boxes and distributed to the workers. 

The ways of preparing are still in discussion, although the chefs hope to preserve the fresh taste of the fish. 

The deputy head of the seafood department at Sheng Siong told reporters that he had spent almost three hours just to clean the fish up.

The greatest difficulty was that the fish was too heavy and he found it difficult to flip the it over, thus requiring three men just to accomplish the task.

Mr Lin also said that Sheng Siong would stock the giant grouper meat in its outlets in the future, so customers can look forward to trying it out.