The Copenhagen Post | Sep 7-13

Back to Brylcreem and the American dream

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Somali-Dane delegation takes inspiration from US

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7 - 13 September 2012 | Vol 15 Issue 36

Denmark to be first to ban phthalates

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Denmark’s only English-language newspaper | cphpost.dk ELISE BEACOM

NEWS

Can’t stop the burn: waste-to-energy plant plans revived despite pleas to recycle instead of incinerate

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NEWS

A bridge too scarred?

Concrete decay, which is plaguing many of the nation’s flyovers, could lead to massive future costs

Homeless

10 CULTURE

in the land of plenty Slipping through the cracks of one of the world’s best welfare societies

Expat’s vampire show is one example of northern Europe TV makers targeting the Anglo audience

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HISTORY

Everything you need to know before the beloved TV show ‘Matador’ is back on air for the umpteenth time

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Price: 25 DKK

Emergency aid targets the unemployed PETER STANNERS

It’s back ... again

9 771398 100009

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Government chooses to use 332 million to fund initiatives to help the jobless find work rather than prolong eligibility for unemployment benefits

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HE GOVERNMENT has promised targeted initiatives to help the tens of thousands of Danes that stand to lose their unemployment benefits in January.

Last week on Friday, the employment minister, Mette Frederiksen (Socialdemokraterne), announced that 332 million kroner would be made available to unemployment insurers (A-kasser) and state-run employment centres to help the unemployed find work.

“It’s a solution that takes finding

work as its starting point,” Frederiksen wrote in a press release. “We should all agree that the best thing for the unemployed is to get them back into work rather than leaving them dependant on unemployment benefits.”

The deal means that extra help finding work will be provided to the 9,000 to 16,000 unemployed Danes who, according to the Employment Ministry, risk losing their unemployment benefit allowance (dagpenge) in January.

The money guarantees that each at risk unemployed person will be provided with a personal job consultant who will help them find work experience, skills training or council-subsidised work.

Unemployment benefits are distributed by A-kasser that employees must join and pay into for a length of time before they can claim benefits.

The problem is that in January, thousands will have reached their limit once the government implements a reform that halves the length of time during which they can claim benefits and doubles the length of time they need to pay A-kasser before they can claim benefits.

The government had already postponed implementing the reform by six months. Frederiksen said that by choosing now to adopt measures for getting the unemployed into work, the emergency package was cleaning up the former government’s mess.

“I must say that the former government, which chose to shorten the period of unemployment benefits, did not really think about what they would do for the unemployed,” Frederiksen told Ritzau. “It’s a responsibility that was placed on our shoulders and we are tackling it.”

Far-left government support party Enhedslisten (EL) had hoped that the government would use its recently announced 2013 budget to postpone implementing the reform once again and has threatened to withdraw its support unless it did.

The government chose not to bend to EL’s demands and instead decided to strike a deal with the key unions, employer organisations and A-kasser to provide the emergency funding.

Hans Bach Mortensen, the CEO of the employers’ confederation, Dansk Arbejdgiversforening, welcomed the funding and pointed out that there were jobs available for Danes.

“It’s paradoxical that many businesses can only fill unskilled position by turning their attention abroad,” Mortensen told Jyllands-Posten newspaper.

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Week in review

The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk

CPH Post Word of the Week:

7 - 13 September 2012 THE WEEK’S MOST READ STORIES AT CPHPOST.DK

Matador (noun) – a magnate or tycoon (derogatory); also the name of the Danish version of Monopoly.

Where you heard it: In the endless nostalgia ahead of the re-broadcast of Denmark’s most popular TV series ever Scanpix/John Rasmussen

Camping buddies

Tourist dead after electric lorry runs wild Sex, blackmail and a missed de-briefing Government proposes cutting back Danish classes for foreigners Dating the Danes | The Danish instrument of love Denmark to provide free education to students from developing countries

FROM OUR ARCHIVES

TEN YEARS AGO. Internet shopping enjoys a boom as more and more Danes log on to buy that special something.

FIVE YEARS AGO. Health officials launch a facility for drug addicts to take their methadone.

ONE YEAR AGO. Collision of air masses over Denmark leads to second wettest summer ever.

Greenland’s premier, Kuupik Kleist, PM Helle Thorning-Schmidt and the Faroe Islands’ PM, Kaj Leo Johannesen, gathered in a Greenlandic cabin last week for meetings on the future of the Danish Commonwealth

the meeting were about 20 restaurant owners from Nørrebro as well as representatives from the police and City Council. Restaurant owners were urged to report extortion attempts, and a nationwide anonymous survey will also be sent out to some 1,550 restaurant and café owners to gauge the problem’s extent.

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Bummer summer

Summer is officially over – if you can call the last few months a summer at all. “Apart from two warm periods at the end of July and the middle of August, it has been an unstable summer,” meteorologist John Cappelen told Politiken newspaper, proving that anyone with eyes and a window could have done his job

President and Publisher Ejvind Sandal Chief Executive Jesper Nymark Editor-in-Chief Kevin McGwin Managing Editor Ben Hamilton News Editor Justin Cremer Journalists Peter Stanners, Ray Weaver & Christian Wenande

these past few months. According to DMI, this has been the coldest summer of the last 12 years, and to add insult to injury, it’s been both wetter and darker than average. With an average ‘warmth’ of 15.1 °C, 258mm rain, and a measly 620 hours of sunshine, it is the worst recorded summer since 2000.

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Letters and comments can be left on our website or at: comments@cphpost.dk

Colourbox

Café Viking owner ‘Mamma’ Jane Pedersen’s stand against thugs demanding protection money has now prompted authorities to take action. The restaurant industry association Danmarks Restauranter og Caféer held a meeting in Copenhagen on Monday with the purpose of tackling the problem at a national level. Present at

Colourbox

Scanpix / Katrine Emilie Andersen

Jane’s backup

Who’s in charge?

Seven out of ten prison guards say that they have trouble controlling the bikers and gang members who are flooding into the nation’s prisons.

The guards said that gangs are taking over as the current push against crime has filled prisons with hardcore criminals that prison employees are

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ill-equipped to handle. Many guards refuse to engage prisoners on the inside for fear that gang members will take revenge on their family members on the outside. William Rentzmann of Kriminalforsorgen, the prison service, admitted that there is a problem. “We have too few employees,” he told DR News.

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News

The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk

7 - 13 September 2012

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Trash power plant rises from its ashes Deportation of Afghan children would Amagerforbrædning’s replacement plant will be built after agreement not to increase burning capacity

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lans to replace Europe’s oldest waste-toenergy power plant, Amagerforbrænding, have been revived.

The 40-year-old plant was to be replaced by a state-of-the-art facility designed by the awardwinning Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG). They envisioned the new 90-metre-tall ‘Amager Bakke’, or Amager Hill, wrapped with an outdoor ski slope and fitted with a chimney that would blow an enormous smoke ring for every tonne of CO2 the plant produced.

But last December, the City Council withdrew its 2.5 billion kroner loan guarantee, over dissatisfaction with Amagerforbrænding’s demand to increase the trash burning capacity of the new plant to 70 tonnes an hour, compared to 60 tonnes an hour at the original plant. This would significantly increase the city’s CO2 emissions that the city has committed to slashing 20 percent by 2015.

But after secret negotiations between Amagerforbrænding and the council, the replacement plant now looks set to become a reality after a compromise was

violate UN conventions, activists say

Amagerforbrænding

Peter Stanners

Rejected teenage asylum seekers could be sent to a Kabul relocation centre in violation of several UN conventions

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Amagerforbrænding’s new waste-to-energy power plant as imagined by the architectural firm BIG

struck on the new plant’s burning capacity.

The new trash-burning oven will now remain the same size as the old one, though the use of new modern technology will allow it to burn more cleanly than before, according to Mayor Frank Jensen (Socialdemokraterne).

“The facility will be one of the world’s most environmentally friendly burning facilities and create a platform for world class Danish environmental technology,” Jensen wrote in a press release. “It will contribute to exports and green growth.”

Jensen added that the facility would create 4,600 new jobs, and while he did not specify where these jobs would be created, Politiken newspaper on Tuesday wrote that Esbjerg-based Babcock & Wilcox Vølund was awarded the one billion kroner

contract to build the new oven.

The new plant will cost four billion kroner, though it is uncertain whether this includes the cost for BIG’s ski slope.

The decision to push ahead with the power plant was criticised by the environmental organisation Danmarks Naturfredningsforening (DN), who instead wanted a smaller facility to be built in order to allow more of the city’s trash to be recycled instead of burned.

“It is very surprising,” DN’s spokesperson Christian Poll told public broadcaster DR. “We were given the impression that the powers that be had seen the light and were prepared to develop the region in the right direction towards recycling and reuse.

Now it looks like we’re getting a burning facility that commits us to continue burning.

enmark’s participation in a European project to establish a centre in Kabul to relocate unaccompanied, rejected teenage asylum seekers is being roundly criticised by human rights activists and researchers.

Claus Haagen Jensen, a lawyer and professor at Copenhagen Business School, believes that unaccompanied minors could not be guaranteed protection by UN refugee conventions if they are sent to Kabul. Jensen said that Denmark would be violating human rights agreements if it sends the children back.

“The refugee convention says simply that if we know that there is the risk of torture or other inhumane or degrading treatment, which could very easily be the case when conditions are so miserable in Afghanistan, we can not send them back,” Jensen told Politiken newspaper.

Martin Lemberg-Pedersen, an associate professor at Copenhagen University, said that the country has in the past operated under the non-refoulement concept contained in UN refugee conventions that obligates the country to protect people at risk

The refugee convention says simply that if there is the risk of torture or other inhumane treatment, we can not send them back of human rights violations if they are returned to a dangerous area.

“If Denmark deports minors to countries where they risk being killed by the Taleban or experience other degrading or chaotic conditions, then we are breaking the non-refoulement agreements,” Lemberg-Pedersen said to Politiken.

There are currently 24 children at risk of being deported.

The Justice Ministry is reportedly waiting on Afghan authorities to sign off on the agreement that would establish the centre in Kabul, making the current government the first in Danish history to deport unaccompanied minors to Afghanistan.

Experts worry that Afghans returning from western countries are often considered military targets by the Taleban.

“The situation in Kabul is

extremely dangerous, and it is likely that theses centres would become targets for attacks by rebel forces who want to attack the West,” Nando Sigona, a senior researcher at the Centre for Refugee Research at Oxford University, told Politiken.

It was because the minors’ security could not be guaranteed that Socialdemokraterne (S), Socialistisk Folkeparti and Radikale voted in 2010 against the then Venstre-led government’s proposal to send minors to relocation centres.

Since then, the current government has apparently had a change of heart and announced that it would move forward with Ventre’s proposal.

Trine Bramsen (S), the leader of the parliamentary committee on immigration and integration affairs, says the government is working to ensure the refugee’s safety.

“We are negotiating with the Afghan government to ensure the safety of the minors,” Bramsen told Politiken. “Then we believe the project can be implemented.”

The justice minister, Morten Bødskov (S), told Politiken that any Danish participation would “be done with full respect for international human rights and the international obligations to which Denmark is bound”. (RW)

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Cover story

The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk

7 - 13 September 2012 Elise Beacom

‘Little John’ Hansen (right) and another Hus Forbi vendor who didn’t wish to be named outside of the newspaper’s offices in Nørrebro

When the street is your living room Elise Beacom In one of the world’s best welfare societies, why are there still homeless people on the streets? The Copenhagen Post met with Henrik, Per and Little John to find out

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enrik ‘Popeye’ Jørgensen has been homeless for most of his life – the culmination of a former case-a-day beer habit, smoking cannabis and mental health issues. Some years ago, while Jørgensen was visiting Ungdomshuset in Nørrebro, a man on heroin smacked him over the head with a heavy frying pan. The injury hospitalised Jørgensen and threw his balance off kilter, rendering him unable to work.

Jørgensen, who proudly dons a tattoo of his cartoon namesake on his upper arm, is one of 5,290 registered homeless people in Denmark, according to a 2011 report by the National Centre for Social Research (SFI). Half of these people live in urban areas where the squeeze of the high costs of living can be overwhelming. Aside from financial limitations, many homeless people have minimal education, suffer from mental illness or other health problems, abuse drugs or alcohol, come from broken families or are

otherwise ‘outside’ of society.

In addition to his balance issues, Jørgensen is plagued by the memory of one particularly terrible night. While he was squatting with a friend, the apartment’s rightful owners came home unexpectedly and a fight broke out in the bathroom. Jørgensen’s friend fell, hit his head on the toilet and died.

“There was blood everywhere, from one wall to another, and his head was nearly coming off his neck,” he said.

Hoping to part with his disturbing thoughts and the stress of not knowing where he will sleep each night, Jørgensen is planning a move to the countryside next year and has managed to save up 15,000 kroner.

Putting roofs over heads Many homeless Danes have been given apartments as part of a government initiative that operates on the ‘Housing First’ principal, which follows the rationale that having a place to live provides the stability necessary for homeless people to address the root causes of their situation. However, the policy doesn’t work for everyone. “If you are put in an apartment with bare walls, you feel isolated with no-one to talk to, and you go back onto the street,” said Poul Strove Nielsen, the editor of Hus

Forbi, a street newspaper that depicts the stories of the homeless people who sell it and earns vendors 12 kroner for each issue sold. After living in an apartment in Nørrebro, Jørgensen, one of Hus Forbi’s registered 500 sellers, did exactly that.

For many of Denmark’s homeless, being surrounded by drug and alcohol users in shared accommodation makes it particularly difficult to break free from destructive lifestyle choices. “It creates an environment that makes people stuck in their situation,” said Lars Benjaminsen, an SFI researcher responsible for co-writing the 2011 report, ‘Homelessness in Denmark’.

Frede John Hansen, otherwise known as ‘Little John’, had a life-altering experience when he took 24 ecstasy pills and had to be resuscitated. “I had my mouth open like this,” he said, leaning back and opening his mouth widely, “and my friends just threw them in.”

After the scare, Hansen shied away from friends, fearing he would be led astray again.

But drugs and alcohol are not a problem for everyone. Annette Mainz, the manager of Herberget Lindevangen – a shelter catering for up to 26 homeless adults in Frederiksberg – said although the drug and alcohol users were usually more visible, people should avoid pigeonholing all homeless people as sub-

stance abusers. “It is common to think that when you’re homeless, you have to look a certain way and sit with a beer, but you can actually be homeless in another way, which is just as horrible,” she said.

Most of the dozen young people currently staying at Herberget Lindevangen grew up in institutional environments where they never learnt how to become adults, according to Mainz.

“They don’t know how to cook, they don’t know how to look after their own money, they don’t know how to behave properly, or even to read.” Mainz has seen a certain dependency on government support develop among young people during the past 30 years. “It’s like people have an attitude where they think ‘the council has to help me somehow.’” Mainz, who has managed the shelter for eight years and has 25 years of social work experience, gets frustrated when she sees young people return there a second or third time. “It means they haven’t learnt anything!” she said. “I’m not thinking of miracles, I’m thinking of small steps, like being able to pay the rent every month.”

Hansen, for example, has learned to make good decisions with his money.

Unable to read, Hansen gets by washing windows, selling Hus Forbi and living off his welfare payments. After his bills, he’s left with about 4,000 kroner

per month and has recently learned how to live off that, a change he attributes to his coming of age. But these positive changes didn’t come easily.

One of Hansen’s wake-up calls came 10 years ago when he was drunk and slapped his landlord at a meeting.

After a month in prison, Hansen decided he never wanted to go back, and spent four years working to pay off his debts. “Today, I always tell my friends that I feel like a man. I am a man,” he said while pulling his shirt down to reveal the hair on his chest. “When I was young, like everyone, I was a troublemaker and behaved kind of madly in public places and didn’t think about it.

Now I can only really show I am a man by trying to behave myself.”

Breaking free Hansen now lives in an apartment in Nordvest and has done so for five years, but still does not have any friends outside his homeless network. He likes the security of being among people with similar backgrounds to his own.

The homeless people who frequent the Kirkens Korshær day shelter in Christianshavn similarly tell manager Ingrid Flye that they would be too lonely if they moved into an apartment. “So often they say, ‘I can’t do that because

Cover Story

The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk

Elise Beacom

7 - 13 September 2012

Heroin pills on the way

You can lay the seats down and stretch out your legs

Ray Weaver

Per Thormod Ernstsen

Steffen Stubager

Ernstsen, 53, has drifted in and out of homelessness for the past 12 years. He has slept at friends’ places, shelters and spent a year sleeping in his Volvo 242.

I get angry at myself, thinking about the bad choices I have made in my life Henrik ‘Popeye’ Jørgensen

Elise Beacom

Jørgensen, 50, has been homeless for about 30 years. He has disturbing thoughts when he’s living alone in an apartment.

Today I tell my friends that I feel like a man Frede ‘Little John’ Hansen Hansen, 44, is known as ‘Little John’ for his stature and ‘Red Fox’ for his mohawk. Hansen is no longer homeless because he has “grown up” and learnt to spend his money wisely.

I’ve seen how people all over Europe live and still the best conditions for homeless people are here in Denmark I’ll have nothing. I’ve been with these people for so many years – they’re my friends, they’re my family and I can’t live without them,’” Flye said.

Per Thormod Ernstsen, 53, has drifted in and out of homelessness for the past 12 years. As vice chairman and secretary of HOPE and the regional chairman of SAND – two organisations that represent homeless people in Europe and Denmark

respectively – Ernsten is familiar with the reasons people become homeless.

For him, poor health is the cause.

Ernstsen first suffered kidney failure in 1979 when he was bedridden with a temperature of 41 °C. A second failure followed in 2003 and led to him eating his Christmas duck in hospital. Ernstsen has tried to hold down a job but found most employers unsympathetic to his high number of unpredictable sick-days. Every month Ernstsen nets about 8,500 kroner in welfare due to his condition: “You can live on it, but it’s not much,” said Ernstsen.

“Getting a job at the moment is difficult enough, let alone when the jobseeker is inefficient,” said Jann Sjursen, chairman of the Rådet for Socialt Udsatte (Council of Socially Marginalised People). “The problem in Denmark and other European countries at the moment is there’s no work. And if you have health problems and you’re not very good at getting up in the mornings

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and you’re not stabilised, then it’s hard to get a job,” Sjursen said.

Another lifestyle choice?

Through his involvement with SAND and HOPE Ernstsen has gained some perspective. “I’ve seen how people all over Europe live and still the best conditions for homeless people are here in Denmark,” he said.

For some, having a place to live is simply not a priority. Many of the homeless people who visit Kirkens Korshær forgo paying rent so they can spend their money on other things, according to Flye.

“They don’t care about the future like we do. They say: ‘We have a party today and tomorrow I don’t know,’” she said. But Flye and her colleagues are not trying to change those who seek warmth and a day-old pastry each day.

“They are created as they are and they are good enough,” she said.

that the professionals cited in the Sundhedsstyrelsen report believed that making heroin available in pill form would Nation’s junkies could soon get their fix lessen the risks of disease and overdose from a government-provided tablet even more.

Venstre spokesperson Sophie ealth Minister Astrid Krag Løhnde said her party isn’t sure where (Socialistisk Folkeparti) has pro- the money for the proposed heroin pills posed that heroin in pill form be would come from. made available to addicts. Heroin abus“We are completely open to the ers can currently receive the drug free proposal, assuming, of course, that the from the state, but only as an injection. health minister tells us where she is going Citing a new report from Sund- to find the money,” Løhnde told Polihedsstyrelsen, Krag said it was time to tiken. “The current plan receives nearly offer a choice.

64 million kroner every year and only “With tablets, we get a covers injection. It is irretool that lessens the risk of sponsible to propose a plan incorrect dosages, injuries without explaining how it and incidences of cancer,” will be funded.”

Krag told Politiken newsJonas Dahl, the health paper. The health minister With tablets, we spokesperson for Socialexpects that the pills could get a tool that istisk Folkeparti, downbe available in 2013. played the criticism.

The current system of lessens the risk of “It is remarkable that state-prescribed heroin was Venstre that financincorrect dosages, ing must says adopted in 2008. Followbe in place before ing years of legal wrangling, injuries and cancer you make a proposal,” Dahl a home for the first legal told Politiken. “The workinjection room was found ing procedure has always earlier this year, to the disconcertion been that we first get a professional recof many Vesterbro residents. There, the ommendation from Sundhedsstyrelsen government will supply the drug and and then find the money.” clean needles and provide supervision The Sundhedsstyrelsen report inby health professionals. Copenhagen’s cluded recommendations from the mobile injection room – an old ambu- doctors who work at the nation’s five lance that drives around town servicing heroin clinics. It also looked at the the city’s addicts – is a common sight, latest research and international recespecially in the Vesterbro area. ommendations regarding the use of The idea was that by controlling the heroin pills. drug-taking environment, the risk of “This will be an improvement of the infection by shared and reused needles current system,” said Krag. “It clearly would be partially eliminated. Krag said needs to be in place by 2013.”

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Copenhagen cops bust up international bike theft ring Lithuanian gang arrested for systematic theft of hundreds of bicycles

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openhagen police have arrested a group of 12 Lithuanian nationals thought to all belong to a gang that has been stealing and sending up to 100 bikes a week out of the country.

Police inspector Karl Erik Agerbo from Task Force Indbrud, a Zealand burglary task force, said that the department has had its eye on the thieves for a while.

“We investigated the case for a month and have now made some arrests,” Agerbo said.

The gang plucked new and expensive bikes costing in the 5,000-10,000 kroner range from train stations and other locations around the city. They hid the stolen bikes in wooded areas in Vestskoven and Fasanskoven until they had enough to ship to Lithuania.

“We believe that they may have been sending as many as 100 bicycles each week out of the country for some time, but at this stage we really do not know how many bikes in total may have been taken,” Agerbo said.

Police in Lithuania and Latvia, where the gang was storing the stolen bikes, are cooperating with Copenhagen police to get the bikes returned to their rightful owners.

“If a bike has been reported stolen and the registration number is on file, we can probably figure out who it belongs to,” Agerbo said.

The 12 men arrested were between 18 and 25 years old. They are all being held on theft charges. Some are also charged with burglary for breaking into a residence to steal the tools they used to break locks on the bikes.

“Now the job is to see that they are prosecuted and to get the stockpiled bikes back home,” said Agerbo. (J-P)

Online this week Psst ... wanna buy a lake?

The City Council wants to sell the almost 280,000 square metre Gentofte Lake to the highest bidder. The council wants to save the 10,000 kroner it spends each year maintaining the lake, which was at one time Copenhagen’s main water supply. The lake has not functioned as that, or in any other official capacity, for the city since

Tourist dead after electric lorry runs wild 1859. The most obvious buyer of the lake is Gentofte Council, but negotiations between authorities in Gentofte and Copenhagen have been stalled for years. The two sides disagree on the drainage expenses charged by energy company Københavns Energi, with Gentofte contending the costs are too high.

A 60-year-old American tourist was killed instantly last week after being struck by a runaway electric utility vehicle in Copenhagen’s central pedestrian area. Officials remain at a loss to explain the cause of the accident, which they say occurred after an experienced city sanitation worker had parked the vehicle

while on his rounds emptying rubbish bins on the Strøget walking street. According to the initial report, a sensor in the driver’s seat that disengages the vehicle’s motor when it is unoccupied appears to have malfunctioned and caused the vehicle to accelerate.

Four other people received supervifical injuries in the incident.

Men lauded for quick action after taxi lands in lake Police in Copenhagen are hailing the efforts of three Copenhagen men for saving the lives of four people after a taxi wound up in one of Copenhagen’s Lakes early last Friday morning. The taxi came to rest in two metres of water when, according to po-

lice reports, the men jumped into the water to rescue the taxi’s three passengers and its driver.

The accident occurred when the taxi swerved to avoid a bicyclist crossing against a red light at the junction where Østersøgade and Webersgade roads meet.

Read the full stories at cphpost.dk

6 News Somali Danes seek American spirit The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk

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delegation of six young Somali Danes, two Swedes and one Norwegian visited the American city of Minneapolis last week to break bread with their Somali immigrant counterparts and learn how this city has integrated them into civic and economic life. Minneapolis boasts the largest Somali population outside of Africa and became a haven for them when the country’s civil war started in the early 1990s.

The exchange was initiated by the American ambassador to Denmark, Laurie S Fulton, in conjunction with the Danish Ministry of Social Affairs and Integration. Fulton said that young Somalis have trouble feeling accepted into Danish society, and a recent trip she took to Minnesota inspired her to initiate the programme (see interview, right).

“Danish integration minister Karen Hækkerup hosted a workshop several months ago for Somali Danes; I offered to host a reception that Karen attended and that’s how we talked about trying to get them together,” Fulton said. “One of the many common issues that Denmark and the US share is helping the Somali immigrants who come to our nations to become successful citizens. And who in the US is doing the best job at helping the Somalis feel welcome, learn how to become Americans and be happy? It’s Minneapolis.”

Minneapolis’s thriving Cedar-Riverside neighbourhood, on the banks of the Mississippi River, is home to many of the estimated 30,000 Somali Minnesotans and was the ideal setting from which

Somalia Diaspora Organisation

Delegation of Somali Danes take a trip to Minneapolis for integration inspiration

Ambassador Laurie S Fulton told The Copenhagen Post that she also hopes to bring Somali Americans to Denmark

From one diaspora to another Christian Wenande The delegation of Somali Scandinavians visited Minneapolis’s Cedar-Riverside neighbourhood; the city is home to the largest group of Somalians outside of Africa

to draw inspiration. Hundreds of Minneapolis, the Scandinaof Somali Americans own busi- vian delegation met with memnesses, and many young people bers of Minneapolis Council have integrated themselves into and learned about the city’s civic and political affairs. The innovative STEP-UP Achieve Jobs programme, Somali Minnesowhich connects tan community has businesses with the fielded candidates next generation of for office and built diverse workers and a track record of The most provides hands-on working together job skills for young with local and fed- powerful thing people. They toured eral authorities.

I witnessed the African Devel“The most opment Center and powerful thing I is the way a local bank staffed witnessed is the largely by Somali way people perceive people perceive Minnesotans. And themselves here,” themselves here they paired up with said Yusra Oman, the Somali Action a 23-year-old who studies religion and science at the Alliance, which conducts voter University of Copenhagen. “They outreach work with local comsee themselves as Somalis and as munity groups.

“You get what you earn here Americans. Not just the young people, but the elders of the com- in Minneapolis,” said Ahmed munity too. That’s important, be- Jama, a 25-year-old from cause in our culture we have great Aarhus. “Everyone has personal responsibility here, because the respect for the elders.”

During their three-day tour government doesn’t do things

for them. Here, people have their own identity.”

The youth delegation also visited a US Attorney’s office and spent time with representatives from the Minneapolis Police Department to learn how the city prevents youth violence by treating it not strictly as a crime issue, but as a public heath risk.

Before returning to Scandinavia, they fitted in a shopping trip to the Mall of America.

“The hope is that [the Somali-Scandinavian delegates] will go back to their community and tell people about their experiences in Minneapolis,” said Mutya Koudal, a consultant with the Ministry of Social Affairs and Integration, who joined the nine delegates along with a representative from the US Embassy and a journalist from Politiken newspaper. “Perhaps that means having a roundtable discussion; perhaps it means meeting with the local police chief.

My role is to support them.”

Young rapist gets jail time and expulsion Christian Wenande But international law may prevent the young man who raped a ten-year-old girl last year from being returned to Somalia

T

he 17-year-old boy who was convicted earlier this year of raping a ten-year-old girl and attempting to rape a nine-yearold girl, in the Jutland village of Gullestrup, has received a sixyear jail sentence to be followed by permanent expulsion.

The boy, who was born in Somalia and moved to Denmark at the age of seven, showed no sign of emotion as the judge read out the decision at the Herning Municipal Court last week.

The boy had been arrested in November last year after the

Omar Ingerslev

Jacob Wheeler, Minneapolis

7 - 13 September 2012

attacks in a wooded area near the girls’ homes. The attacks occurred shortly after the boy spent a year in Somalia.

There, the boy was forced to go to a Koran school. He fled from the school and ultimately joined the terrorist network al Qaeda, and participated in religiously-motivated violent attacks. After a few months, the boy contacted the Danish Embassy in Somalia and came back to Denmark.

Defence lawyer Jeppe L Jepsen wasn’t surprised at last week’s verdict, but questioned the severity of the sentence and is considering an appeal.

State prosecutor Jacob Balsgaard was satisfied with the decision after arguing he should serve between six and eight years before being expelled permanently.

But whether the boy will actually be expelled is another

matter. After he serves his jail sentence, the immigration authorities will decide whether Somalia is safe enough for the boy to reside in.

Sending the boy to a country in which his life and health would be at risk would violate international law. If it is ruled that he cannot be expelled, then he would be allowed to remain in Denmark.

And, according to JyllandsPosten newspaper, before the decision was revealed, Jepsen told his client: “No matter what happens, you won’t be sent to Somalia.”

Instead of expulsion, the boy will probably have to remain in Denmark under tålt ophold, in which he would be forced to live in an asylum centre and report regularly to the police.

But this too may not happen. This June the Supreme Court found that an Iranian

man – who was held under tålt ophold because he could not be deported to Iran for fear of his safety – was suffering a “nonproportional encroachment into his freedom of movement”.

He has now been released from the restrictions.

In attendance at the court were a number of members of the right wing Danish Defence League (DDL) – many of whom clapped as the judge read out the sentence.

The case has generated a lot of attention in the area, and the Islam-critical DDL led demonstrations in December after the incident.

There were also fears of vigilantism when locals threatened to take matters into their own hands, as it took the police over a week to make an arrest. The threats prompted authorities to urge young immigrant boys in the area to remain indoors.

The American ambassador on her initiative to bring Somali Danes and Somali Americans together

T

he Copenhagen Post sat down with Laurie S Fulton, the American ambassador to Denmark, to talk about the innovative programme she initiated involving the integration of Somalis in Denmark and the US. How did this come about?

I was on a trip to the US in part to visit the Scandinavian diaspora, but my trip also turned into a visit to the people who are doing the most interesting programmes with the Somali Minnesotans. I saw a lot of interesting and innovative programmes, and I decided to invite the mayor of Aarhus over here, and we put together a joint delegation of six high-level officials who should focus on what they are doing with new Somali Minnesotans, as well as convey the innovative things happening in Aarhus.

What was the goal?

We wanted to try to get the young Somali Danes and Somali Minnesotans talking to each other because they have similar issues regarding how to arrive in

Yoga

a new country, how to learn that new country’s system and how to get their parents to unpack their suitcase and understand that this is where they live now.

We are all going to be well served if they become happy and productive citizens.

What are some of the obstacles Somalis face?

For the young people, they want to make their home here but they have similar issues to deal with in terms of parents, tribal elders, etc. The young ones say: “We are here, we’re Danes, this is where we want to make our life”, so there is a little bit of a generational issue. It is the same in the US, so there are similar issues that the two groups face, regardless of which country they live in.

Young Somalis have left Minnesota, as well as Denmark, to go to Somalia to be trained as terrorists. Since 2007, at least 20 young Minneapolis men have allegedly taken up arms in Somalia’s civil war. Did this radicalisation influence your planning?

Yes, Minneapolis has had the same experience as Denmark has had, when Somalis have gone off to be trained somewhere and then want to come back and do bad things, but hopefully the initiative will help prevent that in the future.

Read the rest of the interview online

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8

OPINION

THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

7 - 13 September 2012

We’re here. We’re Smoking bans and socially incompetent Danes Danes. Get used to it By trying to make immigration a question of either-or, the outcome ends up being neither-nor – with dangerous consequences as a result

A

S THE GROUP of young Somalis recently invited to Minnesota on a trip organised by the US Embassy here discovered, it is, in fact, possible to retain your national heritage and to be accepted into the culture of your home country.

While that may sound obvious to anyone from a multiethnic country, the experience was an eye-opener for the young people on the trip, because it flies in the face of what many of them have experienced in their everyday lives back home in Denmark. Here, successful immigrants are often described in terms of how closely they come to achieving a level of Danishness that many natives themselves can’t live up to.

Making matters more complicated is that back in Denmark, ethnic minority groups – and this applies to more than just Somalis – also face the unrealistic expectations of their parents that they remain faithful to their national heritage.

For the young people themselves, many of whom actually feel they belong to both cultures, there is little chance that they can satisfy the demands of either group.

This is no different for immigrant groups anywhere, but when you don’t feel a part of your home culture and when the debate around you is sharply anti-immigrant, you need to find acceptance somewhere. In Denmark we’ve seen that there are two preferred ways of doing this: by joining radical groups and by joining criminal gangs.

Whether by coincidence or design, as US ambassador Laurie S Fulton and her delegation were visiting Minnesota, back in Denmark a court was handing down its sentence to a 17-yearold Somali immigrant convicted of raping a 10-year-old girl.

Also involved in two other attempted rapes, the young man blamed his behaviour on his strict Muslim upbringing and the horrific experience of being forced to fight as a child soldier after being sent back to Somalia by his parents for “re-education”.

During his trial, he admitted that he attempted to rape the girls, but claimed it was a “cry for help” to escape from a home where “nothing was permitted”.

There’s no telling whether his explanation is just an excuse or a valid reason, but you can only wonder whether the rapes would have happened if he felt there was no contradiction between being Somali and being Danish.

Denmark’s only English-language newspaper

DENNIS NØRMARK

T

HERE IS something very Danish yet something very un-Danish about the increasing regulation of smoking and the way smokers are allowed to live their lives.

It is possible to find other Western countries that have far stricter rules than we do in Denmark. And Denmark will never be accused of being a first-mover when it comes to smoking laws.

In fact, Danes have long remained critical of such restrictions on smokers’ personal freedom. As late as 2002, a majority was against any restrictions. But by 2004, the picture had changed, and in 2005 the first laws banning smoking were passed.

The reason is that, in Denmark, we have a history of not getting on people’s cases for their bad little habits. This same liberal attitude towards personal choice can also be seen in people’s view of homosexuality, abortion or other ‘personal’ issues, which in other countries are sources of controversy. Seen in that respect, smoking bans are un-Danish.

Yet they are also quintessentially Danish, as Danes generally trust that the state has their best interests in mind. We trust more in public institutions (and each other) than any other nationality.

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Without such an incentive, we can gradually distance ourselves from each other and rely on rules and regulations whenever we find ourselves in the situation of having to deal with other people.

Or, as Torben Steno put it in his recent book about Danes’ lack of manners, Danes have nothing to dispute when they find themselves at odds with each other. We don’t haggle much, we don’t leave tips, and we don’t ask anything of people unless it’s their job to give us something. It’s that mind-set that prevents Danes from walking up to someone and asking them to put out their cigarette. Now, though, we’re armed with laws that allow us to accomplish what we want, while at the same time entirely avoiding the social interaction we fear so much.

The consequence of outsourcing our social rule to the powers that be is that it has become even more difficult for us to talk to each other. This might also be the reason behind the increasing number of violent incidents between drivers or people ringing the police to complain about a neighbour before going next door to talk about it first. Have we forgotten how to talk about things in a civil manner without first having the state on our side?

As I see it, smoking laws to protect others against secondhand smoke only make Danes more dysfunctional than they already are. Ironically, that’s why Danes welcomed them. The new smoking laws stand to face more resistance, since they go against our practice of accepting that people have a right to make their own choices – even if those choices might hurt them.

Dennis Nørmark is an anthropologist, author and lead consultant for the Living Institute.

READER COMMENTS Copenhagen needs international talent

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We trust that laws are created for make a clear delineation between the benefit of society as a whole – their private lives and their pubnot for the benefit of individual lic lives. Just as we rarely have groups. When regulations are cre- contact with our co-workers outated we follow them to the letter side of work, we view our private of the law. Many a foreigner has lives as being off limits to public been astounded by Danes’ habit officials. We’re happy to be left of waiting for the signal before alone and we don’t take kindly to crossing the road, even though disruptions. there isn’t a car in sight.

As I see it, this social isolaSmoking bans fall into the tion is, in fact, one of the reasons gap between these why smoking two attitudes, bans were able which might exto garner so plain why they much support have been so hard Banning smoking at – provided they to enforce – destuck to regulatspite the lack of schools has nothing ing second-hand resistance when to do with protecting smoke. Smoking they were implelaws confirmed mented. We sup- people from secondour need to be ported the first cut off from each hand smoke smoking ban, other. which was inThe first tended to protect people from sec- round of smoking laws affected ond-hand smoke, but at the same the way we interact with one antime we didn’t want people to tell other. Danes are only too happy us how we should live our lives. to accept such laws, since it means What made it possible to accept we don’t have to deal with other the ban was that it was packaged people. as a way to protect people at work.

Danes are experts at staying None of us want to do anything out of each other’s way. Foreigners that would inadvertently affect typically describe Danes as standthe health of hotel or café employ- offish and reserved. We’re difficult ees. They should also have good to make friends with because we working conditions. In Denmark, rarely approach others. New peowe take care of each other. ple need to make an active efBut with the latest round of fort to break through our wall of smoking restrictions the intent reservation if they want to join of the law has changed. Banning the group. smoking at schools has nothing to One could also venture the do with protecting people from theory that each time we regusecond-hand smoke. Neither do late an aspect of people’s perthe new regulations in Aarhus sonal lives, we make people less that ban all public employees dependent on each other. Who from smoking during work hours needs friends and family when we (even if they are by themselves). have a social security system that In a classic example of laws being cares for even the most asocial, used to protect people from them- isolated and friendless people out selves, the state is starting to get there? By guaranteeing the state involved in our private lives. will be there, people have little Danes, though, don’t want the incentive to create a network or state to tell us what to do. Danes meet people.

I lived and worked in Denmark for three and a half years at a local tech company where the workplace language is English.

It was a wonderful experience for me and my family. Yes, the taxes are very high in comparison to the United States where I’m from, but I also felt that the high level of social welfare and security imparted to the population by those taxes was exceptional. Right before I moved to Denmark (which is about 5 years ago), the Danish government changed the education benefit to exclude non-EU citizens. While foreign workers contribute to taxes at the same rate as Danes in most cases, we do not have equal access to all of the social benefits afforded to native tax payers.

From personal experience, I can say that enabling non-EU foreigners to access those benefits might help some with the retention of these employees. Many of my co-workers left because their spouse or partner was not able to

find satisfactory employment in Denmark (usually due to Danish being the workplace language in their field). Beyond employment, these individuals were not able to otherwise integrate with Danish society at the level that they wanted. Access to the educational system could help with that. If we’d had that option, we would still be living and working in Denmark today.

ET by website As brand director for the Copenhagen city brand Open Copenhagen, I can tell you in brief that ‘Open Arms’ is a service and excitement campaign (by the City Council, HORESTA and Open Copenhagen), which has now been introduced among hotels in the capital. That might be the reason why many people have not heard about the campaign yet – but it’s supposed to get introduced in other sectors and among Copenhageners during the next couple of years. The change in attitude will of course take time, so for now the focus is on quality and not on quantity.

This summer Open Copenhagen has also been running a politeness campaign as a prolongation of ‘Open Arms’, that encourages Copenhageners to be hosts in their own city – just like they’d be in their own homes. The ‘Open Arms’ campaign needs the support of the city and hence more people who enter the ‘service movement’ to get a wider reach – although it’s already reached far in the social media and has also been given good press coverage.

We expect to relaunch the English version of opencopenhagen. com in just a couple of weeks.

Liv Thøger by mail Copenhagen needs international talent … but does it actually want it?

Scrapbookrebel by website The fundamental problem is that ethnic Danes don’t want the foreign talent here. This window-dressing by Frank and his SocDem cronies will make no difference to that fact – the locals don’t even get to see it!

Mythirdotheralias by website

PM: My husband isn’t gay Unwise move. She has now lent credence to the rumour. But she’s in serious shtick for misclaiming tax allowances anyway.

Mythirdotheralias by website “There is no such thing as a homosexual or a heterosexual person. There are only homo or heterosexual acts. Most people are a mixture of impulses if not practices.” Gore Vidal Mike Huber by website So that’s why she looks so frustrated all the time. ziggedwhenishouldhavezagged by website I wonder if this is the only thing to discuss in Denmark. The country should spend more energy on transforming itself from a dormant country to an agile one – making it an industrial base for the future rather than focusing on taxes as a base for today. Everyone is busy being petty rulers fighting for superior despotism.

Adnannmad by website

OPINION

THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

7 - 13 September 2012

Dicing with death in Daneland

W

Brick by Brick

BY STEPHANIE BRICKMAN Stephanie Brickman has recently made the hop across the North Sea from Scotland to live in Denmark with her distinctly un-Danish family.

This 40-something mother, wife and superstar is delighted to share her learning curve, rich as it is with laughs, blunders and expert witnesses.

E DON’T believe in it,” says the waiter, when I ask him for decaf. It’s a pretty deadpan response, but I can tell there’s a hint of incredulity there.

Danes are, in the main, pretty calm people and they like their caffeine. I, on the other hand, could be described as tightly wound – frolicsome if you’re looking on the bright side, but either way it’s not something you want to add caffeine to.

Our move to Denmark was a long time coming. I spent a year alternating between getting excited about groovy lampshades and already feeling homesick.

And now that we’re finally here it’s not just the caffeine that’s keeping me in a constant state of stimulation. Nor is it the mundane challenges of understanding packaging (I washed all our clothes in dishwasher powder the first week).

No, the biggest kick I’m getting right now is my daily dice with death on the Christiania bicycle.

You see, on arrival it seemed like a terribly good idea. It’s large enough to accommodate my child and any shopping I might need to fetch and oh, what

I don’t speak Danish yet, sorry; swear at me in six months time and I promise to swear back! a workout.

“Imagine the pneumatic body I’ll have,” I said encouragingly as my husband choked on the price. “You’ll have to keep putting the light on in bed to check it’s me.”

I should have added “… if I’m still alive.”

I discovered upon my ride back from the bike shop that there’s some stuff they don’t tell you about riding cargo bikes. ‘The Thing’, as I like to call it, is really heavy to ride, approximately the size of a tank and banks alarmingly when you go round corners.

So I’ve been going on daily practice runs, petrifying little caffeine-fuelled circuits of Kongens Nytorv. I feel like

I’m going dangerously fast, but I assume I’m not, as I keep getting overtaken by small children and elderly people out Nordic walking.

I’ve also noticed grown-up cyclists have been making comments. It can’t be because I’m on the wrong side of the road because that’s how they drive here, so I fear they may be making disparaging remarks about my speed, or lack of it.

“I don’t speak Danish yet, sorry,” I reply briskly. “Swear at me in six months time and I promise to swear back!”

Maybe they’re remarking on the fact that I am the only person in a tenmile radius wearing a helmet. Or perhaps that ‘The Thing’ is so festooned with lights, passing lorry drivers look impressed.

As I hit Amalienborg Palace for some cobble practice I find myself hoping that the royals have kept the kids in today as I’d especially hate to run over an heir to the throne. I’m also wondering if Shaken Baby Syndrome is just for babies or if adults can get it?

The other problem with ‘The Thing’ is gaining enough momentum to actually get anywhere. This country is as flat as a pancake, one good pedal and

9

you should go for miles, but not on ‘The Thing’. Nor can you push on the ground with one foot to get yourself going. Instead, you have to climb on and, grunting like a Russian lady shotputter, heave it into motion.

By this point on my practice runs, all dignity is long gone, my heart is pounding and I’m making promises to be a better person, give money to charity and recycle everything if I can just get home in one piece.

And the burning question now taxing me is: How Danes can look so relaxed on their bicycles? Their bikes are like an extension of their living rooms.

Leaning back at a 60-degree angle, sending a text to your mate, eating rice cakes – all this is standard.

I spotted what must be the jewel in the crown of bizarrely laid-back bike behaviour a couple of weeks ago in Nørrebro. A typically Danish looking guy – lanky, floppy fringe, feet so long that in certain positions he could surely double as a forklift truck – cycled past me, no hands on the handlebars, playing a ukulele. Can any of you beat that?

Share your strange biking stories on this column online.

Don’t invalidate my existence

I

Grain of Sand

BY TENDAI TAGARIRA Tendai Tagarira is one of Africa’s most prolific independent authors, having penned over 16 books. Also a filmmaker and activist, he lives in exile in Denmark after receiving death threats from the Mugabe regime. He refuses to cut his hair until democracy reigns in Zimbabwe.

Visit www.tendaitagarira.com for more.

HAVE BEEN struggling for quite some time with the integration policy of the city of Aarhus. It is difficult to prove discrimination in this case because it is in a piece of Danish legislation and is enforced by a cabal of people, who in my opinion have no compassion or understanding of refugees.

Since March 2012, I have been the victim of a long, painful and shameful experience at the hands of officials who work for the city’s integration programme.

I came here under an invitation of the ICORN [International Cities of Refuge Network] programme, because I am persecuted by the Mugabe dictatorship for writing my opinions. I had a two-year stay, which was not going to be extended since the Friby programme [part of an international network that gives shelter to persecuted writers] was cut. I knew I could not return to Zimbabwe, but I was given no assistance whatsoever with an asylum application – I wasn’t even given an address for an asylum centre where I could apply for refuge.

So I applied online and was subsequently summoned to Sandholm

Asylum Centre, where I was met with armed security personnel who interrogated me about how I had come to Denmark, despite coming here legally under the ICORN programme. Finally they understood that I was a guest writer and they began to treat me like a human being, perhaps out of shame or guilt, or the fear that I would leak their treatment to the press.

My big problems started when I got the political asylum. I was moved from the ICORN programme to the standard integration programme. It was not taken into account that I had been living here for almost two years. When I asked for my so-called ‘Integration contract’, which I don’t even understand, to reflect that I am a writer and I intend to work as a writer, the official at the integration office refused.

This made me feel that this integration is out to destroy everything I have ever stood for in my life. This renders my whole dedication and activism to a better life for my people meaningless. Her refusal made me feel invalidated considering that I came to Denmark precisely because I am a persecuted author.

Everyday I live in fear of the integration officials The integration officials did not take any of my past experience into consideration. I feel that they want to mould me into something I am not.

Their attitude with me and many others has been that of either wilful misunderstanding or simply not understanding at all how to help me integrate.

After all, I consider myself well integrated. When I was on the ICORN programme, nobody told me about these integration issues, but when I applied for asylum, suddenly I had these officials come out and treat me suspiciously and undermine my very existence by their refusal to recognise what I stand for.

Every day I live in fear of the integration officials. This is affecting my concentration at school and I can’t sleep at night. I am constantly thinking of how to get these people off my back. I

have no faith in the Aarhus integration system at all. It has so far been counterproductive, despite my efforts to work with the community to build a better and more tolerant city.

I need help. These people are putting me under enormous pressure, but I am a strong person and I refuse to bend to their will. I refuse to comply with their directives until they start treating me and many others as people, try and understand how we view the world, and also acknowledge our efforts. I am protesting the negative suspicious way in which the integration officials deal with refugees in Aarhus.

I am preparing to go on a hunger strike to raise awareness of this issue, but before that happens, I have turned to the mayor’s office to seek a solution to this prolonged agony that I have endured. I have also written a letter to the integration minister and prime minister.

The Aarhus mayor is my final hope before I go on a hunger strike protest to draw attention to a discriminatory piece of legislation and practices of integration officials who have no understanding of what it means to be in exile.

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7 - 13 September 2012

Aggressive decay threatens hundreds of bridges Scanpix / Søren Bidstrup

Christian Wenande Many of Denmark’s flyovers suffer from a concrete deficiency that will incur massive future maintenance costs

N

ew statistics from the national road authorities indicate that a large number of the country’s flyovers are suffering from an aggressive form of concrete degeneration that could require them to be replaced long before expected.

Up to 600 road and railway bridges – about 15 percent of the nation’s total – face substantial maintenance work in order to prevent the alkali-silica reaction (ASR) from eroding the concrete structures from the inside out.

“Already today there are numerous bridges affected by ASR and we expect a considerable rise in cases during the forthcoming year,” Erik Stoklund, the maintenance chief for Vejdirektoratet, told science and technology weekly Ingeniøren. “The flyovers are the hardest hit because the penetrative road salt creates a perfect platform for ASR.” Stoklund said ASR is limited to smaller constructions such as highway and railway flyovers while larger bridges are unaffected.

The ASR problem stems from the concrete building boom that occurred

The government has earmarked 3.9 billion kroner to replace Storstrømsbro, which connects Zealand and Falster

in the 1960s and 1970s, when concrete was produced using sand with a high content of porous reactive flint, a type of stone that reacts intensively when penetrated by moisture. Road salts used in the winter contribute significantly to the trouble.

The use of this type of concrete

only ended in 1987, when quality demands were tightened and the ASR issue was solved.

By that time, hundreds of structures had been built, and the railway stretch to Køge, south of Copenhagen, includes several at-risk bridges, as many were constructed in the early 1970s.

As many as 300 of the structures nationwide dating from the 1960s are in immediate danger of being affected by the condition.

There have already been a few instances where it was more cost-efficient to tear down bridges affected by ASR, and according to Bent Grelk, an ASR

specialist at consultancy group Rambøll, the issue could become a lot worse in the future.

“The dilemma can easily be described as a ticking bomb. A large number of bridges from that era will decay as soon as the moisture insulation is breached,” Grelk told Ingeniøren.

Grelk estimates that the moisture insulation in bridges constructed in the 1960s typically has a life expectancy of between 30 and 50 years, meaning ASR could potentially become a serious problem in the coming years.

Vejdirektoratet expects that in 2020 the problem will be so dire that over 200 million kroner will be needed annually to maintain the stricken bridges – up to 50 percent more than today’s upkeep costs.

The new information has Dansk Vejforening, an interest group whose members include road maintenance and transport companies, urging the government to dedicate more funds to combatting ASR. “The government has just proposed a budget that allocates so little road maintenance funds for 2013 that we cannot keep up with the infrastructure wear as it is,” Søren Bülow, the head of Dansk Vejforening, told Ingeniøren.

“This new information should be a cause of alarm for politicians.”

Denmark goes it alone with phthalates ban Al-Khawaja’s life sentence upheld Peter Stanners The EU may take Denmark to court over its decision to ban four chemicals suspected of disrupting hormones in humans

T

he decision to ban several potentially hazardous chemicals by the environment minister, Ida Auken (Socialistisk Folkeparti), could lead to a legal stand-off with the European Commission.

Auken has decided to ban phthalates, which are used to soften plastics like PVC that are found in many common household goods. Mounting evidence indicates, however, that they can act as hormone disrupters and potentially cause impotence.

“I simply do not want to expose Danish consumers to unnecessary health risks,” Auken told Berlingske newspaper. “There is considerable evidence that these chemicals disrupt hormones in humans. Danish consumers should be able to safely buy dolls and swimming pools.”

The Danish ban on the four most commonly-used phthalates is set to come into force this autumn and follows a gradual phasing out of the chemicals

I simply do not want to expose Danish consumers to unnecessary health risks since 1999, particularly in children’s toys. But the European Commission could threaten legal action as the ban could potentially violate EU chemicals regulation, REACH, in which EU members make joint decisions on whether to allow or ban chemicals.

REACH is expected to make a decision on phthalates next spring, and Ole Grøndahl Hansen, the general manager of PVC Information Council Denmark, has questioned Auken’s motivations for moving ahead with a ban now.

“The consumption of the phthalates, which [Auken] attacks, has been markedly on the decrease and they are on their way out in the EU. So why make this noise?” Hansen told the online network EurActiv. “We have all agreed that we [should] follow what REACH has planned, how the phasingout should be done, but [Auken] can’t even wait six months.”

But Auken argues that Denmark is well within its rights to enforce a unilateral ban, especially as there is no guarantee of an outright EU ban next year.

“The sceptics make it sound like Denmark is forced to wait until the EU maybe comes up with common rules,” Auken wrote in a press release.

“But that’s rubbish. We have science behind us and the necessary legal justification.”

“Denmark is pushing for an EU ban, but until that happens we will introduce a national ban to protect Danish consumers,” she added.

Professor Niels Erik Skakkebæk from the department of growth and reproduction at Rigshospitalet supports the ban.

“We know through animal testing that the chemicals can disrupt hormones, and we know they are used in large quantities,” Skakkebæk told Berlingske. “Based on this, a broad ban is sensible.”

Denmark has already attempted to implement a EU-wide ban on phthalates, but this June the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) advised against it, arguing that “available data does not indicate that there is currently a risk from combined exposure to the four phthalates.”

Foreign minister calls decision by Bahrain court to uphold conviction against Danish citizen “very disappointing”

T

he lifetime sentence of Danish-Bahraini human rights activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja has been upheld by a Bahraini court, his daughter Maryam al-Khawaja announced via Twitter on Tuesday.

Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, who holds dual Danish and Bahraini citizenship, has been in prison in Bahrain since June 2011 on charges of plotting against the Bahraini state. His high-profile hunger strike, which lasted 110 days, led the Danish Foreign Ministry to engage in what was characterised as “the largest Danish consular effort ever” to have him released.

Bahraini officials, however, have rebuked Denmark’s efforts.

In April, al-Khawaja was granted a retrial in a civil court.

According to his daughter, the Bahraini officials on Tuesday upheld the conviction of the ‘Bahrain Thirteen’, a group of opposition leaders and activists that includes al-Khawaja. “[The] verdict does not come as a shock. With no international consequences [and] accountability for [Bahrain’s] regime, they have no incentive

to change,” Maryam al-Khawaja wrote on Twitter.

The foreign minister, Villy Søvndal (Socialistisk Folkeparti), condemned the decision.

“I consider the rulings in Bahrain, including for the Danish citizen Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, to be very disappointing,” Søvndal said. “Especially considering that in the spring, the UN, EU and a large number of countries together with Denmark encouraged a release. It is important that the international community maintains that Bahrain must respect fundamental human rights.”

Amnesty Danmark also criticised the decision, calling it “a human rights scandal”.

Al-Khawaja was granted asylum in Denmark after fleeing Bahrain in 1989.

While living in Copenhagen, he took on Danish citizenship and established the Bahrain Human Rights Organisation.

Following his return to Bahrain in 2001, al-Khawaja claims he was repeatedly arrested and beaten and said that he has been subjected to torture, violence and sexual abuse while jailed in Bahrain and was force-fed against his will while on hunger strike.

There were conflicting reports on whether al-Khawaja would appeal against the decision. (JC)

Online this week Free education to students from developing countries The development minister, Christian Friis Bach (Radikale), and the education minister, Morten Østergaard (Radikale), want to provide scholarships for young people from developing countries in Asia and Africa so that they can receive a university education in Denmark. Bach said that he hopes to offer the assis-

tance to at least 50 young people as early as next summer, with an eye towards expansion. “There are many students in poor countries who do not get the education they dream about,” Bach said. “We can offer them the opportunity to come here and then return home and participate in improving their society.”

2008 death case to be reopened after incompetence claims Police have reopened their investigation into the 2008 death of a Copenhagen man after criticism of their conclusion that the death was a suicide. Four years ago, 30-year-old Omar Jabr was found in his motorcycle repair shop in Amager suffering a range of injuries that caused his death five days later in hospital. Ac-

cording to the tabloid BT, which conducted its own investigation into the death, the police came to their conclusion that the injuries were self-inflicted and ruled it suicide after only 16 minutes on the scene. No autopsy was ever carried out, but doubts have always existed about the police conclusion.

International school receives 200m kroner for expansion A 200 million kroner donation by the charitable arm of the Danish shipping giant AP Møller Mærsk has brought Copenhagen International School (CIS) one step closer to building its new 22,400 square metre building, which will increase the school’s

maximum capacity to 1,200 students, up from the current 800 that are split across two campuses. The fund cited the vital need to ensure places for the children of foreign workers so that Denmark can remain attractive to international businesses.

Read the full stories at cphpost.dk

COMMUNITY

THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

7 - 13 September 2012

11

A festive affair with football and flair on India’s Independence Day

BY HENRY BUTMAN

Hundreds gathered at Stengård Skole in Lyngby to celebrate the 66th anniversary of India’s independence. The night included refreshments, performances, dinner and even some football in the twilight

Dozens of performances kept the crowd entertained for nearly two hours, as groups, duos, and individuals performed in traditional multi-coloured outfits. Some of the acts even used a little acrobatics

Two of the children participating in the celebrations pose for pictures backstage before their moment in the limelight. (Photos: Indian Danish Association)

Getting on stage gave children the opportunity to participate in the Independence Day celebrations, learn a little bit about tradition and, of course, express their sillier side.

(Photos: Indian Danish Association)

Two girls partake in the delicate application of henna to the hands, a skin decoration known as ‘Mehndi’

A table selling adornments and applying Mendhi kept a constant stream of girls waiting in line for their turn to add to their already stunning attire

The crowd attracted old, young, and in between. While the adults sat in their seats watching the entirety of the performance, many children lost patience and sought a better vantage point from the balcony above the auditorium

Taking a break from the heat of the auditorium, a group of boys plays a game of football in the parking lot

The church minister, Manu Sareen (right) meeting Indian ambassador Ashok Kumal Attri (left) and his wife (centre) during a brief interlude in the performances. (Photo: Indian Danish Association)

At the end of the ceremony, Ambassador Attri joined event organisers and MCs on stage (with his wife, left) to say a few words, receive a gift and, most importantly, distribute trophies and prizes to the evening’s participants

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COMMUNITY

THE COPENHAGEN POST CPHPOST.DK

7 - 13 September 2012

ABOUT TOWN PHOTOS BY HASSE FERROLD UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED

Just ten years and two weeks younger than India, it was Malaysia’s turn to celebrate its independence day on Saturday – its 55th in total. To mark the momentous occasion, the Malaysian Danish Association held an event at Clipper House where guests enjoyed music, dancing and a fantastic spread of Malaysian cuisine. The guest of honour (second left) was the honorary consul for Malaysia, Per Gullestrup, pictured here with MDA chairwoman Poo Chu Chua. Also present (centre left) were (back row, left-right) MDA secretary Jan Ziska, Gullestrup’s PA Karin Thuesen Jensen, MDA chairwoman Poo Chu Chua, Finn from Clipper House, British Chamber of Commerce president Mariano A Davies, (front row, left-right) organising committee members Julietta Tann Nielsen, Sheena Rajendran and Ellen Goh. (Photos: MDA)

St Albans Church on Churchillparken in the city centre was the venue for a gathering of the synod (church council) of the northern European deanery. Pictured left are a number of the esteemed clergy who attended, including Copenhagen’s Anglican/Episcopal priest, Archdeacon Jonathan LLoyd (centre back). While on the right are Geoffrey Rowell, the Bishop of Gibraltar in Europe (whose diocese includes all of mainland Europe, Morocco and the territory of the former Soviet Union), and Carol Rasmussen, who has just celebrated 50 years as a member of the church’s choir. To mark the occasion, the bishop is handing over some special coins, which were given to him on Maundy Thursday by the queen of England at Westminster Abbey. (Photos: Bev Lloyd-Roberts)

COMING UP SOON Poetry and Pints Sankt Nikolai Pub & Restraurant, Nikolajgade 18, Cph K; Thu Sep 6, 19:00; free adm The Copenhagen Theatre Circle’s monthly meet-up is this week being held at one of Copenhagen’s finest traditional lunch restaurants, Sankt Nikolai, which at night turns into a traditional English pub. Come along and recite some poetry, perform a skit or do a reading – or just come along and enjoy some banter and a beer.

Copenhagen Irish Set Dancers open house Nyelandsvej 23, Frederiksberg C; Mon Sep 10, 19:30; free adm The Copenhagen Irish Set Dancers (CIS) have been holding Irish set and step dance lessons for 20 years, with practices held once a week. If you think you might want to start taking lessons, or you just want to enjoy a nice evening with some Irish dancing, take your family and friends to Frederiksberg for the CIS’s open house.

Oktoberfest Fabrikken, Drechselsgade 10 Cph S; Fri Sep 14, 17:30; 650kr for members, 750kr for non-members; www.handelskammer.dk The German chamber of commerce in Denmark is holding an all-out Oktoberfest celebration with beer, music, and sauerkraut.

So strap on your lederhosen to celebrate autumn the German way!

US Voter Registry Cafe Globen, Turesengade 2B, Cph K; Fri Oct 5, 17:00; free adm Calling all US citizens in Copenhagen– make sure you’re ready to vote in November’s presidential elections by registering at Cafe Globen – after all, why would you want to register at an embassy when you can do it in a bar?

Cafe Globen will have three voter registration experts on hand to guide you along – just remember to bring your proof of citizenship with you. For those all non-US citizens who aren’t eligible to vote, but are still eligible to drink a beer, come along and keep the Yanks company!

Gender equality seminar KVINFO, Christians Brygge 3, Cph K; Thu Oct 18, 18:30-20:30; free for members, 150kr for nonmembers; www.europeanpwn.com/ copenhagen Join Elisabeth Møller Jensen, the head of KVINFO, as she shares her insights and experiences on how women contribute to the development of an equal society. In her presentation she will speak about KVINFO, the Danish information centre and research library for the study of gender, equality and ethnicity, and introduce those initiatives that the centre uses for their research. Come along and join the discussion about how we can further promote a society based on equality.

Mindfulness and Meditation Workshop Copenhagen International School, Hellerupvej 22-26, Hellerup; Tue Sep 18, 18:30-21:30; 150kr; www.europeanpwn.net /copenhagen The European Professional Women’s Network is holding a workshop with a focus on mindfulness and meditation, and how to modify your response to stress.

Led by the dynamic Nikki Gordon Skovby, who holds degrees in both medicine and psychiatry as well as heading up her own medical consulting company, the workshop will also include guided meditations and meditation exercises.

Corruption and Bribery breakfast meeting Resources Global Professionals, Tuborg Boulevard 12, 3, Hellerup; Wed Sep 12, 8:30-10:30; free adm; www.bccd.dk/Events Danish businesses have the whole world to play in – but to do so you need to be aware of law changes, both in the US and the UK. Speaker Gareth Garvey will lead the seminar on how to end bribery and corruption in business and the public sector, taking a look at how businesses can methodically approach the monitoring of company policy on both subjects. To participate, sign up at kersi.porbunderwalla@resources-dk.com by September 10.

LINN LEMHAG

Noma chef Rene Redzepi and city mayor Frank Jensen were among those who got involved in Copenhagen Cooking, which finally came to an end over the weekend after ten days of boiling, broiling, roasting and toasting

LIVING IN AN EXPAT WORLD Belgium’s Tiny Maerschalk, who has worked for the International Community networking platform since its foundation in 2008, knows how it feels to settle in a new country. Dedicated to improving conditions for new arrivals, here she shares her insights about the issues that mean most to internationals in Denmark

I

STILL REMEMBER my very first day in Aarhus, full of anxiety of what was to come. I was mainly occupied with the question: will I find a new network in a foreign city?

Having left behind a large network in my hometown in Belgium, I found myself on shaky ground for the first time in my life. Who should I turn to for help or a spontaneous trip to the beach? Here I was, me myself and I, trying to build a new life in a new city.

This is a question asked by most newcomers to Denmark.

In the Aarhus area, the ground is not so shaky thanks to International Community, the leading network for internationals and international Danes. However, International Community is not alone in the endeavour to build a foundation for expats in Denmark. Organisations, companies, institutions of higher education and public authorities alike have realised that a firm ground to stand on with direct access to a new network is crucial for attracting and retaining international talent. Together we try to find fields where a lit-

tle effort makes a huge impact, without compromising quality and ambition.

In fact one could argue that our work is based on networking or the creation of networks.

We network all the time and have representatives all over the country in order to make a difference for you, the expat in Denmark. Through a wide va-

I was mainly occupied with the question: will I find a new network in a foreign city? riety of network activities, we have been able to build a bridge between you and the society you became a part of when arriving in Denmark.

When I arrived 15 years ago and asked myself questions about how to build a new life here, much less focus was given to expats and the accompanying family compared to today. Dan-

ish society in general has come a long way in those years, and decision-makers have set more projects in motion.

Since March 2012, International Community has been the lead partner in a unique project focused on the attraction and retention of global talent, which includes all 19 councils in Central Region Denmark. The project partners co-operate to the benefit of all the internationals in the region by sharing best practice and developing new initiatives across city limits. At the same time, this joint effort is crucial to the international profile of the region and the companies who need to attract, welcome and retain international talents and their families in order to compete internationally. Networking truly is key, for both our partners and us, in order to succeed.

So here’s hoping that International Community and our network will be able to make a difference and improve the framework conditions so that you, your family and future newcomers are able to settle easily in Denmark.

community

The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk

7 - 13 September 2012

13

Guru ensures Indian celebrations are a night to remember

The ‘Iconic Indian of the Year’ award was presented to Saba Ahluwalia, the founder of the Guru and Indian Taj restaurants, whose wife picked it up on his behalf. Pictured here (left-right) are Holck-Larsen Foundation chairman Steen Lassen, Mrs Saba Ahluwalia, SASNET deputy chief executive Lars Eklund, IID president Kannathasan Pandian, and IID secretary Radhika Larsen

The ‘Friends of India’ award was presented to Dansk Indisk Børnehælp. Pictured here (left-right) are IID president Kannathasan Pandian, Holck-Larsen Foundation chairman Steen Lassen, and Dorthe and Dawn from Dansk Indisk Børnehjælp

Priya Mani

Event is just “the beginning” of exciting times to come, promises Indians in Denmark

T

he 65th anniversary is apparently a blue sapphire celebration, which is pretty appropriate given that it was India’s turn to mark this independence milestone last month, and that the most famous ever example of this stone was the 182-carat Star of Bombay.

Originating from Sri Lanka, the gem was acquired by silent film legend Douglas Fairbanks, who gave it to his wife, Mary Pickford, who in turn bequeathed it to the Smithsonian – and on Saturday August 18, the stars of the Indian community were out to celebrate Indian Independence Day with Indians in Denmark (IID), one of Denmark’s largest Indian organisations, at a venue on Kertemindegade in Østerbro.

Hundreds of Indians attended the event, contributing to the celebratory mood and high energy that lingered throughout the evening. The occasion coincided with the launch of India Today/Copenhagen Tomorrow (ITCT), a new project initiated

by Denmark’s Holck-Larsen Foundation, which promotes the exchange of culture, science and trade between the two countries. The first of these activities is ‘INDIA : ART NOW’, an exhibition that opened on August 18 at Arken.

The guest of honour was accordingly Holck-Larsen Foun-

dation chairman Steen Lassen, sent would agree, the first of the who was accompanied by Lars IDD’s two new annual awards, Eklund, the deputy CEO of ‘Iconic Indian of the Year’, was SASNET, and Sarbajit Deb, the given to its founder, Saba AhluNordic area vice-president from walia. The award recognises an L&T Infotech. exemplary contribution by an The evening started with a Indian to Danish society. Ahlurelease of tricolour balloons into walia not only founded Guru, a rather surprisingly sunny sky but also India Taj, another of over the city. The Indian Na- the premier Indian restaurants tional Anthem was sung by a in the city. big chorus led by the youngest The second award, ‘Friends singers from the of India’, diaspora.

Srawent to vanthi Allanku Dansk Indisk has been workBørnehælp in ing very hard to It is their selfless recognition train the chil- work in India that of the organidren to sing their sation’s volnational anthem is borne out of their untary work for many weeks compassion and love that improves now. the lives of The cultural for India that made hundreds of programmes for and them the right choice socially the evening were economic o - o r d i n a t e d for this award cally deprived

by Kirti Bhowomen and gle. The rest of children in the evening was India. “It is filled with short performances their selfless work in India that by many talented individuals, in- is borne out of their compassion cluding a Bharatnatyam render- and love for India that made ing of Vande Mataram by Dipti them the right choice for this Deshpande, numerous dance award,” noted IDD. performances, and a medley of While the evening ended on songs choreographed by mother a glitzy note, a lot of hard work, and child duos. A special fashion planning and preparations had show was styled and staged by gone into making this show such Namrita Thomas Kapur, truly a success. The fundraising was encapsulating the changing face managed by Anu Suthakaran of New India, portraying our and Pranav Shah, the set-up at new definitions for style, culture the venue was co-ordinated by and social acceptability.

Smita Singh, and dozens of volAll this was just a primer, unteers ensured that the evening however, given that everyone was was a grand success. eagerly awaiting the most excit“This is just the beginning ing part of the evening: the food, for a new, renewed format for which this year was supplied by Indians in Denmark over the Guru, one of the city’s best In- coming months,” promised dian restaurants. And very ap- IDD’s founders Kannathasan propriately, as all the diners pre- Pandian and Radhika Larsen.

The children sing the Indian National Anthem under the guidance of Sravanthi Allanku

Denmark’s most effective Danish courses! www.kiss.dk

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sport

The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk

7 - 13 September 2012

The closure of the international transfer window closure was a busy time for domestic players and clubs

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head of the international transfer window closing at midnight on Saturday, a number of Danish players and clubs finalised deals.

Nicklas Bendtner has ended up signing for Serie A giants Juventus, although club chief executive Giuseppe Marotta indicated signing Bendtner was more out of need than desire.

“Bendtner isn’t the star striker that we had hoped to sign, but it’s a chance we’ve had to take in the current difficult market,” Marotta told Italian sports newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport. Bendtner has already chosen to wear number 17 – digits that are considered unlucky in Denmark.

The future of Denmark’s national team looks brighter

after two high-profile moves Horsens have signed Jude featuring promising young- Nworuh from FC Midtjylsters. Inter snapped up young land and Kenan Hajdarevic starlet Patrick Olsen from from Sønderjyske, while FCM Brøndby, while Lukas Anders- have bought Morten ‘Duncan’ en has moved to Ajax to join Rasmussen from Celtic. AGF the five-some of Danes already have recruited Finnish deplaying there. fender Petri FC CopenhaPasanen from gen have had a busy Red Bull time in the transfer Salzburg and market, selling four Mate VadBendtner isn’t the players and loansadze who ing another out. star striker that we scored three Bryan Oviedo was goals against sold to Everton, had hoped to sign, them when Martin Bergvold but it’s a chance Georgian to Esbjerg, Joside FC Dila han Absalonsen to we’ve had to take in Gori knocked Sønderjyske and the current difficult them out of Petter Hansson to the Europa Helsingborg, while market League.

Youssef Toutouh Brø n d by was loaned out to Esbjerg. The had earlier in August sold Mionly acquisition was Rurik chael Krohn-Dehli to SpanGislason from OB. ish outfit Celta Vigo and used OB, in turn, have brought some of the money to bring in Michael Silberbauer back to Martin Albrechtsen from FC Denmark from Young Boys Midtjylland and Quincy Antion loan while selling Tore pas from Sønderjyske.

Reginiussen to Rosenborg Esbjerg used the transfer and Kalilou Traoré to Sochaux window to bring in Adama in France.

Tamboura from Metz, Ameri-

Selfless sensei writes history Sean Coogan A local instructor has become the world’s highest graded female in kyokushin karate

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ednesday 29 August will go down in the recordbooks as the day that Denmark made karate history. At a formal ceremony held at Den Danske Karateskole’s Østerbro dojo, a long-serving sensei at the school, Christa Koldin, was presented with her fifth dan, giving her the title of ‘shihan’ and making her the world’s highest ranked (and officially recognised) female black belt in the largest style of the martial art: kyokushin karate.

It has been a long journey.

Koldin began to train in karate in 1986 after returning from the US, where she trained racehorses for a living. Her karate talent, fuelled by extreme perfectionism and stubbornness, soon became apparent as she won the Danish championships

in the kata technical discipline three times.

She then went on to make several appearances at the European Championships and was crowned vice-world champion in kata in 1998 – an incredible achievement for someone working a full-time job during the day and spending most evenings teaching karate.

Koldin has been teaching students at the dojo in Østerbro three to four evenings a week on a voluntary basis since 1991. And starting in 2010, and for most of 2011, she has been combining this with intense training to achieve her fifth dan last December.

“I was young when I went through my other tests, but I was 47 years old this time, so I had to approach it differently,” she said. “But I was glad for the opportunity – a good teacher never stands still, but is in constant progress.

At the two-day test in December last year, Koldin led the way as 15 black belts and prospects took part in the gut-

First thing Bendtner needs to do is ditch his Danish tweeds for an Armani

can midfielder Charlie Davies from Sochaux, Jonas Borring from FC Midtjylland and Pierre Boya on loan from Austria Lüstenau.

Brian Hamalainen has moved from one Belgian team to another, a better one at that, as Zulte Waregem have sold

him to Racing Genk.

But despite interest from Turkish side Galatasary, Simon Kjær looks set to spend another extended period at Wolfsburg much to the consternation of him and national team coach Morten Olsen.

“I would advise him to get

away from Wolfsburg because he does not have good prospects there in regards to playing time, so it’s a good idea for him to leave,” Olsen told TV2.

He remains at Wolfsburg with Thomas Kahlenberg, another player Olsen wants to move on.

FCN “underdogs” to progress

scanpix/ Nils Meilvang

Christian Wenande

scanpix/ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT

Old Lady of Italy adopts young Lucky Pants from Denmark

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“I never would have made it without Shihan Budtz. He has been my teacher from the very beginning,” she said.

Looking to the future, Koldin said: “I’m going to train karate until the day I die.” In the meantime, she will continue instructing and be involved in plans to expand the karate school’s street work, reaching out to the underprivileged youths in the city. It’s a goal of the school’s to integrate more children at the karate school, and more children with disorders like ADHD.

anish champions FC Nordsjælland learnt last week that they will play Italian champions Juventus, English giants Chelsea and Ukrainian title holders Shakhtar Donetsk in Group E of the Champions League group stage.

“It’s a master-class group with the potential for some fun and exciting games,” FCN coach Kasper Hjulmand told Sporten. dk. “We will be the underdogs in every game and will remain humble and take on the group as we did the league.”

The draw sets up the possibility of striker Nicklas Bendtner making a return to Denmark with his new club, Juventus.

While Ajax’s five Danish players – Christian Eriksen, Christian Poulsen, Lasse Schøne, Nicolai Boilersen and Victor Fischer – learnt that they have drawn three other champions: English Premier League winners Manchester City, Primera Liga title holders Real Madrid and German Bundesliga champs Borussia Dortmund.

Meanwhile, FC Copenha-

gen were reasonably fortunate in their draw for the Europa League group stage, which may help wash away some of the disappointment following their bitter loss to French side Lille in the final CL qualification round last week on Wednesday.

Seeded second, FCK drew German outfit Stuttgart, Romania’s Steaua Bucharest and Norwegian surprise package Molde.

It’s a genuine opportunity to progress to the knockout stages.

Especially intriguing will be the return of former club captain William Kvist to Parken, the ‘home’ where it all began for him.

FCN and FCK are the only two Danish teams left in European football this season, as FC Midtjylland and AC Horsens crashed out of the Europa League qualifiers last week.

FCM impressively beat Swiss team Young Boys 2-0 away, but it was not enough to overcome a 0-3 home defeat. Horsens are out too after being soundly spanked 5-0 in Portugal by Sporting Lisbon, following a 1-1 draw in Denmark. (CW)

Kill Bill 2! Christa Koldin fought over 50 opponents in a row

wrenching physical and technical tests. As the cherry on the cake on the final day of the test, Koldin provided an unforgettable display as she fought 50 contenders in a row in front of an ecstatic crowd and two Japanese officials, who had flown over from Japan to oversee the test at the Østerbro dojo.

Despite the historic achievement, Koldin remains humble and was quick to praise Humberto Budtz, her seventh dan chief instructor, who is the founder of Den Danske Karateskole.

Sports news and briefs Jackie Gold!

Committed to the king

Luck runs out for Løchte

Squashed in the final

Danes still favourites

Give me rain in Spain

At the time of going to press, Denmark sat in 46th place in the 2012 Paralympics medal table with five medals: one gold and four bronzes. Denmark’s gold came courtesy of Jackie Christiansen in the men’s shot put (F42/44 – amputees with a prosthesis), which he won by nearly four metres, while in the same disability class, Daniel Jorgensen took bronze in the men’s long jump.

Describing Swansea City’s new manager Michael Laudrup as “royalty”, Viasat plans to show all his English Premier League games, with no exceptions! Some 85,000 viewers tuned into Viasat’s EPL-dedicated channel to watch Swansea beat West Ham United on Saturday August 25 – double the normal audience.

Viasat, which shares the rights with K6, shows five EPL games every weekend.

Wimbledon men’s doubles champs, Denmark’s Frederik Løchte Nielsen and Britain’s Jonathan Marray, have failed to win a second grand slam title in succession, bowing out of the US Open in the second round. The number eleven seeds lost 1-6, 7-6, 4-6 to US/Austrian duo Jesse Levine and Marinko Matosevic, converting just two of their 19 break points, compared to their opponents’ 71 percent success ratio.

Line Hansen, the world number 26, made it to the final of the Crocodile Squash Challenge Cup in Hong Kong without losing a set over the weekend, but failed to perform when it mattered most. The 29-yearold lost in straight sets 6-11, 8-11, 6-11 to Australia’s Donna Urquhart, a player ranked nine places above her. The next best ranked Dane in the world is Sally Skaarenborg at number 94.

Denmark head into their first 2014 World Cup qualifier on Saturday without their star striker Nicklas Bendtner and midfielder Niki Zimling. However, their opponents, the Czech Republic, are also missing players, and the bookmakers still rate Denmark strong favourites to win (evens at Bet 365, while the Czechs are 11/4). The game at Parken kicks off at 20:15 and will be shown live on TV2.

Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank’s star rider Alberto Contador is running out of ideas ahead of the conclusion of the Vuelta a Espana on Sunday. Despite launching numerous attacks in the mountains in recent days, he remains second, 28 seconds behind compatriot Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver. With time running out, Contador told media that he needed some luck. “The rain could be my ally,” he said.

Business

The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk

7 - 13 September 2012

www.lego.dk

scanpix/ Torkil Adsersen

New Lego girls line performs better than expected

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Friends products have been flying off the shelves, despite some complaints

Dominic Summers New Lego toys targeting girls are a surprise success for the company, which has come under fire for the toys’ message

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ego’s new Friends line of toys, introduced by the family-owned Danish business in January as a way to target girls, sold twice as many sets than expected, according to the company.

“It has been amazing to experience the enthusiastic welcome that consumers have given the new range. Sales have been quite astonishing,” said Jørgen Vig Knudstorp, the CEO of Lego Group.

But Lego has been criticised for reinforcing gender stereotypes with its Friends packaging and toy design. The range of toys includes ‘Stephanie’s Cool Convertible’ in light purple and ‘Mia’s Puppy House’, which is accessorised with flowers and a pet-grooming kit.

Moving away from the traditional square-set characters, the new, slim figurines have also been criticised by eating disorder specialists.

A petition organised by Spark, a US-based group that campaigns against the sexualisation of girls and young women, called for Lego to change its marketing strategy and has already collected more than 50,000 signatures.

Abi Moore, a co-founder of Pink Stinks, a UK campaign group highlighting concerns over the stereotyping of children, told The Guardian that Lego was sustaining a narrow set of ideas.

“We want toys that offer all sorts of opportunities to all children. We think that cupcakes, parties and having everything revolve around leisure is just tiresome and heavily stereotyped,” said Moore.

Last Friday, Lego announced net profits had risen 34 percent, up to 2 billion kroner, in the first half of 2012.

Sales increased 24 percent to 9.1 billion kroner – in a large part due to the success of the Friends launch.

Failed harvests a windfall for nation’s farmers Peter stanners Denmark’s bumper grain harvest arrives after farmers in the US and the Balkans were forced to abandon their crops due to prolonged droughts

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productive harvest yielding high-grade grain, combined with potentially record breaking prices, may give Danish farmers an enormous windfall this year.

According to Jyllands-Posten newspaper, the value of grain sales could increase by 4.5 billion kroner compared with 2011. This is

both due to the yield, which was almost ten percent higher than last year, and high prices.

The value of Denmark’s harvest is predicted to reach 17 billion kroner, though it could be higher because farmers have yet to sell all their grain and prices may still increase.

“Big importing countries such as Egypt, Algeria, Morocco and Saudi Arabia have not yet bought any wheat,” Palle Jakobsen from Agrocom, a farming information website, told Jyllands-Posten.

Prices have increased by 30 percent to about 1,900 kroner a tonne since the beginning of June

and could reach a record 2,400 kroner a tonne.

The high prices are a result of failed harvests both in the US and in Europe, where Balkan farmers have abandoned their crops after a record heatwave and drought.

In Bosnia, where temperatures touched 47 degrees at one point during the summer, 80 percent of the crops were ruined. The country will lose about 6 billion kroner as a result – a major hit for the country where 10 percent of the GDP is related to agriculture.

Serbia is expected to lose 12 billion kroner, while the losses in Croatia will amount to about 1.5 billion kroner.

business news and briefs Nationwide distributor of music and movies out of business The owners of TP Musik Marked have filed for bankruptcy, citing shrinking CD sales as the reason. A representative said that the company will be restructured as TP Music & Films and operate a small number of specialty shops and keep its website open. It plans to sell

three of the eleven stores it currently operates and hopes to keep some of the others open.

TP Music Market started as a mail order company in October 1977 with sales of vinyl records and cassette tapes. The company posted a loss of just over 12 million kroner last year.

SAS bets on San Francisco SAS expects around 125,000 passengers a year to fly its new route from Copenhagen to San Francisco. Starting in April 2013, it will be the only non-stop service between northern Europe and San Francisco. Planes will depart once daily, except Tuesdays, and take 11 hours and 20 minutes.

Low-cost airline terminal in jeopardy Ray weaver Private investment group which wants to build an alternative, low-cost terminal at Copenhagen Airport, accuses the government of standing in the way

A

frustrated group of investors, who are attempting to bring what they say would be air travel at a lower price to Denmark, are taking the government to court.

The backers of the so-called Terminal A say obstruction by Trafikstyrelsen, the transportation authority, is getting in the way of open competition.

“We feel that we have been abused so badly during four years of negotiations that we have no other option than to go to court,” the leader of the Terminal A group, Flemming Hansen (Konservative), told Politiken newspaper. Hansen is a former transport minister.

Københavns Lufthavne A/S, the company in charge of Copenhagen Airport, which includes the state and an Australian private equity fund as major shareholders, has since 2008 refused to lease a piece of vacant land at Copenhagen Airport to the Terminal A group.

The competition authority, Konkurrencerådet, has called on the current transport minister,

Henrik Dam Kristensen (Socialdemokraterne), to change aviation laws to allow the terminal to open.

Kristensen rejected the idea in January, saying that regulations prevented the establishment of a competing terminal and that the Trafikstyrelsen was concerned about the security problems that may arise at a privately-owned terminal.

“I have no plans to change aviation security regulations,” Kristensen told Politiken.

“Security regulations are serious and not something you simply change.”

Hansen called the actions of Trafikstyrelsen during the case “somewhat mysterious”.

BRITISH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IN DENMARK

David Huse, Head of London Ambassadors Programme Greater London Authority “The Game Makers” – they welcomed the world to London and showed them the very best of the capital and the spirit of Britain.

David Huse has worked as the Head of London Ambassador Volunteer Programme which placed 8000 volunteers around 45 sites across London to help visitors coming to the capital in 2012 with information and guidance about London and the Games this summer. David was also responsible for the recruitment element of the volunteer programme for The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG).

We will be presenting the BCCD-BIU Scholarship to Jakob Hohlmann Villumsen.

Date: Friday, 21 September 2012 Time: 11.45 Venue: Radisson Blu, Royal Hotel

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Transport minister Henrik Dam Kristensen refused to alter aviation laws to allow for low-cost terminal

Non-members are very welcome. Please contact BCCD or go to www.bccd.dk for further information

If you would like to attend then please send us an email (event@bccd.dk) or call +45 31 18 75 58 Date: 5 September 2012

• official media partner Denmark’s only English-language newspaper

THE COPENHAGEN POST SPOUSE EMPLOYMENT PAGE SPOUSE: Malgorzata Tujakowska FROM: Poland SEEKING WORK IN: Aarhus and the surrounding area QUALIFICATION: Masters in Ethnolinguistics with major in Chinese and English, Chinese HSK and Business Chinese Test certificates, 2-year long studies at Shanghai International Studies University and National Cheng Kung University,Taiwan.

LOOKING FOR: Working for companies hiring Polish and Chinese employees, teaching Chinese, Polish, Business English, linguistics, translation and interpretation, proofreading, Chinese business and culture consulting, administrative work.

LANGUAGE SKILLS: Polish (native speaker), Chinese – simplified and traditional (fluent), English (fluent), German(intermediate), Danish (intermediate-currently learning).

IT EXPERIENCE: MS Office.

CONTACT: Tel:+45 28702377, m.tujakowska@gmail.com SPOUSE: Deepak Kumar Koneri FROM: India SEEKING WORK IN: Copenhagen QUALIFICATION: M.Sc in Electrical Engineering specialization in Embedded Systems (Jönköping, Sweden), B.Tech in Electrical and Electronics Engineering (Hyderabad, India).

EXPERIENCE: Worked as Electrical Distribution Design Engineer in Electrical Consultant company for more than 2 years. I was responsible from the start of design definition phase till the implementation phase of individual project.

LOOKING FOR: Full and part time job opportunity in Energy, Robust Electronics design, PCB Design, Thermal Analyst, Design & Modelling of power systems, power optimization, simulation and also in constructional, architectural consulting organization.

LANGUAGE SKILLS: English (Fluent), Hindi (Mother Tongue), Swedish (Basic) and Danish(Basic, Currently learning).

IT EXPERIENCE: MS-Office (word, Excel, Power point, Visio), CFD (Mentor Graphics FloTHERM, FloVENT, Noesis OPTIMUS, Electrical CAD, Assembly Programming (PIC 16f77, 8086,8051), WireMOM, Telelogic SDL-99, C and VHDL. CONTACT: konerideepak@gmail.com, Tel: 71561151 SPOUSE: Keshab Nidhi Pantha FROM: Nepal SEEKING WORK IN: Copenhagen QUALIFICATION: Masters in Mathematics EXPERIENCE: 4 years Mathematics teaching in secondary level and 2 years Mathematics teaching in Bachlor level.

LOOKING FOR: Full time/ part time Mathematics teaching in international scool or College/ University LANGUAGE SKILLS: English,Nepali,Hindi and little Danish IT EXPERIENCE: 6 months diploma in computer with MS words and excel.

CONTACT: pantha_kn@yahoo.com Tel:+45 71579893 SPOUSE: Munawar Saleem FROM: Pakistan SEEKING WORK IN: Copenhagen QUALIFICATION: MBA logistics and supply chain management (Jonkoping University, Sweden) M.Sc. Computer Sciences (Punjab University, Lahore Pakistan).

EXPERIENCE: 4 years, Lecturer in computer sciences.

LOOKING FOR:Full time or part time job in Logistics and Supply.

LANGUAGE SKILLS: English (fluent), Urdu (mother tongue), Swedish (Basic).

IT EXPERIENCE: Proficient in MS Office (word, excel, power point etc.).

CONTACT: libravision3@gmail.com, Tel: 71412010 SPOUSE: Mohammad Ahli- Gharamaleki FROM: Iran SEEKING WORK IN: Copenhagen QUALIFICATION: Master degree in chemical engineering.

EXPERIENCE: 5+ years as a chemical engineer in R&D oil/gas projects as a team leader or member in Iran.

LOOKING FOR: A position in an Intrnational company to expand my experience and expertise.

LANGUAGE SKILLS: Azeri (native), English (fluent), Farsi (fluent), Arabic (good), Turkish (good), Danish(beginner).

IT EXPERIENCE: Professional (MATLAB, Hysys, Aspen plus, Auto Cad, others (Office, Minitab).

CONTACT: mohammad_ahli@yahoo.com, Tel: (+45) 71 63 12 85 SPOUSE: Teja Priyanka FROM: India SEEKING WORK IN: Copenhagen QUALIFICATION: MBA in Finance and marketing , bachelor in Biotechnology.

LANGUAGE SKILLS: Telugu(mother tounge), Hindi, English, Danish(biggnier).

IT EXPERIENCE: Familier with Microsoft office(word, excel,powerpoint,access, ), photoshop.

CONTACT: teja.priyanka.n@gmail.com SPOUSE: Pooja Nirwal FROM: New Delhi, India SEEKING WORK IN: Copenhagen and Capital region.

QUALIFICATION: Masters (M. Sc) in Environmental Science, +2 yrs of Exp. as Env. Consultant in the field of Environmental Impact Assessment.

LOOKING FOR: Positions in Consultancies/Organizations/NGOs working in the field of Environmental Science (Climate Change, EIA, Env. Compliance Audits, Solid Waste Management etc.).

LANGUAGE SKILLS: Fluent in English, Hindi and Sanskrit, Started learning Danish.

IT EXPERIENCE: MS Office (PowerPoint, Word, Excel).

CONTACT: poojadahiya1@gmail.com Tel: +45 503 904 60 SPOUSE: Fernando Carlos Cardeira da Silva FROM: Portugal SEEKING WORK IN: Copenhagen QUALIFICATION: Accounting course from Danish Institution (Regnskabs medarbejder at Niels Brock), previous frequency of Accounting and Management courses in Portugal.

EXPERIENCE: I have more than 5 years of experience in accounting.

LOOKING FOR: Job as accounting assistant.

IT EXPERIENCE: Microsoft Office (Excel, Word and Power point) and accounting software such as Navision C5.

LANGUAGE SKILLS: I can read and write Danish, English, Portuguese, Spanish and French.

CONTACT: fercardeira@gmail.com Tel: +45 50437588 SPOUSE: Geet Shroff FROM: Bangalore, India SEEKING WORK IN: Midtjylland / Copenhagen / Odense QUALIFICATION: Bachelor’s degree in Communicative English from Bangalore University, India.

EXPERIENCE: 8+ years of experience as Senior Copy Writer, Assistant Manager – Marketing Communications, Executive – Customer Loyalty & Communication, Customer Service Associate respectively. Through these years, I have developed content, handled complete marketing communications, organized numerous corporate (internal & external customer), private and institutional events ranging from 50 to 1000 people and also handling special projects that have included training & internal communication campaigns.

LOOKING FOR: A Corporate or Marketing Communication (Internal or External) position or that of a Copy Writer at an advertising agency or a corporate house. Also open to a position at an event management company.

LANGUAGE SKILLS: English, Danish (Beginner).

IT EXPERIENCE: MS-Office, Adobe In Design CS3 (Basic).

CONTACT: geet_shroff@yahoo.co.in Tel: +4550834024

PARTNERS:

SPOUSE: Jik Boom FROM: The Netherlands SEEKING WORK IN: Copenhagen QUALIFICATION: Teacher EXPERIENCE: CELTA (Cambridge Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) see also Linkedin profile http://dk.linkedin.com/in/jikboom) LOOKING FOR: Work in the area of teaching (English), proofreading (English) and translation (English/Dutch - Dutch/English) LANGUAGE SKILLS: Dutch, English, French, German, Danish IT EXPERIENCE: MS Office (Powerpoint, Word, Excel) CONTACT: jikboom@yahoo.com, Tel: +45 42129175 SPOUSE: Debasmita Ghosh FROM: India SEEKING WORK IN: Copenhagen QUALIFICATION: Master of Pharmaceutical Sciences (Pharmachemistry specialization).

EXPERIENCE: 4 years in Clinical Research (Pharmacovigilance/Safety and Medical Coding) in a leading CRO (Quintiles) and 6 months experience as a lecturer for bachelor degree students in Pharmacy College.

LOOKING FOR: Job in pharmaceutical industry, CRO or any vocation suitable per qualification and experience.

LANGUAGE SKILLS: English (fluent written and spoken), enrolled for Danish language classes, Indian Languages (Hindi, Bengali, Kannada).

IT EXPERIENCE: MS Office Applications i:e Microsoft office word, excel, outlook, power point and tools, lotus notes, medical and drug softwares like micromedex and ISIS draw. CDM systems like ds Navigator-Medical coding tool and AERS database.

CONTACT: ghoshdebasmita@gmail.com, Tel: +4571488438 SPOUSE: Chao Wen FROM: China SEEKING WORK IN: Great Copenhagen QUALIFICATION: Language teacher (German, Chinese.

EXPERIENCE: Teaching Chinese as a foreign language by offering company-course for 2 years, in Germany; teaching Chinese to native speaker in private school for 4 years, in Germany; teaching German as a foreign language by offering private course; exhibition interpreter; translator.

LOOKING FOR: Part time or full time in Aarhus, Language teacher, translator or interpreter.

LANGUAGE SKILLS: Chinese, English, German, Danish.

IT EXPERIENCE: Windows, Open office, Powerpoint.

CONTACT: wenlily80@googlemail.com, Tel: 48417526 SPOUSE: Sucharita Reddy FROM: India SEEKING WORK IN: Anywhere in Denmark QUALIFICATION: Bachelor in Technology (Electrical Engineering) EXPERIENCE: 4+ years of professional experience in SAP ABAP & OO-ABAP programming for Material Management(MM), Plant Maintenance(PM), Document Management and Record Management System(DM/RM), Extended Warehouse Management (EWM) , Sales and Distribution(SD) and Finance (FI) modules.

LOOKING FOR: Job opportunities in IT(technical or Functional),Consulting,Management or Business Field.

LANGUAGE SKILLS: Proficient in English & Hindi. Danish(learning Intensive course) IT EXPERIENCE: SAP ABAP/4 technical skills include ABAP Programs (Dialog Programming, Standard and Interactive Reports), ALV Reporting, Smartforms, User Exit and Field Exit Development, Interfacing Data with external systems, Data conversions, Programming using BDC, ABAP/4 Workbench, Data Dictionary ,Batch Job management ,Workflows, Adobe Forms, Webdynpro, ABAP Objects CONTACT: sucharita17.reddy@gmail.com, Tel: 0045-5271184.

SPOUSE: Simon Rigby FROM: United Kingdom (originally Scotland) SEEKING WORK IN: Jylland, Fyn or Sjælland (anywhere in Denmark).

QUALIFICATION: Secondary High School - 8 ‘Ordinary’ levels & 3 ‘Advanced’ levels achieved.

EXPERIENCE: Business Development, Sales & Marketing and Client Relationship Management specialist. 15+ years experience in securing ‘insurance and lifestyle benefits’ contracts with high volume and high consumer numbers within the Affinity Group Marketing sector from a wide variety of distribution channels including banks, financial institutions, large membership affinity groups and employers, credit card issuers and insurers. Highly accomplished and skilled at ‘low cost, high perceived value’ large scale marketing to B2B and B2C target audiences through both on-line and other direct marketing channels. Entire career spent in the banking, finance and insurance sectors the latter of which I have spent in the UK employment of 3 of the top 4 global insurance brokers.

A team player and a ‘people person’ with the skills and abilities to easily and comfortably interact with individuals at all levels. Natural problem solver who sees opportunities rather than obstacles.

Simplistic and structured approach to finding straightforward and practical solutions to problems.

LOOKING FOR: A job within an organisation (financial services or otherwise) where my Sales & Marketing and Key Account managerial skills and experience are fully utilised and where I can provide a sustainable and tangible long term contribution to my new employer as well as to my new country within which I have chosen to permanently live.

LANGUAGE SKILLS: English (mother tongue); German (very good); French (good); Danish (basic, but currently enrolled on a ‘Danskuddannelse 3’ language course).

IT EXPERIENCE: Word - Advanced user. Powerpoint - Proficient user. Excel - Basic.

CONTACT: simon040561@hotmail.co.uk Tel: +45 60 16 80 40.

SPOUSE: Megan Rothrock FROM: California-USA,Via SEEKING WORK IN: Toy Design, Games Design, or Photography (Syd Denmark Jutland).

QUALIFICATION: Associate Arts Degree: Corporate Communication, Design, and Commercial Illustration, with a background in animation.

EXPERIENCE: Former LEGO Product Designer, LEGO Universe: Level Designer, European Bureau Editor Brick Journal Magazine. I have a strong knowledge of Toy and Gaming Markets. I am driven, enjoy solving daily challenges and I’m a strong communicator wanting to join a creative team of colleagues.

LOOKING FOR: Part/Full time work in an innovative and creative .

LANGUAGE SKILLS: English: native - Dutch: Excellent - Danish (currently in): Danskuddannelse 3, modul 3.

IT EXPERIENCE: PC and Mac - Microsoft Office Suite, Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Flash, Dream Weaver, Director, Maya, 3D Studio Max, ML Cad, LD. CONTACT: megzter1@yahoo.com Tel: +4535140779 SPOUSE: Lorenzo Albano F. FROM: Venezuela SEEKING WORK IN: Greater Copenhagen and Capital Region QUALIFICATION: PhD, MSc in Physics, BSc in Geophysics.

EXPERIENCE: Lecturer in physics, mathematics and informatics. Researcher in theoretical quantum optics and quantum information. Researcher / teacher / programmer of numerical/computational methods in geophysics, signal processing, tomographic inversion, wave propagation.

LOOKING FOR: Short and long term employment, in education of science and mathematics / research / scientific computing / geophysical applications LANGUAGE SKILLS: Fluent in Spanish (native), English and Italian. Danish (Modul 3, DanskUddannelse 3).

IT EXPERIENCE: MSDOS, Windows 7/Vista/XP, Linux (Ubuntu), Solaris, incl. Shell scripting. BASIC, ANSI C, C++, FORTRAN. Web: HTML, CSS, Joomla!. LaTeX2E. Mathematica, MATLAB, MS Office/ OpenOffice, PhotoShop/Gimp CONTACT: lorenzoalbanof@gmail.com Tel: +45 50 15 98 19

SPOUSE: Christina Koch FROM: Australia SEEKING WORK IN: Copenhagen QUALIFICATION: Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics and Drama, 1997 University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. Experienced actor and voice coach for speakers, with parallel high level experience in written communications.

LOOKING FOR: Voice coaching for corporate presenters and speakers, Writing and Communications work, work in theatre organisations.

IT EXPERIENCE:Microsoft Office, Office for Mac. LANGUAGE SKILLS: English - Native speaker, excellent written and oral expression. German – good reading and listening skills. Spanish – fluent oral communication, good reading and listening skills. Danish – beginners level speaking and writing skills.

CONTACT: Tel: +45 52 77 30 93 Christina@hermionesvoice.com, www.hermionesvoice.com.

SPOUSE: Chia-Pei CHEN FROM: Taiwan SEEKING WORK IN: Business Chinese/ Tutorial Chinese teaching in corporations, institutions or International schools.

QUALIFICATION: A certified teacher of teaching Chinese as a second language. A degree in Social Science discipline. Continuously participation in training program (organized by Beijing Hanban of CHINA and CBS) to teach Chinese to foreigners in western context. Enrolment to distance Chinese teaching education system that keeps professional Chinese teachers resourceful.

EXPERIENCE: I am a certified teacher of teaching Chinese as a second language to foreigners.

And I have started teaching Chinese with English in my class for 2 years. I design suitable materials to teach Chinese with different phonetic systems (PinYin for China and HongKong, and Mandarin Phonetic Symbols for Taiwan) as well as to interpret differences between simplified and traditional Chinese characters. My past positions were Chinese language-related, such as: reporter, translator and social science researcher. Students who I taught before regard me as a sincere, discreet teacher who helps learners to progress in short time.

LOOKING FOR: Business Chinese/ Tutorial Chinese teaching.

LANGUAGE SKILLS: Chinese (mother tongue), English (Fluent), French (basic), Danish (beginner).

IT EXPERIENCE: Word Office, SPSS statistic software, Basic Video and Audio editing, Blog writing.

CONTACT: teacherchen@live.com, Tel: 25 81 65 18 SPOUSE: Ylenia Fiorini FROM: Italy SEEKING WORK IN: Copenhagen QUALIFICATION: Post Graduate Master’s Degree in Peace Studies, Development Cooperation, International Mediation and Conflict resolution EXPERIENCE: I have ten years experience as social worker in Italy,and experience in various fields, in the social and third sector and I feel that my educational background combined with my campaign assistant practice in the Ngo Burma Campaign, in Barcelona, has been an excellent preparation. In the same way also my job experiences in the social field made me open to different situations and to see them as a source of knowledge.

LOOKING FOR: Entry Level jobs in the third sector field, in international organization or NGO’s LANGUAGE SKILLS: Italian Mother tongue, fluent in Spanish, English, French, Swedish (basic) IT EXPERIENCE: Ms Office (Mac,Windows) CONTACT: yleniafiorini@yahoo.it SPOUSE: Margaret Ritchie FROM: Scotland, UK SEEKING WORK IN: Copenhagen QUALIFICATION: BA Business Administration majoring in Human Resource Management EXPERIENCE: Worked in the field of Education within a Scottish University. 12 years of experience.

Administrating and organising courses and conferences and also worked as a PA to a Head of School. Great communication skills.

LOOKING FOR: Administration work, typing, audio typing, data input. Can work from home.

LANGUAGE SKILLS: Mother tongue: English, very basic Danish IT EXPERIENCE: A good user of Microsoft Office package, access to Internet CONTACT: megmagsritchie@googlemail.com Tel: 71182949 SPOUSE: Mayurika Saxena Sheth FROM: India/USA SEEKING WORK IN: Copenhagen & nearby areas, Greater Copenhagen QUALIFICATION: MCA, PGDMM(MATERIALS), B.SC (COMPUTERS) CERTIFICATIONS: CSTE, CSQA, GREEN BELT SIX SIGMA, TSP/PSP. EXPERIENCE: Eleven years of software development work/IT/BUSINESS experience with prestigious organizations (onsite and offshore): Microsoft, General Electric, Primus Telecommunications (AUSTRALIA), CitiFINANCIAL(USA), ISS and Imany.

LOOKING FOR: Full Time Job in IT, Management, Consulting or Business/Financial Field.

LANGUAGE SKILLS: ENGLISH fluent, HINDI fluent, DANISH AND SPANISH (Beginner).

IT EXPERIENCE: Testing tools like Test Director, Quality Center, Access Server, Product Studio, Polyspace Analysis, .NET testing, Web Page testing, Electronic Appliances testing, development in Winrunner, ASP, HTML, JavaScript, VBScript, Jscript, Oracle, Cold Fusion, SQL, Access, COM/DCOM, MTS, Siebel as well as UNIX, Tuxedo, C, PL/SQL, VB.Net/ ASP .Net, VB.Net. C#.

CONTACT: mayurika.s@gmail.com Tel: +45 7169 5401 SPOUSE: Lillian Liu FROM: Taiwan SEEKING WORK IN: Marketing/Public Relations.

QUALIFICATION: Bachelor of Foreign Language and Literature (Major in English, and minor in French) EXPERIENCE: 5+ years of professional experiences in Marketing and PR. I am a dynamic and creative marketing communications talent with substantial international working experience in large corporation and in agencies, possessing Integrated Marketing Communication ability.

Proficient in analyzing market trends to provide critical inputs for decision-making and formulating marketing communication strategies. Familiar with brand image build-up, channel marketing, media communication, issue management, etc. Possess in-depth understanding/knowledge of APAC market and Chinese culture.

LOOKING FOR: Marketing jobs in Jylland.

LANGUAGE SKILLS: Mandarin Chinese, English, Danish, French.

IT EXPERIENCE: Familiar with Windows O/S and MS Office.

CONTACT: sugarex@hotmail.com

Denmark’s only English-language newspaper

THE COPENHAGEN POST SPOUSE EMPLOYMENT PAGE WHY: The Copenhagen Post wishes to help spouses looking for jobs in Denmark. We have on our own initiative started a weekly spouse job page in The Copenhagen Post, with the aim to show that there are already within Denmark many highly educated international candidates looking for jobs.

If you are a spouse to an international employee in Denmark looking for new career opportunities, you are welcome to send a profile to The Copenhagen Post at aviaja@cphpost.dk and we will post your profile on the spouse job page when possible. Remember to get it removed in case of new job.

SPOUSE: Dolon Roy FROM: India SEEKING WORK IN: Sjælland QUALIFICATION: Masters in Science(Chemistry), BEd. (Teacher training course).

EXPERIENCE: St. John Diocessan School February-May 2005, Kolkata, India. The Assembly of God Church School April-May 2006, Kolkata, India. Disari Public School June 2006-October 2007, India.

Research project work Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Copenhagen University, March-July 2009.

LOOKING FOR: Part time or full time work teaching in primary,secondary or higher school level (Chemistry, Mathematics, Science).

LANGUAGE SKILLS: English, Hindi, Bengali, Danish (modul 3/modul 5).

IT EXPERIENCE: Microsoft office.

CONTACT: dolonroy2005@yahoo.com. Tel: +45 60668239 SPOUSE: Anisha Kanjhlia FROM: India SEEKING WORK IN: Arhus in Teaching/Training/Administration/Media/Public Relations QUALIFICATION: Post Graduate in Advertising & Communication.

EXPERIENCE: 6+ years of professional experience in Training, Customer Service, Promotions, Brand Marketing, Content Analysis and Team Management. Strong experience in planning and executing initiatives. Extensive training experience and influencing skills that will assist me in building a high potential, motivated and an effective team. Hands-on training in soft skills like crucial conversations and people management Branch Manager & Head of Training for Cosmo Aviation Training School in New Delhi, India. Proficient in analysing market trends to provide critical inputs for decision making and formulating training strategies.

LOOKING FOR: Part time or full time in Aarhus.

IT EXPERIENCE: Comfortable with all the basic computer knowledge like Excel, Word, Power Point, Internet browsing.

CONTACT: anisha.feb@rediffmail.com, Tel: 4522305837 SPOUSE: Heike Mehlhase FROM: Berlin, Tyskland SEEKING WORK IN: A job opportunity in Copenhagen (administrative position, research assistant or psychosocial care).

QUALIFICATION: MPH, Master degree in Psychology, Lerntherapeutin.

EXPERIENCE: Five years experience in psychological research and child psychology.

LOOKING FOR: A position to expand my experience where I can use my excellent organisational, social and communication skills.

LANGUAGE SKILLS: German (mother tongue), English (fluent), Danish (Module 2).

IT EXPERIENCE: I am proficient in software such as word processing, spreadsheet, presentation software and basic graphic editing programs (Microsoft Office, Open Office) plus statistical software (SPSS).

CONTACT: heike@mehlhase.info SPOUSE: Clémence Arnal FROM: France SEEKING WORK IN: Copenhagen; Region Sjælland QUALIFICATION: Wastewater/drinking water (processes and treatments, building design, water sampling and pollution rate measurement); environment protection ( river basin management, waste management).

EXPERIENCE: Waste sorting representative (Office “Communauté du Pays d’Aix”, France); Leaks investigation on drinking water networks, Help to communes to deal with their drinking water system, Control operation of individual sanitation systems (Office “G2C Environnement”, France); Drinking water stations security: putting the Antiterrorist security plan in practice, employees security , Distribution network security: determining the cost of a network re-chlorination unit (“Drinking Water” administration of Aix en Provence, France).

LOOKING FOR: Water treatment assistant / engineer.

LANGUAGE SKILLS: French (mother tongue); English (Fluent); Danish (Prøve Dansk 3).

IT EXPERIENCE: MS-Office; AutoCAD (basic); Mapinfo (basic).

CONTACT: clem.arnal@gmail.com Tel: 23 34 63 22

SPOUSE: S.M. Ariful Islam FROM: Bangladesh SEEKING WORK IN: Copenhagen QUALIFICATION: PhD student (2nd year) in Language Policy and Practice in Aalborg University, MA in Bilingualism, MA in English Linguistics, BA in English.

EXPERIENCE: 18 months as a University lecturer in English in Bangladesh. Taught advanced grammar, four skills (listening, speaking, reading & writing), ELT courses, Second Language theories, Psycholinguistics, Sociolinguistics.

LOOKING FOR: A position of English teacher/lecturer in English Medium Schools, Colleges and Universities.

LANGUAGE SKILLS: Bengali (mother tongue), English (second language), Danish (fluent) Danske Uddannelse PD3, Hindi and Urdu (Spoken) and Swedish (basic).

IT EXPERIENCE: MS Office.

CONTACT: ariful@id.aau.dk, arif401@yahoo.com, Tel: +45 42778296 SPOUSE: Victor Bosie-Boateng FROM: Ghana SEEKING WORK IN: All of Denmark QUALIFICATION: Master of social science (Development studies & International relations) from Aalborg University in Denmark EXPERIENCE: 5 years of wide experience working as a consultant to some NGO’s, a past JPO and intern at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. Very organised and well abreast with project management, Good communication strategists, indepth study and understanding of climate change issues, Former teacher and teaching assistant at a university, well abreast with the use of the microsoft operating systems LOOKING FOR: Work as a consultant, assistant project officer, programme officer, development analysts, administrative officer. Also open to a position at an NGO, danida and other development oriented organisations LANGUAGE SKILLS: English (fluent), French (moderate), Dutch (moderate), Danish (Good) IT EXPERIENCE: Microsoft word, excel, powerpoint, microsoft project and many more.

CONTACT: bosiem2001@yahoo.com Tel: 28746935, 53302445 SPOUSE: Momina Bashir Awan FROM: Pakistan SEEKING WORK IN: All of Denmark QUALIFICATION: MBA (Degrees Assessed by Danish Agency for International Education).

EXPERIENCE: 4 years of wide experience as Human Resources Analyst in a USA based Pakistani.

Organization. Involved in Recruitment of IT personnel for outsourcing, Compensation and benefits planning, Wage analysis, Conduct Training and Development Seminars and Team building. One year of Experience in Telesales of Citibank NA., 6 months of experience in Customer Services in Telecom sector.

LOOKING FOR: Jobs in HR and Customer Services LANGUAGE SKILLS: English [Fluent], Urdu [Mother tongue], Hindi [Fluent], Danish [Beginner’s Level].

CONTACT: mominabashir@msn.com Tel: +4571352387 SPOUSE: Rita Paulo FROM: Portugal SEEKING WORK IN: Great Copenhagen QUALIFICATION: Architect .

EXPERIENCE: I am an architect and I have experience in Project and in Construction Supervision.

In the past 7 years, I have worked mainly in housing, masterplanning and social facilities buildings.

My last employer was a Project and Construction company where I had the opportunity to complement my experience in projects together with construction related tasks, developing myself as a professional.

LOOKING FOR: Job in Architecture or Construction Company.

LANGUAGE SKILLS: Native Portuguese, Proficiency in English, Basic user of Spanish and Danish IT EXPERIENCE: Strong knowledge of AutoCad and ArchiCad. Experience in Studio Max, CorelDraw, Photoshop, Office tools.

CONTACT: rita.vaz.paulo@gmail.com, Tel: +45 2961 9694

SPOUSE: Nina Chatelain FROM: Vancouver, BC, Canada SEEKING WORK IN: Midt - og syd jylland QUALIFICATION: BA courses in english and anthropology, certificate in desktop publishing and graphic design, internationally certified yoga teacher since 1999.

EXPERIENCE: Over 7 years experience as the assistant to the director (what would correspond to a direktionssekretær position) at an international university museum where i also was seconded to act as the program administrator – a project management internal communications role – for the museum’s major renovation project. I acted as the director’s right hand and the museum’s communications hub where i had daily contact with the visiting public, community stakeholders, volunteers and students. I have earlier worked as an editor and writer in various capacities, as well as a desktop publisher/graphic designer.

LOOKING FOR: An administrative role in a creative company that needs someone who can juggle a variety of projects and use excellent english writing and editing skills LANGUAGE SKILLS: English (mother tongue) and Danish (fluent comprehension-studieprøven / university entrance exam).

IT EXPERIENCE: MS Office Package, PC and Apple, have earlier worked with various desktop publishing software, quick to learn new software and systems.

CONTACT: nina.chatelain@gmail.com, Tel: +45 29707430 SPOUSE: Raffaele Menafra FROM: Italy SEEKING WORK IN: Copenhagen QUALIFICATION: A degree as Prevention techniques in Work and Workplaces.

EXPERIENCE: I worked 4 years in a rehabilitation clinic.

LANGUAGE SKILLS: Italian (native), English, Danish (currently learning).

IT EXPERIENCE: MS Office.

CONTACT: menafra1@yahoo.it SPOUSE: Bhargavi Lanka Venkata FROM: India SEEKING WORK IN: IT industry- Software - Manual & Automation Testing.

QUALIFICATION: Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science Engineering.

EXPERIENCE: Part Time/Full Time work in Software Testing, 4yrs and 9 months experience as Senior Software Engineer – Testing in a U.S based MNC in Bangalore, India.

LANGUAGE SKILLS: English, Hindi, Enrolled for Danish classes.

IT EXPERIENCE: Manual testing, Automation Regrwession testing using QTP, Web service testing using SOA Tool, HP Quality center, Unix, SQL, XML, Basic shell scripting.

CONTACT: bhargavipsk@gmail.com; Mobile: 50376689 SPOUSE: Vidya Singh FROM: India SEEKING WORK IN: Copenhagen, Odense, Arhus, Aalborg or nearby areas.

QUALIFICATION: Master in Computer Management, Bachelor of Science, Certified Novell Engineer, Microsoft Certified Professional.

EXPERIENCE: Total 8 years (4 year in telecommunication as customer care + 4 year as HR recruiter consultant).

LOOKING FOR: HR (Trainee/Assistant/Recruiter/consultant), Customer service, office work, IT LANGUAGE SKILLS: English, Hindi and Danish (currently learning).

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National coach Morten Olsen’s new contract will keep him in the job until after the 2014 World Cup.

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SRSF’s first budget will spend 17.5 billion kroner on infrastructure and abolish previous taxes and restrictions

C

AN YOU HAVE your cake and eat it too? Conventional wisdom says no, but with their first budget plan since the shift of power, the new Socialdemokraterne-RadikaleSocialistisk Folkeparti (SRSF) coalition appear to be giving it a shot.

Many of the elements of the new budget – which is expected to be released in its entirety on Thursday – will increase state spending at a time when the budget deficit has increased. But where the money would come from remained a mystery.

A number of the new budget items reinstate spending cuts made by the pre-

vious Venstre-Konservative (VK) govern- the number of students. Moreover, stument. Here are a few of the major points: dents will no longer pay administrative Families: VK limited the state’s fees, and prospective Master’s students monthly child support handouts (bør- will have prerequisite course tuitions necheck) to 35,000 kroner per fam- paid. The government will also fund ily. That limit has now been abolished, 1,500 more state-supported internship meaning that many families will get positions.

Infrastructure and job creation: larger child benefits. The government will also pay for fertility treatments and Some 17.5 billion kroner will be invested over two years in infrastructure voluntary sterilisations.

Welfare: VK and Dansk Folkeparti projects, such as a new rail line between (DF) introduced specialised welfare pro- Copenhagen and Ringsted, a project to grammes that reduced the cash benefits widen the Holbæk motorway, erosion for new immigrants. Those programmes protection efforts along Jutland’s west have now been eliminated and going coast, and renovations to public housforward all residents in need of state ing. Prime minister Helle Thorningsupport will receive the same welfare Schmidt has said that these ‘kickstart’ projects will create 20,000 new jobs benefits.

Higher education and research: from 2012-2013. The Danish ConstrucUniversities will get an extra one billion tion Association predicts 10,000.

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abolished, saving some 525,000 Danes with business laptops and mobile phones 3,000 kroner per year.

Not everyone, however, can look forward to a cash infusion. Smokers and junk food lovers will be taxed higher on their vices, while international corporations will also see higher tax bills. SRSF plans to raise revenue by closing a number of tax loopholes going back nearly 20 years that allowed international corporations in Denmark to escape paying corporate taxes (see more on page 15).

All told, the spending increases in the new budget are not as big as the minister of the economy and interior, Margrethe Vestager (R), would like. She noted that VK under-reported the deficit for 2012, making it imprudent to spend more. But Denmark will still meet the EU’s financial responsibility benchmarks, despite the larger deficit, she added.

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Culture culture

The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk

7 - 13 September 2012

Henry Butman

F

ollowing the bold August 21 launch of the internet site of the participative, English-language TV series ‘The Spiral’, which is currently being broadcast in eight different European countries as well as online, it’s evident that Scandinavian and other European producers, writers and filmmakers are aiming their sights at international audiences. And why shouldn’t they?

Scandinavia has already proved it can make successful programmes in their own language, such as Denmark’s ‘Forbrydelsen’ (The Killing), Swedish-Danish co-production ‘The Bridge’, and Iceland’s ‘Næturvaktin’ (The Night Shift). All of them have been or are being remade by American production studios – so why not cut out the middle-man?

Beyond Scandinavian shores, there is a vast, untapped TV audience out there for any European production team willing to create English-language programming.

And several have already made attempts to harness that audience through various means.

Take for instance ‘Lilyhammer’, a Norwegian-American television series that premiered in

‘The Vampire Show’ is a European shows chasing the big Anglo audience

funding.

“Most of the local TV and film funds could not give subsidies for ‘The Spiral’ because it was English-language, and most funds have an obligation to support [their own] language products,” explained Hamelinck.

Only the Flemish film fund was able to provide subsidies for the project. The Danish Film Institute, according to Hamelinck, was very interested, but could not allocate any funds because the project failed to reach the “right percentage of Danish dialogue”.

Despite the difficulties Caviar encountered in terms of funding, Hamelinck and his team have no plans to shy away from these types of productions.

“We believe strongly in producing and co-producing panEuropean TV shows with one common language, and we will continue on this route [in the fu-

Much Ado About Nothing

Hans Nyberg

HBO breaking ground Drama’s drastic, slapstick’s fantastic in Nordic countries Linn Lemhag

www.hbo.com

ture],” said Hamelinck.

Xinxin Ren Gudbjörnsson, a Chinese expat living in Denmark, is the writer and producer of an English-language, Danish based satirical sitcom entitled ‘The Vampire Show’. With very little funding and without involvement in the legalese of licensing agreements, Gudbjörnsson has been able to broadcast her series to viewers all over the world by hosting the content herself on YouTube and a website, www. thevampireshow.com.

From the start, Gudbjörnsson knew her show would appeal to a limited, niche market, and hosting content online was the easiest way to reach interested viewers around the globe. Hosting on YouTube also allowed Gudbjörnsson the benefit of immediate viewer feedback.

“At first [comments] were just from friends, and then friends

of friends,” said Gudbjörnsson.

“But we were really excited by our first negative comments.”

Negative comments are “really important”, contends Gudbjörnsson, as it indicates the viewership has expanded beyond the creators’ social network and puts Gudbjörnsson in touch with what their audience likes and dislikes about the programme.

With a budget of only 660 kroner – the price of a website registration and two fake sets of teeth – Gudbjörnsson and her team have created four episodes that comprise the first season.

With the cast and crew working for free, a second season is already in the works.

If the show gains success, Gudbjörnsson has plans to move ‘The Vampire Show’ entirely to its own website. And if the show takes a while to get off the ground, there’s no great fear from its creators. “No-one can shut us down,” Gudbjörnsson said. “Noone can cancel the show.”

As more and more viewers choose to stream TV programmes online via their laptops, tablets and smartphones, the internet may become a breeding ground for producers attempting to reach a global audience. And to Gudbjörnsson, that’s the way TV should be.

“People are pretty busy and shouldn’t have to adapt their schedules to fit TV in,” Gudbjörnsson said. “Online channels are the future.”

HHHHHH

A

HBO’s ‘True Blood’ ... like ‘Twilight’ but more episodes

Henry Butman

S

tarting from midOctober, residents of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden will be able to view HBO’s content online.

HBO Nordic AB, a joint venture owned by Home Box Office Inc and Parfisal International, announced last week that it will start streaming content to the Nordic region next month.

Subscribers will be able to access HBO’s online content, which includes some of the world’s most popular TV drama series, including perennial award-winners ‘Boardwalk Empire’, ‘True Blood’ and ‘Game of Thrones’; a catalogue of acclaimed former series like ‘The Sopranos’, ‘Six Feet Under’ and ‘The Wire’; as well as feature films and documentaries through transaction-based videoon-demand services.

As of yet, HBO Nordic AB has not confirmed the cost of the service, although it will reportedly be less than ten euros a month.

HBO is hoping to capitalise on a young market that tends to favour other devices over their television, such as personal computers and hand-helds.

HBOnordic.com – where HBO will host its streaming content – will be available on any internetconnected device.

The announcement followed a Netflix announcement that it would be bringing its streaming service to the Nordic region by the end of 2012. The two services have been competing with one another for customers in the US – a rivalry that is set to continue in the Nordic region.

Netflix has also not yet announced how much it will charge subscribers.

corner of the King’s Gardens was transformed into Shakespeare’s Sicily last week when the TNT Theatre Company put on their version of ‘Much Ado About Nothing’, complete with stuffed cats, fake swords and an impromptu guest performance from a passing homeless man.

Though Shakespeare in the 21st century is favoured by the intelligentsia, in Elizabethan times he was a man of the people, when early titles like ‘Titus Andronicus’ were received in the same way as Zack Snyder’s ‘300’. Last week’s version of Much Ado About Nothing, a comedy in which indeed not much happens, might be likened to an episode of ‘Two and a Half Men’ – broadly entertaining, if only for the tonguein-cheek sex puns and slapstick fighting.

The opening scene went off like a rocket with banging metal pails, quick jokes and a hilarious David Chittenden as the evil mastermind Don Juan, complete with an evil kitty straight from Bloefeld’s lap. However, although the second act garnered a few successful jokes, including an inspired updated version of the

Who is ...

Casper Christensen? dr/ Bjarne Bergius Hermansen

How northern European television makers are using the internet to reach Anglophone audiences

early 2012. The show premiered in Norway in January on NRK1, one of Norway’s leading channels. A month later it premiered on Netflix, directly targeting a primarily American audience (Netflix currently only streams online in North and Central America and the UK).

‘Lilyhammer’ is Netflix’s first original series, but with a second season already in the works, partnerships between Netflix and foreign-based broadcasters may become an emerging trend. With Netflix unveiling plans to move into the Nordic market by the end of 2012, such partnerships may have more room to form and flourish.

Another show taking a similar approach to ‘Lilyhammer’ is ‘The Spiral’, created by Caviar Content, a production company with offices in five European countries and one in the US. The show started airing last weekend on TV stations in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, as well as online in those countries. Due to legal reasons, however, other international viewers will have to wait to see ‘The Spiral’ in full.

Building such a pan-European production doesn’t come easily. According to Bert Hamelinck, an executive producer at Caviar Films, most of the broadcasters were in favour of supporting and showing ‘The Spiral’, but many were unable to provide adequate

scanpix/Tine Harden

Wake up TV producers – there’s a whole world out there

linn lemhag A 44-year-old Danish comedian best known for his many TV appearances and girlfriends.

Isn’t he in ‘Klovn’?

Yes. Christensen and comic partner Frank Hvam are the creators, writers and stars of the successful comedy series, as well as the film of the same name. Granted, it isn’t a work of genius considering it’s a pretty blatant rip-off of HBO’s ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’.

What else has he done?

Pretty much anything that involves no creative thought process. Barring the odd comedy show like ‘Langt fra Las Vegas’, they’re all acquired from abroad: from ‘Shooting Stars’ and ‘Don’t Forget Your Toothbrush’ to ‘Deal/No Deal’. He also had his own live chat show called ‘Aloha’.

What was that like?

It was a Danish version of the ‘David Letterman Show’, with Christensen replacing the New York funnyman. He’s obviously very liberal about borrowing creative ideas from the US. Highlights?

He smoked a joint while speaking to Konservative politician Brian Mikkelsen on the subject of marijuana legalisation.

So what’s he doing these days?

He’s dedicated to running his own comedy production company, although you can currently catch him in the latest TDC commercial in which he swans about with a girlfriend 18 years his junior and goes to the skate park with his kids. Yes, it can get confusing on the school run.

Don Juan and his evil pussy was the play’s high point

‘truth overheard’ theme featuring tin-can telephones, the mood took a turn for the serious, and sadly, for the trite.

The programme notes referred to the scene in which Beatrice pleads for Benedick to kill Claudio as her “greatest moment”, and Louise Lee’s performance recalled the desperate angst of either a Juliet or an Ophelia.

But this was not a tragedy, and the dramatics felt forced and overdone in a play in which Benedick and Claudio end up best buddies,

square dancing with their gals after a merry double wedding.

Although the vision was a little too high-brow in places, the comedy was done with excellence – helping to bring Shakespeare out of the classroom and into the public.

‘Much Ado About Nothing’ was performed on Thursday August 30 in Kongens Have by the TNT Theatre Company, which is returning on September 20 to perform ‘Brave New World’.

Bit of a ladies man then?

He was married to his copresenter on the toothbrush show, Annette Toft, but moved on to his ‘Las Vegas’ co-star Iben Hjejle.

Still together?

No. He moved onto 26-year-old Isabel Friis-Mikkelsen, whom he hired as his assistant when he was still with Hjejle.

That’s a bit awkward …

Yes, but he’s also pals with her father, actor Jarl Friis-Mikkelsen.

We bet that’s going to be a fun julefrukost this year!

Denmark through the looking glass The Copenhagen Post cphpost.dk

7 - 13 September 2012

19

Matador, je t’adore! You hold a monopoly on all our hearts

Sofie Gravers Jacobsen Despite every other Dane owning a box-set of the country’s most beloved drama series, millions will tune in for its seventh screening since it was first shown in the early 1980s

S

ome comforts are obvious: chocolate, warmth after a cold day spent outdoors, the presence of a docile cat. And then others are less easy to understand – these tend to be the ones that people are remembered for: the film ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’, Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and Simon and Garfunkel. And in Denmark, you can add the TV series ‘Matador’ to this list.

First aired by DR1 between 1978 and 1982, it is about to be screened on primetime television for the seventh time, and in a recent poll, nearly two million

(1973-1977), another extremely popular TV series, which was also directed by Balling. And don’t forget the cast. Over its 24 episode-run, the majority of Denmark’s well-known theatre and cinema actors of the era appeared in the series – in most cases, in what turned out to be career-defining roles. Likewise, the Matador music composed by Bent Fabricius-Bjerre, the creator of memorable tunes like ‘Alley Cats’ and ‘The Olsen Band’, is iconic.

And then there is the overriding theme: snobbery. Matador is set in the fictional town of Korsbæk between 1929 and 1947. The story is set in motion by the arrival of Mads Skjern and his young son, Daniel. Mads, undeterred but not unhurt by the less than warm welcome he receives from the established families in Korsbæk, persists with his ambition to open a clothing shop. The ‘head of the town’, the banker Hans Christian Varnæs, mistakenly remains

Danes – approximately 40 percent of the nation – said they would happily watch it again.

Indeed, an amazing 3.6 million viewers tuned into the airing of the series finale in 1985, a record for a country that only had a population of 5 million at time, which is all the more remarkable given that this was a repeat screening. So what’s all the fuss about?

First of all, it’s an incredible concoction of artists producing possibly their finest ever work.

Matador is forever associated with its director Erik Balling, a giant of Danish film and television, who besides Matador is best known for making the 1956 Oscar-nominated film ‘Qivitoq’ and creating and directing ‘The Olsen Gang’ series. But the brains behind the series was Lise Nørgaard, the creator and cowriter. Nørgaard, who is now 95, is a cherished Danish journalist, author and screenwriter whom had previously created and written ‘Huset på Christianshavn’

Them upstairs: the snooty Varnæs family, although Maude’s sister Elisabeth Friis is by no means the worst of them

loyal to the inept local clothing shop owner, rather than following his common business sense, and refuses to lend Mads any money. Using family money, Mads opens a rival shop, and as the series progresses, he gradually takes over the town.

The series is extremely humourous, extracting comic gold from characters who represent every social step of the ladder, and their moves up and down this ladder. One of the many memorable lines from the series is ‘av min arm’ (literally translated as ‘my arm hurts’), which is the Varnæs’s nurse’s only response to any information she receives.

When Maude Varnæs complains that her youngest daughter is very slow at learning to speak, her sister wryly remarks: “She is very good at saying ‘av min arm’.” This is a classic example of how the authors manage to subtly and humorously show that the daughter is neglected by her parents and the result is an obvious lack of speech.

The time period is also crucial. Matador is set during a pivotal moment in Danish history that many of the original viewers could still remember clearly.

The lengthy Nazi occupation, in particular, is enormously interesting to viewers. The series pays faithful attention to the development of fashion, interior design, and cultural trends, and it provides a great introduction to the everyday life of Danes during the 1930s and 40s. This may help explain why every fourth grown-up in Denmark has watched the series at least four times.

To a non-Danish audience, however, the response is often subdued. Many give up after the first couple of episodes (normally a present from a new Danish relative) because they find it, at first glance, provincial (it is set in a town) and predictable. But in reality, many fans agree that it is the characters’ unexpected actions that make the series so endearing – in

short, the characters behave like real people not caricatures.

For example, Maude Varnæs, the wife of the chief executive Hans Christian Varnæs, in one of Matador’s most compelling episodes, surprises everyone by taking responsibility in the face of very real danger to do the right thing. Up until that moment, her solution to most difficulties, small as they may be, has been to announce: “I will go and have a lie down.”

But upon hearing the news that the Nazis are going to deport the Jewish population, she drives one of her husband’s Jewish bank assistants to a member of the Danish resistance. It’s an unexpected act of bravery by an unintentionally amusing character, who we had assumed was not at all brave.

Matador will be enjoyed for the seventh time by a fair proportion of the population from Saturday 8 September onwards.

Like good wines, it has matured with age.

Christmas with the Skjerns – who’s got the biggest tree now?!

dr/rolf konow

else tholsttrup

dr/rolf konow

Them downstairs: instead of servants, it’s pig farmers

dr/rolf konow

dr/rolf konow

The outsiders: Mads Skjern (right) and his son Daniel (centre) settling into their new premises – those mod cons will be hard to beat

The establishment: Mr Schwann (right) tells his customer that coathangers will never catch on

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