Orient Issue 38

BRITCHAM ORIENT MAGAZINE

Orient

THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE BRITISH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE - SINGAPORE

SPECIAL FEATURES

ISSN 0219-1245

ISSUE 38

38

9 770219 124002

77

THE LONDON OLYMPICS 2012: A LOOK BACK

12

REFLECTIONS: CANNES LIONS INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF CREATIVITY 2012

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ISSUE 38 / SEP 2012

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Contents

9

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE SPECIAL FEATURES

12

Reflections: Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2012

77

The London Olympics 2012: A Look Back

FEATURES 18

Brand Washed

22

Engaging Future Leaders

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Robotics and Artificial Intelligence: The Job Devourers

28

10 Reasons to Use a Financial Adviser

31

What to Look for in a Singapore-based Financial Adviser?

BRITISH HIGH COMMISSION / UKTI 34

British High Commission News August/September 2012

36

LNG: Fuelling Opportunities for a Secure Future

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UK Export Finance: New Products and Help for SMEs

AT THE CHAMBER

ERRATA In Issue 37 of Orient (June 2012), UK Prime Minister David Cameron and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong were subsequently incorrectly referred to as ‘Minister Cameron’ and ‘Minister Lee’ respectively. This should have read as ‘Prime Minister Cameron’ and ‘Prime Minister Lee’ instead. Also, Acting Foreign Minister Lui Tuck Yew was incorrectly referred to as ‘acting Foreign Minister’. Novus Media Solutions apologises for the errors.

43

Executive Director’s Message

44 60

Events

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New Members

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Sterling News

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Corporate News

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Members’ Offers

Events Calendar

CULTURE & LIFESTYLE 83

The Other Games of 2012

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British Chamber of Commerce, Singapore Sponsors PLATINUM SPONSORS

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BRONZE SPONSORS

BRITCHAM BOARD: PRESIDENT: Steve Puckett: Tri-Zen International VICE-PRESIDENTS: Hugo Walkinshaw: Deloitte Consulting SE Asia Andrew Vine: The Insight Bureau TREASURER: David Macdonald: JOOL Capital Partner International HONORARY SECRETARY: Damian Adams: Watson, Farley & Williams LLP EX-OFFICIO: Judith Slater: British High Commission Mark Howard: British Council BOARD MEMBERS: Andrew Jones: Barclays Andrew Thomas: Ogilvy & Mather Singapore Caroline Bagshaw: Standard Chartered Bank David Pugh: The Fry Group Dominic Nixon: PricewaterhouseCoopers Emma Boyd: Pinstripe Business Solutions Ingrid Child: HSBC Bank James Deely: The Royal Bank of Scotland plc Neil Montefiore: StarHub Nick McGlynn: British Airways Paul O’Neil: Rolls-Royce Singapore Pek Hak Bin: BP Singapore Peter Allen: Pacific Century Regional Developments Richard Burn: Diageo Singapore Editor: Vipanchi vipanchi@britcham.org.sg Assistant Editor: Yong En yongen@britcham.org.sg 138 Cecil Street, #13-03 Cecil Court, Singapore 069538 Tel: +65 6222-3552 Fax: +65 6222-3556 Email: info@britcham.org.sg www.britcham.org.sg

COMMITTEE CHAIRPERSONS: Corporate Social Responsibility: Richard Burn Events & Sponsorship: Hugo Walkinshaw External Affairs: Steve Puckett Membership: Andrew Vine BUSINESS GROUP CHAIRPERSONS: Energy & Utilities: Damian Adams Entrepreneur & Small Business: Peter Seligman Financial Services: Patrick Donaldson IT and Communications Technology: Henry Farahar Leadership: TBA Media & Marketing: TBA Professional Services: Carolyn Lints Property & Construction: Richard Warburton Shipping Transport & Logistics: Neil Johnson Young Professionals: Miles Gooseman MANAGEMENT TEAM: Executive Director: Brigitte Holtschneider Accountant: Sabitha Munnangi Marketing & Communications Manager: Vipanchi Marketing & Communications Assistant: Loong Yong En Events Manager: Tiffeny Kua Membership Manager: Katie Hudson Membership & Events Assistant Manager: Emi Hosono

Orient is a bi-monthly magazine published by the British Chamber of Commerce. © All rights reserved.

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President’s Message

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Dear Members, It’s been a golden summer for Britain. The summer of 2012 will be remembered for the two glorious weeks of London’s joyful Olympics, the warm welcome that athletes and visitors from all corners of the world received, the heights of athletic achievement, and the fabulous spectacle that London put on for the viewing audiences. What more is to be said, except perhaps to congratulate Team GB on a best ever Olympic performance, winning 65 medals in 16 different sports, and to congratulate Singapore on coming home with two well-earned medals while witnessing several personal bests among its 23 athletes, with a new national record for Tao Li in the 100m backstroke.

While questions have been raised about the lasting value to the UK of the expenditure that went into staging the Olympics, Great Britain has shown the world that it can deliver the largest of global events with style and efficiency. Much of the investment went into transforming an area of London that had seen better days into a newly vibrant enclave. Furthermore, a large proportion of the building materials used were recycled, making this the most environmentally sustainable Olympics construction of the modern era. It remains to be seen how long the Olympic feel-good factor remains and how much of the new business that emerges in the UK is sustained. But there can be little doubt that Britain’s world-class business skills and talent were showcased admirably, from the magnificent new stadiums to the prolific talent of the British creative and entertainment industries.

Steve Puckett President, British Chamber of Commerce

At the end of August, we welcomed our fellow British Chambers in South East Asia. The occasion was the conference for Britain in South East Asia (BiSEA), which was hosted by Singapore this year. The group leverages our common interests across the region and is increasingly providing members with in-country connections as they venture throughout South East Asia. The group also cooperates with the various UKTI offices, bringing together much of what can be offered regionally in one network. Links to BiSEA are available on our website, and enquiries are always welcome.

We are now well into Awards Season—certainly for members of BritCham who can look forward to our Business Awards Gala Dinner in early October. Each year the Awards attracts new entrants, and this year has proved no different with a record number of nominees vying for the nine awards. The Awards seeks to recognise excellence in business in Singapore and the judging process is already underway. I would like to congratulate all finalists, and look forward to seeing you at the Awards Gala Dinner.

Later into October, we will welcome Roman Scott to give his Economic Briefing. This is always a highlight in our events calendar, and memorable for its keenly insightful—and sometimes amusingly irreverent—views on the global and regional business outlook. The Economic Briefing is an event that I urge you not to miss, particularly if you have any business or personal forward-planning in hand.

Finally, save the date for our Annual Ball on December 1. We close the year at the Shangri-La and embrace the theme of the Diamond Jubilee at Christmastime.

Trekking in Nepal, Theory of Knowledge in Year 12 and building aeroplanes in Preschool.

A holistic educational approach is central to what we do at the Australian International School in Singapore

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Sterling Members

SINGAPORE

Singapore

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Special Feature

Reflections:

Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2012

By Deborah Abraham

When BBH founding partner, Sir John Hegarty, was asked by a journalist if he thought the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity had changed over the years, his answer was that fundamentally, it had not. The festival has always been a celebration of creativity, whatever shape or form it may take. Of course, what Sir Hegarty went on to say was that the Cannes Lions had clearly evolved—as anyone in the industry would agree.

> The crowd taking advantage of the Cannes Connect Bar

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Special Feature: Reflections: Special Feature Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2012

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Dan Wieden and Sir Hegarty on ‘30 Years of Creative Chaos’

eing a Cannes rookie, I found this somewhat comforting: that as I walked the renowned Croisette, met my peers from across the world and sipped rosé on the Carlton Terrace, I would be basking in the exact same Cannes spirit that advertising veterans had enjoyed for years.

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“The industry needs to make the work better if it’s to survive and thrive. Make the bloody work better!”

—Sir Hegarty

This year the festival hit a record high, with more than 11,000 participants from more than 90 countries. All were eager to see which of the 34,000 entries—the highest figure ever—would rise above the rest.

Aside from the awards, the festival crams a whirlwind of seminars, master classes, workshops, late night beach parties and general schmoozing into its seven days.

>

Every June since 1984 (although the festival dates back to as early as the 1940s), the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity—now considered the world’s premier advertising event—is held in Cannes, one of the most glorious and glitziest stretches of the French Riviera.

Grand Prix Film Lion winner

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Today, more than ever, consumers have the power to effect change, and advertisers “have a major role to influence a world obsessed with the trivial, fleeting and shallow.”

—Bill Clinton Former US President Bill Clinton was one of the top-billed speakers

One of the more significant changes to the festival was the presence and influence of marketers. This year, VIP tents lining the Croisette were dominated by brands such as Google, Microsoft and Yahoo!. Companies such as Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, Kraft, Nike and Coca-Cola were also among the corporate giants that took centre stage alongside the advertising, PR, mobile, digital, gaming, social network and music industries.

Brands and agencies also compete to bring in top-billing speakers. One of them this year was an enigmatic—and carb-free—Bill Clinton, who addressed a full house on how advertising can help build a better world. His key message? Today, more than ever, consumers have the power to effect change, and advertisers “have a major role to influence a world obsessed with the trivial, fleeting and shallow.”

Cannes Lions CEO Philip Thomas said many of the world’s marketers come to the festival to see the industry’s best work.

Once purely the domain of advertising’s elite, close to 25% of the registered delegates this year were marketers, making Cannes a place where brands now attend to distinguish themselves as innovative and inspiring.

Clinton joined the ranks of other celebrity speakers, including legendary singer-songwriter Debbie Harry, Arianna Huffington of the Huffington Post and Golden Globe-winning Sex and the City creator Michael Patrick King.

However, it was the youngest celebrity, the actress, singer and Bieber belle Selena Gomez, who sparked the largest avalanche of Twitter chatter when she aptly joined a panel discussing ‘Millennials’ and their influence on the business of creativity.

Croisette Beach was a welcome respite

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Special Feature: Reflections: Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2012

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P&G’s Best Job won two Golds and three Silvers

But the high point for me was ‘30 Years of Creative Chaos,’ a joint presentation by two of the world’s most iconic advertising mavericks and rivals, Dan Wieden and Sir Hegarty. The admen founded their elite agencies exactly three decades ago, and now, well into their 60s, they took the time to discuss each other’s work with charm, respect and sometimes brutal sincerity.

Laughter and tears filled the theatre as they spoke. Sir Hegarty coined a new term, ‘vomit factor,’ which I fear will now be used by creative directors the world over. He was referring to Wieden+Kennedy’s Best Job Olympic film for Procter & Gamble. “The vomit factor was high… but the directing really worked,” he said.

Wieden, on the other hand, described his similar hatred for the BBH Xbox film, Life’s Too Short. The commercial depicts a baby shooting out of its mother’s womb, gradually transforming mid-flight into an old man who eventually crashes straight into a tombstone.

About the Author Deborah Abraham is PR Director for BBH in Asia.

Previously a television host on the National Geographic Channel and Singapore’s Channel 5, she has worked as a reporter and producer

Axe Angels won the Grand Prix for Creative Effectiveness

It ended up going viral due to its “perfect execution.”

So who took home some of the coveted Grand Prix? Chipotle Mexican Grill was an unassuming candidate for the Grand Prix Film Lion, but the American sustainable fast food company had judges singing praises of the excellent craft and simple storytelling in the animated film, Back to the Start, by Creative Artists Agency.

French broadcaster Canal Plus won over the Grand Prix Film Craft judges for their funny and spectacular film starring a bear rug protagonist, The Bear by BETC. Axe Angels, a brand turnaround story by BBH UK, in which angels literally fall from grace, earned a Grand Prix for Creative Effectiveness, a new award now in its second year.

On the last day of the festival, the final awards tally occupied the agenda of every agency and marketer. Some agency folk

across America, Europe and Asia Pacific. She also ran her own PR Agency for five years with a focus on consumer lifestyle.

When the opportunity at BBH knocked, Deborah decided that going in-house to a creative

agency with the mantra “When the World Zigs, Zag” was too good a thing to miss.

argue that the Cannes Lions is more akin to war than a celebration of creativity, where agencies, networks and brands go headto-head in a fight for recognition. Creative directors I spoke to agreed that it was easy to lose sight of why they were at Cannes to begin with.

I am certain Sir Hegarty didn’t mean to burst everyone’s Cannes bubble, but if there’s one thing I would take away from this year’s festival, it would be his simple and direct advice: “The industry needs to make the work better if it’s to survive and thrive. Make the bloody work better!”

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Feature

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Brand Washed

By Martin Lindstrom

My dad always said, if you want to get ahead of the leader, don’t follow his tracks in the snow. If I owned my own jewellery store, this would be the mantra for everything I did, so that my store would be [Y\S` KPăLYLU[ think the greatest challenge we all face is avoiding the well-worn track. But how do we avoid falling in step with everyone else? The trick is to find inspiration; not from your competitors, but from brands outside your own line of business.

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Let’s imagine that Apple went into the jewellery business. Now let’s imagine how the Apple jewellery store might look. We all know Apple—a fundamental indicator in itself of the brand’s leadership. The Apple personality is well-etched into our collective understanding of the brand. We could, therefore, imagine that the Apple jewellery store would proclaim itself in the street environment as a jewel itself. The façade would be sleek, the staff casually elegant in black shirts adorned with incisive, whiteprinted apophthegms across their backs.

The jewellery displays would be similarly elegant, with simple lines and perhaps using white as a theme. And the pieces—each a paragon of design—would be the stars of a coordinated and well-designed show, perhaps only a select few on display to ensure that the story behind each work

had the space and time to express itself.

You’d be able to see them up close, examine their well-crafted detail, and even touch them to fully appreciate their seamless craftsmanship. They’d be Apple pieces, sharing design characteristics that underline the brand’s inherent mission, personality and values. They’d be individual expressions of each artist’s creativity, yet united in their evocation of the Apple brand experience. In brilliant paradox, their individuality would reinforce a recognisable and unifying brand, leaving no doubt as to the company behind the products.

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Feature: Brand Washed

My customers should be willing live billboards for my products. Just as the white earphones have become a distinctive icon for the Apple brand, the proud wearers of my store’s products would be sporting distinctive pieces that could have come from one place only.

So, how do you identify the right source of inspiration to start building your distinctive brand experience?

Think ‘Steve Jobs’ and you might associate visionary qualities with the man. It’s the same with powerful brands.

Let’s step back onto the street, out of that imaginary Apple jewellery store, and consider jewellery brand distinction in general. There’s a row of jewellery stores in this shopping district. Lined up side-by-side, they offer easy comparison. Or do they?

They’re all the same. Where’s the distinction between them? If I were to take a photo of each store, I’d use the images to build a matrix to map brand differences—or the lack thereof. The matrix is built around the four sides of a square. The vertical left-hand side accommodates pictures of stores that are almost uniform with each other. The opposite side of the square contains photos of stores that are unique in some way. Along the top of the matrix are photos of stores that offer an experience—they’re more than retail outlets or places to display jewels.

Finally, along the bottom of the square are all the other stores. These are the bland environments that lack distinction.

Guess where most of stores would be on the matrix? Would I be wrong in assuming they’d mainly be in the bottom left, where the uniform and bland stores overlap. Many of the remainder would be in the middle of the matrix, mapping their identities as stores that are essentially trend followers that provide a pleasant environment, but one that is advised merely by function and habit, not brand expression. There’s a pretty big gap at the top right where we would map unique, experiential stores—if we had a picture of one! Guess what? That’s where I would aim to have a picture of my jewellery store.

First, you need to carefully consider the values you want your jewellery store to convey. Should it be cool, courageous, harmonious, sensitive, humorous or inspiring? Did you notice the values I listed? We’re not talking about reliability or quality. These are values which consumers take for granted in a brand that has the temerity to offer itself for sale. Brand values are personality attributes that set a brand apart from others. Think of brands as people. Values describe the personality of your brand, just as people represent values through their unique personalities.

Think ‘Oprah’ and you’d possibly identify values such as ‘compassion’ and ‘care.’

Think ‘Steve Jobs’ and you might associate visionary qualities with the man. It’s the same with powerful brands. Your brand’s personality is ultimately what distinguishes it. And the personality is built on welldefined and consistently expressed values.

Your brand values should not only underline a distinctive personality, but should also allow you to tell your customers a great story. Like people, brands exist within a personal history. They exist in a community

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context. Tell the story of your brand through its expression and the relationship it builds with customers.

Now you’re ready to identify the source of your inspiration. Consider brands beyond your sector that embody values to place them in the top right-hand corner of the matrix, brands that are unique and offer an experience in our encounters with them.

Perhaps you might think of Red Bull. There’s a brand that might qualify as inspiration for a jewellery store because of its unique distribution strategy. I’m sure you’re aware that custom-built Red Bull fridges reside in surf wear stores as much as in convenience stores, because the surf wear stores are where their core customers shop. On the same theme, Quiksilver, the surf wear clothing brand, has developed stores that are experiential, evoking a sense of the beach, fun and youth. Gather a group of brands that reflect aspects of your store’s personality and values, then examine how they can inspire concepts and directions for your store.

Your next step is to consider your story.

Branding isn’t all about design. It’s about creating a powerful story. The story, the values and the personality all inform the

design. The design expresses these characteristics to achieve a holistic and integrated, confident and distinctive brand expression. The fact is, you’re selling a story first, followed by jewellery as an inevitable consequence. The jewellery pieces are symbols for the brand experience. My jewellery store would be an epicentre of storytelling.

Every jewellery piece in my store would have a unique story to tell. Each piece would express a unique origin, a unique jeweller behind its creation, unique gems or craftsmanship. No piece would leave my store without being accompanied by a booklet exploring the story behind the piece. My staff should be carefully trained in conveying each and every story. And my website would extend the experience. On and offline, my jewellery store would function as theatre. The set would be accompanied by unique music for the store and website. A signature scent would pervade the store and would be infused into all my exquisite packaging materials. Customers would take home the story, the piece and the sensory experience.

In my book, Buyology, I explore why more than 70% of us touch wood for

About the Author Martin Lindstrom is a 2009 recipient of TIME magazine’s “World’s 100 Most Influential People” and author of Buyology—Truth and Lies About Why We Buy (Doubleday, New York), a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller.

A prolific traveller, Lindstrom is on the road 300 days annually, dispensing his brand of wisdom to top executives from blue-chip companies such as McDonald’s Corporation, Procter & Gamble, PepsiCo, Microsoft Corporation, The Walt Disney Company and GlaxoSmithKline. His personal

luck. It’s true! More than 40% of us avoid walking under ladders and opening umbrellas inside, for fear of inviting bad luck. Countless rituals such as these are engraved into our social consciousnesses.

Individually and collectively, we practise rituals daily. Weddings, engagements, birthdays—they’re all rituals. And our addiction to them translates into a powerful branding tool. So, on top of the story, the environment and the sensory experience of my store, I’d invent rituals for everything: the way staff greet and attend to customers, the way the piece’s stories are told, the way in which purchases are wrapped and presented to customers. Every consumer touchpoint offers an opportunity for brand expression.

Buying jewellery should give customers an experience so memorable and distinctive that they can’t help but talk about it. These breathless stories then spread via word of mouth to friends and family. This is the marketing strategy to aim for. Classic advertising, which comes at outrageous cost, rarely works. I’d make my store do the talking and let my customers be the pilgrims to spread the word to the ends of the world.

global audience is estimated at more than a million people.

Lindstrom has and continues to feature in numerous reputable publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, TIME, The Economist, The New York Times, BusinessWeek, The Washington Post, USA Today and Fast Company.

Article brought to you by:

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Feature

Engaging Future Leaders

By Deepali Chaturvedi

Generation Y (Gen Y) is populated by people under 30 years old who are ambitious but frequently criticised for having a diva-like approach to job hunting: expecting jobs to almost fall into their laps, with high ďŹ nancial rewards from the outset.

While this is a broad generalisation of people born after 1980, Gen Y-ers have indeed developed a very different outlook and approach to work and life in general. With this new age upon us, the reality for many organisations is that they need to attract,

recruit and retain Gen Y-ers to be successful.

The challenge is clear. Employers need to fully understand what makes Gen Y individuals tick in order to create successful strategies for talent attraction, development and retention, thus enabling them to create sustainable competitive advantage. One clear behavioural trend among Gen Y-ers is that they are not afraid to move from employer to employer—sometimes after little more than a year—to gain as much experience as they can as quickly as they can.

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Attracting and retaining the best talent from Gen Y Competition is fierce among talent-seeking employers and between ambitious Gen Y individuals looking to secure attractive job opportunities. In many sectors, the recruitment market has begun to move from being employer-driven and candidaterich to being candidate-poor and applicant-driven. With talent attraction and retention becoming more of a challenge, it is increasingly important for employers to understand and cater to job-transient Gen Y candidates in order to build the foundation for a successful recruitment and retention strategy.

Results show that 52% of employees stated they were unhappy with benefits packages offered by their firms and almost one in seven said that benefits would play a big part in influencing their next job decision.

Employers were also polled and results worryingly showed that the answers given

by the Gen Y respondents completely contradicted those of the employers, 83% of which believed that their employees were happy with the benefits they received.

In addition to this stark difference, research also showed that Gen Y-ers are not just motivated by benefit packages; they expect employers to offer a structured career path with a firm emphasis on training and development, regardless of how long they intend to stay with an organisation.

Of those polled, 31% wanted to enrol in professional courses, 28% wanted to take accredited courses, 21% wanted to take in-house courses, while the remainder sought one-to-one tuition or other forms of training, such as e-learning. Continual professional development seems to be as important as money and benefits, making it possible for smaller organisations to compete effectively with major firms for talent by picking their battlegrounds carefully.

Employers need to fully understand what makes Gen Y individuals tick in order to create successful strategies for talent attraction, development and retention.

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Feature: Engaging Future Leaders

Recognition: last but not least The final element in a comprehensive resourcing strategy to secure and maintain top Gen Y talent is recognition.

An employer with a reputation for recognising and rewarding the achievements of its employees will stand a better chance of attracting and retaining Gen Y, given this group’s motivations and aspirations.

In a Gen Y world made up of ambitious and talented individuals, employers need to recognise that resourcing and retention strategies for these future leaders need to reflect their unique make-up. With a very large proportion of hiring managers being Gen X-ers and baby boomers, the successful companies of tomorrow will be those that can understand and embrace this new era of workers.

About the Author Deepali Chaturvedi, Head of SEA, is based in Singapore and leads a team of consultants across six divisions. She set up the Reed Singapore office from scratch in 2008 and has 16 years of experience with leading international recruitment firms within Asia Pacific markets.

Founded in 1960, Reed Specialist Recruitment is a leading specialist provider of permanent, contract, temporary and outsourced recruitment solutions, and IT and HR consulting across more than 30 vertical markets internationally.

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Robotics And (Y[PÄJPHS 0U[LSSPNLUJL! ;OL 1VI +L]V\YLYZ )` 3`UKVU 1VULZ HUK +Y 7LULSVWL /VVK

here are seven billion people on the planet, five billion of whom are 15 years of age and older. Of this five billion, three billion key workers want a formal job, one where they work an average of 30 hours per week or longer, with a regular wage payment. However, there are currently only 1.2 billion full-time jobs, leaving 1.8 billion people in informal jobs, which means no weekly wage payment. This means around 42% of the world’s population live on less than US$2 each day. During a recession, businesses fail and fewer people work, yet governments have less money to support the jobless.

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In countries such as the US and many of those in the European Union, most of the jobs available are in small- and mediumsized businesses, particularly those with fewer than 500 employees and, even more so, those with under 100 employees. For example, in the US, there are about six million businesses, almost all of which employ fewer than 500 people. In fact, there are only about 1,000 companies that have more than 10,000 staff members.

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Feature: Robotics And Artificial Intelligence: The Job Devourers Currently, firms are having difficulty coping with the speed of advances in technology.

As a result, they are not taking full advantage of it. But this will change; when it does, productivity will increase rapidly and downsizing of the labour force will accelerate. Furthermore, as the number of traditional jobs shrink, people have to choose between unemployment and working differently. In the Information Age, when robotics and artificial intelligence combine, major breakthroughs will follow: the self-driving car, for instance.

As permanent employment decreases— initially in low-skilled jobs—then growth should be encouraged in the number of the self-employed, as existed in the preindustrial period. And in today’s world, technology will make it much easier to have a community of contributors based anywhere, with greater access to the global market than that enjoyed by traditional companies today.

Start-ups and small- and medium-sized companies create almost all the jobs. In contrast, the very large companies tend to decrease jobs by acquiring competitors and then cutting duplication; witness British Airways’ recent takeover of BMI and the former’s plans to shed 1,200 BMI jobs.

To promote entrepreneurship and attract investment, governments must look at things such as: t t t t

tax rates employment laws immigration policy government policy

These should be entrepreneurial-friendly, while universities, colleges and professional bodies should be: t producing people fit for the workforce t promoting entrepreneurship t linking business and finance with research to produce innovation

Other factors are impacting jobs, with one in particular concerning young people. The 2008 economic downturn and the depression that followed resulted in many suffering a loss in their retirement savings. Employers, too, found themselves closing final salary schemes. Couple these with the fact that people are living and working longer and the outcome is fewer jobs for younger people.

The impact of new technology Robotic workers are not new.

More than 60 years ago, General Motors employed one. Today, the number of robots stands at around nine million. Jobs are being lost to this new technology, evidenced by the contrary trend of declining employment and rising productivity that the US has experienced in the past decade, the only 10-year period in the last eight decades that such a phenomenon has happened.

Initially, new technologies will create more jobs. For example, in France, the Metro’s driverless trains have been running since 1998 on a specially constructed line. In 2011, they began to run on an old line.

Driverless trains have many advantages, including the elimination of human error.

They can also be scheduled closer together so extra services can be added at the last minute. And they never go on strike! This can be particularly important in a country where the labour code runs for more than 3,300 pages. This accounts for why so many French firms employ 49 people: the labour code is not operative in companies with fewer than 50 staff members.

South Korea is another country keen on developing robotics. One example is human-like robot guards that are being trialled at a prison in Pohang, near Seoul.

They are trained to look out for threats of violence and suicide. Meanwhile, South Korean graduates struggle to find jobs. According to employment statistics, unemployment among the under 30s stands at 8.3%, but is believed to be much higher in reality. The figure will only increase as robotics start being used in other industries.

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To date, low-skilled jobs have been the ones most threatened by technology, but this is changing, and not just in the private sector. For instance, robots are being used in Afghanistan. Why put a soldier in danger, probing mines with a stick, when a small robot can do the job?

Robots are also widening their range to include traditional white-collar jobs. For example, software can scan documents in, say, the legal profession, libraries, and so on. In the medical profession, computers can search for patterns in X-rays to identify cancer and other illnesses more effectively and cheaply than can radiologists. Robots can also play a very important role in extraterrestrial probes.

In the absence of serious growth from innovation and, more importantly, entrepreneurship, job losses and their

consequent disruption of working lives will threaten even larger sectors of work.

Without stimulus to entrepreneurship and the development of new ways of working, very serious social problems will ensue, the nature of which demands more than merely churning out graduates in greater numbers. The current number of graduates is already excessive, as evidenced by those who have difficulty finding jobs.

There have always been self-employed people responsible for their own work, but this is only set to increase should the number of full-time jobs decline.

The figure could even be similar to that in the pre-industrial period if this happens.

There would, however, be one radical difference. Today’s technology will make it much easier to have a community of contributors based anywhere with access to the global market.

About the Authors Lyndon Jones is the Founder of UK-based Association of Business Executives (ABE) and the author of a number of books on economics and management. He has also published several hundred articles in the UK and elsewhere.

Dr Penelope Hood is Director of International Partnership in the Business School of Anglia Ruskin University, UK. Her wide experience in education, commerce and the public sector has also included work in many African and Asian countries. She is Visiting Professor at the Postgraduate Institute of Management, Sri Lanka.

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Feature

10 Reasons To Use A Financial Adviser

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any people think that only the very rich require financial advice.

However, everyone can benefit from it. Not only can it protect and build your assets, it can help you make the most of your investments and secure you and your family’s long-term future.

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1To protect your family There are a lot of people trying to sell you insurance of one type or another, but an adviser can tell you which is actually worth buying. Whatever your needs, an adviser can help ensure personal tragedy does not turn into financial crisis.

2To plan your spending and saving To secure your long-term future, you need to build some assets, initially to get you through the rainy days and then to pay for holidays and luxuries. Step one is to plan your spending so that you begin to save, and step two is to plan that saving so that you can build your wealth as efficiently as possible. Regardless of whether you currently have $1,000 or $1,000,000, a financial adviser will look at your situation and find the best starting point for you.

3To plan for retirement Once you have sorted out your shortterm saving needs, you can then start thinking about the long-term. Most people these days realise they cannot rely on the State for more than the absolute basics. However, planning for retirement is a complex business and there are many different options available. A financial adviser will not only help sift through the many rules and product options but also help construct a portfolio to maximise your prospects.

4To secure your house The mortgage market was already complicated enough before the credit crunch hit and made things even worse.

Buying a house is still one of the most expensive decisions we make, and the vast majority of us need a mortgage.

A financial adviser could save you thousands of dollars, particularly at times like this. Not only can they seek out the best rates, they can help you assess sensible levels of borrowing and also find lenders who would otherwise not be available to you.

5To meet your investment goals As you progress through life, you begin to build your assets and your income begins to increase. You then start considering how you can enhance your position rather than simply consolidate it. This could mean anything from looking to retire early to paying school fees for private schools to investing in property. A financial adviser can help assess what is realistically possible and put the best plan in place to help you achieve it.

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6To find the right combination of assets Investment is as much about protecting the potential downsides as it is about targeting maximum growth. High returns are often associated with high risk—and not everyone is happy if their investment falls by a third or more overnight. A financial adviser will make a detailed assessment of your attitude to risk before making any recommendations.

7To obtain an objective assessment Every new product or investment opportunity is accompanied by hype proclaiming it the best ever—but that does not mean it is right for you. Investors the world over have been caught out by market bubbles because they don’t take a step back. A financial adviser knows how products and assets work in different markets and can outline the downsides as well as the benefits for you. You can then make a more informed decision about what you can believe—and what you really need to avoid.

8To save money Once your risk and investment assessments are complete, the next step is to look at tax; even the most basic overview of your position could help. It might mean moving assets to your spouse or children to make full use of their personal allowances and

Feature: 10 Reasons To Use A Financial Adviser

rates. A financial adviser will always have your tax position in mind when making recommendations and can help point you in the right direction even in complicated situations.

9To keep you on track Even when you have every product you need taken care of running to plan, someone needs to keep an eye on them in case changes in markets or events push them off course. A financial adviser can do this monitoring work for you. They assess the performance of individual investments against their peers, ensure that your asset allocation does not get distorted as markets move and also help you consolidate gains.

For peace of mind Money is a complicated subject and there are many things you need to think about to both protect and make the most of it. Markets are volatile and the media is prone to exaggeration of both the risks and the rewards. Employing a good financial adviser can take the pressure away from you and into the hands of an expert. Whether you need general, practical advice or a specialist with dedicated expertise, the money you invest for this guidance could be paid back many times over in the long run.

Not only can financial advice protect and build your assets, it can help you make the most of your investments and secure you and your family’s long-term future.

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Feature

What to Look For In A Singapore-based Financial Adviser? he lingering pain of the 2008 Financial Crisis and Europe’s ongoing problems has increased the need for professional financial advice. Unfortunately, with our busy expatriate lives, hounded by persistent cold-calling salesmen, it is difficult to know where to turn for sensible and transparent financial advice. With this in mind, and to complement the earlier article in this edition of Orient by Friends Provident International, The Fry Group has compiled a simple checklist of the key criteria to consider when selecting a Singapore-based financial adviser for the long term. We hope it will guide you towards receiving good quality and reasonably priced financial advice.

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1Regulated Both the company and the individual should be regulated and licensed in Singapore by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) if they are providing financial planning advice to Singapore residents. If they are not regulated and/or licensed, they are working illegally. For the UK expatriate, with a link or possible return to the UK in mind, seeking advice from a global company with a UK-regulated and authorised parent is also advisable.

2Well established A website showing the office address, full contact details and the names of the advisers—preferably with a short biography—supports the fact that the company is well established and fully regulated, and that the advisers are based in Singapore for the long term. Ask when the company was founded and how long they have been providing advice to expatriates in Singapore. You should also be able to read testimonials from a range of past and current clients to confirm the company has a long-term track record of providing quality advice. A company with global exposure will provide you with a

Feature: What To Look For In A Singapore-based Financial Adviser?

continuity of advice and support when you move away from Singapore and/or return to the UK. 3Experienced and professionally qualified A very basic level of qualification is required by MAS for individual financial advisers to gain a licence to provide advice in Singapore. Additional qualifications, over and above the minimum required, such as the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and the Investment Management Certificate (IMC) clearly differentiate one adviser from the next. As you may be seeking UK-related advice (on UK assets or a UK return), advisers with high-level UK qualifications may prove invaluable to ensure you receive UK-standard quality advice.

Please check your adviser’s relevant qualifications and how long he has been providing financial advice.

4Holistic advice Seek firms who do not ‘sell’ but offer true ‘financial planning’ based on a comprehensive review of your overall financial objectives and needs.

Advice should always be in writing

and include a clear rationale for any recommendations. Ancillary services from the same company, such as tax advice and will writing, allow a tailored and holistic financial strategy to be designed for you rather than focused on the sale of one product.

5Transparency of fees, commission and charges The basis of your adviser’s remuneration for their services, be it commission, fees or a combination of both, should be clearly explained in writing. There will also be charges associated with any recommended investment or insurance provider, and these should also be clearly explained in writing, including commissions, exit costs and lock-in periods. Beware of agreeing to any contract requiring fixed payment time periods as there will be cheaper and better vehicles available. And, of course, there is a high correlation between the adviser’s commission and the investment provider’s costs. Unfortunately, the amount of commission paid will influence unscrupulous advisers’ recommendations.

W W W. B R I T C H A M . O R G . S G

6Talk to others One of the best ways to find a financial adviser is by talking to others. For referrals, check with friends and family or anyone else you trust.

7Ongoing communication and good administrative support Your adviser should proactively contact you at least every six months to review your portfolio and changing needs. You should expect good administrative support with timely responses to enquiries.

8 Quantifies investment risk Your adviser should take time to explain to you the risks that are associated with investing. You should make your investment choices on the basis of identifying the appropriate level of risk,

which takes into account your investment horizon and the length of time you plan to save, or require the proceeds of your investment, without large exit penalties.

The Fry Group has been providing financial advice for 110 years. We enjoy helping clients achieve the peace of mind that comes from knowing their wealth is handled wisely. We are proud that many of our clients heard of us through personal recommendation. For further information please contact David Pugh at david.pugh@thefrygroupsg.com.

About the Author David Pugh has been living and working in SEA since 2007. He joined The Fry Group in August 2010. The Fry Group consists of UK-based tax, financial planning, estate and trust companies and has been in operation since 1898.

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British High Commission / UKTI

August/September 2012

British High Commission News

By Antony Phillipson

As I have said many times since I arrived here in April last year, addressing the prosperity challenge is the number one priority for the British government. If we can’t fix the economy and return to long term sustainable growth we won’t have the resources to invest in essential public services and our defence and security needs. Recent figures have been disappointing. But there are two positives—the increase in our trade with the growing economies of the world, especially in Asia, and the continued attractiveness of the UK as an investment location.

We need to maintain and accelerate that trend. For me this means thinking about whether we have the right product to sell and the right relationships to win and expand market share. By product I don’t just mean goods and services, I also mean whether the UK economy is seen as a compelling ‘product’ to invest in. There is a considerable amount of work going on in the UK to address these issues, and this comes together under the ‘Plan for Growth’ led in the UK by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS).

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Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint, UK MOS for Trade and Investment and Mrs Josephine Teo, Singapore Minister of State for Finance and Transport

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When I wrote a piece for Orient last October I talked about two key areas of our work at the High Commission: prosperity diplomacy and public diplomacy. Both remain fundamentally important to what we do and I wanted to add a bit more detail to what this actually means—for us and for you.

Lord Green at Singapore Airshow

W W W. B R I T C H A M . O R G . S G

5IFSF JT B LFZ SPMF GPS CVTJOFTT JO BMM PG UIFTF TUSBOET PG XPSL‰XF XBOU ZPV to challenge the Government on the NFBTVSFT XF BSF UBLJOH UP BMMPX UIF QSJWBUF TFDUPS UP nPVSJTI BOE UP NBLF TVSF UIBU XF BSF SFNPWJOH CBSSJFST UIBU QSFWFOU CVTJOFTT GSPN QFSGPSNJOH UP JUT GVMM QPUFOUJBM "T GPS UIF OFDFTTBSZ SFMBUJPOTIJQT * TFF UXP CSPBE DBUFHPSJFT CVTJOFTT BOE HPWFSONFOU 0O UIF CVTJOFTT TJEF UIF RVFTUJPO JT XIFUIFS XF IBWF UIF SJHIU FOHBHFNFOU XJUI CPUI #SJUJTI BOE 4JOHBQPSFBO CVTJOFTT JO PSEFS UP VOEFSTUBOE UIFJS DPODFSOT BOE QSJPSJUJFT BOE DBO BDDVSBUFMZ BTTFTT XIBU JU JT UIBU XF PVHIU UP CF EPJOH UP IFMQ CPPTU USBEF BOE JOWFTUNFOU " LFZ DIBMMFOHF GPS VT IBT CFFO IPX UP FOTVSF UIBU XF PQFSBUF SFHJPOBMMZ BOE * UIJOL HPPE QSPHSFTT IBT CFFO NBEF XJUI TPNF WFSZ HPPE EJTDVTTJPOT DPPSEJOBUFE UISPVHI UIF $IBNCFS PO #VSNB BOE JOWFTUNFOU JO $IJOB BOE WBSJPVT PUIFS FYDIBOHFT PO JTTVFT UIBU HP CFZPOE KVTU 4JOHBQPSF #VU XF SFDPHOJTF UIBU UIFSF JT NVDI NPSF XF DBO EP BOE BHBJO XF XBOU ZPV UP DIBMMFOHF VT PO UIJT 5IF #SJUBJO JO 4& "TJB 4VNNJU MBTU NPOUI XBT BO FYDFMMFOU GPSVN GPS UIJT EJTDVTTJPO There has also been a lot of high-level DPOUBDU PO UIF HPWFSONFOU TJEF 5IJT

About the Author )& "OUPOZ 1IJMMJQTPO High Commissioner British High Commission 4JOHBQPSF

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The Plan focuses on four overarching ambitions for the economy: t 5P DSFBUF UIF NPTU DPNQFUJUJWF UBY system in the G20; t 5P NBLF UIF 6, UIF CFTU QMBDF JO &VSPQF UP TUBSU mOBODF BOE HSPX B business; t 5P FODPVSBHF JOWFTUNFOU BOE FYQPSUT BT B SPVUF UP B NPSF CBMBODFE FDPOPNZ BOE t 5P DSFBUF B NPSF FEVDBUFE XPSLGPSDF UIBU JT UIF NPTU nFYJCMF JO &VSPQF

London 2012: Send-off tea for athletes

ZFBS XF IBWF IBE WJTJUT GSPN UIF 1SJNF .JOJTUFS 'PSFJHO 4FDSFUBSZ BOE -PSE (SFFO .JOJTUFS PG 4UBUF GPS 5SBEF BOE *OWFTUNFOU BT XFMM BT UIF -PSE .BZPS "MM IBWF GPDVTFE PO EFFQFOJOH BOE XJEFOJOH UIF 6,o4JOHBQPSF USBEF BOE JOWFTUNFOU SFMBUJPOTIJQ 6OEFSQJOOJOH UIJT JT UIF &DPOPNJD BOE #VTJOFTT 1BSUOFSTIJQ UIBU #VTJOFTT 4FDSFUBSZ 7JODF $BCMF TJHOFE XJUI IJT DPVOUFSQBSU .JOJTUFS -JN )OH ,JBOH BU B $IBNCFS FWFOU JO 4JOHBQPSF last October.

5IJT JT BMM NBLJOH B EJGGFSFODF #VU BT * TBJE BU UIF $IBNCFS "(. JO "QSJM UIFSF JT OP SPPN GPS DPNQMBDFODZ /PX JT UIF UJNF UP SFEPVCMF PVS FGGPSUT BOE EFWFMPQ UIF QSPEVDUT BOE SFMBUJPOTIJQT UIBU BSF HPJOH UP BMMPX VT UP SJEF PVU UIF DVSSFOU FDPOPNJD TUPSNT BOE FNFSHF TUSPOHFS PO UIF PUIFS TJEF "T GPS UIF QVCMJD EJQMPNBDZ BOHMF PG PVS XPSL UIFSF JT BMTP NVDI UP CF QMFBTFE BCPVU XIJMF BMTP TFUUJOH PVS TJHIUT IJHIFS BMM UIF UJNF 8JUI PVS LFZ QBSUOFST‰UIF $IBNCFS UIF #SJUJTI $MVC UIF #SJUJTI "TTPDJBUJPO BOE UIF #SJUJTI $PVODJM‰XF IBWF IFME B OVNCFS PG FWFOUT UP DFMFCSBUF

UIF %JBNPOE +VCJMFF PG )FS .BKFTUZ 5IF 2VFFO BOE UP VTF UIF 0MZNQJD BOE 1BSBMZNQJD (BNFT UP IJHIMJHIU UIF EZOBNJTN BOE BNCJUJPO PG NPEFSO Britain. Both have come together in the (3&"5 DBNQBJHO 5IF CJHHFTU FWFOU PG GPS VT XBT PG DPVSTF UIF WJTJU UP 4JOHBQPSF PG 5IFJS 3PZBM )JHIOFTTFT 5IF %VLF BOE %VDIFTT PG $BNCSJEHF XIJDI QSPWJEFE BO FYDFMMFOU PDDBTJPO UP DFMFCSBUF UIF #SJUBJO 4JOHBQPSF QBSUOFSTIJQ * XBT EFMJHIUFE UP CF BCMF UP IJHIMJHIU PVS DMPTF XPSLJOH SFMBUJPOTIJQ XJUI UIF $IBNCFS BU UIF EJOOFS IPTUFE CZ 1SFTJEFOU 5BO BU UIF *TUBOB BOE BU UIF SFDFQUJPO * IPTUFE BU &EFO )BMM 'JOBMMZ UP SFQFBU TPNFUIJOH UIBU NBOZ PG ZPV XJMM IBWF IFBSE NF TBZ PGUFO‰BU UIF TBNF UJNF BT SFEPVCMJOH PVS FGGPSUT PO BMM GSPOUT XF TIPVME TUJMM UBLF UJNF UP DFMFCSBUF PVS TVDDFTTFT * XBT WFSZ QMFBTFE UP IPTU UIF MBVODI PG UIF UI "OOVBM #VTJOFTT "XBSET BU &EFO )BMM PO +VMZ BOE * BN DFSUBJOMZ MPPLJOH GPSXBSE UP UIF "XBSET DFSFNPOZ BOE EJOOFS PO October 4.

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LNG:

British High Commission / UKTI

Fuelling Opportunities For A Secure Future

W W W. B R I T C H A M . O R G . S G

> Solar Park at Marina Barrage

he world’s population of just over seven billion is predicted to expand to nine billion over the next 35 years. The Asia Pacific region, with a current population of about 4.2 billion, is set to see that expand by a further 25%. China will soon overtake USA as the world’s largest economy and India will replace Japan in the top three.

Burma has opened up its borders, and now that sanctions are being lifted, will see almost exponential growth over the next few years. The ASEAN countries are all rapidly expanding with the drive for ever higher standards of living.

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It is not difficult to see that the Asia Pacific region will clearly be the focus of global development over the next half century, creating even greater pressures on local resources, none more so than on the already rapidly depleting energy supplies.

In an ideal world countries would create a balanced energy mix, sustainable secure energy supplies for all and

> Bow of the LNG Tanker

continue to deliver economic growth and development, while developing the infrastructure to cope with the population growth and increased standards of living. In reality this utopia is still set well and truly in the future.

Renewable energy sources have existed for many hundreds of years in the form of water and wind and roughly 100 years in the case of geothermal and other forms of power generation.

However, with the proliferation of more efficient and relatively cheap fuels in the form of oil and gas during the majority of the 20th century, it is only relatively recently that technology has developed sufficiently for them to become economically viable again.

Huge investment is now being made into sustainable forms of energy including wind, tidal and wave power, solar and geothermal energy, and environmentally friendly biomass convertors. In the future nanotechnology may provide the

solution and present viable energy sources. Nuclear energy remains the great debating point. Clearly it has huge power generation potential that reduces carbon emissions compared with the use of fossil fuels but that has to be offset against the associated risks to the population and the environment. Japan’s 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster prompted a rethink of nuclear energy policy in many countries throughout the world with some committing to ending the use of nuclear power completely.

In the ASEAN region almost all of the countries have examined the use of nuclear power, with perhaps Vietnam leading the way. However as it stands today electricity generation is split 22% biomass and waste combustion (mostly in a traditional form which is inefficient and environmentally unsustainable), 3% geothermal and 1% hydropower.

That leaves nearly 75% of the electrical generation for the region to fossil fuels.

British High Commission / UKTI: LNG: Fuelling Opportunities For A Secure Future

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Gas Tanker

Wind turbines generating electricity

In the near future at least it is somewhat evident that this situation is not going to change quickly. The need for more oil and gas production and therefore exploration and development activities across the region, and the world in general, will remain as great as ever.

Alternative energy sources will continue to be developed and many countries are now actively offering incentives to promote research and improvement in existing technology. However it will also involve considerable investment in the infrastructure and distribution grid before a sustainable energy solution is a reality. Oil and gas therefore will continue to make up the majority of the global energy mix up to the year 2050.

This is, of course, not a straightforward situation either. The industry faces the increasingly difficult task of exploring and producing oil and gas. The more easily accessible sources are rapidly running out and new resources are increasingly found in some of the least hospitable areas throughout the

world. Putting aside the politically challenged areas, exploration continues in ever deeper waters and in the Arctic regions, posing new problems even before extraction is possible.

This drives the need for better and improved technology, in exploration, extraction and refining and creates new opportunities for a wide range of related products and services.

It is estimated that currently about 30% of the global Oil & Gas/Petrochemical projects are in Asia Pacific region, while it captures about 50% of the global Power projects. Singapore has been, and remains, very much at the forefront of this activity. With Jurong Island (itself formed from the amalgamation of seven smaller islands and an excellent example of Singapore’s reclamation programme) as the hub of oil and gas activity, the largest of the projects are centred here with The Jurong Rock Caverns set to be Singapore’s first underground hydrocarbon and chemical storage facility with a capacity of over 1.2M cubic metres. Singapore’s first

Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal is also nearing completion and will go a long way to reducing the country’s dependency on existing natural gas supplies.

Singapore is committed to securing its energy security through projects such as these with excess capacity being built into the LNG terminal to support opportunities in the LNG trading markets. Schemes have also been established to promote Singapore’s attractiveness as an LNG trading hub.

The LNG sector has come a long way and overcome many challenges over the last 30 years with sales having grown from 30 billion cubic metres (bcm) in 1980 to 320 bcm in 2011. Over this period, focus has been on the Japanese and northeast Asian markets in South Korea and Taiwan. Covering liquefaction plant costs became a problem when oil prices periodically weakened, but economies of scale in the 1990s propelled the industry forward. More recently, demand growth has shifted in

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W W W. B R I T C H A M . O R G . S G

LNG Tanks, the Port of Barcelona at sunset

the last two decades towards Europe (except the UK), where, like Asia, markets have been largely regulated with little downstream competition threatening upstream margins.

But new challenges are constantly emerging with uncertainty over LNG supply and demand. Gas prices increasingly become more subject to competitive forces and technical, logistical, and environmental issues impacting project developers. Such fundamental uncertainties are highly significant and the implications for buyers and sellers serious. Many costly wrong decisions can be made with no better illustration than the massive redundant LNG import capacity sited along the US shoreline.

OSEA 2012 Singapore will host Offshore South East Asia (OSEA) 2012 in November. OSEA is the largest oil and gas exhibition and conference in the Asia Pacific region with an attendance of 1,500 international exhibiting companies and some 25,000 attendees expected.

In the long term, there remains little doubt that gas demand growth will be robust and will create growing seaborne trade. The sector, however, has to be prepared to ride out the inevitable cyclical nature of the LNG balance, with an LNG supply shortage expected through 2015, and the implications from prices testing the industry supply cost base at the margin.

to benefit from the ebbs and flows of the market while securing its future power generation.

There is no amount of analysis that will clarify the future evolution of market fundamentals and the competitive environment. Nor can technical innovation or costs be anticipated over the long term. This all presents risk to the industry—but also opportunities—and Singapore, with significant foresight, appears well set

There will be over 30 UK companies exhibiting at the UK Pavilion, which will be hosted by The Energy Industries Council (EIC) and supported by UK Trade and Investment (UKTI).

For details of UK companies exhibiting at OSEA 2012 visit

http://www.the-eic. com/EICEvents/ Handlers/getdocument. ashx?id=773 If you are interested in any aspect of the energy industry, OSEA 2012 will provide you with a great business opportunity.

It is only relatively recently that technology has developed sufficiently for renewable energy sources to become economically viable again.

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British High Commission / UKTI

UK Export Finance:

New Products and Help for SMEs

K Export Finance is the UK’s official export credit agency which until relatively recently was known as the Export Credits Guarantee Department or ECGD. As a government department that operates under an act of parliament, UK Export Finance complements the private market by providing government assistance to exporters and investors, principally in the form of insurance policies and guarantees on bank loans.

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The department’s product offering has recently been expanded following publication of The Government’s Trade and Investment White Paper in February 2011 with a particular focus on supporting SMEs. Four new products, outlined in the table have been introduced as a result. UK Export Finance’s Minister Lord Green said: “These new initiatives will offer an expanded, better coordinated range of products to large and small businesses alike, widening access to the capital; credit insurance exporters need to make the most of their opportunities.”

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Product

Description

Bond Support Scheme

Helps exporters raise tender and contract bonds by sharing with banks who issue those bonds (or who arrange for them to be issued by giving counterindemnities to another bank) the risks of not being reimbursed by the exporter following a call on the bond.

Export Insurance Policy (EXIP)

Provides insurance to an exporter in the UK against not receiving payment under an export contract and to cover costs which are wasted because of the contract being terminated for reasons not related to the performance of the exporter or because its performance is prevented by certain political events.

Existing scheme has been extended to cover a broader range of products.

Export Working Capital Scheme

Helps exporters to access working capital finance for specific export contracts by sharing the risk with banks on related loans.

Foreign Exchange Credit Support Scheme

In connection with a specific export contract, UK Export Finance increases its guarantee under the Export Working Capital Scheme to provide additional credit capacity, which will be used by banks to support forward foreign exchange hedging facilities in relation to that contract. Support can also be considered on a stand-alone basis.

These products are offered alongside UK Export Finance’s existing portfolio of products.

For assistance and to find out what help UK Export Finance can provide with your export contracts, please contact UK Export Finance through the following customer service points Website Email Office Fax

: : : :

www.ukexportfinance.gov.uk customerservice@ecgd.gsi.gov.uk +44 (0)20 7512 7887 +44 (0)20 7512 7649

“These new initiatives will offer an expanded, better coordinated range of products to large and small businesses alike, widening access to the capital; credit insurance exporters need to make the most of their opportunities.”

—Lord Green

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At The Chamber

W W W. B R I T C H A M . O R G . S G

Dear members, I hope you enjoyed a restful and relaxing summer break wherever you spent it!

The year’s end is approaching rather quickly, with just four months to go before we close 2012. Much has been said about the world coming to an end in 2012; so far it is still standing, albeit volatile and full of uncertainty.

In this context, I’d like to highlight a couple of key Chamber initiatives that focus on addressing thoughts and solutions to help our members in running and developing successful businesses in dynamic and challenging environments: t The Britain in South East Asia (BiSEA) Conference at the end of August brought together delegates of the British Chambers and Business Groups in South East Asia. We presented and addressed an ASEAN Economic update, discussed business opportunities in Myanmar, and exchanged highlights and priorities of our respective Chamber organisations. The newly formed UKASEAN Business Council, general collaboration with UKTI, and benefits for business were also part of the agenda. If you were not able to attend the conference, we have summarised the outcome with more details in a special electronic newsletter, which you may have already received.

Brigitte Holschneider Executive Director, British Chamber of Commerce

t The 13th Annual Business Awards will be presented on October 4. Once again, this platform to celebrate and award business excellence attracted a record number of nominations. Submissions demonstrated inspiring, innovative ideas and solutions to become and remain competitive in fast-changing markets. t We welcome Chamber Economic Spokesperson Roman Scott on October 16 to share his analysis of Q3/2012 key economic indicators, which will provide a year-end outlook and prospects for 2013 and beyond. This will be excellent for your business forecasts and budgets in 2013. t The Professional Services Business Group, the largest group in the Chamber’s network, is being resurrected under the leadership of Carolyn Lints from member company Hill Dickinson. The group’s focus is going to be on supporting UK SMEs that are interested in expanding into Singapore/Asia, as well as delivering support for our own Entrepreneur and Small Business members. If you would like to learn more about the core group, please visit www.britcham.org.sg. We will continuously update the progress of the group and are going to invite all group members to a ‘connect and network’ event in October. t We are in the process of establishing a Leadership in Asia Group chaired by Board member Caroline Bagshaw from Standard Chartered Bank. With this initiative, we are aiming to provide a platform to address and share best practices in key leadership challenges in the region. We are also going to offer practical short- and long-term ideas and solutions through insights from research and cross-sector exchange. Please look out for an update both online and in the October issue of Orient.

Please share your feedback with us and let us know how we can further improve and assist you better; just e-mail me at brigitte@britcham.org.sg To conclude, I would like to inform you that our newly appointed Events Development and Business Enhancement Manager, Ms Hima Patel, has left us on August 31 to follow her husband, who has been posted to Kenya. We regret Hima’s departure and wish her all the very best in her new African home. This change led us to revisit our team structure and reward performance, development and loyalty of existing staff. Ms Tiffeny Kua has been appointed Events Manager overseeing the Chamber’s entire event programme. She is being supported by Ms Emi Hosono, who has been appointed Membership and Events Assistant Manager. Congratulations to both!

Kind regards

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The BritCham Annual Golf Tournament 2012 May 31, 2012

At The Chamber

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The BritCham Annual Golf Tournament 2012 is proudly sponsored by:

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At The Chamber

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BritCham Rugby Dinner 2012 June 7, 2012

Paul Wallace, Justin Sampson, Martin Corry, Brigitte Holschneider, Peter Fitzsimons, Steve Puckett and guest

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Roundtable Workshop on Third Country Partnerships June 27, 2012

At The Chamber

share in our success in Asia When making investment decisions it makes sense to be guided by the experts.

Our Executive Investment Account has just been awarded Best Single Premium Investment Product (Far East) in the International Life Awards 2010. And our Investment Account won Best New Product (Far East) in 2009. These were voted for by an independent panel, appointed by ‘International Adviser’, a recognised publication for global investment advice.

Royal Skandia is a premier offshore provider that truly understands your financial goals. Please ask your financial adviser how you can share in our success.

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UK Inheritance Tax and Domicile Planning Explained June 12, 2012

Tempest in an Oasis?

July 9, 2012

At The Chamber: Breakfast Clubs

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The West’s pain, Singapore’s gain?

June 15, 2012

The BritCham Breakfast Club is proudly sponsored by:

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Capitalising on Asiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Opportunity to be a Leader in Cloud Computing June 21, 2012

At The Chamber: Breakfast Clubs

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Energy and Environment in a Changing Climate July 3, 2012

The BritCham Breakfast Club is proudly sponsored by:

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YBC Mentor Series: Keys to Success from the Creator of “The Angel’s Gate” June 21, 2012

At The Chamber: Other Events

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13th ABA Nominate Now! Reception at Eden Hall June 27, 2012

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Ms Emma Boyd, Chairperson of the 13th Annual Business Awards

Mr Andrew Vine, Vice President of the British Chamber of Commerce

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From left: HE Antony Phillipson, British High Commissioner; Mr Patrick Daniel, Editor-in-Chief of the English and Malay Newspapers Division (EMND) of Singapore Press Holdings; and Ms Emma Boyd, Chairperson of the 13th Annual Business Awards

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HE Antony Phillipson, British High Commissioner

From left: Mr Andrew Vine, Vice President of the British Chamber of Commerce Singapore; Ms Emma Boyd, Chairperson of the 13th Annual Business Awards; Mr Paul Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Neil, Director, Seletar, Rolls-Royce Singapore Pte. Ltd.; Ms Brigitte Holtschneider, Executive Director of the British Chamber of Commerce with HE Antony Phillipson, British High Commissioner

HE Antony Phillipson (second from left) with his wife, Julie Phillipson, and guests

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Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Networking Evening at Solange Azagury-Partridge July 5, 2012

At The Chamber: Other Events

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Marina Bay: A Sustainable & Attractive Precinct August 2, 2012

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2012 BritCham Events: Mark Your Diary

At The Chamber: Events Calendar

13th Annual Business Awards Gala Dinner Thursday October 4, 2012 Island Ballroom, Shangri-La Hotel

BritCham Breakfast Club Oct/Nov Tuesday October 9, 2012 Getting Your Website Up to Speed Thursday October 11, 2012 Conflict Resolution in Business Monday October 22, 2012 Global LNG Market Forward Look Tuesday October 30, 2012 The Key Steps to Successful Regional and Functional Conferences Thursday November 8, 2012 Breakfast Club with Charles Wigley of BBH Asia Pacific Friday November 9, 2012 The Changing Landscape of the Global Construction Market Thursday November 15, 2012 Capturing a Larger Share of the Future

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Business Group Networking Thursday October 11, 2012 Professional Services Business Group Launch Networking

BritCham Economic Briefing with Roman Scott Tuesday October 16, 2012 The Tanglin Club

CSR Panel: Collaborating Across the Supply Chain for Green Growth Wednesday October 31, 2012 Tower A Ballroom, Shangri-La Hotel

BritCham Property Briefing Thursday November 22, 2012 Property Market Outlook 2013 and Were the 2012 Predictions Correct

Business Group Working Lunch Friday November 23, 2012 ICT Lunch with Simon Kahn, Chief Marketing Officer, Asia Pacific, Google

The BritCham Diamond Jubilee Ball Saturday December 1, 2012 Island Ballroom, Shangri-La Hotel

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At The Chamber

BritCham New Members Sterling BT Singapore Pte Ltd LEWIS PR Pte Ltd

Reed Personnel Services PTE LTD Tim Harris Andy Oliver

Sterling Additional Allied Pickfords (S) Pte Ltd

Dijah Ahmad Mel Syers Suzie Jagger Australia and New Zealand Nicholas Moraitis Banking Group Limited (ANZ) Joshua Wilks Mitchell Lobb Philippe Touati Sheryn Atkins BP Singapore Pte Limited Andrew Moore British American Tobacco (S) Pte Ltd Anita Venugopal BT Singapore Pte Ltd Charles Kennaway City Developments Limited Peter Schori Sarah Seetoh Boon Hwee Sim Esther An Maggie Heng Mei Ling Lee Roy Chiang Cognita Asia Holdings Pte Ltd Alexandra Debarge Alice Tan Katrina Bracken Mengxi Wu Nick Miller Scott Forbes Sock Yian Low Sophie Hunter Zoe Marmot Courts (Singapore) Pte Ltd Bo Christensen Phuong Dang Vu Deloitte Consulting SE Asia Robert Schmitz Nicholas White Hays Specialist Recruitment Pte Ltd Martin Long Aishwarya Mohan Joanna Reid Roger Olofsson Smita Adnani IP Real Estate Investments Pte Ltd Jennifer Sam London School of Business & Bee Geok Tay Finance Pte Ltd PricewaterhouseCoopers Robert Montgomery Irene Liu

RICS Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited Rolls-Royce Singapore Pte. Ltd. Standard Chartered Bank

The Royal Bank of Scotland plc Unilever Asia Private Limited

Joy Seow Martin Hill Ajitha Ranasinghe Sachin Satish Kevin Timmons Paul Harris Jonathan Adie Aaron Ferguson John Bromley Jonathan Lau Chevelle Ong Dora Bose Hwei Sen Tan Jatin Rangras Joseph Huynh Kugan Kulothungan Raghunandan Mohapatra Roan Joy Cuares Satyam Agrawal Suman Sharma Wei Siong Chua Bin Gee Tan Campbell Hodgetts

Corporate Additional BG Asia PaciďŹ c Pte Ltd British Council Meyado Pte Ltd Santa Fe Relocation Services (S) Pte Ltd

Anthony Barker Hui Lan Koh Stephen Jenner Peter Seligman Sujan Roy Anna Lu

Corporate Plus Global Financial Consultants Pte Ltd Bruce Barron Ince & Co Singapore LLP Richard Lovell MENU Pte Ltd Margaret Marshall

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Corporate Plus Additional

Corporate Representative (voting)

8build Pte Ltd

Addleshaw Goddard LLP AFC Network Pte Ltd Altus Logistics Pte Ltd Bupa International Cundall Singapore Pte Ltd Dâ€TM Perception Singapore Pte Ltd GlaxoSmithKline Pte Ltd Global Intelligence Alliance Herbert Smith LLP Odgers Berndtson Pte Ltd Openlot Ventures (Asia) Pte Ltd Shangri-La Hotel Limited Shook Lin & Bok LLP Traders Hotel, Singapore

Chung Fung Kong Siti Shafinaz binte Yusoff Geodis Wilson Singapore Pte Ltd Anne-Clarie Riou GL Noble Denton Phil Lenox Global Financial Consultants Pte Ltd Jake Howard John Shaw Shane Coelho Brendan Gillies Grayling Asia Pte Limited Joey Wong Stephanie Batot ISG Asia (Singapore) Pte Ltd Gary Allin Michael Duffy Steve Okill Keppel Corporation Limited Chong Heong Tong M Moser Associates Adam Bentley Olswang Asia LLP Mun Yi Lee Shamila Nathan Shaun Lee Wei Han Reading Room Grant Matthews Roffey Park Institute Gary Miles Jane Koo Singapore Telecommunications Jung Hui Tan Limited Terry Wong The Henley Group Pte Ltd Robert Chapman Jeff Miguel

Corporate Representative Advanced Interactive Systems Pte Ltd Altus Logistics Pte Ltd Cartus Corporation Pte. Ltd. Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment CityState Real Estate Pte Ltd Clear Channel Singapore Pte Ltd Cundall Singapore Pte Ltd Cushman & Wakefield Global Intelligence Alliance InterGlobal Insurance Company Limited (Singapore Branch) Mayer Brown JSM (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. Pacnet Global (Singapore) Pte Ltd Pelham Bell Pottinger Asia Schroder Investment Management (Singapore) Ltd Scott Vickers Group Shook Lin & Bok LLP Singapore Sports School Swire Pacific Offshore Operations Pte Ltd Taylor Vinters The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore Watson, Farley & Williams LLP

Christopher John Matthams Reidar Evensen Ronnie Ng Jason Tan

Corporate SME Cubewise Singapore Exclusive Analysis JOOL Capital Pertner International Moore Media Reed Hamilton Pte Ltd

Nathan Dodd Chris Wilson Mark Worthington Shin Yann Susan Soh Raymond Hoon David Chong Choon Seng Chua Rupert Bray Henry Goodwin Rex Loh Rebecca Wright

Steven Beesley Rachel Shoemaker David Macdonald Ali Moore Jason Wagner

Corporate SME Additional Developing Global Leaders Asia Pte. Ltd.

Zsuzsanna Tungli

Government Member British High Commission

Richard Jany Kelly Khoo Margaret Rozali Patrick Gidney Pete Read Amelia Ko

Jamie Harrison Maria Brown Michael Philip Ellsworth Lee Matthews Marcus Eckersley Rebecca Emily Catherine Bulmer Shane Pang Duncan Falzon Michael Walter Nicholas Charles Evans Charles Moore Manfred Weber Michael Phang Tina Sim

Judi Leon

Individual David Hug Paul Cunningham Mark Reeve Eddie How Lizah Bywater Piers Tonge Stefan Mark

Richard Miller Alan Wilson Ben Perry Keith Holmes Matthew Martin Rachel Valerie Fernandez

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At The Chamber: Sterling News

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AngloINFO has now launched in South Korea and Kuala Lumpur, followed later in the year by Tokyo, Shenzhen and Jakarta. The new-look AngloINFO will finally be rolling out over the next few weeks. We’ve been listening to your feedback over the last few years and we hope you like the changes as much as we do. You can follow the progress over the next few weeks on AngloINFO’s blog here: http://blogs.angloinfo.com/the-angloinfo-blog Functions of the new site include finding information more easily and quickly through our

SINGAPORE

user-optimised design and powerful search functionality. Track current and past site activity: Discussions, Free Classifieds with pictures, What’s On event submissions, business details, and much more. Users can also view Discussions, Classifieds and What’s On events in neighbouring regions. Plus a powerful new What’s On search to find more events. www.angloinfo.com

The BBC is known for intelligent, impartial and objective news and analysis. It is also renowned for its documentaries and current affairs programmes. BBC World News delivers the best of the BBC’s international news, with access to a network of more than 70 international news bureaux and 2,000 journalists worldwide. The BBC World News viewer is interested in high-quality international news and learning about the globalised world in which they live. They are technologically advanced and internationally minded.

BBC World News has a broad range of brands that advertise with us—from tourism and finance to tech and luxury. www.bbc.co.uk/news/world/

For the past decade, Deloitte has seen homegrown Asia Pacific technology companies power through the global financial crisis and aggressively increase their revenue growth rates despite worldwide economic woes. That is truly an impressive achievement and we are proud that the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific ranking remains a benchmark of their performance. Last year, the fastest-growing technology company in Singapore recorded an impressive growth rate of 777%. We are now looking for companies that have experienced exceptional growth over the last three years. If you think you qualify, submit a nomination today. www.deloitte.com/sg

Faithful+Gould is delighted to announce the promotion of Singaporebased Martin Riddett to Director. Martin joined the Singapore office of Faithful+Gould as a Managing Quantity Surveyor in 2000 and was quickly promoted to Associate Director. In 2008, he was promoted to Regional Director, with responsibility for developing numerous Consult Services and Project Management business streams. In 2010, Martin assumed responsibility for expanding the Commercial Business unit in addition to the Consult Business; today, he plays a key role in their continued development on top of his increasing contribution to the business at both strategic and technical levels. On behalf of Faithful+Gould, we would like to extend our warmest congratulations and thanks to Martin for his individual achievement and continuing contribution to growing our business in Asia Pacific. www.fgould.com

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At The Chamber: Sterling/Corporate News Recruitment firm Hays continues to expand its network in Asia Pacific with the launch of Hays Malaysia. Based in the country’s capital, Kuala Lumpur, the office is a welcome addition to Hays’ global network and follows the success of our operations in Singapore. As in Singapore, the team in Malaysia will recruit qualified, professional and skilled people across a wide range of industries and professions. The opening of the Malaysian office extends Hays’ global reach to 33 countries. Hays’ new office can be reached at +60 3 2786 8600 or by e-mail at kualalumpur@hays.com.my

Allied Pickfords is part of SIRVA, the world’s largest moving and relocation services company.

Allied moves more than 1,000 families every day in more than 175 countries, handling more than 50,000 international moves per year. Allied’s speciality is the movement of personal effects and household goods for expatriate staff from all over the world. The company also provides local moving and office relocation services within Singapore. Allied is the only provider with the global reach and local expertise to move anyone, anywhere, at any time. So relax, and let us carry the load. www.alliedpickfords.com.sg

Harry’s AD

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Abacus International, Asia Pacific’s leading provider of travel solutions and services, recognises that technology is changing the way people plan and organise their travel.

Smartphone ownership continues to increase in Asia Pacific, with travellers demanding convenience and experience tailored to their needs.

Abacus has been helping its partners and customers benefit from this trend through a comprehensive range of mobile-enabled travel solutions, such as Abacus TripPlan, which allows corporate travellers to plan their trip while maintaining compliance with company travel policies; and Abacus VirtuallyThere, which allows travellers to receive the latest information, such as flight interruptions, on their mobile phones.

The rise of technology has made it exciting to travel again, now that people have myriad options when planning their itinerary. www.abacus.com.sg

The Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI) and the Institute for Chartered Accountants England and Wales (ICAEW) have launched a new Diploma in Corporate Finance.

The new Diploma will become the benchmark study programme for corporate financiers, and replaces earlier versions offered by both ICAEW and CISI. More importantly, the course will accommodate changing market and employer demands, so enrolees are assured of staying practical and relevant to the industry.

For more information, visit cisi.org/cf or icaew.com/cfq, call +65 6438 5007 or e-mail cfqualification@icaew.com

To strengthen its service delivery, eVantage Technology is pleased to announce the appointment of Rosalind Lee as its Customer Service Director.

A former Deputy Director at NCS, Rosalind possesses more than 20 years’ experience in managing processes, people and technology in a fast-paced, client-focused environment.

In her role, Rosalind will oversee the eVantage Technology Helpdesk and implement industry-leading best practices to further the company’s relentless focus on providing exceptional levels of service to its clients.

Rosalind holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) degree from the National University of Singapore. She is a certified COPC-registered coordinator and CIAC (Leadership & Management). www.evantage-technology.com

HW Fisher & Company is one of the leading firms of UK tax advisers assisting overseasbased owners in respect of their UK property investments, helping them maximise their assets. Earlier this year, the UK government announced dramatic tax changes in connection with properties valued in excess of £2 million. Those wishing to understand how these new laws are likely to affect them should contact Alan Lester (alester@hwfisher.co.uk), a regular visitor to the region for more than 20 years.

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At The Chamber: Corporate News Eversheds has appointed one of the world’s leading arbitration and construction lawyers, Iain Black, as a Partner and Head of Asia Construction & Infrastructure practice in its Singapore office.

Iain was a Partner in Masons London from 1983–89, Senior Partner of Masons Hong Kong office from 1989–96, and the founding and resident Senior Partner of Masons Singapore between 1997 and 1999. He later returned to Masons UK before joining Davies Arnold Cooper as a partner.

Iain has an outstanding reputation as a leading arbitration and construction lawyer, and has been extensively involved in litigation, arbitration, adjudication and mediations not only in Singapore, but also in Europe, Middle East and South East Asia. www.eversheds.com

As the regional market leader for Waste Management Solutions, ESC is proud to have attended WasteMET Asia Exhibition & Conference at Marina Bay Sands from July 1–4. The event was launched by Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, and was well-attended by dignitaries, including those from Indonesia and Thailand invited by ESC. Principal Consultant Darrell Farley gave a presentation to publicly launch the results of an NEA/IE Singapore-commissioned study on the US$270 billion International Business Opportunities in Waste Management as televised by Channel NewsAsia.

For further information on the study or other Waste Management issues, please contact darrell@envirosc.com

Geodis Wilson Singapore, Freight Forwarding and Logistics Provider, opened a new, state-of-the-art Contract Logistics facility. The Logistics Centre, located at Jurong, is approximately 6,000m2 in size and offers a wide range of value-added services.

It can be used for both bonded and non-bonded activities, while its proximity to airports and seaports in Singapore means fast turnaround time for Asian distribution.

Meanwhile, the ease of administration in Singapore makes this facility an excellent platform for in- and outbound supply chains.

Geodis Wilson is pleased to offer personalised logistics services to match all your requirements. www.geodiswilson.com

Grey Group, a leading integrated marketing communications company, is represented in 96 countries, with 432 offices operating in 154 cities.

With the tagline “Famously Effective Since 1917”, the agency’s total offering includes Grey (brand advertising) and G2 (activation marketing), and serves many of the world’s most prestigious brands, such as Procter & Gamble, GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, Canon, 3M, Boehringer Ingelheim and Allianz.

Grey was featured in Fast Company magazine’s “50 Most Innovative Companies in the World” for both 2010 and 2011. The agency most recently won a Gold Pencil at the 2012 One Show and a Platinum at the International AME Awards 2012. www.grey.com/asiapacific

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Huthwaite is a world-leading sales, negotiation and marketing performance improvement and change management firm that imparts the skills, knowledge and know-how to win in even the toughest of markets.

Huthwaite’s globally acclaimed research is based on the world’s largest-ever study on sales behaviour, conducted over the past 35 years by Professor Neil Rackham. To see more of Huthwaite’s selling strategies—predicting sales success, shortening the sales cycle, prospecting for the decision maker, recognising buying cycle phases, intent vs interest, and many more—visit www.huthwaite.com.sg or join thousands of sales professionals from around the world on our LinkedIn “Sales Performance” group.

To mark the launch of Landmark Asia, the Landmark team, together with the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), hosted an evening reception for more than 60 clients, colleagues and friends at Eden Hall, the residence of the British High Commissioner to Singapore. The celebrations also coincided with the fifth birthday of Landmark Europe.

“Our motivation for establishing a presence in Singapore is business-driven,” said Rocco Renaldi, a founding partner of Landmark. “Our mission as Landmark Asia will be to help our clients face the increasing policy, regulatory and communication challenges effectively, and to help shape policy frameworks that take the legitimate needs of business into account, while underpinning sustainable growth.”

The Landmark team now looks forward to the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead in Asia. Landmark Asia is an independent public affairs and strategic communications agency. www.landmarkasia.asia

Results from the 2012 International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme examination session were issued on July 5.

More than 119,000 students worldwide received their results—8,000 more than in 2011—with 109 students achieving the maximum score of 45 points. The pass rate for 2012 was 78.16%, a rate that has remained stable the past five years.

Jeff Beard, IB Director General, commented, “I would like to congratulate all students on their great achievements. Today’s IB graduates should feel confident that they possess the skills needed to excel in an international world, with students uniquely poised for success both at university and beyond.” www.ibo.org

In May, Mercuri Urval celebrated its 10th anniversary in Singapore by holding a party at its premises on Phillip Street. Joining Guest-of-Honour, HE Ingemar Dolfe, Sweden’s ambassador to Singapore, were around 100 guests from local and multinational companies.

We would like to thank our clients for continuing to support our growth and contributing to our success in this region. For more than 40 years, in all the countries in which we operate, we have helped clients build their capabilities through the delivery of a comprehensive range of high-value capital consultancy solutions. www.mercuriurval.com

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At The Chamber: Corporate News Representing more than 430 of the finest hotels, resorts and spas spread over 80 countries, The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd, the largest luxury hospitality organisation in the world, has launched Golf Society. It’s an elite association that combines the privileges of its signature Leaders Club membership programme with a host of supplementary benefits designed for members only at participating Leading Golf resorts. With championship golf courses to be found all over the world, the season never ends. The programme is designed to create value for both serious and casual golfers. www.LHW.com/GolfSociety

After advising clients in South East Asia for more than 20 years, Lawrence Graham LLP has opened an office in Singapore offering legal services for private capital, trust, family governance, corporate and capital markets clients. It will also be able to advise on real estate investments—either directly or through the creation of funds—in the UK and Europe.

The Singapore office complements the firm’s other works and services based in Dubai and India. The firm’s sector experience includes private wealth to a very high level, energy, financial institutions, natural resources and real estate. www.lg-legal.com

The latest among Regent Singapore’s gastronomic offerings really hits the sweet spot.

Dolcetto (“small sweets” in Italian), a nod to authentic home-made Italian pastries and treats, opens its doors this month. The artisanal pasticceria will serve up—alongside premium Italian coffee—a tantalising selection of Italian specialities, from bombolones and squid-ink paninis to burrata salads and tiramisu with a twist.

Conceived by Basilico chefs Angelo Ciccone and Luca Carrino, Dolcetto draws inspiration from the duo’s rich culinary experience, including recipes passed down by their Nonnas.

Dolcetto replaces Regent Singapore’s beloved gourmet bakery, SomethingToGo, which closed its doors for the final time on August 2. www.regenthotels.com/EN/Singapore/

Mazars is proud to have won the International Accounting Bulletin “Audit Innovation of the Year” award for its “Human Rights Audit” practice.

This award recognises Mazars’ bold initiative to drive companies and business leaders across the world to manage and address human rights issues in business. The practice has made a major, demonstrable impact on audit quality and client service.

Mazars is also proud to have sponsored the fifth annual Summer Institute in International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and Human Rights, which was held in Singapore from July 16–26. www.mazars.sg

Located opposite Valley Point Shopping Centre and Fraser Suites at 476 River Valley Road, Icon Gallery offers a unique gallery concept in Singapore, showcasing music-inspired art and sporting memorabilia.

Besides music-inspired original artworks, rare prints, photographs and album cover fine art, there are two rooms dedicated to rare and limited-edition sporting memorabilia, many of which are autographed. Contact the gallery at 6735 4550 or visit www.icongallery.sg

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International SOS, the world’s leading medical and security services company, has released a new mobile application for their members.

The Membership App connects travellers and international assignees to International SOS’ global response capabilities, including a one-click dial for help from the nearest International SOS Assistance Center, instant access to the latest location-specific travel alerts, and real-time health and security advice.

By extending travel risk management capabilities to their employees via the Membership App, organisations mitigate the medical and security threats to their globally mobile workforce, wherever they are in the world. www.internationalsos.com

Headquartered in Rotterdam, MariFlex Group is proud to announce the opening of its new office in Singapore. It will be headed by Managing Director Bob Ashman and Ben Siew, who is responsible for Marketing and Operations.

MariFlex are specialists in liquid cargo handling, including Ship-to-Ship Transfer Services. They offer liquid cargo services to the industry worldwide, as well as to major salvage companies. The Group also manufactures offloading equipment (portable pumps and power packs), mobile fire fighting systems, and mobile inert gas systems.

E-mail bob@mariflex.net, call 6637 8148, or drop by 5 Tanjong Penjuru Crescent. www.mariflex.net

Maritime Strategies International Asia Pte Ltd (MSI) offers high-level, independent market forecasting and consulting services for shipping and its allied industries.

MSI covers the main shipping sectors such as Tankers, Dry Bulk and Containerships, as well as numerous specialist sectors, including LPG, LNG, Car Carriers and Shipbuilding.

Clients typically receive a combination of sector market reports, forecasting models and vessel valuations. MSI consultants deliver wide-ranging advisory services, from providing expert input into the restructuring of major shipping companies to identifying new opportunities for equity funds and financial institutions looking to invest. E-mail info@ msiltd.asia or visit www.msiltd.com

Fulford PR has undergone a restructuring of its management. Founder and Managing Director Linda Fulford has taken up a new position in parent agency brandRapport’s UK headquarters. Her previous role will be shared by directors Eileen A. Chua and Ronda Ng Doswell, who will jointly head the day-to-day operations and work with brandRapport’s newly-appointed regional head for Asia, Ross Collett.

Additionally, Fulford PR has garnered several notable business wins, including renewals with Singapore Art Museum, Digital and Music Matters 2012, Beam Global Asia, Lee Hwa Jewellery and Pure Group. New appointments include Dean & DeLuca, CAMPER’s Volvo Ocean Race sponsorship and i Light Marina Bay 2012. www.fulfordpr.com

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At The Chamber: Corporate News Michael Page International has launched their Executive Search practice in South East Asia. To be led by John Mayes, the practice is expanding across the Asia Pacific region, and already exists across China, North and South America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

This is a dedicated function within the Michael Page group that focuses purely on leadership hiring. The practice will be managed by more than 100 directors, each with more than 12 years’ experience in senior recruitment activity within their markets, so employers have the benefit of one of the strongest and most effective international networks in executive recruitment. www.michaelpageexecutive.asia

Olswang Asia has doubled in size in less than six months, thanks to the expansion of its full-service TMT team. This is significant for a relatively new office in the region, and reflects the firm’s success in attracting talents from prominent local and international law firms through its engaging culture and unparalleled technology, media and telecommunications practices.

Olswang Asia also recently launched its Singapore International Arbitration Blog, singaporeinternationalarbitration.com, which provides clients with world-class service to solve complex business issues involving different cultures and diverse places.

PTS Consulting is delighted to be awarded 41st place in The Sunday Times’ inaugural International Track 200, which lists British firms with the fastest growing overseas sales. The award is a fantastic testament to the quality of service that PTS provides, the dedication of its consultants, and the focus of its management. Everyone at PTS is extremely proud to be recognised for its achievements.

PTS is a world class IT Consultancy and Project Management company, providing Consultancy, Managed Services and Resourcing Solutions to clients anywhere in the world. It recently launched its full-fledge Managed Services in Singapore. www.ptsconsulting.com

Spinal Balance is excited to announce the opening of our new premises. In honour of

this, we are offering promotions and packages discounted from the normal price. Spinal Balance is a Holistic Chiropractic Centre specialising in gentle care for you and your family of all ages, starting from day one. We are also excited to announce the launch of our new interactive website, www.spinalbalance.org, where you can register to get informative newsletters about your health. Special consultations are available by appointment only.

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Worth S$2.2 billion, Mott MacDonald is a global management, engineering and development consultancy of unrivalled diversity, spanning 140 countries across 12 core business areas with more than 14,000 staff.

With a staff strength of about 200, Mott MacDonald Singapore has been operating for more than 30 years, supporting a range of clients with developments in the rail, road, buildings, infrastructure and energy sectors. www.mottmac.com

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Reliant is a young and vibrant company founded by highly experienced professionals from the Oil & Gas industry. Collectively, our founders have more than 100 years of experience in technology, logistics, quality assurance services and training with leading MNCs. We have an enviable track record in both the developed and emerging markets. With a storage facility (more than 10,000m2 of space) in Singapore, Reliant is currently looking after several major clients in the Oil & Gas business at several other locations in Singapore. www.reliant.com.sg

Savills Singapore has emerged as the Best in Real Estate Agency, Best in International Agency Marketing and Highly Commended Letting Agency at the Asia Pacific Property Awards 2012, organised by the longestablished International Property Awards.

This award is recognised as a symbol of excellence throughout the global industry. Attaining one of these coveted awards is indisputable evidence that Savills Singapore is capable of beating some exceedingly strong contenders within the highly competitive Asia Pacific property arena. www.savills.com.sg

The Lord Sebastian Coe Dream 2012 Award, created to help young Singaporeans get to the London 2012 Olympic Games, has done just that. Swimmers Tao Li and Mylene Ong, and hurdler Dipna Lim-Prasad—Singapore’s 2012 Olympians—are all recipients of the annual Award that the British Chamber of Commerce Singapore initiated as soon as London was named the 2012 Olympic City. Besides the three athletes, five other Singapore Sports School alumni were shortlisted. The final presentation of the Award took place at Raffles Hotel on April 23. The Dream 2012 Award has supported a total of 14 Sports School student–athletes and alumni since 2006, to the tune of $91,000. www.sportsschool.edu.sg

The Windsor Leadership Trust has been organising leadership development programmes in the UK for 16 years. The Trust is looking to build on the number of programmes held in Singapore over the last two years and meet with organisations with the view to developing their leaders. The Trust’s leadership development programmes are unique in bringing together a diverse mix of senior leaders from a cross-sector of society and provide them with a safe forum to discuss their own challenges, successes and challenges within their role. More information on the Trust’s programmes in Singapore and the UK can be found online at www.windsorleadershiptrust.org.uk

The Fry Group provides professional investment planning, retirement planning and UK tax planning for British expatriates. At present, our thoughts are focused upon the draft legislation issued by the Government into the new Statutory Residence Test, which will come into force on April 6, 2013. This is significant to all British expatriates, and we are currently advising many of our clients on this. If anyone is concerned about their exposure to UK tax and how the new test might apply to them, please contact our resident tax consultant Martin Rimmer on +65 6225 0825. www.thefrygroupsg.com

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Culture & Lifestyle

The London Olympics 2012: A Look Back

By Ray Bigger

Š London 2012

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Culture & Lifestyle: The London Olympics 2012: A Look Back

egend has it that the first Olympic Games were founded by Heracles, yet the first Olympic Games for which there are still written records were held in 776 BC. It was most notable for a naked runner, Coroebus. This cook from Elis won the sole event at the Games, the stade, a sprint of approximately 192m.

This made Coroebus the very first Olympic champion in history.

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Fast forward to the London 2012 Olympics. I wonder if Heracles could have imagined what the Olympics have become.

So what have the Olympics become?

Some say it is an event that has lost the ethos of what the Olympics were all about, namely amateur sportsmen competing for the glory of representing their country and being crowned the best in the world at their respective sport.

Some claim the Games have been taken over by commercial interests and are just another vehicle for making money. While there has been an exponential increase

© London 2012

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Some claim the Games have been taken over by commercial interests and are just another vehicle for making money.

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© London 2012 Princess Anne (second left) leaves the plane during the ceremony to mark the arrival of the Olympic flame, at RNAS Culdrose, Cornwall

Since my days as a referee with the English Football League and Premier League, the sport has become a huge business. Whether the money that has been poured into the game has been good for football is debatable, in my opinion, and refereeing is after all about the referee’s opinion—then again, I am a purist.

Why do cities compete to host major sporting events? The first reason is an economic one, followed by the glory of hosting the event. Thirdly—you can’t get away from it—ego. Host countries rarely profit from the Olympics, but there are those who argue it depends on how that is measured.

The London Olympics cost approximately £13 billion, against an original budget of £4 billion. Quite how you can get it so wrong escapes me, so that is perhaps where the ego comes in—the

equivalent of a newspaper editor’s mantra of “print and be damned, because you’ll be damned anyway.” That said, during the bidding process, there was strong emphasis on what the winning city could offer beyond just the event itself, namely a legacy. London promoted sports for youth, plus the regeneration of East London, so the payback is spread over a number of years. © London 2012

The one area that probably hasn’t changed greatly is the mindset of the athletes. For the overwhelming majority, having a shot at being selected to represent their country in their chosen sport involves many hundreds of hours of dedication to a multi-faceted regime of overall physical and mental fitness. Their motivation is being able to compete with the best in the world. Some prepare in sparse regions or dilapidated facilities at ungodly hours, with expenses coming out of their own pocket. At the other end of the spectrum are the juggernaut nations with the branded stars, state-of-the-art facilities, and an entourage of trainers,

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in the commercial side of certain sports, whether this is all bad is still up in the air.

David Beckham during the ceremony to mark the arrival of the Olympic flame, at RNAS Culdrose, Cornwall

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Culture & Lifestyle: The London Olympics 2012: A Look Back

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Š London 2012 An aerial view of the Olympic Stadium on Day 7 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at Olympic Park on August 3, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell-Pool/Getty Images)

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© London 2012 (left to right) Spyros Capralos, Boris Johnson, The Princess Royal, David Beckham, Lord Coe and Hugh Robertson during the official handover ceremony of the Olympic flame at the Panathenaic Stadium, home of the 1896 Athens Games.

To the winners of high-profile events, such as the 100m sprint, there’s the glory, of course, but also millions of dollars of sponsorship money. coaches, nutritionists, sleep advisors, psychologists, just to mention a few.

To the winners from low-profile sports, the glory is all that matters, with maybe a small financial reward. But to the winners of high-profile events, such as the 100m sprint, there’s the glory, of course, but also millions of dollars of sponsorship money.

Now that the Games are history, this rather British spectacle saw thrilling victories, new

About the Author Ray Bigger, a former CEO of the British Chamber of Commerce Singapore, a former Premier League/ Football League Referee, is Managing Director of Think 8, a group of Productivity Architects helping companies

records and personal bests as well as dramatic comebacks. Usain Bolt once again cemented his legendary status on the track, Michael Phelps reigned in the pool against Ryan Lochte, poster girl Jessica Ennis’ dreams came to life, Mo Farah became one of Britain’s greatest track and field stars of all time.

Let’s not forget the inspirational Paralympians who set new personal and Games records. As one young

in Sales Force Development, Making Conferences & Meetings Effective and Developing Critical and Creative Thinking skills. He is a master practitioner in Neuro Linguistic Programming, and has an MBA from Edinburgh Business School.

Paralympian said, “If these Games will help millions of people to view disability in a completely new light, that is another gold medal.”

All that seemingly endless British success in rowing and cycling can only say one thing: London, one of the great cities in the world, put on an awesome display of comradeship and sporting excellence, qualities that embody the Olympic ideals—Heracles would have approved.

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Culture & Lifestyle

The Other Games Of 2012 180 students, 16 disciplines, 35 nationalities, three campuses. One university.

s the Olympic torch made its way through Nottingham’s Market Square, another international sports event took place just around the corner. The fourth TriCampus Games, organised by the University of Nottingham, was taking place.

Held during the end of June, 180 students were battling for glory while the rest of the country pinned their hopes on our British Olympic stars. The event was a fantastic prelude to the London Olympics, and with the motto “Friendship through Sport,” it also served us a humble reminder of the true value of the Olympic Games.

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Culture & Lifestyle: The Other Games Of 2012

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Participants of the University of Nottingham Tri-Campus games pose for a group shot

The idea of knowledge without borders put forward by Nottingham has been expanded to one key component of university life: sport.

The University of Nottingham is Britain’s International University. Over the last 10 years, the University has established campuses in Malaysia and Ningbo, China, leading The Times to declare Nottingham University as the closest Britain has to a “truly global university.” The idea of knowledge without borders put forward

by Nottingham has been expanded to one key component of university life: sport. In order to unite the Nottingham students from around the world, the TriCampus Games was introduced on the UK Campus in 2009 and has since taken place in Malaysia in 2010 and China in 2011. It returned to the UK in 2012, the year of the Olympics.

The games offer students an opportunity to meet, compete and exchange cultural experiences with their peers. Students are flown in from all over the world to compete and demonstrate their sporting prowess. Across the 16 disciplines, the games have managed to attract players who have experience in the Commonwealth Games, the Davis Cup and other international competitions.

During the week, the points are tallied as the campuses battle it out to be named Nottingham University’s International Champions.

The Tri-Campus Games are modelled on the modern Olympics. While not quite the greatest show on earth, it does, on a smaller scale, give each participant a unique taste of what it’s like to compete in an international event. The students are moved into an ‘athlete’s village,’ where they eat, sleep and socialise together. Team kits are created with campus names printed on the back. The opening ceremony includes a performance from the host country, a parade of the athletes with a flag-bearer, and an oath committing the students to the philosophy of the games. Performances amount to quite a spectacle; the games in Ningbo in 2011 gave the performers from the Beijing Olympics a run for their money. The closing ceremony allows the students to celebrate their achievements, consolidate friendships and say “goodbye” until next year.

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Still, despite these steps to create a University Olympic Games, the differences in scale and spectacle need hardly be emphasised. Tri-Campus Games occur once a year, not every four. The games include 180 participants, not the Olympian 10,500. Nottingham hosts 35 nationalities, not the 204 the Olympic Committee accommodates.

Just 16 disciplines and eight main sports are contested during the games in Nottingham, whereas spectators during the London Olympics have the opportunity to view as many as 26 sports.

And yet, such inherent differences fail to detract from the underlying ethos of both competitions: developing “Friendship through Sport,” offering lifechanging opportunities, fostering cultural understanding and supporting individuals to become global citizens.

About the Author Helen Penwill recently obtained a Masters in Law from the National University of Singapore as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar while interning at the British Chamber of Commerce. She holds a Graduate Diploma in

While the world’s press focus on G4’s security mishaps, the congestion in London’s transport services and even the heights of the beds at the Olympic village, it may be appropriate for us to remember the true value of the Olympic Games. Headlines should be celebrating the bringing together of over 10,000 athletes, the provision of worldwide entertainment alongside the development of global citizens, and the uniting of the world under one banner. Perhaps the small, interuniversity international competition held in Nottingham really does act as a precursor to the London Olympics, and an impressive example to follow.

Law from Nottingham Law School and is an alumnus of the University of Nottingham, having graduated with a degree in History in 2010.

She remains active in the University sport scene.

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Helen Penwill (second from the right), with friends

Football tournament

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