ScandAsia December 2019

DEC 2019 Business:

Nordic-Singapore Fintech Partners

Community:

Danish ‘Julebasar’ in Bangkok

ENVIRONMENT:

Circular Economy forum in KL

Visiting Myanmar

Realise your ambitions in Asia.

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December 2019

ScandAsia Stories

24

Helping minorities in Myanmar

Theme: Visiting Myanmar

8 Norwegian Embassy planting trees 9 New airline to fly China-Iceland 14 Nordic Forum in KL on circular economy 42 New Finnish center in Bali for seniors

8 30 Traveling as a tourist in Myanmar

9

10 Nordic participation in Singaporean fintech event

34

14

Portrait: Birgitte Weeke in Yangon

42

40

Danish Christmas Bazaar in Bangkok 4 ScandAsia • December 2019

Editorial

Christmas is a wonderful time of the year.

B

ack in the Nordics, Christmas is the time for celebrations and delicious dinners and cozy evenings indoor. Out here, it is hard to really get into the Christmas mood, but a little shopping of delicacies and Gloegg may help.

After Christmas, the Scandinavians suddenly realize, that there are still at least two months left of the cold, dark and wet winter. This is when 40 percent of the Scandinavians are looking to travel south to Sun, Sand and Sea, according to a survey by the travel agency, Apollo.

For most Scandinavians, the longest vacation is placed in the summer months, but it is in the winter months that most would like to go abroad. In the summer, only 15 percent want to go overseas.

The survey added, that the most popular short trips would go to destinations like Canary Islands or Dubai while the longer vacations would go to ”Bali, Vietnam and Thailand.”

A few years ago, the conclusion would have been “Thailand, Bali and Vietnam”. And Dubai would have been nowhere on the list.

Much has been speculated about what seems to be a decline in popularity of Thailand among tourists from Europe.

For the last few years, I have become active in the tourism industry, in a niche market for naturist vacations to Thailand. Naturist resorts are safely shielded resorts, where it is frowned upon if you wear any clothes. This market, which has emerged only during the last ten years, sees no decline. The increase this year was 25 percent up from 2018.

In my experience, the vacation that brings naturists back to Thailand is the vacation that has successfully managed to create a relationship between the traveler and the destination and its people. Our returning naturists

ScandAsia is a printed magazine and online media covering the people and businesses of Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland living and working in China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.

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6 ScandAsia • December 2019

do not come back because it is cheap or stay home because it has become more expensive. They return because of the nature of our currently eight resorts in Thailand, where the social nature of these people makes it easy to form friendship with like-minded ordinary local people and other guests at the resort. They keep these relationships warm and try if possible, to coordinate their returning visits with their newly found local friends.

The locals on the other hand enjoy taking their foreign friends around to see the real Thailand – and during summer they frequently also go overseas to visit their friends back in their country.

This goes not only for the “old market” in Europe and the US, but also for the emerging markets of travelers from China, India and the other countries in ASEAN. So, from being that time of the year, when it was impossible for me to get into any real Christmas mood, my Christmas time has increasingly become a heartwarming period of hosting a great number of returning friends, hearing about what happened since last time we saw each other and sharing good time and good food.

I hope your Christmas too will be filled with the warmth of being together with your friends and family members from back home.

Warm regards

Gregers Moller Editor in Chief

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News brief

Consulate General of Finland announced the latest statement on free trade agreement with Singapore

M

r. Ville Skinnari, Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade, Finland, published an official statement regarding The Free Trade Agreement between the EU and Singapore, which entered into force on 21 November 2019.

“Singapore offers interesting business oppor tunities for Finnish companies’ areas of strength, such as health care and services for el-

ders, digitalisation and renewable energy,” it says.

“This is the first bilateral trade agreement between the EU and an ASEAN country. Its entry into force lays the foundation for strengthening the EU’s trade agreement network in Southeast Asia.”

The agreement will dismantle technical trade obstacles, remove customs duties and open opportunities for both service trade and the public procurement market. The parties to the agreement also under take to maintain and promote the norms concerning the environment and working life.

At the moment, around onehalf of imports of Singaporean products to the EU area are duty-free.

As the agreement comes into force, the EU will immediately exempt 80 per cent of imports from Singapore.

Trade will be exempt from duties almost fully after the transition periods of 3–5 years.

Singapore is an open economy, and it already applies exemption from customs duty to the majority of commodities in goods trade.

However, the Free Trade Agreement guarantees commitment to exemption from customs duty, in addition to which Singapore has undertaken to remove nearly all the remaining customs duties at the latest within five years.

The Free Trade Agreement increases oppor tunities for market access by including new procurement units in the agreement and by lowering the threshold values of open tender competitions. The agreement also improves the transparency of Singapore’s procurement procedures.

Norwegian Embassy plants trees to offset own carbon-footprint

T

he Norwegian ambassador together with the ASEAN green initiative made their fir st move on reducing carbon footprint by planting 500 trees in Metro Manila on 19th November 2019.

The Embassy has specifically chosen to plant trees in the La Mesa Watershed, as this is the carbon dioxide sink of Metro Manila. The watershed is also a major source of water for some 12 million residents of Metro Manila.

La Mesa Watershed is part of the Angat-Ipo-La Mesa water system, which supplies most of the water supply of Metro Manila holding over

8 ScandAsia • December 2019

50 million cubic meters occupying an area of 27 square kilometers.

Norway is also dedicated to enable vulnerable countries to adapt to climate change, prevent deforestation, reduce har mful greenhouse gas emissions. By 2030, Norway is targeting to lower its own greenhouse gas emissions by 40%. “The Norwegian Embassy in Manila is constantly looking for possibilities to reduce our carbon footprint here in the Philippines,” said Mr Bjørn Jahnsen, Norwegian Ambassador to the Philippines.

“By planting 500 seedlings this year, we are offsetting roughly 74 tons of carbon footprint equivalent

to the projected carbon footprint that the embassy is producing per year,” The Royal Norwegian Embassy in Manila has been actively working on projects and initiatives to make its workplace greener. This year, the Embassy also installed a 16-kilowatt peak (kWp) solar power system in the Ambassador’s residence. preserving biodiversity.

New airline to fly China-Iceland

W

ith increasing number of Chinese traveller s visiting Iceland, Chinese Airline Juneyao Air will embark upon its maiden voyage to Iceland in March of next year, The airline plans on flying to Iceland twice a week. Roundtrip

tickets in economy class will cost from ISK 68,000 ($550.00/€430.00) and from ISK 204,000 ($1,660.00/ €1,290.00) in business class.

Juneyao Airlines (“auspicious airlines”) was founded in 2006 and operates a fleet of 72 planes.The airline took delivery of its first Boeing

News brief

787 Dreamliner in October 2018.

It had previously been an all-Airbus operator.

Xu Xiang - Country Manager of Juneyao’s Finnish branch - stated that “the airline intends to embark upon its maiden voyage from Shanghai, China to Keflavík Airport, Iceland, with a stopover in Helsinki, on March 31, 2020.”

“Today, there are approximately 100,000 Chinese tourists arriving in Iceland annually. We estimate that approximately 20,000 passengers will fly with us to Iceland next year.

We expect a yearly increase of 10% after that. We want to be the first airline to offer direct flights between the two countries,” Xu said.

Xeng Dewei, who will manage Juneyao in Iceland, hopes that Icelanders will fly to China, as well: “It’s impor tant to us. Flights from Iceland to China are long and we will offer full service.”

Koenigsegg cooperates with Chinese investor to expand in electric car market

K

oenigsegg, a Swedish supercar maker together with The Evergrande group, a Chinese proper ty development group are planning to expand together in EV car productions in 2020-21.

Eariler in Januar y 2019, the Evergrande group invested over US$300m in a new venture, acquired 20% of shares with Swedish supercar maker Koenigsegg, acquired 51% of shares in National Electric Vehicle Sweden for US$930m and many other European car companies.They also plans to invest US$154m in a 58% stake in lithium-ion battery maker Shanghai Center at New Energy.

Mr. Xu Jiayin, The Evengrande group chairman, announced last

week at a conference in Guangzhou, China: “I wants my company to become the world’s largest producer of new-energy vehicles, with annual sales of over one million units within five years.”

“The funds will be use to acquire any core technologies and companies that require to achieve these targets, if we can’t buy the companies we need, we’d like to join hands with them through cooperation” Mr Xu also announced: “my company plans to unveil its first electric vehicle, the Hengchi 1, in the first half of 2020 with mass production scheduled for 2021.”

“A total of 15 models are

currently under development and the company has eight plants in use or under construction - in Tianjin, Shanghai, Shenyang, Guangzhou and also in Sweden.”

Some analysts consider Evergrande’s targets to be extremely ambitious, especially given the sharp decline in new-energy vehicle sales in China in recent months.

December 2019 • ScandAsia 9

Nordic start-up pitches, Singapore Fintech Association partnership As Singapore FinTech Festival (SFF) x Singapore Week of Innovation and TeCHnology (SWITCH) came together for the first time in 2019 the Nordic countries were present in full force, including this year also five start-ups from Iceland.

A

Photos and text: Joakim Persson mbassador of Iceland to Singapore, Ms. Sigríður Á. Snævarr, were in attendance and also hosted a welcome reception for the Icelandic companies.

Denmark’s embassy and Copenhagen Fintech Assocation had their own pavilion at SFF for the first time, while the Nordic Innovation House Singapore’s (NIHSG) pavilion was a joint focal point for the representatives from the rest of the Nordics.

Sustainability and Climate Change was the overarching theme of the combined conference, where NIH-SG showcased Circular Economy and Energy Programmes.

Within Fintech no less than 12 Nordic companies made pitches at SFF x SWITCH as well as Nordic Innovation House.

Mats Holmfeldt from Findec shared insights into the Nordic Fintech landscape.

Nordics - Singapore Fintech Association partnership

NIH-SG, represented by Community Director Sami Jääskeläinen and Singapore Fintech Association (SFA), represented by its President Mr. Hock Lai Chia, announced an official partnership SFA is intended as a platform designed to facilitate collaboration between all market par ticipants and stakeholders in the Fintech ecosystem.

Mr Hock Lai Chia shared SFA’s details on the Singapore fFintech landscape, and began by thanking all the participants from the Nordics.

“I hope that by now you also know we are a global Fintech hub. Welcome to the largest fintech festival of the whole world, where we this year have 60 000 visitors from more than 130 countries,” began Hock Lai Chia.

“In Singapore we have more than 600 Fintech and blockchain companies, which is about 40 percent of all such companies in SEA. Comparing to four years ago when we started our Fintech journey there were then less 10 ScandAsia • December 2019

than fifty.”

Describing the development since then he outlined five different factors: talent, access to a huge regional market, capital, infrastructure, and policy-making.

“Being one of the international financial centres we have a lot of financial talent in Singapore. In terms of technology talent we are still trying to resolve that challenge - so if there’s a lot of technology talent in the Nordics we welcome you here!”

He added that the hunt for talent is a challenge for many regions.

Regarding access to markets Singapore is small.

However, for those who are into B2B Fintech there are good news, as the city state boasts over 200 financial institutions and with 40 of them having innovation labs in Singapore.

“Looking at B2C Fintech through Singapore as a gateway, you can reach out to not just Southeast Asia but also China and India, and Southeast Asia alone has a population size of 640 million. The country with highest population in this region is Indonesia, just a one-hour-flight away.”

“And we have a very active Fintech association; over the last three years I could see that Fintech is something that really cuts across borders. We have more than 50 collaborations internationally in 35 countries. So we can be a platform to reach out to many other markets in Asia,” he added.

Fintech investment is record so far in 2019. “In the first nine months of this year investment in Singapore already exceeded 1 billion Singapore Dollars, ranking only behind China and India.”

“We have a very conducive environment for investors.

Many of the venture capitals and private equities set up their base in Singapore so we have close to 300 such investors .And we have a lot of programmes that curate Fintech companies to meet the investors. Singapore could also be a very attractive place to do your IPO.”

Within infrastructure, Hock Lai Chia mentioned that they are setting up a number of standards including allowing non-banks to access their payment systems in Singapore.

Policy-wise he mentioned the Fintech office in MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore) where one can reach out to find out what kind regulatory licences to apply for.

“And if you have a really innovative business model there is a regulatory sandbox and also another express regulatory sandbox whereby if your business model is lower risk you could get your business model approval within 21 days.”

Fintech pitches

The NIH-SG pavilion hosted Fintech pitches from the following start-ups: BehavioSec, Covr Security, EdenBull, Greater Than, Lendela, Mitigram, Unimaze, Wenn and ZignSec BehavioSec offers its award-winning, behavioral biometrics software that uses continuous authentication to stop the problems created by digital fraud – without frustrating end users.

“We help our clients verify it is the right person in a web or mobile application, typically within the financial sector, like banking,” said Oscar Morén. The end user don’t know this is in the application itself; it’s how they interact with the device that we can verify the user to detect fraud.”

Covr Security is the legendar y star t-up behind Sweden’s BankID, established over 15 years ago.

“Thanks to that we have taken this technology out to completely new markets,” explained Victor Waenerlund about their user-centric mobile security management platform.

Bank transactions, store purchases, cloud-based databases, online gaming and even the Internet of Things can use Covr to ensure 100% protection from ID theft, phishing, skimming and credit card hijacking.

Erik Ingvoldstad introduced EedenBull by saying that they are a little bit different from everyone else: “We are as

much Finn as we are Tech; we really focus on the financial part of it.”

EedenBull is a technology agnostic Fintech innovation company that helps banks create new products and services to increase revenue, customer loyalty and brand affinity.

“We work with banks, do not compete with them, and have long experience in the payment industry from all over the world, so we’re a global platform. We deliver complete platforms, not just technologies and experiences and we create competitive advantages for our partner banks.”

Greater Than helps auto insurance carriers improve loss ratio and car manufacturers with new business – by making this business sector smarter via AI. “We do not judge people, we look at a claim probability patterns so when a vehicle is connected to our cloud each second we analyse driving and when the drive is done we will say: the pattern has a claims probability of 30 % for example. That is the insight we give. Our technology has proven to reduce claims by up to 40 per cent,”explained Johan Forseke.

By starting to harness driving data at an early stage of the Big Data era, Greater Than has gained extensive experience in using driving data and Artificial Intelligence to create services that contribute to safer, smarter and more environmentally friendly driving.

Lendela, based in Singapore, is Southeast Asia’s first consumer-centric lending platform.

The problem we’re trying to solve is that even though there is a vast market for loans, including in Southeast Asia, unsecure lending is 400 billion in this region. There is huge demand for loans; a lot of people are under-banked and even unbanked, but the process of applying for a loan is very cumbersome,” said Nima Karimi Lendela take care of acquiring those customers, do the filtering and credit scoring, and on top of that they match-make by figuring out where a borrower is eligible December 2019 • ScandAsia 11

for a loan and match to the right lenders.

Since a year ago they have launched in Singapore and entered Hong Kong, Malaysia and Thailand.

Mitigram was started in 2014 based on seeing the need to streamline and augment international trade by opening up a closed market with transformational innovation.

Mitigram’s important area of work is within trade finance – when exporters send goods to overseas buyers, explained Joshua Cohen and Mar tin Ritt. Their initial service was developed in close cooperation with large Nordic global exporters.

“Workflow efficiency comes from removing the use of telephones and emails and replacing it with Mitigram.

We force data to go into structured formats, which of course enable to feed back the structured format in the form of business analytics – which can help the corporates as well as the banks understand much better where they have the opportunity to improve what they’re doing; why they are missing business and how they could be doing business at better prices.”

Markus Gudmundsson from UniMaze explained that they are in Singapore to look for partners to enter Asia.

“Our business is electronic invoicing, automating the flow of invoices from the supplier to the customer and other business documents to eliminate processes such as printing, transportation of the mail etc. There are a lot of benefits from both the supplier and customer, in reducing costs, and it’s green as well; we’re saving on paper.”

We work with partners. It’s a cloud-based solution.

We have one platform for clients documenting to the stock exchange. There are all kinds of business documents that we exchange. We’re currently working on implementing an international invoice which will be out later. We also support procurement.”

UniMaze is already in use in Europe, New Zealand, Singapore and Australia.

12 ScandAsia • December 2019

From Wenn Jeevan Gnanam and Rolf Atleseloter presented their solution that is able to simplify the claims process for insurance companies – using AI. “It can understand what kind of vehicle and brand it is, and also different parts. It can understand live what the damage ´consists in and with 90 per cent accuracy return the actual damage estimate.”

“For the user it is able to take pictures and upload their claim much quicker for a better user experience.”

It also collects better data from the location, they added.

“We are right now scaling in Europe and looking to scale in Asia. We have two Proof-of-Concepts with two very large insurance companies and are going forward with also processing in automating building damage as well, this is probably the next phase of our development.”

ZignSec, a regtech company founded in Stockholm in 2015. is an identity service platform with the mission to simplify for companies to verify their customers online.

ZignSec offers secure and user-friendly KYC solutions by collecting all leading digital verification methods globally under one platform.

“The problem we are solving is that each country is coming up with its own identity solution nowadays and they are not compatible to each other; they look different and you connect to them differently. For any company working internationally it is not easy to connect to all of these. Nor is it easy to build the best user experience and this is what we are solving for our customers. There are also quite a lot of companies that don’t have an local identity scheme - where we have a very good online ID scan scheme. And the big thing is that we do a lot of recognition – finding out the real problems, such as fake passports - we can tell that in less than 10 seconds. You can also automated responses. Where you can see where it is fake,” explained Jonas Ingelström.

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December 2019 • ScandAsia 13

News Brief

Nordic Forum Circular Economy, Energy held in Kuala Lumpur Text: Joakim Persson

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Nordic Forum on Circular Economy and Energy took place in Kuala Lumpur on 9 October featuring prominent Nordic as well as Malaysian speakers. The forum was hosted by the Embassies of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden in Kuala Lumpur, together with the Honorary Consulate General of Iceland, during the 10th International Greentech & Eco Products Exhibition & Conference Malaysia (IGEM) 2019.

The Nordic Forum was carried out in collaboration with GreenTech Malaysia, a government agency, and supported by the Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment & Climate Change (MESTECC).

Y.B. Puan Yeo Bee Yin, Minister of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change, gave a keynoted speech followed by keynote quest speakers Ms. Jessica Magnusson from Waste Management 14 ScandAsia • December 2019

Association of Sweden and Mr. Ernesto Har tikainen from the Finnish Innovation Fund SITRA, who spoke on the topic ‘Circular Economy in the Nordics and beyond’.

Ms. Jessica Magnusson representing the Swedish Waste Management Association, expert on sustainable waste management, also sharing her experiences of the Nordics in the field of circular economy.

The Nordic Ambassadors then led the thematic discussions, concluding with a panel session on the topic of adjusting to circular economy. The aim of all the discussions was to enable Nordic experts to connect and share their best practices with Malaysian authorities and stakeholders.

Nordic and Malaysian companies in panel sessions

In the first panel session on ‘A Circular Economy Mindset’

Ms Minna Vilkuna, Vice President, Market Development, Asia Pacific Region of BMH Technology Oy presented ’Fuelling a Cleaner Future with Sustainable Fuel Handling Solutions’; Mr David Lantz, Sustainability manager for Southeast Asia of Scania Scania spoke on the topic ‘From Waste to Fuel’; Mr Gavin Shen, Project Manager Ductor on ‘Making Waste Valuable’; and Mr Khalid Bahsoon, Managing Director Econas covered ‘Steps on how to contribute towards a Greener Circular Economy in Malaysia’.

The second session focused on ‘The Shift to Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency’, where Mr Arnfinn I. Unum, Country Manager Scatec Solar Malaysia presented ‘Solar Power as a Renewable Energy Source’; Mr R. Narayanan, Country Manager, ABB spoke on ‘The Future of Energy - Efficiency, Renewables and Savings’; Mr Morten Sondergaard, Managing Director of Danish Energy Efficiency Par tners on ‘Building Sector Energy Efficiency:An Innovative Approach’; Mr Dereck Devlin, General Manager Atlas Copco Malaysia introduce ‘Energy Efficiency in Manufacturing’; while Mr Saiful Adib Abdul Munaff, Head of Division, GreenTech Malaysia covered ‘How to achieve Low Carbon Cities in Malaysia’.

The speakers shared the innovative solutions provided by their respective companies to achieving sustainability, introduced and moderated by H.E. Ambassador Petri Puhakka (Finland) and H.E. Ambassador Jesper Vahr (Denmark). Malaysian speakers from GreenTech and EcoNas reflected on the challenges they are facing when tr ying to implement sustainable waste management systems and the transition to circular economy and green cities.

In the third session a panel discussion about ‘Adjusting to a Circular Economy’ (moderated by Ms Pamela Qiu, Director South-East Asia, The Economist Corporate Network Panel), Ms Jessica Magnusson; Mr Khalid Bahsoon, Econas; and Mr Mor ten Sondergaard participated.

Establishing reciprocal relationships achieved

The aim of the for um over all was to provide a platform for discussing global challenges related to e.g. waste management, sustainable economy, clean energy and energy efficiency. It aimed to create space for Nordic companies to share their solutions to these issues, showcasing concrete examples of waste to fuel technologies, innovations in solar power as well as energy efficient solutions in manufacturing.

Transition to circular, sustainable economy opens the way to emerging industries and new jobs with higher added value. Identifying and advancing these opportunities is important, where the forum introduced some of the most cutting-edge innovations and initiatives in the field, stated the organisers.

“In her opening address Y.B. Puan Yeo Bee Yin reaffirmed the ambition and commitment of Malaysia for achieving the sustainable development goals, elaborating

on national policies relating to renewable energy and waste management. Mr Saiful Adib Abdul Munaff from Malaysia GreenTech Corporation spoke about ‘How to achieve low carbon cities in Malaysia’, and Mr Khalid Bahsoon from the company EcoNas reflected on ‘Steps on how to contribute towards a greener circular economy in Malaysia’,” the Embassy of Sweden in Kuala Lumpur replies to ScandAsia after the event.

“The Nordic embassies are ver y pleased with the Nordic Forum. The goals of the Nordic Forum, intensifying dialogue, exchanging knowledge as well as establishing reciprocal relationships between Nordic and Malaysian companies and government agencies were achieved. The event targeted representatives of both Nordic and Malaysian companies, government officials and policy makers. Nordic experiences from circular economy, green energy and sustainable waste management raised considerable interest, and the event was held in a fully booked auditorium with room for around 160 participants,” “The speakers shared the innovative solutions provided by their respective companies to achieving sustainability. Notably Malaysian participants showed a big interest in how the Nordic countries have implemented sustainable waste management systems and energy efficient solutions. Inquiries regarding how to change the attitudes of the general public towards recycling also raised considerable interest. Recycling is a key element in a circular economy.”

Malaysia aims to lead the way

“A ‘Circular Economy Roadmap’ will be launched in 2020 by the Malaysian government.Y.B. Dr Yeo Bee Yin, Minister of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change, aims for Malaysia to lead the development of circular economy in Southeast Asia. According to Dr Yeo a push for change would in fact spur the local economy as new solutions were developed to cope with the problem of waste and limited resources.The Malaysian government has set out the goal that 20% of its energy consumption will be renewable in 2025. At the Nordic Forum Dr Yeo stated that the lack of a functioning system for sustainable waste management is seen as an area where change is necessary and that waste is an untapped resource for bio energy. Energy efficiency as well as further legislation to preserve natural resources is also high on the agenda for the government,” the Swedish embassy comments on the status of Circular Economy in Malaysia.

The Nordics will jointly and in bilateral effor ts continue with Circular Economy effor ts in Malaysia: “The Nordic Embassies hope to see more opportunities for both joint and bilateral effor ts when it comes to sustainable development and advocating sustainable, environmental and climate friendly solutions. The first joint Nordic seminar on this topic was held in April this year in Kuala Lumpur, the second in October in connection to IGEM also in Kuala Lumpur and the next seminar will take place in Penang 10 December this year.”

December 2019 • ScandAsia 15

Unique Yangon Developing. That would be the best word to describe the largest city and former capital of Myanmar, Yangon, previously known as Rangoon.

B

By Sigrid Friis-Neergaard efore arriving in Yangon, I didn’t have many expectations as Myanmar isn’t the top picked tourist destination in travel catalogues. With images of the city being slim to non-existent in my head, I felt like I was about to watch a movie without having seen the trailer.

Exited and unknowing about what I had signed up for, I boarded the plane in Bangkok and set off for Yangon.

Seduced by Yangon

From the few things I had heard about Myanmar, I mostly expected Yangon to be an underdeveloped place with dirty streets and a lot of noise.

To be honest, that image isn’t far from reality. But the city is also captivating and charming in a way, you won’t grasp from photos.

16 ScandAsia • December 2019

The building style is a fusion between new, old and colonial. The impressive white city hall stands tall near the famous Sule Pagoda as a reminder of colonial times, where Myanmar was under British rule. At the same time, skyscraping hotels with roof top bars overlook decrepit, colourful houses.

Webs of tangled telephone wires enclose narrow streets, where vendors sell anything from books and phone chargers to fruit and flip-flops.

Ever ywhere, the streets are splattered by what looks like blood. It isn’t though. The red spots are from the stimulant drug betel nuts. The nut is often mixed with tobacco and folded in a leaf which is chewed for a caffeine or cocaine-like effect.

The nuts dye the saliva red, which is commonly spat on to the street. Hence, the blood-looking stains every

few steps. Taxi drivers tend to have an empty plastic bottle, they can discreetly fill up with beetle nut spit while driving.

While some people do smoke cigarettes, the dark red splatters are a more frequent sight than grey smoke.

Skirts for everyone

As Myanmar has been ver y isolated and stayed uninfluenced by other countries, entering is like taking a step back in time in some respects. Though KFC and The Pizza Company tempt hungry passers-by like in almost any other city anno 2019, globalisation hasn’t quite spoiled Yangon yet.

Miniskir ts, crop tops and boardshor ts are a rare sight, even though the thermometer shows 35 degrees and the humidity approaches that of a steam bath.

Instead, women as men wear longyis. A long sarong or tube-like skirt not ideal for running, which is tied at the waist. The fabric can be any colour and is of different patterns dependent on ethnic group.

Though I’ve been told that the Korean K-Pop culture is highly popular among young people in Yangon, the conservative way of dressing still wins.

Finding transportation

Arriving from Bangkok, the clothes is not the only thing that stands out and I try to pinpoint which sound is missing in the otherwise noisy city. The motorbikes, it turns out. Apparently, they aren’t allowed in Yangon.

No one seems to know the exact reason behind the ban, but theories range from the two-wheeled vehicles posing a threat to public safety to a former militar y general’s fear of getting assassinated by someone on a passing motorbike.

A betel nut station, where the leaf packs are made (left) and betel nut spit on the street as seen everywhere (right).

December 2019 • ScandAsia 17

The only thing certain is, that traffic is bound to move slower when everyone is in a car rather than zig zagging between long queues of cars on a motorbike.

Public transpor tation does exist but as a tourist it’s not that easy to work out, so taxis seem to be the solution. Albeit cheap, taximeters are unfamilar technology in Yangon and there seems to be a foreigner tax imposed on everyone who can’t say their destination in Burmese.

This makes the driver service app Grab all the more tempting as the price does not depend on hair colour or mother tongue.

Lack of motorbikes, the public transportation and tourist-trapping taxis are not the most curious things about transportation in Yangon, however.

Being a former British colony, Myanmar used to have left lane driving.

In 1970, the then Prime Minister and President General Ne Win decided to change that rule overnight.

From Sunday 6 December 1970, people now had to drive on the right side.

The only problem with that is, that most of the cars are still designed for driving on the left side. Essentially this means, that if a driver wants to overtake another car, he and the passengers involuntarily take part in the game of chicken, where one driver must swerve for the oncoming car to avoid collision.

18 ScandAsia • December 2019

Taxed for being a tourist

As mentioned, it is quite the task to bargain down the price for a taxi if you’re a foreigner. But this is not the only place in Yangon, blonde hair turns out to have a negative effect on the wallet.

Entering the top tourist spot in Yangon, Shwedagon Pagoda, will cost a foreigner 10,000 Kyat (5.8 Euros). If you happen to be local, you can enter the holy area for free.

Shwedagon Pagoda before a thunderstorm. shoulders or shoes. Basically, just cover up as much as possible to be on the safe side.

The pagoda is not the only place, you will come across a foreigner charge.The People’s Park offers a great view of the pagoda but will cost tourists a humble fee of 300 Kyat (0.2 Euros) to enter.

Suit up

Sule Pagoda in the heart of Yangon.

Having said that, the pagoda is worthwhile a visit.

The beautiful golden stupa rises above many other buildings in the city and can be spotted from a variety of viewpoints.

It’s believed to be the oldest pagoda in the world and contains hair from Buddha himself. Needless to say, it is a very sacred place for the Buddhist people of Myanmar and proper dressing is required. This means, no tight jeans, leggings, shorts above knee-height, bare

Before getting too upset about the fees charged for the mere reason of being a foreigner, it’s worth remembering that Myanmar is a country which is fairly new to tourists and vice versa.

Being white, I therefore attracted quite a bit of attention. Not only in terms of having to pay more as a foreigner, but also in a rather entertaining way.

I had people wanting photos with me, teenage girls giggling, children waving, and men approaching me only to say “hello, how are you?”, in order to practice or show off their English skills.

You might find that having to stop and pose for pictures slows down the day a bit, but other than that there is no reason to feel uncomfortable in any given situation.

The humid climate isn’t exactly ideal for surprise photo shoots, though, so leave your vanity at home, pack your most conservative attire, your wallet, your camera, your best smile, a little bit of patience and go visit Yangon.

December 2019 • ScandAsia 19

Good advice to being

By Sigrid Friis Neergaard

D

id you ever wonder what it would be like to live in a country that has only recently started opening up to the world outside its own borders?

ScandAsia has talked to four people living in Myanmar about life in the mysterious country.

Norwegian Astri Hole Fredriksen has her own travel agency in partnership with a local tourist company.

Her job is mainly to attract and guide Scandinavian tourists. She has lived in Myanmar from 1991 to 1994 and again from 2008 until now, 2019, with her husband Jørn Kristensen.

Jørn Kristensen is from Denmark and used to work for the United Nations Drug Control Program. He now has his own company, Myanmar Institute for Integrated Development. Among other things, the institute teaches minorities in mainly the highlands of Myanmar about nutrition.

Birgitte Weeke first moved to Myanmar from Denmark in 2013 when she was sent by Carlsberg to be part of the company’s coming brewery. After two years, she moved to Malaysia, but is now back in Myanmar.

Astri Hole Fredriksen.

Photo: Private.

20 ScandAsia • December 2019

Finally, Martin Hamann, also from Denmark, has lived in Myanmar since 2014. He worked for Telenor at the time. The company launched half a year after his arrival and a few months later he changed job. Today he’s a consultant, still working in the rural solar industry.

They all four live in Yangon, the largest city and former capital of Myanmar.

Good to knows

Transition has happened through the respective time periods, all four have lived in Myanmar. Sim cards have gone from being unobtainable at several thousand dollars to costing one dollar, supermarkets have arrived, the taxi app Grab is available.

It has also become possible to buy Western food and go shopping.Yangon is almost like any other metropolitan.

Almost.

Because while the neighbouring countries have developed rapidly, Myanmar has been a bit slower.

“There’s no way to really prepare for life here because it’s incomparable to anything else,” says Jørn Kristensen, who has also lived in several other countries.

Jørn Kristensen.

an expat in Myanmar He stresses however, that since Myanmar began to open up and more foreigners are working and living in Yangon, life has gotten a lot easier.

But there still are a few things to be aware of.

At the job

Mar tin Hamann experienced some challenges in regard to work life, which expats should be aware of, when they take a job in Myanmar. The working culture is ver y different to what he is used to from Scandinavia.

“In this market, it’s not only about finding the right solutions and having a rational discussion with your stakeholders. Here the mechanisms are different. It’s about hierarchy and making sure no one loses face,” Martin Hamann says.

After five year, he finally understands the culture a bit better. He actually finds that expats who don’t abide by the cultural rules are the ones to cause trouble at work sometimes.

Birgitte Weeke was also originally sent to Myanmar by her company, Carlsberg, which she worked for at the

Birgitte Weeke.

time. Here, the work culture was not like the one Martin Hamann has experienced.

“We were so few people in the beginning, that we sat around the table for lunch every day like a family,” Birgitte Weeke says and goes on to explain that the work culture was more similar to that in Denmark.

Cover up

In your personal time after work there are also a few good-to-knows about living in Myanmar.

It’s still a very conservative country in many ways.

While Astri Hole Fredriksen enjoys the respect for the elderly in accordance with the hierarchical culture, there are also certain rules one is expected to abide by.

As a tour guide, she always tells her customers how to dress for Myanmar. It isn’t just any South East Asian country where mini-skirts and board-shorts are the norm in the all year round hot climate. In Myanmar, you are supposed to dress conservatively and cover up.

This applies for both men and women.

Martin Hamann.

Photo: Private.

December 2019 • ScandAsia 21

Astri Hole Fredriksen therefore tells her customers how to act politely and respectfully in the country before arrival.

Mind the gap

Being an expat in Myanmar has become a lot easier.

When Astri Hole Fredriksen and Jørn Kristensen first arrived in the early 1990’s there weren’t many of their kind. Today, expats are a much more common sight in the streets of Yangon.

“There is a large expat environment. It’s a comfortable society for foreigners,” Astri Hole Fredriksen says.

There are however still differences between being a foreigner and a local in some aspects.

All four will have to pay for entering the Shwedagon Pagoda and other sacred places, while it is free for locals.

When Martin Hamann goes bouldering, he also has to pay more than locals.

“I feel like the price setting creates an unnecessary gap between locals and expats,” he says.

However, all four interviewees agree that the local people are as nice as can be.

“Everyone here is so sweet,” Birgitte Weeke says.

22 ScandAsia • December 2019

December 2019 • ScandAsia 23

Malnourished children and poverty: Jørn helps minorities in Myanmar

N

By Sigrid Friis Neergaard o shops, no good restaurants, no super markets and no private satellite dishes allowed, so no international news. That was the reality when Jørn Kristensen and his wife, Astri, arrived in Myanmar in 1991.

“It was an isolated and broken country in many ways,” Jørn Kristensen says.

Only few years before his arrival, a devaluation of the currency along with ethnic tensions had led to an uprising in 1988. Thousands are believed to have been killed when the military rolled in.

After the riots, the people of Myanmar were hoping for a change. Burma became Myanmar and Rangoon became Yangon. The military regime promised a democratic election in 1990. But the outcome was not what people had hoped for.

While the National League for Democracy, the par ty of Aung San’s daughter Aung San Suu Kyi, won the elections by a wide margin, the military refused to recognise the results and remained in charge of the country for another two decades until 2011.

There was a general interest by the government in the presence of the UN, yet living under a military regime brought some changes to Jørn’s life.

“My phone was tapped. I was under surveillance both privately and at work. There was a curfew from 11 pm to 4 am,” he tells.

Even though life in Myanmar was a step back in time in terms of privacy, Jørn and his wife adapted to the situation.

Whenever Jørn had a meeting in Bangkok he was loaded with shopping lists so he could bring back whatever wasn’t available in Myanmar.

“Life was simple,” he says.

There was no enter tainment, so dinners and receptions in the diplomatic community made for a social life. And the weekend schedule almost became a ritual.

Friday, they went to Yangon Sailing Club, a relic from

Under surveillance

Jørn was the Resident Representative of the United Nations Drug Control Program (UNDCP) in Myanmar from 1991 to 1994.

At the time, Myanmar was the world’s biggest producer of opium and heroin. Today, it’s the second largest contributor of the drugs worldwide, only beaten

by Afghanistan.

As part of the Golden Triangle along with Thailand and Laos, Nor theast Myanmar struggled to keep the production of drugs under control. The UN assisted by introducing legal agricultural crops to replace the cultivation of opium.

24 ScandAsia • December 2019

A woman harvests carrots during a MIID project in Chin State, which borders India and is the most isolated state in Myanmar. Photo: MIID

the British colonial period. Saturday, to the American Club and on Sunday, they went to the Australian Club. At the American Club they would watch the news from the previous week that had been flown in on video tapes as diplomatic post.

“It was a very special life,” Jørn says.

The couple only planned to stay for two years, but eventually time passed and only after almost four years, they moved on in 1994.

Returning to Myanmar

In 2008, after postings in Vietnam, Europe, Cambodia and Sri Lanka, Jørn was asked to come back and assist in emergency aid after Myanmar was struck by a devasting cyclone, which claimed the lives of 140,000 people.

Since the 1990 elections, investors and NGOs had retracted, but now they started to return.

“It provided an oppor tunity to help rather than boycott the country,” Jørn says.

But Myanmar was quite the mess and data of the country was scarce to non-existent.

“We were basically groping in the dark.”

So, Jørn helped coordinate the response to the natural disaster until 2010, when he decided to change his path. By that time, the country was starting to open up, and something that looked like democracy was within reach.

However, the many ethnic minority populations in the country tend to fall behind and be forgotten.

That’s why Jørn started the Myanmar Institute for Integrated Development (MIID). The institute, which Jørn is still executive director of, aims to assist minorities living mainly in the highlands of the country.

About one third, equalling 17-18 million people, of the Myanmar population are minorities. Myanmar has more than 100 different minorities.

“Minorities have always been the outsiders compared to the majority,” Jørn says.

“Many people still live very isolated. While there is progress in Myanmar, many minorities are left behind.”

Padong, an agricultural advisor for Myanmar Institute for Integrated Development, instructing local farmers in Myanmar’s Chin State. Photo: MIID

Being left behind refers to poverty most of all. In poor areas, there is lack of food security and a related risk of malnutrition. Chicken and fish are more expensive than rice and there is a general lack of understanding of the importance of vegetables.

“About 29 percent of children under the age of five in Myanmar don’t grow as they should due to malnutrition. Many people remain unaware of what they should feed their children to secure appropriate nutrition,” Jørn explains.

MIID’s projects educate minority groups on how to utilise available resources and farm their land with crops that can contribute to good nutrition.

A slow progress

Today, Myanmar is developing, albeit not as fast as many had hoped.

When the military took power in 1962, it strived to get rid of everything from when Myanmar was a British colony.

“During the British rule, the management strategy was very business-minded, based on shipping the rich resources such as teak timber and minerals out of the country. Regarding education, Rangoon University was considered the best in South East Asia,” Jørn explains.

“However, with the military regime taking power, the country shut itself out. According to the military dictator (at the time), Ne Win, Myanmar should be selfsufficient and independent from the rest of the world. It became a very isolated, poor country,” he continues.

The language of instruction at the Rangoon University changed from English to Burmese, the best teachers and professors left. This affected education in Myanmar in a very negative way, according to Jørn.

“Myanmar got damaged. While the neighbouring countries in the ASEAN were developing, Myanmar came to a standstill with no external experience to draw upon,” he says.

While the country has now reopened to the outside world and developed technologically since the first democratic elections in 2010, the same cannot be said about the political situation.

Even though the elections in 2015 saw Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy win big, the military still holds major influence in the political field.

“Myanmar is a fascinating countr y, but it hasn’t yet undergone major political changes. Everyone was hoping for a successful story, but I think some Western countries somewhat miscalculated the situation. Many had unrealistic expectations,” Jørn says.

“I’m not surprised. I believe it will take at least another generation for the change, we are all hoping for.”

However, Jørn also stresses that Myanmar should be acknowledged for making progress in many fields since the country was governed poorly by a military regime.

“Earlier, people were afraid and there was always a feeling of uncertainty. People were nervous. Now, they are freer and dare express their opinion.”

December 2019 • ScandAsia 25

UppÄ tasanti Pagoda. At 99 meters it is almost an exact replica of the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon.

An abandoned town or a capital?

I

By Sigrid Friis Neergaard f you drive about 5 hour s directly nor th of Myanmar's old capital Yangon, you will find a large city which appears abandoned.You have now arrived at the country's new capital, Naypyidaw. And it isn't abandoned, because it was never inhabited in the first place.

Having rented a private car with a driver for a weekend, my travel companions and I are eager to visit the ghost town, we have read so much about.

At first, our driver doesn't even care to stop and simply drives right past the city, however. This results in a 45-minute detour, because highway exits are scarce in Myanmar. He simply didn't believe that we actually wanted to see a place that no one wanted to live in.

We insist it's worth the longer drive to us and are taken to the strangest capital, I have ever visited. And I have been to Canberra in Australia, which is basically just a cluster of embassies.

26 ScandAsia • December 2019

One of my travel companions posing for photos before we get to enter the UppÄ tasanti Pagoda.

Where is everyone?

At more than four times the size of London, it's no secret that the capital was meant to attract people.The location of Yangon was reportedly too exposed, and the capital was moved to Naypyidaw in 2005. At that time there barely was a city.

But the government really went all in with Naypyidaw and the high expectations are spelled out all over the city.

Massive, luxurious hotels, a daunting building for the Parliament, a 20-lane highway and a replica of the famous Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon adorn the city.

But while London has a population of almost nine million inhabitants, Naypyidaw does not even house one million people. With such an empty city, it almost feels as if people aren't supposed to be outdoors and we have missed the memo.

We are taken to one of the massive, luxurious hotels for lunch. The restaurant inside is just as massive.

It probably seats around 200 people. We are requested to pick any table, we like as there are no other guests in sight. We opt for a table outside.

That gives us a view of a lovely garden and a handful of hotel villas with dining tables and large beds. "The hotel has no guests at the moment", the answer to our question sounds.

It makes us wonder how fresh the ingredients are in the restaurant, but no one got sick after the meal.

Feeling famous

After lunch we head for the Uppātasanti Pagoda.

While the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon will cost you 10,000 MMK (5.8 Euros) this replica is entirely free. You just have to follow the dress code: Strictly conservative.

We discover, that this is where everyone else is.

There is a festival in Myanmar at the time, so local tourists have rushed to the pagoda for the holiday.

That's unfortunate for us as it takes at least twice as long to see anything due to a seemingly endless amount of spontaneous photo sessions with locals persuading us with hopeful smiles.

It seems the capital isn't overflowing with foreign tourists, and people from the other side of the pagoda can easily spot how the sun reflects on our pale skin from a distance.

School children, parents, grandparents and even monks approach us to take selfies, and I wonder how many refrigerators my face will end up on after the trip.

I'm not going to lie, I do enjoy feeling like a rock star for the first five photos or so. Then I feel happy that my singing voice wouldn't even make it past the judges on the first audition of X-Factor.

During breaks from the persistent, albeit polite paparazzi, the golden pagoda is quite enjoyable and offers a good view of the surroundings. Mostly jungle, even though we're in the middle of a very large capital, areawise.

The view of Naypyidaw from one side of Uppātasanti Pagoda.

The 20-lane highway in Naypyidaw.

Low risk of traffic accidents

After visiting the pagoda, there is just one more stop of importance on our must-see-as-a-tourist-in-Naypyidaw list: The famous 20 lane highway which passes the parliament and leads to … Well, it turns out it doesn't really lead anywhere. After driving for about five minutes, the road comes to an immediate stop at a T intersection.

It feels as though we're on a road which has been cleared for a street race or the film shoot for a zombie apocalypse movie. Overall, a strange experience and we aren't the only ones to think so, as the road even has its own TripAdvisor page for visitor reviews.

On the five-minute drive each way, we pass a total of three other cars and four motorbikes, making it seem fairly safe to get out and take a picture. The driver isn't happy to let us out however. We are after all in the middle of a highway. Only, one without traffic.

At the end of the road, we are allowed to leave the car shortly and take a picture as long as we are careful.

We take great care of the one car that passes us during the time it takes to snap a few photographs. Luckily, it's a long, wide road with a clear view, so we see the car well in advance, safely avoid any collision and return to the car unharmed.

Leaving Naypyidaw city centre, we reach civilisation again. It appears that while the ghost-like downtown is full of empty hotels for all the tourists that have yet to show up, life exists outside the city centre in tin-roofed houses.

For the different exper ience , I'd definitely recommend a visit to the peculiar capital of Naypyidaw, even just for a few hours. Unless you need a break from other people. Then you have found paradise.

December 2019 • ScandAsia 27

Astri is getting impatient: When are the tourists returning to Myanmar?

Entering the Sule Shangri-La Hotel in downtown Yangon, Myanmar, is overwhelming. The high-ceilinged lobby is adorned with intimidating columns and large armchairs. An excessive chandelier lights up the huge room. It bears a resemblance of colonial times.

By Sigrid Friis Neergaard

T

his is the place Norwegian Astri Hole Fredriksen has chosen for the inter view.

When she first visited Myanmar in 1983, the hotel didn’t exist. It was built in 1996. In fact, not much existed back then.

“It was a little depressing and there wasn’t enough food. But the people were amazing,” says Astri Hole Fredriksen about her first impression of Myanmar.

Astri spent a week in Myanmar on the way back to Norway from working in The Philippines as a consultant for the United Nations for two years. She holds a degree in sociology.

She was amazed by Myanmar, but she didn’t imagine ever living in the underdeveloped country. Yet, when Astri was 41, she moved to Yangon with her husband Jørn in 1991.

“I was extremely excited about going back.”

She’s from the small municipality of Mandal in the very south of Norway. She and her husband now have a summer house there as well as north of Aalborg in Denmark.

They go back ever y year and enjoy the long Scandinavian summer nights for a few weeks before returning to their everyday life in Yangon. This is still where Astri feels at home.

“We get the best of both worlds,” she says.

Her Norwegian passport reminds her of the safety of the Scandinavian welfare state, while she still gets to live an “exciting life” travelling.

“When I’m in Myanmar I don’t think much about Norway. But when I’m back (in Norway) it feels like the best thing in the world,” Astri says and adds that her and her husband are planning to settle in Denmark when they retire.

The best of both world

Going to Thailand for chicken

After living in Myanmar from 1991 to 1994, Astri and Jørn moved on to Vietnam where they spent a few years.

They then returned to Europe with their now 25-year-old daughter for the next adventure. Here, they lived in Vienna for two years.

“But we longed for Asia.”

The family therefore moved to Sri Lanka followed

by Cambodia before finally returning to Myanmar in 2008.

They have lived there ever since.

Astri has always travelled a lot. She got her curiosity for different cultures and countries from her parents, whom have also visited Astri and Jørn, wherever they have lived.

“When it’s in your blood, you get restless easily,” says Astri about her fondness of exploring the world.

28 ScandAsia • December 2019

Living in Myanmar for many years, Astri has experienced several stages the country has undergone in the period.

In the early 1990’s she especially had to adapt to the lifestyle, which was nothing like what she was used to in Denmark, where she had lived for a while.

“In the beginning, all hotels were state-owned and there weren’t any restaurants. You wouldn’t hang out with locals and you wouldn’t go to people’s home. Everything had to happen in public spaces,” Astri tells.

“The expat environment was also really small, so everyone knew each other.”

Buying groceries was also a different procedure than the usual. Not all foods were available, and if the couple wanted chicken for instance, it meant taking a trip to Thailand.

ago after she had assisted some friends in extending their business of cycling tours to Vietnam. It inspired her to start her own.

“I started it for my own sake,” she says.

Even though she had visited as a tourist herself in the 1980’s, Myanmar wasn’t big on tourism yet. But Astri eyed the opportunity to introduce Myanmar to Scandinavians.

“Scandinavian tourists are extremely polite and respectful.They are experienced travellers and they spend a lot of money when they travel.”

From boom to bust

Yet, it appeared to be an easier task than staying up to date on the news.

“We didn’t know much about the rest of the world in the 90’s as there were no news in English. But it was actually quite enjoyable,” Astri says.

Today, globalisation has also reached Myanmar and everything is available. You can get pizza, cocktails, new clothes and whatever else your heart desires.

“It’s a different country now. Things have changed so much,” she says and adds that they can no longer leave the car unlocked.

She’s happy for Myanmar, that it’s changing, though she also liked the idyllic picturesque country, she first fell in love with in 1983.

One thing that has always been the same to Astri, however, is the level of safety. Even as a woman, she has always felt comfortable in Myanmar.

“Foreign women are allowed more freedom than local women. We are not judged, because locals acknowledge that we are from a different culture.”

Introducing Myanmar

Today, Astri is in the tourist business. She can’t open her own bureau as a foreigner, but she doesn’t mind. She’s content being the partner of a local tourist company and having local colleagues.

Her job for SignatureMyanmar is mainly to attract Western customers. The majority are couples and families from Norway and Denmark.

“I know what Scandinavian tourists appreciate. And they trust me,” Astri says.

She organises longer trips for her customers such as cruises for smaller groups.

Astri started her career in tourism about 10 years

By the current decade, when Myanmar held its first elections in accordance with the new constitution, the poorly visited Asian country star ted drawing tourists’ attention.

“Myanmar underwent a positive change and there was a good atmosphere. In 2011 and 2012 there weren’t even enough flights for all the tourists,” Astri says.

“Myanmar isn’t designed for mass tourism. Usually a country chooses which kind of tourism they want to cater for. Do you want to keep it exclusive for some tourists such as in Bhutan, or open for everyone like in Thailand?”

But Myanmar never got to choose, because in 2015 the Rohingya refugee crisis started, and tourists hit the break and reversed.

“The press coverage of the crisis really hur t the tourism industry. It is such a shame.”

As fast as the boom in the tourist industry had come, it was over again.

“The travel bureaus used to line up, now there is one Norwegian left,” Astri says.

“I would have about 1,000 tourists in one season and sometimes six large groups at once. Now, I get about 100 tourists and mostly just one group at a time.”

To Astri, the tourism downturn is a result of hasty judgement based on the current political situation.

“People tend to forget that things take time. Industrially, Myanmar has developed fast, but politically it’s not so fast.

Western people are so naive about how fast change happens. We take things for granted.”

A future in Denmark

Though she appears young at mind and isn’t ready to quit working, Astri is turning 70 this Christmas and she knows, that her husband and her will move back to Denmark some day.

Their daughter lives in Denmark and so does Jørn’s children from before the two met. Her social network is the main thing, Astri misses when being in Myanmar.

“We get visits once in a while, but I miss having more friends out here from my generation. A lot of our friends have moved back or to other countries,” she says.

There are perks about being older in Myanmar, however.

“Being old is not a negative thing out here. In fact, I get more respect and people don’t object to me,” Astri says and laughs.

December 2019 • ScandAsia 29

Following the newly paved tourist path in Myanmar

By Sigrid Friis-Neergaard

C

ountries undiscovered by average Joe and plain Jane are a rare site these globalised days. If you’re not up for paying countries like North Korea and Syria a visit, it can be quite the challenge to find a place that isn’t overrun by large tour groups following tour guides with umbrellas in the air like herds of sheep.

In 2011, Myanmar started opening up to the outside world making it easier to visit the large country as a tourist. Yet, here we are, eight years later, and the only umbrellas I saw was for the merciless sun and the occasional downpour.

Tourists are not overcrowding Myanmar. Essentially, this makes it a paradise for adventurous backpackers looking for an unexplored and cheap adventure before the country is spoiled by mainstream tourism.

There are also still areas where tourists can’t and shouldn’t go, though the countr y already has tourist hotspots. Whether you ask Google or other people you are likely to get two names when asking where to go: Bagan and Inle.

So, this is where I went.

How to Bagan

There are already a number of ways to get around in the densely populated parts of Myanmar, which also happen to be the places well-visited by the few tourists.

30 ScandAsia • December 2019

From Yangon, you can either fly, sail, take a bus, a train or a private car to Bagan. All buses and trains were sold out, due to a festival at the time of my visit. My travel companions and I therefore opt for the private car option, as we like to see stuff on the way as well as save a bit on our private CO2 emissions accounts.

The drive to Bagan is not particularly scenic. The most thrills come from the tickling feeling of stomach drops when the bumpy roads are extraordinarily bumpy, having to swerve for cows and overtaking other cars as the driver sits in the right side and also drives on the right side (this is quite common in Myanmar, I discovered).

Upon arrival in Bagan, we tuck in early and set an alarm for 5am, optimistic that our sunrise prospects are better than the not so promising weather forecast predicts.

Because for a not so touristy country, Bagan already has a quite well-paved tourist path. The guide on how to Bagan includes: Sunrise, temple-visiting by electrical scooter and sunset.

Rise and shine

Bagan is an old city and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There is an old and a newer city centre as well as an endless number of temples and pagodas in between.

About 10,000 temples, pagodas and monasteries were built from the 11th to the 13th century in the area.

Though many of them have been destroyed throughout time, about 2,000 remain in the 104 square kilometres large area.

Needless to say, it’s more than one can visit in a day.

Or in a week for that matter.

We make a notable attempt at fitting as much in a day as humanly possible.

Waking up before the sun does help on this plan and we head for the entrance to the recommended viewing point.

25,000 MMK (15 Euros) and a photo for digital use later, we are allowed to enter. We’re herded to a small hill to join the hundreds of other tourists, whom have also read that the sunrise is a must-see when visiting Bagan.

Back to the car and chase another place with fewer tourists.

We find a spot that appears to be unnoticed by tour groups. Backpackers on the other hand must have read about the place somewhere, because the average age of the 15 other people reveals that the spot is most likely advertised on some travel blog.

As the sun rises, we thank the tourists who have splurged on a hot air balloon, so we can get the mandatory photos of the flying objects floating over the temples with the orange sun breaking the horizon in the background.

Cruising all day

Back at the hotel, we quickly change into our conservative Buddhist temple-visiting outfits, covering our shoulders and ankles. Then we rent electrical scooters for the remainder of the day to drive around the town of Bagan and the narrow dirt roads among the temples outside the city.

Though it seems like every single tourist is at the temples of either Thatbyinnyu or Ananda, they are both worth the visit. Here, it’s also possible to buy new flip flops, if yours happen to break as well. And you can stock up on water and snacks for the day.

Most of the temples are mainly spectacular from the outside, so they don’t take long to visit, if you just stroll by the Buddha figures inside.

After a full day of viewing stupas, temples and pagodas, I feel full on sacredness and a beautiful sunset makes for the perfect cherry on top of a long, hot day.

I understand why people spend several days in the area, but I do think it’s worth a visit even if you just have a short time.

One of our electrical scooters did take its last breath of battery about 5 kilometres from the hotel.

However, reaching a top speed of 40 kilometres an hour, they provide for a good and easy way to leave behind a

December 2019 • ScandAsia 31

Shwe Indein Pagoda, near the town of Indein on Inle Lake.

lot of dry dirt road and sacred historical buildings. They also have a room under the seat, which is adequate for water, snacks and sunscreen.

From dry to wet

After driving most of the night, we arrive in Inle and wake up just in time for renting a boat to take us out on the lake for yet another sunrise.

As the sun starts peeping up behind the mountains, leg-rowing fishermen entertain tourists by posing with one leg on the boat and the other stretching a fishing net basket up in the air.

They request money for their balancing acts before we continue our way to a town in the middle of the lake.

It consists of houses elevated on stilts.

Sailing down narrow “streets” between houses and under power lines hanging above the roofs, we pass restaurants, private homes and even a library. Boats make for buses transporting people around the floating city.

Apart from splashing calmly against the houses, the water unfortunately also makes for the neighbourhood dump. When I ask for a trash can at one of our stops, the answer is simply a finger pointing at the water surrounding the building.

That could help explain the indefinably brown colour of the water.

Our chauffeur and guide brings us to several 32 ScandAsia • December 2019

The characteristic long boats used for transportation and tourism on Inle Lake. Here, at the village of Indein. places selling bamboo blouses, pants made from lotus, jeweller y and other craftmanship. He most probably gets a percentage of whatever money the shop-owners convince us to spend.

Being in the middle of a lake and told to leave the boat at a shop, we don’t have much of a choice on where to go, though.

can’t turn her neck, and one tourist after the other sits down next to her for a photo.

The tradition isn’t practiced anymore, and a sign explains that the rings were traditionally worn by women to protect against tiger attacks. At the age of nine girls would start wearing them, albeit much fewer than 25 to begin with. They also have rings just under the knees.

Long necks

A scary ride

After lunch at a floating restaurant, we are brought to Indein Village from where scooters transport us to Shwe Indein Pagoda, a complex consisting of 1054 stupas built in mainly the 17th and 18th centuries.

Though they are not all original, it’s an overwhelmingly stunning sight as the sun hits the golden constructions.

Careful not to get lost in the mace of stupas we return to the boat and are taken to our last stop before the end of the boat ride.

At that stop it’s also possible to buy jewellery, bags, scarfs and the like, but the main attraction is two women.

They are so called long-necked women. They sit here all day long with a tower of golden rings around their necks.

One of them making scarfs for people to buy, the other posing for pictures.

The latter looks like she’s 70 years old and though she smiles, it reminds me of watching an animal at the zoo.

With 25 rings weighing a total of eight kilos, the woman

Sailing back to our car and driver we pass by a floating tomato garden in the middle of the lake.The bright green plants make for a beautiful contrast against the brown water and blue sky.

I feel thankful that we started the tour early and got the beautiful sunrise, as we pass several boats ready to star t the tour. Many of the tourists hide from the merciless sun, and thus also the view, under umbrellas, unaware of what they are missing.

Heading back to Yangon in our car, I realise why I had such a troubled sleep during the night drive to Inle.

Part of the trip is through the mountains, and as mentioned, the driver sits in the right side as well as drives in the right side. Now, imagine a tired driver with a need for speed driving this road in the dark with other slower drivers to overtake.

Needless to say, I feel fortunate to be able to write this article about my trip to Bagan and Inle.

December 2019 • ScandAsia 33

34 ScandAsia • December 2019

The sun always shines on Birgitte

B

By Sigrid Friis-Neergaard irgitte Weeke might just have the most genuine smile I have ever seen despite the fact that I’m late due to Yangon’s morning traffic.

She’s sipping coffee as she sits by the window in a modern café with cakes and quiches on display.

“52 this Christmas. Or 53.You would have to ask my son,” Birgitte laughs when I ask her about her age.

“I live one day at at time. If you live that way you won’t get stressed,” she explains.

Back to Asia

Having worked for Carlsberg for 20 years, Birgitte admits that she misses working for the Danish brewing company.

It was a job that provided her with plenty of opportunities to satisfy her wish of exploring the world.

About 15 years ago, after badgering her boss for a posting, Birgitte was sent to Sri Lanka and then Cambodia, before she returned to Denmark.

The adventure-seeking marketing director from Lyngby in Nor thern Sealand got restless after a few years back in Carlsberg’s home country, however. She requested another posting and at a dinner party her boss told her, that she was going back to Asia.

“I had joked about going to Myanmar so when Carlsberg decided to build a brewery there, my boss told me to pack my bags,” Birgitte recalls.

That was in 2013.

From horse carriages to pollution

Years before, when she lived in Cambodia, Birgitte had visited Myanmar with a friend, so she was excited to go back.

“I was impressed by how beautiful the country was.

Everybody was so sweet.”

But it was also a very different country she had visited as a tourist to what it is today.

“The development has been both good and bad.

It hasn’t been good for the pollution. I’ve had to buy an air purifier. I just hope that they keep the green areas,” Birgitte says but adds, that people are just as welcoming and sweet as she remembered from her first visit.

The tourist-darling of Bagan, the famous area of innumerable stupas, temples and pagodas could only be visited by foot or horse carriages in the beginning of the century. Today, most people opt for electrical scooters.

“People were nervous to talk to us as tourists. They were scared that we were journalists as they could get in

trouble for talking to the press.”

But Birgitte and her friend still had a few forbidden experiences such as when they drove close by the house of Aung San Suu Kyi in a taxi. At the time, the now State Counsellor was under house arrest, and the driver told the two tourists to hide their cameras so they wouldn’t get caught.

On another occasion Birgitte and her friend visited a temple where a monk was happy to talk to them and satisfy their curiosity.

“Pretend that I’m giving you a tour,” he had told the two friends while answering their questions. Again, in order to not attract unwanted attention.

“Now, women will be pinching and pulling me in a loving way to show me stuff,” Birgitte says.

Keep quiet

Birgitte’s then husband and two sons have been moving with her to most of her postings from the beginning.

Today, her sons are young adults, and the oldest has moved back to Denmark for his studies. The other one still lives in Yangon with his mother.

Birgitte’s sons have gone to international schools but most of the students are locals, so they both speak the language.

“I would like to know the language too, but I can’t learn all languages,” Birgitte says.

So, she found a solution for a brief period when she recently went to a temple for an entire week. She was learning how to meditate.

“Speaking wasn’t allowed,” the talkative Birgitte says.

Ice lollies and beer

Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Myanmar. Birgitte has lived a bit all over Asia.

After working for Carlsberg she was hired by CoRo in Malaysia. She admits that she hadn’t heard about Co-Ro before and that few people have. But if you’re from Scandinavia, chances are that you’ve cut your lips sucking on Co-Ro’s Sun Lollies, a triangular ice lolly, on warm summer days.

Now, she’s back in Myanmar and unemployed until she figures out what to do of herself. Likely, she will move back to Denmark in the near future.

“Denmark feels like home. To me, the sun is always shining there,” she says, even though it is not the country itself that’s calling her name.

“I never miss places, only people.”

December 2019 • ScandAsia 35

Martin’s Myanmar mission: Getting a grip on the work place hierarchy

Martin Hamann in front of solar panels.

‘‘I

By Sigrid Friis Neergaard felt I came too late,” Martin Hamann says about his arrival in Myanmar in 2014. He felt that it was too late to experience the real, unspoiled Myanmar.

“I guess I had a fear of missing out and major transitions had already taken place by the time I arrived. People said expats were rolling in.”

But now, he feels like he hasn’t missed it at all. A lot has changed from the time he arrived.

“There weren’t even 10 bars expats would go to (when I arrived), so I always met people I knew. There was barely any traffic or mobile phones and internet was something you had at work. Now, it’s easy to get Western food, clothes, go to the dentist. Getting these things used to be an adventure,” Martin says.

In need of change

Martin had been with the Norwegian telecommunications company Telenor for over five years in 2014 when he thought it was time for a change in environment. The new environment became Myanmar.

Actually, Martin was supposed to go to Bulgaria, but that plan went up in air, and Myanmar became the new destination.

“It was just my luck that I went to Myanmar,” Martin says.

“I was looking for a personal adventure.”

When the now 41-year-old landed, he learned 36 ScandAsia • December 2019

that he was the new senior expert and he had three employees on his team.

“I broke the glass ceiling from employee to manager,” he says.

That also meant, that he was quite busy in the beginning and didn’t experience much of Myanmar outside of work. He would get up at 5 am to be at his Telenor office from 7 am to 11 pm most days. After five months he still hadn’t seen much besides the inside of the office and one visit to the famous Shwedagon Pagoda.

“I was here to work. Now I enjoy living here.

Myanmar has grown on me.”

A new chapter

Half a year before Telenor launched in Myanmar was when Martin arrived. Back when a sim card would cost half a fortune, making it a luxury reserved for officials and business use mainly.

With Telenor (dtac’s sister company in Myanmar) on the market along with other players, prices dropped and today it will cost you about 1 USD to acquire a sim card.

It was a quick change from being unobtainable to a common household item and already on the day of launching, Telenor sold over 500,000 sim cards.

Martin worked with the company for almost one year, before he changed his field of work.

At a yoga retreat in Chiang Mai in Nor thern Thailand, he received a phone call from Brighterlite, a new

Photo from the day dtac launched in Myanmar in 2014. company that sold solar power systems to households in rural areas. The company helped turn on the lights in the darker parts of the country through small monthly instalments.

“Those solar home systems should still be working today,” Martin says.

He headed the company for two years, until Brighterlite gave up growing to profitable business and wrapped up the company. Now, he’s a consultant, still working in the rural solar industry. Furthermore he’s a mentor for start-ups.

Loss of face

Despite deciding to stay for several years, working in Myanmar has not always been a smooth ride for the expat. The culture both at and outside of work in Myanmar is quite different to that, Martin is used to from Denmark.

“Here, it’s all about not losing face. If I’m having a meeting with two people, and I correct one of them, he will lose face because the other guy is there to see him get corrected. But the other guy will also lose face, because he sees the first guy lose face. Then everybody loses face,” Mar tin says in a struggle to explain the principle.

“So, I can’t correct someone in front of other people. I have to pull them aside after a meeting and tell them,” he continues.

A monk with a dtac simcard on the day the company launched in 2014.

December 2019 • ScandAsia 37

I can’t be certain that I get an honest answer. You have to learn how to ask the questions in the right way to get the right answers

“At first, this was strange to me, as I was used to a more open and direct approach from home. I now understand that it’s done in this way because the Myanmar culture so highly values respect for others, which is actually a nice thing.”

Fur thermore, it’s impor tant not to let people of higher hierarchical status lose face. Another tricky riddle, Martin has had to solve.

When he was a manager, he couldn’t ask a member of staff for their honest opinion on something he had done. It would be rude for them to say that he could have done something better or different, as he was their boss.

Coming from a Danish culture where direct and open feedback is much more common, this can be a challenge.

“I can’t be certain that I get an honest answer. You have to learn how to ask the questions in the right way to get the right answers,” Martin says.

“Once you do that, and ask without anyone being blamed or risking loosing face, you’ll find that your Myanmar colleagues are just as creative and smart as you - they just didn’t want to make you look bad, and that’s a sign of respect for the hierarchy.”

Not the pizza lady

Mar tin wasn’t prepared for the work culture from the beginning. He therefore remembers a few unfor tunate episodes at Brigtherlite where he found himself making mistakes.

38 ScandAsia • December 2019

Handing out flyers to promote solar power in a Myanmar village.

Once, he asked a secretary to order pizza for an office party. He asked her during a regular weekly meeting.

“She ordered the pizza, but then she quit. I found out, that it was degrading for her to order pizza, because it wasn’t her job to do so. Because I had asked her at the meeting she had lost face in front of everyone present,” he explains.

In Myanmar, work roles are very categorised and if something isn’t part of someone’s job description they will not do it. It’s part of the hierarchy.

He recalls ordering containers of water for the Brigtherlite office once, and when the driver called to say he had arrived with the water downstairs, Martin asked him to bring it up to the office.

Apparently, this was rude, as it isn’t a driver’s job to bring the water up to the office. His job is to transport the water to the building, and then it’s someone else’s job to take over from there.

“It’s a common mistake that expats make ,” Martin says.

Holding on to staff

Learning how to avoid people resigning is another challenge because people might not say if they are unhappy with something.

“Sometimes our rural sales staff at Brighterlite wouldn’t even quit. They just stopped showing up

for work.”

In Myanmar not many people have experience working for international companies yet so those that do and are well-educated are in high demand. They can therefore easily find another job making it a challenge to hold on to skilled employees.

Sometimes people resign because they lose face, but other times it’s because they don’t feel challenged at work. Either way, Martin most likely won’t know about it, before it’s too late.

“I always had to be careful that people didn’t quit, when I was running my own company” he says.

Now, he has somewhat accustomed to the culture and is starting to understand people better.

Unsure if it’s a good comparison, he explains that Myanmar is like an onion to him.

“I keep discovering new layers,” he says about both the people, culture and the country itself.

“The more I see, the better I understand how the culture is rooted in the ideas of making merit, generousity to the community and respect for the hierarchy.”

But even though Martin feels at home in Myanmar and he has stayed longer than initially anticipated, he keeps an expiration date in the back of his mind. It just keeps getting pushed.

“I think about Denmark on a daily basis. I don’t know when I’ll return, but I know that I will.”

December 2019 • ScandAsia 39

Successful Danish Christmas Bazaar in Bangkok

O

By Sigrid Friis-Neergaard n Sunday 24 November, a ver y successful Danish Christmas Bazaar took place in Bangkok. The organisers, Danish Women’s Network and the Danish Church in Thailand, estimate that about 1,000 to 1,200 guests paid the bazaar a visit.

One of the guests was Santa Claus herself to much amusement for the attending children.

Uffe Wolffhechel, Danish Ambassador to Thailand declared the bazaar officially open at 11.15 am, – and then the fun began..

There was a traditional Danish Lucia Parade twice and children could play, get creative and watch films all day in the children’s corner.

Guests could indulge in delicious Danish food, cold beer and sweets before being tempted by beautiful crafts and designs.

Attendees could also purchase raffle tickets for the chance to win luxury prizes and Santa’s chair was even up for grabs for one fortunate winner of the lucky draw.

40 ScandAsia • December 2019

The opening of the bazaar. From left to right: Patrick Martens, director of Food & Beverage at Gaysorn Urban Resort; Kit Danielsen, Danish Chairwoman of Danish Women’s Network; Christa Lund Herum, Pastor at the Danish Church in Thailand; Uffe Wolffhechel, Danish Ambassador to Thailand.

December 2019 • ScandAsia 41

News Brief

Finnish senior activity centre opens on Bali

H

H.E. Jari Sinkari, the Finnish ambassador to Indonesia and Vice Governor of Bali, Mr. Tjokorda Oka Artha Ardhana Sukawati and Mr. Jussi Peltonen, CEO of Hovi Group at the ribbon cutting ceremony.

.E. Jari Sinkari, the Finnish ambassador to Indonesia and Vice Governor of Bali, Mr. Tjokorda Oka Ar tha Ardhana Sukawati led the opening ceremony of “Teuku Umar Hovi Club” - a brand new Senior Activity Center in Bali, Indonesia - on 7th November 2019.

The Senior activity centre is a cooperation between the Finnish Hovi Group and Balinese Kasih Ibu Hospital Group. This Teuku Umar Hovi Club contains Finnish researchbased know-how and health tech to activate seniors in physical and mental exercises.

CEO of Hovi Group, Mr. Jussi Peltonen announced during his speech , that he sees the need of similar activity centres in Indonesia and elsewhere in South East Asia.

KIS International School Scholarship

K

IS International School, Bangkok, is inviting ambitious students to apply for the coveted IB Diploma academic scholar ship, also known as the “One Million Baht Scholarship”, for the academic year 2020-2021 onward. KIS scholarships are well respected in the inter national school community and are awarded in order to recognize academic excellence and open up the world of the International Baccalaureate (IB) to deserving candidates.

The IB Diploma scholarship winner will be granted full tuition for the duration of the two-year IB Diploma programme, valued at around 1.8 million Baht.

KIS Int. School

KIS scholarship students achieve high IB Diploma scores and go to excellent universities in the US, the 42 ScandAsia • December 2019

UK, Europe and elsewhere, often receiving university scholarships too.

The “One Million Baht” scholarship is open to applicants of all nationalities who are fluent in English and currently in Grade 10 (Year 11).

Applicants should be academically strong and well-rounded. Candidates may be eligible for a partial scholarship.

Students may apply now and the last day for the scholarship testing is

March 16, 2020.

Academic scholar ships for other secondary school grades are also available.

If you would like to be a part of our inspiring community please request full conditions and details of the scholarships from the admissions office admissions@kis.ac.th. More information about KIS is at www.kis. ac.th