ScandAsia September 2021

SEP 2021 COMMUNITY:

Nordic vaccination policy causes dilemma for Scandinavians in Thailand

BUSINESS:

Grundfos partners with Singapore tech company to meet Southeast Asia’s sustainable cooling needs

INTERNATIONAL:

Jyri Järviaho debuts as Finland’s Ambassador to Cambodia and Thailand

ADDA helps rural farmers become self-sustainable in a changing world

Bangkok Patana Olympians

Molly Goodman Rowing, Australia

Luke Gebbie Grad’14 50m and 100m Freestyle, Philippines

Congratulations to our two alumni who competed in the Tokyo Olympics!

Scan the QR code to read more.

Give your child a World of Opportunity at Bangkok Patana School admissions@patana.ac.th www.patana.ac.th Tel: +66 (0) 2785 2200 Bangkok Patana is a not-for-profit, IB World School accredited by CIS

GET TO KNOW

STROKE A stroke occurs when something blocks blood supply to parts of the brain or when a blood vessel in the brain bursts. In either cases, parts of the brain become damaged or dies. It is one of the leading cause of death and disability. A stroke can sometimes cause temporary or permanent disabilities, depending on how long the brain lacks blood flow and which part is affected. Paralysis is one of the complications caused by a stroke. The patient may become paralyzed on one side of the body or lose control of certain muscles, depending on which parts of the brain is affected.

Symptoms There are 3 level of stroke severity as stated below.

1. Minor stroke This is also called transient ischemic attack (TIA). TIA is a condition characterized by stroke-like symptoms that generally last just a few minutes, hours, or less than 24 hours and cause no lasting impairment. The symptoms include sudden weakness in only arms, only legs, or face and arms, drooping mouth, confusion, and sudden trouble speaking or understanding.

2. Moderate stroke Parts of the brain become damaged. The patient can recover within 3-6 months.

The symptoms include sudden weakness, loss of balance, blurred vision, memory loss, difficulty with making decisions and with understanding. Most patients also experience emotional changes – irritability or depression.

3. Severe stroke The brain becomes permanently damaged. The symptoms include paralysis of arms and legs, facial paralysis, loss of balance, intense slurring of speech, difficulty swallowing and memory loss.

Risk factors 1. Hypertension – Patients with blood pressure higher than 140/80 mmHg. This can cause damage to blood vessel walls and eventually lead to a stroke.

2. Diabetes mellitus – leads to narrow or blocked blood vessels. (Blood sugar before having breakfast > 110 mg/dL detected by two tests.)

3. Hyperlipidemia – leads to blocked blood flow to the brain resulting in paralysis.

4. Smoking – The more cigarettes you smoke, the higher your risk of having a stroke. The substances in

cigarettes irritate the walls of blood vessels and this can lead to narrow blood flow.

5. Lack of exercise 6. Stress – Stress hormones increase blood pressure, and when those hormones are around long-term, it can lead to high blood pressure which is the leading cause of stroke.

7. Obesity Stroke screening Screening for stroke can be done by blood test for hemoglobin concentration, blood sugar, lipids, and inflammation markers. Additional scan of the brain can be done if blood test result shows that the patient is in a high risk group.

• CT-scan – can detect abnormality of blood vessels in the brain • MRI – can detect narrowing of blood vessels and other abnormalities such as brain tumor at early stages • Carotid duplex ultrasound – uses sound waves to generate images of the insides of the carotid arteries, which supply oxygen-rich blood to the brain. The result includes size and thickness of the blood vessel.

Stroke can be prevented. Start taking care of your health and the health of your loved ones. Annual health check-up can detect abnormalities early and reduce the risks.

For further information contact Brain Center (Neurology).

Bangkok International Hospital.

Call. +662 310-3011 or 1719 (Local calls)

September 2021

ScandAsia stories

18 Danish Gymnastics Team plans to visit East Asia

9 Dane sentenced to two years for kicking temple 13 Embassy of Sweden in Kuala Lumpur welcomes new Ambassador 16 Record year for Norwegian Seafood 32 Finnair to fly from Sweden to Bangkok and Phuket

24 Jyri Järviaho debuts as Finland’s Ambassador to Cambodia and Thailand

9 28 Nordic vaccination policy causes dilemma for Scandinavians in Thailand

20 ADDA helps rural farmers become self-sustainable in a changing world

13 37 The Danish Church in Thailand needs a helping hand

16

32 4 ScandAsia • Septembert 2021

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mud play have to do with learning math?

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Kindergarten Open Houses 1 & 7 October 9-10am

At CIS, harnessing a child’s natural curiosity in the early years is fundamental to our inquiry and play-based approach. Come and experience for yourself how we bring concepts like literacy, maths, STEAM and the arts to life at one of our October Kindergarten Open Houses. Children are welcome and families can expect a fun and engaging morning of hands-on, teacher-led activities.

Register now at www.cis.edu.sg/kg-open-house As an IB World School, CIS offers the PYP, MYP and IB DP. Canadian International School Pte. Ltd. CPE Registration No: 199002243H | Period of Registration: 8 June 2019 - 7 June 2023

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Editorial

Security threat vs. economic leadership

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S Vice President Kamala Harris’ visit to Singapore and Vietnam was unfortunately not a message from the new US administration that the “Pivot to Asia” from the days of former US President Barack Obama is now back on. If it was, we would have heard Kamala Harris opening up to a return of the U.S. to the Trans-Pacific Par tnership Agreement talks, which past President Donald Trump so dramatically pulled the United States out of in 2017.

Instead, the visit was about countering China’s expansion in the South China Sea and reassuring the region of the dedication of the U.S. to the region.

In the light of the disastrous American withdrawal from Afghanistan just a few weeks before the visit, it seems it would have offered more geostrategic value to the U.S. if Kamala Harris had discussed reopening the TPP negotiations instead of emphasizing the security threat from China, which for the Asian mindset is too confrontational and blunt for comfort.

It has also been speculated why Thailand was not included in the trip. Most likely, it was because of Thailand’s increasing reluctance to lend support to broader US strategic objectives vis-à-vis China despite its historic status as America’s closest ally in South East Asia.

If the focus had been on resuming the economic leadership role of the US in the region including both Thailand and Indonesia in the trip would have made a lot of sense and would have removed the exit from Afghanistan from the center of the attention.

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.

Who should subscribe:

ScandAsia subscribers are typically Nordic expats and companies from the Nordic countries living in and active in Asia. Another group of subscribers are Nordic people living in the Nordic countries who subscribe to ScandAsia for personal or business reasons. We also have many Asian subscribers, who for a wide range of reasons are following the activities of the Nordic expats and companies via a subscription to ScandAsia.

6 ScandAsia • September Septembert2021 2021

But the timing may have been lost. After the Trump’s withdrawal, the remaining 11 countries renegotiated the agreement and renamed it the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, or CPTPP, which was signed in March 2018.

The difference between the two are mostly the issues which the US had pushed for and which the TPP-11 removed. Getting those issues back on the table is likely not possible, but joining the CPTPP even from a weaker position than before the withdrawal would still be in the best geostrategic interest of both the United States and the current signatories.

z

Gregers Moller Editor in Chief

The ScandAsia magazine is produced every month and distributed to all print version subscribers via postal services and to all eMagazine subscribers via email. Subscribing to the eMagazine is FREE - simply sign up on the ScandAsia.com website.

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September 2021 • ScandAsia 7

News brief

Sweden promotes Thai project against child exploitation

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n 1 July, Åsa Hedén, Counsellor Head of Regional Development Cooperation for Asia and Pacific, gave an

opening remar k at the “Online Child Safety Webinar: Thailand’s Response” by the HUG Project Thailand, supported by the World Child-

hood Foundation.

The HUG Project Thailand is preventing, protecting, and restoring children from sexual abuse and human trafficking. The project recently launched a child-friendly interactive guide on the prevention of child online sexual exploitation.

The Embassy of Sweden in Bangkok states: Sweden takes children’s rights and protection against threats and violence seriously. Sweden was one of the first countries to ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In 2018, Sweden adopted a bill on making the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child Swedish law. This means that children will be in greater focus in situations that apply to them.

Swedish man operating crypto scam from Thailand sentenced to 15 years in prison

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he Swedish national who in March pledged guilty in a US federal cour t to running an international scheme from Thailand that defrauded more than 3500 victims in 46 countries of $16 million has been sentenced to 15 years in prison, CNBC reports.

According to the Department of Justice, Roger Nils-Jonas Karlsson sentencing is for securities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering.

The United States is seeking restitution on behalf of the financially insecure investors, in particular deaf and hard-of-hearing people that Karls-

8 ScandAsia • Septembert 2021

son scammed into buying phony investment plans for less than $ 100, promising a 450-fold return through an eventual payout of 1.15 kilograms of gold per share.

Karlsson operated his scheme from Thailand, his country of residence, and used several aliases to mask his fraud. Karlsson allegedly spent most of his victims’ money to pay for his personal expenses, including expensive homes, a race horse, and a resort in Thailand before being extradited to the US in 2019.

Karlsson now has to pay back

Roger Nils-Jonas Karlsson when arrested in Thailand in 2019.

Photo: Bangkok Post $16,263,820 to the victims and a restitution order is also expected to be entered by the court within 90 days.

News brief

Dane sentenced to two years in prison in Bali for kicking a house temple

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55-year-old Danish man has been sentenced to two years in prison in Bali. He is convicted of kicking a sacred temple after an altercation with the ex-girlfriend who filmed the entire incident and repor ted him to the police, media Ekstra Bladet reports.

Ekstra Bladet writes that the case started in October 2019, when the 55-year-old Dane repor tedly argued with his ex-girlfriend. During the argument, the Dane kicked a sacred temple at an address in the Kalibukbuk region in the northern part of Bali. After a long period of investigation, the police chose to arrest and charge the Dane for blasphemy and vandalism in May 2021, and according to NusaBali.com, he has now received his sentence.

Chief Justice Anak Agung Ngurah Budhi Dharmawan confirmed the ruling and according to the Sin-

garaja District Court, the defendant has been convicted of blasphemy and has been sentenced to two years in prison minus the period the defendant has already served.

The Dane could have reportedly received up to seven years in prison for kicking the Hindu temple, but because the Dane regretted his deed and was polite during his trial the case was handled with a mediating circumstance.

According to Ekstra Bladet’s article, several media reports that the Dane has explained that he was not aware that he was doing anything wrong by kicking the temple.

He has explained that he thought it was an old and dilapidated temple, but at the same time, he regrets his action.

Nyoman Suryanata, the legal adviser to the ‘victim’, who in this case is the ex-girlfriend, has said, “I

hope it can have a deterrent effect on the convict so that he does not repeat his action. He can use the verdict as a lesson.”

The Dane must serve his twoyear prison sentence in a prison in Bali.

September 2021 • ScandAsia 9

News brief

K+N appoints Danish Peer Gjoew Rasmussen to head Singapore and Malaysia

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Peer Gjoew Rasmussen is the new Managing director of Kuehne + Nagel’s Singapore & Malaysia branch Photo: Alex Lennane via The Load Star

anish Peer Gjoew Rasmussen has been appointed by Kuehne + Nagel International AG as managing director of Kuehne + Nagel Singapore & Malaysia.

Peer Gjoew Rasmussen has been with the Switzerland-based global transport and logistics company for 17 years. During that time he has held several leadership positions across the Asian Pacific region including managing director of Kuehne+Nagel India, general management roles in China and he has also worked extensively in Thailand, Malaysia, Denmark, and the US.

Peer Gjoew Rasmussen is based in Singapore and will be responsible for overseeing the company’s operations in Singapore and Malaysia.

Jens Drewes, president of K+N Asia Pacific, is delighted to have Peer on board to steer the company’s Singapore and Malaysia business.

“His proven leadership combined with his rich knowledge of the trade will ensure continued strategic growth and success to the company,” he says.

Poul Weber awarded Icelandic order for his service as Honorary Consul in Thailand

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celandic president Mr. Guðni Th. Jóhannesson has awarded The Order of the Falcon to Danish long time resident in Thailand, Mr. Poul Weber for his service as the Honorary Consul of Iceland in Thailand for about 30 years.

Mr. Poul Weber has a long distinctive executive career in Thailand spanning more than 6 decades both in the private and Government sector.

Together with his current position as the Honorary Consul of Iceland in Thailand and Honorary Member of the Scandinavia Society Siam, he has been President of Danish Thai Chamber of Commerce, 10 ScandAsia • Septembert 2021

Bangkok Riding and Polo Club, and Vice President of Rotary Club.

Mr. Poul Weber has also held various executive positions including, “East Asiatic Company Ltd., Denmar k, Italy, Thailand, 19531970; senior vice president industry, manufacturing, trading, Berli Jucker Company Ltd., Bangkok, Thailand, 1970-1995; advisor, Thai Asahi Glass PCL, Bangkok, Thailand, since 1995; managing director, Glassway Ltd., Bangkok, Thailand, since 1995; advisor, EAC, Yangon, Thailand, since 1995. Board directors Fitness Clinic Ltd., Bangkok, TWF Company Ltd., Bangkok,Tropicwood Company Ltd., Bangkok.”

In an announcement on the occasion, the Board of Scandinavian Society Siam congratulates Mr. Poul Weber on this tremendous achievement with the award of the Icelandic Order of the Falcon.

News brief

Malaysian media critical of why Ericsson was awarded Malaysia’s entire 5G roll-out

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alaysian media are critical of why government-owned Digital Nasional Bhd (DNB) has awarded a single vendor, Swedish telecom giant Ericsson Malaysia, with contracts amounting to RM11bil to roll out the 5G network in Malaysia.

In a recent article, The Star reports that it is the biggest project given out to the private sector for a very long time and that it is rare for any telecoms operator or a government body to choose just one vendor for such a crucial network infrastructure.

Ericsson’s bid was RM700mil lower than the next bidder.

Critics argue that the rollout of Malaysia’s entire 5G network should not be decided by DBN alone. They

also say more vendors should have been awarded the contract as the global norm even for the smallest countries is to have at least two players for 5G development which drives competition, redundancies, and provides jobs to more than one vendor. A spectrum auction would also have generated more income for the countr y especially in light of the financial crises that the pandemic has caused.

The Star also questions the very little information that has been issued on the project given the large amount of money involved and challenges DNBs statements regarding the financing of the project. Moreover, the article covers several reasons given by DNB for selecting Ericsson and the process involv-

ing the awarding but continues to question why the statement has not explained why many other vendors have been left out although they had been operating in Malaysia, employing many Malaysians.

The article also raises questions about the regulator y framework when asking why Malaysia would want to depend on just a foreign vendor in terms of the security issue and states that the Global System Mobile Communications (GSMA) has also raised questions over this deal. GSMA represents the interest of mobile operators worldwide uniting over 750 operators with nearly 400 companies and according to The Star Online, GSMA has also highlighted concerns over the surrounding governance of DNB. September 2021 • ScandAsia 11

News brief

H&M to open first store in Cambodia next year

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he Swedish multinational clothing retail company H&M plans to open its first store in Cambodia next year, according to a recent article by local media Phnom Penh Post.

H&M has not disclosed the specific date and location of its first store but Phnom Penh Post writes that the opening will be par t of the fashion giant’s business expansion in the region, at a time when world economies are star ting to emerge from Covid-19 crisis mode with accelerating coronavirus vaccine rollouts.

In H&M’s first-half report, CEO Helena Helmersson said, “With our much-appreciated collections, our ongoing transformation and the fact that markets are gradually being opened up, our recovery is strong”.

Helena Helmersson noted, “As more and more people are vaccinated and restrictions are eased, the world is gradually opening up and customers can once again visit our stores. With the combination of much-appreciated collections, rapid adaptation, and fur ther improvements, our recovery is strong. Despite continued restrictions, sales in-

creased significantly compared with the previous year. The third quarter has started well and we are almost back at the level we were at before the pandemic.”

According to Ken Loo, secretary-general at the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia, H&M has been a long-term supporter of Cambodia’s expor t-oriented garment industry and would continue to be so for many more years to come, as long as the country can maintain and improve its competitiveness.

“As for the store opening in Cambodia, it signifies strong economic growth with increased domestic consumption by local Cambodians. It would also help improve the state of fashion in the country, par ticularly for the young generation,” he said.

H&M already has a large presence in the region with 11 stores in Vietnam and 43 in Thailand. The company has been manufacturing its products in Cambodia since the 1990s.

Copenhagen and Singapore among the safest cities

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openhagen is the world’s safest city while Singapore is on the third place according to a new survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

The Safe Cities Index 2021 covers 60 major urban areas and measures five pillars of urban security — digital, health, infrastructure, personal and environmental.

12 ScandAsia • Septembert 2021

Copenhagen scored especially high on personal safety, where the city ranks as number one. Copenhagen also scored 89 points under infrastructure security but Singapore scored higher with 92.1 points.

Infrastructure security for example means how well roads are lit in the night and how visible police are in the city space.

Staying within the top 10 safest cities in the world, Hong Kong scored 78.6 points overall ranking the city as the 8th most city in the world while Stockholm scored 78 points overall ranking it as the 10th safest city in the world for 2021.

News brief

Embassy of Sweden in Kuala Lumpur welcomes new Ambassador Joachim Bergström

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n 17 August, the Embassy of Sweden in Kuala Lumpur welcomed the new Ambassador-Designate of Sweden to Malaysia, Joachim Bergström.

According to the Embassy, Ambassador-Designate Joachim Bergström was previously posted as Sweden’s Ambassador to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and has also been posted in Tokyo, Riyadh, and Washington - and served as Special Envoy to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

While welcoming the new Ambassador-Designate to Malaysia, the Embassy also welcomed First Secretary Ms. Anita De Filippi Seiz.

Ms. Anita Seiz, who joins the Embassy from the Global Agenda department at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Stockholm, will temporarily stay at the Embassy until December 2021 as Head of Consular affairs and administration.

She has also been posted in Cairo as First Secretary from 2012 – 2015.

“A warm welcome to Malaysia, Ambassador Joachim Bergström and Ms. Anita Seiz!” the Embassy writes.

Chinese Embassy accuses Swedish freelance journalist and author of lies

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Photo from a previous demonstration made by the swedish journalist and author - Foto: Hannah Franzén / TT

he Swedish freelance journalist and author Kurdo Baksi is in an email from the Chinese Embassy in Stockholm accused of spreading lies and “contributing to crime”, Swedish media SVT Nyheter reports.

The email was sent to Kurdo Baksi and several Swedish media in connection with a demonstration that Kurdo Baksi organized outside the Chinese Embassy in Stockholm on 17 August. The demonstration was held in support of the SwedishChinese publisher Gui Minhai who is imprisoned in China.

According to SVT Nyheter, the Chinese Embassy has on several previous occasions sent out emails accusing Kurdo Baksi of lying about Gui Minha, and in the recent email, the embassy writes, among other things, that Kurdo Baksi is spreading lies about the Gui Minhai case and that he is contributing to increased crime in Sweden.

September 2021 • ScandAsia 13

News brief

Norway allows entry for boyfriends & girlfriends from Singapore and Taiwan

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n 5 July, the Norwegian government eased some of the countr y’s entr y rules for foreign nationals to include, amongst others, boyfriends and girlfriends of Norwegian citizens from selected countries including Singapore and Taiwan.

Previously Norway only allowed entry of spouses, registered partners, and minor children but the borders are now also open for citizens from selected countries who have the following relationship with someone who lives in Norway:

• Adult children and parents.

• Grandparents and grandchildren.

• Boyfriends/Girlfriends over the age of 18 who have been together for at least nine months. They must have met each other physically. Minor children of boyfriends/girlfriends can also enter Norway.

The new rules also apply to stepparents and stepchildren. The countries included in the new rules include Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, USA, Serbia, Nor thern Macedonia, New Zealand, Lebanon, Israel, and Australia.

Source: Aftenposten

Norway and Malaysia team up to further research the Nipah virus

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orway’s Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), has teamed up with Malaysia’s Universiti Malaya (UM), Malaysia, to further research and gain a wider scientific understanding of the Nipah virus, media Biospectrum Asia writes.

The Nipah virus (NiV) is zoonotic, meaning that it can spread between animals and people. Fruit bats also called flying foxes, are the animal reservoir for NiV in nature and Biospectrum Asia writes that the Nipah virus is one of the deadliest pathogens known to infect humans.

14 ScandAsia • Septembert 2021

To explore the Nipah virus more and to characterize and better understand immune responses generated against the virus, UM will work to collect biological material from Nipah survivors. To carry out

the research, UM will collaborate with physicians and healthcare workers who responded to the first-ever documented Nipah virus outbreak in Malaysia in 1998/1999.

Under the new par tnership, CEPI will be providing funding of $188.000 towards UM’s work and because Nipah outbreaks often are sporadic with few sur vivors, the work is set to provide critical new information on Nipah immunology that has not previously been studied.

News brief

File photo of berry pickers. Mikko Savolainen / Yle

Covid outbreaks hits Thai berry pickers in Finland

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he berr y season in Finland is an occasion that attracts many foreign berr y pickers to the three berry regions of Finland, Kainuu, Northern Ostrobotnia, and Lapland. This year 3000 berry pickers came from Thailand to be part of the harvest. The immigrant worker hiring practice can however be tricky in these pandemic times.

Two employers in particular learned this when large quantities of their Thai workforces where detected with Covid.

First it was the outbreak of Covid-19 who was discovered amongst 44 berr y pickers from Thailand working at a plantation in Kainuu region of Finland and the week after another 40 Thai berry pickers have been found infected with covid-19, this time in Lapland, Finland’s northernmost region.

Finland’s berry production is best known for its blackberries, ling-

onberries, crowberries, bilberries, cloudberries, raspberries, cranberries, and sea buckthorn. The country’s most profitable berry regions are Kainuu, Northern Ostrobotnia, and Lapland.

The latter case of the corona clusters among berry pickers in Finland were found when the Lapland Hospital District mass tested 110 seasonal workers and found almost a third infected with covid-19 following the outbreak in Kainuu.

The 40 infected workers had all gone through the corona testing that the regulations required without getting detected. According to Markku Broas, Chief Physician of Infectious Diseases of the Lapland Hospital District (LSHP), this case proves that no system is completely effective.

“Even if the test is done on the third day of arrival, the virus can appear and become contagious later. It

has apparently happened here that the infection has come after the third day,” Markku said.

Markku Broas pointed out that because the workers from Thailand are working as berry pickers which means that they live and work together in small groups, the virus is easily transmitted between the workers “Especially in the case of the Delta virus variant, this is the situation,” he ads.

There has also been repor ted corona outbreak among Thai berr y pickers in Sweden likewise there was an outbreak last year in a Danish slaughterhouse among their Eastern European migrant workers.

September 2021 • ScandAsia 15

Best first half-year of all time for Norwegian seafood The export value of Norwegian seafood has never been higher in the first half of the year than in 2021, the Norwegian Seafood Council announced in a recent press release.

I

Photo: Norwegian Seafood Council n the first six months of the year, Norway exported seafood worth NOK 53.7 billion. This represents a growth in value of just over 1 percent, or NOK 646 million when measured against the first half of last year.

Renate Larsen, CEO of the Norwegian Seafood Council says, “Despite a strengthened Norwegian krone and the fact that the markets are still affected by the corona pandemic, the first half of the year has been the best ever for seafood exports when measured by value.

Strong demand for healthy, safe, and sustainable Norwegian seafood is the most important reason why we are experiencing another export record.”

According to Odd Emil Ingebrigtsen, Minister of Fisheries and Seafood, this is fantastic news for seafood export. “This is fantastic news for seafood exports. Not only are we well ahead of the strong half-year we saw in 2019, but this is also the best half-year ever for seafood exports so far. Not even the worldwide pandemic has prevented an increase in demand for and exports of Norwegian seafood. This is cause to be proud while acknowledging that a lot of hard work lies behind these successes. We have an adaptable industry with good 16 ScandAsia • Septembert 2021

people working at all levels. I have great faith that there will be even more opportunities for the sector when society reopens fully.”

CEO Renate Larsen says, “South Korea is an exciting growth market and is embracing Norwegian seafood like never before. In the first half of 2021, several supermarket chains have run large national campaigns for Norwegian salmon and mackerel, contributing to a sharp growth in demand. The increase in seafood sales is from both traditional retail and online stores. In some grocery chains, online shopping of Norwegian mackerel accounts for up to 30 percent of turnover.”

China was amongst the largest recipients of frozen cod in the first half-year and Norway exported 44,300 tonnes of frozen cod worth NOK 1.7 billion. Although this represents an increase in the volume of 10 percent, the export value fell by NOK 146 million, or 8 percent, compared with the first half of last year.

Norway expor ted 116,500 tonnes of mackerel worth NOK 1.8 billion in the first half of the year with South Korea, Vietnam, and Japan being the largest markets. Export levels remained the same level as last year but the value fell by NOK 224 million, or 11 percent, compared with the first half of last year.

The first half of 2021 represented the best half-year ever for king crab with Norway exporting 1,100 tonnes worth NOK 426 million. Hong Kong, South Korea, and the United States were the largest recipients of king crab in the first half of the year. Ørjan Kjærvik Olsen, Responsible for Shellfish with the Norwegian Seafood Council says, “Throughout the first half of the year, we have had tremendous demand for Norwegian king crab from both the grocery trade in the USA and from the restaurant market in Asia. Combined with a gradual opening of restaurants in Europe, this has led to high prices. Combined with several boats that have delivered higher volumes than before, we get the best first half-year ever for king crab.”

Learn how purposeful play prepares children for the future at Canadian International School’s Kindergarten Open House In today’s world, 21st-century skills such as critical thinking, problem solving and creativity are highly valued and sought after at many workplaces.

A leading World IB school in Singapore, Canadian International School (CIS) recognises the importance of preparing students for the future by developing these competencies from a young age.

Designed to stimulate imagination, creativity and self-discovery in children aged two to five, the kindergarten programme uses an inquiry and play-based approach that blends academic subjects with real-world application. In turn, this helps students to develop a strong conceptual understanding of core topics ranging from math to literacy.

technology, environmental studies, arts and math) and the arts to life at various activity zones.

Want to know more? Find out how CIS helps your child ‘learn how to learn’ at the Kindergarten Open House on 1 and 7 October from 9-10am.

Experience the benefits of purposeful play Bring your child along for a fun-filled morning of educational activities.

Together, you can experience how purposeful play brings concepts like math, literacy, STEAM (science,

An inside look at CIS Teachers and principals will be on hand to answer your queries and share why inquiry and purposeful play are effective learning tools. If you’d like to know what a typical day at school is like, join a guided tour of the school to observe classes in action and see the facilities that are built to foster curiosity and support our inquirybased programme.

For a closer look at how CIS empowers your child to own their future, sign up for the Kindergarten Open House at www.cis.edu.sg/ admissions/kindergarten-openhouse.

September 2021 • ScandAsia 17

Danish National Gymnastics Performance Team plans to visit East Asia By: Lasse Sandholdt

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he National Danish Performance Team is a Danish team of top skilled gymnasts who go around the world to spread the message of healthy living and community building through gymnastics. They do this through different workshop and of course their impressive live performance of gymnastic. This year the team is planning to visit both Taiwan, Indonesia and Thailand when they set off on their world tour in mid-October. Some of these plans are still uncertain because of the difficult corona situation, but the team is hoping to be able to confirm their schedule before long.

Who are the National Danish Performance team?

The NDPT has been travelling the world for 25 years, explains Thomas Dahl, who is the Tour Director for the team. And the objective is much more than just showing of a gymnastics performance.

“We tour the world for 10 months visiting 15 to 20 countries, where we do a lot of workshops for kids, youngster and adults to deliver the message of healthy living and that spor t should be for everyone, 18 ScandAsia • Septembert 2021

it should be fun, and it should create a memory for life for the par ticipants. And then the icing on the cake is the big gala performance where we gather host families, par tners and the community we visit,” Thomas explains.

The team itself is made up by a handpicked group of elite gymnasts.

“The team consists of 28 young athletes - 14 of each gender - and a leadership team of five. All of them are part of a local community-based sports clubs in Denmark and they are selected at an audition out of usually 200 to 250 applicants,” Thomas says.

This year’s tour will, according to the preliminary plan, take the team to four different East Asian countries.

“Planning in a Corona lockdown world is an uphill task. But so far, the plan is to go to Indonesia and Taiwan from mid-November until the end of the year. And we are planning to go to Thailand and South Korea from midJanuary and forth, but a lot of things are still up in the air” The world team has a long history in East Asia which they have visited numerous times before.

“We have a history of visiting Indonesia where we have been four times before. We have been in Taiwan

twice before, and Thailand is always a very welcoming host for the national team, and we have spent a lot of tours in Thailand. In 1999 we were so lucky that we were invited to celebrate the birthday of his majesty the King of Thailand,” Thomas says.

Touring in Asia is a very educational experience for both the team and the communities they visit who, like much of the world, have a very different relation to sport than in Denmark.

“These countries are very interested in knowing how you can use spor t as community building factor and how you can involve more people. Not to forget that many governments are looking into how you can improve public health through sports and other activities.

We believed that we deliver the message on how to do this,” Thomas says.

These meetings are however also a significant learning experience for the young gymnast that are part of the team.

“There is cultural bridge building as well. We tend to stay with a host family and involve in the local culture, to educate the young Danes of the team,” Thomas adds.

The show

This year’s show is called “Qua” and it is a story about fitting in and redefining yourself, and according to Thomas there is a lot to look forward to.

“The show consists of various dance movements, vaulting, tumbling, mini trampolining, choreographies and a lot of colorful costumes. It’s built on Danish gymnastics, and the gymnasts are highly skilled acrobats who are considered some of the best in the word in tumbling and mini trampolining, so I can guarantee a dazzling show that people will be amazed and moved by,” Thomas says.

September 2021 • ScandAsia 19

ADDA helps rural farmers become self-sustainable in a changing world For more than 25 years the Danish NGO, ADDA, has been training farmers throughout Southeast Asia to be selfsustainable. Their continuous programs in the region strive to make the rural farmers more skilled in both agricultural techniques as well as social and economic actions, so that they are prepared for a changing world.

Farmers learn the SRI rice cultivation technique. Here measuring the growth. - Photo: Nguyen Phi Thuong 20 ScandAsia • Septembert 2021

It’s not a technical revolution, but for these farmers which have no technical education whatsoever, it is a big step forward

Søren Thorndal Jørgensen – Chairman of ADDA

A

By Lasse Sandholdt DDA or “Agricultural Development Denmark Asia” is currently active with ongoing projects in Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar and Tanzania in Africa. Overseeing these projects is the Chairman of ADDA, Søren Thorndal Jørgensen, and although they might differ somewhat in the technical lessons they teach, they all follow the overall vision of the ADDA organization “Our vision is to enable local farmers in Asia and Africa to sustain their lives themselves. That means that we will teach how to cultivate their crops and keep their animals in a sustainable way,” Søren explains.

The process to achieving self-sustainability, however, cannot just be attained merely through training in agricultural techniques. That is a lesson ADDA made in its early days as an organization.

“In the beginning of ADDA’s encounter in Vietnam we thought that the main problem for the farmers was the technical issue of growing the crops in the right way, but we learned that it’s not just the technical aspect that’s the problem, it’s also about the organization and the interaction with the society at large. So, slowly we have incorporated more of those social activities and legal aspects of farming work into our projects,” Søren says.

The VOF project

A good example of this approach is the current VOF project in the Northwestern part of Vietnam implemented by the Vietnamese organization “PanNature”. The ethnic minority population of the mountainous region is facing several difficulties in sustaining their farming lifestyle. A

combination of climate change, causing soil erosion and fierce rainfall, and an increased population has created the need for new ways of farming.

“To sustain the growing population, they have started to cut down the forest in order to make more space for crops. But the sloping land of the forest is not suitable for the crops from the lowland. So, they need some other farming practices,” Søren says.

As Søren explains, a lot of the farmers have moved from the lowland and are therefore not trained in the cultivation of, for example, citrus and mango which fits better with the new environment, and they therefore need some help. Other agricultural tricks include new drought resistant rice cultivation techniques (SRI) and the growing of intercrops such as grass which can be used as food for the buffalos and cows, but also more efficient planting of seeds and a reduction in the use of fertilizer and pesticides. These are some of the main insights that the ADDA-program provides.

“It’s not a technical revolution, but for these farmers which have no technical education whatsoever, it is a big step forward,” Søren adds.

These new methods mean that the farmers’ cost on input before harvest becomes smaller, while at the same time the output or simply the yield becomes greater.

According to Søren these improvements mean that the farmers can even triple their income on a harvest. But these changes in farming finesse is only half of the training that the ADDA-projects provide.

September 2021 • ScandAsia 21

ADDA teaches local farmers to teach their fellow rural farmers - Photo: Nguyen Phi Thuong Another essential part of the lessons ADDA wants to introduce to the farmers is the awareness of the business aspect of being a farmer. This is a side of the profession, which is maybe even more foreign to the rural farmers, but it is still a very important feature of the program. The farmers attend the Farmer field school, where they learn critical technical skills combined with education on commercializing their farming practice and finally group formation.

“We teach them to make a business plan, how to sell their products and we teach them to look at the market needs,” Søren says.

The school wants to teach the professionalism in the farming trade and that also means encouraging the farmers to cooperate in their work.

“The group formation process is very important.

After the farmer field school, the 30 farmers that attended usually stay in a group, where they buy their input together and sell their output together. This cooperation increases their income even further,” Søren says.

This strengthens the farmers’ position on the market, so they can achieve a higher average price on their goods. Another big step forward. Before the farmers were selling whatever surplus they had on the market individually without any contract, often selling to some middleman which led to a decrease in the revenue made on the harvest.

As Søren remarks “it is very expensive to be a small poor farmer working on your own” 22 ScandAsia • Septembert 2021

Empowering the marginalized.

The region that the ADDA project is stationed in is one of the poorest regions in all of Vietnam. The rural farmers are of an ethnic minority, who speak another language than the official one of Vietnam. In some ways this has entailed, that the areas are being under prioritized by the state, because their problems are not important in the agenda of the major cities in the lowland.This for instance is seen in the lacking infrastructure of the region.

“When I started coming to Vietnam the infrastructure to Dien Bien Phu from the village was just a muddy road. So even if you increased the production, it was very difficult to reach the market. And even though that has changed, the poverty rating is still quite high in the mountainous areas,” Søren says.

Also, in this sense the ADDA organization is teaching the farmers and people of the villages how to do the bureaucratic legwork required to be able to realize community enhancing projects.

“We make something called community development projects. This is a program where they must come up with a practical idea, that will serve the local community. We give them around 3000 dollars and then they have to seek co-finance from the local authority.This is to teach them how to make project proposals, how to work together on a project and actually get it done practically,” Søren explains.

A typical example of an idea could be a concrete road leading from the village to the main road. ADDA will

Community development projects are an important part of the ADDA projects. - Photo: Nguyen Phi Thuong

Our vision is to enable local farmers in Asia and Africa to sustain their lives themselves.

ADDA is also teaching the farmers planning strategies

Community development projects are an important part of the ADDA projects. - Photo: Nguyen Phi Thuong then pay for the cement and the people will have to do the rest themselves.The important lesson here, is not just how to construct a road, it is also learning how to fill out a project proposal that explains the project in detail so that the process comes through in the local administration.

“Instead of just picking up the phone and saying, “we want this”. That’s not going to happen,” Søren remarks.

The ADDA projects believe that “learning by doing” is better for the local people, when learning how to implement community development projects, because it’s more comprehendible than the theoretic learning approach. It makes them capable of actually making new projects on their own in the future.

This is in line with the general philosophy of ADDA to make the farmers independent of foreign aid.

ADDA also trains local villagers to be trainers of agriculture to the rest of the village. In this way the local farmers don’t have to rely on trained experts from agricultural university, that they already distrust because of their marginalized position.

The future of rural famer societies.

particular, there are two major problems the farmers are going to have to deal with. First, they need to modernize their way of farming to accommodate for the drastic climate changes.

“It is going to be a really big issue for them in the future. We cry when we get a little rainfall at home in Denmark, but it is ten times worse in Vietnam. So they need to adapt,” Søren says.

The other major issue is the exclusion from the world market.

“They have a little bit of window to establish themselves on the market still. But they have to learn to work together quickly, otherwise they will be marginalized completely. If they don’t, they maybe have to end up as a living museum or something instead,” Søren says.

The indigenous way of conducting a farming lifestyle doesn’t have a future however romantic the idea might seem.

“I know that some people think it’s nice to have these people walking around in the forest but it’s impossible to sustain.You can’t preserve everything,” Søren says.

ADDA is financed by a number of big donors and government grants as well as private donations. Lately however it has been more difficult for them to obtain the money needed to carry out their missions.

This is very unfortunate since the farmers of northwestern Vietnam, like those of ADDA’s other projects, will have to face substantial dilemmas in the future. In September 2021 • ScandAsia 23

24 ScandAsia • Septembert 2021

Jyri Järviaho debuts as Finland’s Ambassador to Cambodia and Thailand

By Joakim Persson

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inland’s new Ambassador to Thailand and Cambodia, Mr Jyri Järviaho began his new life as ambassador with a two weeks’ stay at a five-star Bangkok riverside hotel together with his Elina Multanen. This was of course due to the ongoing quarantine rules for arrivals from abroad. Meanwhile, their adult son with his own family remained in Helsinki.

Since then the ambassador couple have also taken short trips to some of Thailand’s most well-known holiday destinations; Chiang Mai, Hua Hin, Phuket and Samui – while other excursions they hope to do also in the region must wait for the right conditions when travel can resume.

On 19 April H.E. Mr. Jyri Järviaho also made the short trip to Dusit Palace to present to His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn his Letter of Credence, enabling him to fully operate as Finland’s Ambassador.

Jyri Järviaho describes the places visited as wonderful and highlights the Chiang Mai visit, which included a joint Nordic component together with the other ambassadors from that region.

“One day was for the common Nordic events and another dedicated to bilateral issues with our commercial team from the embassy and three Finnish companies.”

So, what is his first impression of the host country?

“It’s a wonderful and colourful country where many things are happening at the same time. You have these holiday destinations to which many Finns love to come, so in many ways a very interesting place to be. The connections between people are close. Many Finns have some experience of Thailand; they’ve been to Thailand, or know people that spend time in Thailand, or know Thai people living in Finland. They have touched Thailand one way or the other.”

Highlight of any diplomatic career

Being also the Ambassador to Cambodia he is very much looking forward to visiting Phnom Penh, once the Covid-19 situation allows travel.

According to Jyri, Finland has a newly established Honorar y Consulate in Phnom Penh, with Mr Timo Järvinen, as the Honorary Consul.

Bangkok is Jyri’s first ambassador position: “It is a great honour and privilege to be a Finnish Ambassador in Thailand and representative of one’s country in this way; a highlight of any diplomatic career. I have been so excited about this possibility. Of course it’s at the same time a big responsibility.”

He describes himself as a generalist, having done various tasks such as political issues, commercial, some development issues and also human resources.

“I believe I’m outgoing but I’m also interested in substance and various issues at the same time, so I like to dig into things as well. Having said that I’m always keen on meeting new people and learning, which is so good in this profession, where you always see new people.”

The background to the appointment is that the ambassador has been employed by the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) since 1999, and held various positions within the ministry including stints abroad.

He has also studied abroad during two years; first in Newcastle for European studies in political science, and then international relations and security policy in Denver.

Prior to that, ambassador Jyri studied in the Finnish town of Joensuu at the University of Eastern Finland, where he took a degree in economics.

September 2021 • ScandAsia 25

Thailand is a wonderful and colourful country where many things are happening at the same time

“I did not plan to apply to the MFA when I was studying. But I was always interested in society and how it functions, global issues and so on. I worked two years at the EBRD, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and I did an internship at the MFA for about a year, prior to joining the ministry.”

Previous Asian connection is that that Jyri served in the Asia unit in 2005 and 2008, covering commercial issues for China but also for Malaysia and Singapore as country desk. “I travelled to China with business delegations and also visited Malaysia and Singapore.”

Malaysia he has also visited privately before.

European postings

Directly before Bangkok Jyri was Deputy Director General of Human Resources in Helsinki and before that Director in the Human Resources Unit for 4.5 years. “I was head of the HR and personal planning unit, dealing with who goes where and also being responsible for recruiting new diplomats and administrative staff for the ministry.

That was a very interesting job – but of course not always thankful as some people may get disappointed – to meet people and understand their wishes and hopes and try to give them some view how the ministry sees their work and how they could see their career moving within MFA.” He has previously also served in the Finnish embassies in Riga and Belgrade as deputy to the Ambassador and was also posted to the Finnish Permanent Mission in Geneva.

“The position in Geneva concerned arms control and disarmament issues - also that a very interesting area where you can follow big power politics and see how they operate in the international scene.”

26 ScandAsia • Septembert 2021

“Belgrade is our embassy from former Yugoslavia and from the Balkan countries Belgrade is quite an important city to be in if you wanted to understand Balkan politics. And we have some business interests there. During the time I went there, in year 2000-2003, was just after the Kosovo crisis, so there were lots of issues relating to Kosovo, the Nato bombings etc. Then the democratic processes started in Serbia and we started all kinds of cooperation and development projects in Serbia, Montenegro and also in Kosovo,” comments Jyri.

Serving in Riga was during the time when Latvia joined the EU, with lots of issues relating to the Latvian integration into the EU. “Of course Latvia is much closer to Finland so there are lots of business interests as well and tourists in both directions.”

Finland recruits talent

Travel and tourism between Finland and Thailand are under normal circumstances also strong, with about 10 000 Thais living in Finland.

“There’s a strong connection between the two countries. In 2019 we had 140 000 Finnish tourists visiting Thailand. Many come during their holiday but there are also retirees who come for multiple months over the winter period.”

“Commercially I think there is a lot of potential to grow and that’s why we have expanded the embassy’s commercial services. The new Commercial Counsellor – a new position – Mr Kai Tuorila started his duties in May and new Coordinator for labour and student exchanges Ms Gitta Hägg-Lundvall in February.”

“Ms Hägg-Lundvall is working as our coordinator on the so called ‘Talent Boost’ area, looking into student

The ambassador couple Mr Jyri Järviaho and his wife Elina Multanen. exchanges, links between universities and schools, labour movements and recruitment of international workers for our companies including seasonal work.”

In fact, this is a Finnish programme and network that helps companies to find and recruit the international talents they need. It organises networking events, recruitment campaigns and funding for the recruitment of international talents. More than 3,000 international students graduate from Finnish universities every year. They have a global vision, experience and networks that are valuable for companies operating in Finland.

Companies with a wide range of international expertise are more likely to succeed in the international market. Innovative start-up companies founded by foreigners are also welcome to grow their businesses in Finland.

“It’s our government policy that to be competitive in the future we will need an international workforce and skilled people to work in our companies,” says the ambassador.

“As for Finnish export this is important but in many ways commerce is a two-way street; sometimes you need to import things, in order to export. Participating in global value chains accessing various markets and building local connections are vital. From our perspective I think it’s good to work closer in both directions for enhanced business relations – and investments – between the countries. The more we have of those the better it is!”

Circular economy (CE) and education are currently the main sectors for the Embassy of Finland in Bangkok. A MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) on CE between the Ministry of Industry, Thailand and the Ministry of Employment & the Economy in Finland is in the works.

”There are several issues we can work on within circular economy, including recycling waste, waste-toenergy etc. Circular Economy is also linked to a wider, cross-cutting theme of sustainable development.”

Exciting Thailand opportunities

Another bilateral MoU is also being prepared within education. “We are looking into different ways of supporting Thailand in the education sector. At the moment there’s a pilot project on online teacher education training where three Finnish universities created online training materials for Thai teachers. After collecting feedback from the pilot we can hopefully expand the project in Thailand.”

A recent new business initiative is HEI Schools Bangkok, as Finnish International Kindergarten for students aged 1.5 to 6 years that will open in September 2021. The pedagogy and curriculum are designed based on the latest research in early childhood education from co-founding partner, the University of Helsinki, aiming to enhance a child’s active participation, curiosity and creativity through play and exploration.

Looking towards the future - beyond Covid-19 - the ambassador’s says: “I would like to mention that we in Finland, as Europe in general, favour the idea that hopefully there comes some economic recover y after the virus. But the focus should now be more on the green economy overall; to change our societies and economies more towards a sustainable development path with more circular economy and careful consideration of many issues and business practices - the whole cycle of things. We cannot afford to use the resources of the planet as we have done so far. This is important and this could be a turning point.”

September 2021 • ScandAsia 27

Nordic vaccination policy causes dilemma for Scandinavians in Thailand Thailand’s plan for vaccination against the coronavirus has not been a smooth ride for foreigners working or living in Thailand. Some of the Scandinavians - being older and therefore more vulnerable – have found themselves in a dilemma. Should they isolate themselves at home or travel to their home countries with the risks that this involves?

S

By Lasse Sandholdt ven Arne Hedell, a Swedish resident in Thailand for eight years, has described the situation being an expat Swede in Thailand under Covid-19 as desperate. He resides in a Swedish community in Pattaya made up by primarily elderly people and their experience with the Thai vaccination system has not been good.

“The average age in our group is alarmingly high.

Everyone is trying desperately to register for a vaccine.

There was an app for foreigners who want to sign up for the vaccine queue, but it crashed after an hour,” Sven Hedell says.

Sven ended up travelling to Sweden in order to get the jab like other Nordic citizens in Thailand have done.

28 ScandAsia • Septembert 2021

Addressing the Nordic prime ministers

The experience of dealing with a faulty system has been shared by other Scandinavians. As a result, the board of The Scandinavian Society Siam (SSS) wrote an open letter to the prime ministers of the Nordic countries urging them to send vaccines for their citizens in Thailand. This would follow the examples of France who have already applied this model.

Explaining the situation and that they would happily pay for the cost, the Scandinavian Society Siam was hoping their letter could convince the Nordic governments to send vaccines for their expats. As Lasse Staalung, Chaiman of the SSS, explaines.

“We wrote that many older citizen from Nordic countries were not in the program for vaccinations of people in Thailand. So, we asked them to help us by sending vaccination doses for Nordic citizens in Thailand. We would be helpful with the resources we could find to register people and help in the process.

We of course also said that we would pay for it, it wasn’t something that we expected to get for free,” Lasse Says.

It wasn’t to be, however. Asked by the Norwegian media Dagbladet, the Norwegian Minister of Health and Care Services, Bent Høie, said that they were not going to accept the request “If Norwegians abroad do not receive the vaccine where they are staying, then they should travel home to Norway to be vaccinated. That’s the way it must be. We do not have the opportunity to vaccinate Norwegians abroad except the people who are in very socially critical functions,” he says.

The embassy counselor at the Swedish embassy in Thailand, Lina Eidmark, also denied the request for the vaccines on behalf of the Swedish citizens saying

Knut Hauslo travlled home to Norway to get the Corona vaccination. When he arrived he was tested positiv with Covid “It is a decision that Sweden will not be vaccinating Swedes who have left Sweden to live abroad. These Swedes will have to be a part of the Thai vaccination system. We have guarantees from Thai representatives on this,” Lina said.

The Scandinavian Society Siam’s had to wait a little longer for a reply on their actual letter. The answer came from a doctor in the Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services and the message was brief saying that Norwegian people had to travel home if they were to be vaccinated by Norway.The manner of this answer was not satisfactory to Lasse Staalung.

“They don’t even bother to give us a real answer,” he says.

Asking to much?

The argument that once you leave the country you give up the right for the vaccination does not resonate with every Scandinavian in Thailand. Sven Arne Hedell believes that there are good reasons for the Swedish government to change their policy.

“We are paying full tax in Sweden, but we still don’t have any rights. Sweden, which has a surplus of five million vaccines, should be able to help us pensioners with a couple of thousand vaccines, right? I’m sure we can arrange distribution and the jabs themselves with a private hospital. We can pay for the service, as long as we have the vaccines at hand,” Sven Hedell says.

Lasse Staalung recognizes the argument but explains that the situation In Thailand is special since their have been no real alternative to a Nordic vaccine program for a while.

“If you live in the U.S. where you are in the normal program it’s fine. But in this case, in Thailand, where you don’t have a program that can protect people from getting infected and dying, I think they should help.

I read stories every day on Facebook groups about old people that still can get into any of the vaccination lists. Other people have been taken of the list because they were not Thai”

Getting Covid upon arrival back home

Lasse also emphasizes that the standpoint of the Nordic governments can be dangerous for many of the type of Scandinavians living In Thailand. ”If you are old or have an underlying sickness, you would rather try to stay where you are and protect you and your family. Instead, they ask these people to get into a small and crowed airplane and sit there with strangers for hours and hours with the high chance of getting infected,” Lasse says.

This scenario has unfortunately already come true for one Norwegian couple, Knut and Anne Marie Hauslo, who did what they were told - they flew back to Norway to get a vaccination.

A few days after they arrival to Oslo, Knut was diagnosed with Covid-19 and the next day his wife Anne Marie also had it.

“The aircraft was filled to brim with people and carry-on luggage. It was like rabbit cages, and it was not possible to keep the one meters distance,” Knut Hauslo explains on the phone from his hotel room in Oslo, where he and his wife have now been in quarantine for more than three weeks.

Knut also explains that a couple passengers sitting close to him had their face masks off during most of the flight.

The couple are to be released from the quarantine on 28 august.

September 2021 • ScandAsia 29

News brief

Seaweed packaging?

How Norway and Indonesia are replacing plastic with seaweed

This seaweed packaging is also edible

I

s seaweed packaging the solution to the plastic problem in the world? Potentially yes.

In a video, the german-based media organization DW, shows how packaging made from algae is already a reality and how researchers and scientists in Indonesia and Norway are exploring the plant’s full potential.

Indonesia and China are amongst the biggest polluters apart from the food and packaging sectors. 3.2 million tons of that ends up in the ocean and the Indonesian government has pledged to reduce this by 70% by 2025. Traditional waste disposal measures however do not go far enough and pioneering ideas are needed.

Indonesian Scientist Nory Mu30 ScandAsia • Septembert 2021

lyono has found the solution in the ocean and she has been working on this concept for 10 years of turning seaweed into an alternative plastic packaging. She is head of the Food Technology Depar tment at the Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia and also co-founder and chief of research and development at Evoware. The company’s packaging is made from red algae and it can last for up to two years. It’s even edible. More than 2000 companies are already testing the innovation and apart from the food and packaging sectors, it’s also used in the cosmetic and textile industry. Seaweed could even serve as fuel.

But it is not only in Indonesia that seaweed is being explored as a packaging alternative. People in

Europe are also recognizing the algae’s full potential. It grows quickly, does not need agricultural land to be produced and there are 22.000 types of algae worldwide.

In Norway, up to 100 tons of brown algae are har vested ever y year. So far it’s been marketed as a foodstuff but further possible uses of algae are also being explored. In Trondheim, researchers are cultivating algae seedlings and examining whether seaweed might have other environmental uses.

The algae alternative to plastic is not only an innovative idea, it is also creating jobs for ritual coastal farmers in Indonesia. The country holds about 200.000 seaweed farmers and entire families get involved.

News brief

Grundfos partners with Singapore tech company to meet Southeast Asia’s sustainable cooling needs

Danish Grundfos and Singaporean Barghest Building Performance both work to make energy effecient technologies

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rundfos, a global leader in advanced pump solutions and water technology, and Barghest Building Performance (BBP), a Singapore-based energy efficiency technology provider, have signed a memorandum of understanding to deliver and scale an innovative energy-efficient digital solution across Southeast Asia, according to a press release. The solution can help reduce the energy consumption of cooling systems by up to 40%, meeting the region’s urgent need for sustainable cooling solutions.

The novel solution focuses on reducing the energy consumption of commercial and industrial climate control systems. Also known as heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, it currently represents one of the world’s most impor tant sources of greenhouse

gas emissions. In Southeast Asia, rising electricity demand from cooling alone is projected to require around 200 gigawatts of additional generation capacity by 2040, and cooling could be responsible for as much as 30% share in the region’s peak electricity demand.

Conventional systems often use up a high level of energy due to issues such as over-pumping to compensate for discrepancies between the chilled water supply and return temperatures. In addition, they have the tendency to run at constant speed and pressure throughout their operations, regardless of fluctuating cooling demands. The systems’ high energy consumption ultimately contributes to greater carbon emissions, driving climate change.

Through leveraging automation technology, remote monitoring, and the Internet of Things, the

solution ensures the HVAC system operates in optimized conditions at any time, by intuitively regulating the interactions between the various parts within the system. This minimizes unnecessary energy use, and in turn, helps customers reduce their environmental impact. Grundfos and BBP will look to scale this across Southeast Asia, focusing on Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Malaysia.

Fredrik Östbye, Group Vice President, Head of FutureLab, Grundfos, said, “Southeast Asia is undergoing rapid industrialization and urbanization, and cooling and ventilation in commercial and industrial buildings will only play a bigger role as we move into the future.

However, conventional cooling is not sustainable in today’s climate crisis.”

September 2021 • ScandAsia 31

News brief

Finnair to offer long-haul routes from Sweden to Bangkok and Phuket

F

inland’s flag carrier Finnair will this winter be offering direct flights from Arlanda, Stockholm to Bangkok, and Phuket in Thailand.

According to Breaking travel News, star ting from 22 October,

Finnair will be flying from Arlanda to Bangkok five times a week on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays on its Airbus A350.

Come 28 November, Finnair will be increasing the weekly frequencies to

seven days a week operating from Monday through Sunday until 22 April next year.

In addition, Finnair will also be flying from Arlanda into Phuket on Sundays starting on 24 October.

Ole Orvér, chief commercial officer, Finnair says that Thailand is amongst the top winter destinations for Swedes and the air carrier is excited to meet the travel needs of their Swedish customers with the non-stop service from Sweden to Thailand. “The new flights will strengthen our offering in the Swedish market,” he says.

Finnair also flies to Bangkok and Phuket from its home base Helsinki Airport.

Novo Nordisk to raise the amount of clinical trial investment in Thailand

J

ohn Dawber, Vice President and General Manager of Novo Nordisk Pharma (Thailand) Limited, talked in a recent article in Bangkok Post, amongst other things, about the company’s plan looking towards the next ten years and its aim to raise the amounts of clinical trial investment in Thailand.

Despite the pandemic and the challenges it has brought along, Novo Nordisk has a strong presence in Thailand and the company’s growth rate was more than 20 percent last year with a revenue of THB 2.2 billion. According to John Dawber, Novo Nordisk’s success 32 ScandAsia • Septembert 2021

can be described through four aspects: ‘Partnership’ with the government and authorities, ‘Products’ that are good, ‘People’ and experts who drive the company forward, and ‘Passion’ to improve the lives of Thai patients.

Looking towards the next 10 years, Novo Nordisk expects to have a strong partnership with the Thai FDA as well as a high level of expertise of Thai doctors. Between 2016-2020 Novo Nordisk invested THB 189 million in clinical trials in Thailand and the company aims at raising that from 2021 to 2025 to up to THB 300.000 million.

John Dawber, Vice President and General Manager of Novo Nordisk Pharma (Thailand) Limited

News brief

Matti Sällberg, professor of biomedical analysis.

Photo: Carolina Byrmo

Swedish professor on why Vietnam is experiencing its first wave now

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ost countries are somewhere in their third, fourth, or even fifth wave of the pandemic but Vietnam is only experiencing their first rapid infection rates now. According to WHO statistics the Vietnamese daily infection numbers reached a peak with 13,439 new cases registered on August 22. This a major increase compared to the 545 new cases registered on July 1 just before the first wave hit Vietnam. At the time of writing 7,540 people have died from covid-19 in Vietnam. Now the delta variant’s rapid take has seen larger cities being put on lockdown.

But why is Vietnam only experiencing its highest peak in the spread of infection now and not earlier in the pandemic? In an interview with media Aftonbladet, Swedish professor Matti Sällberg explains that there may be several reasons.

Matti Sällberg is a professor

of biomedical analysis at Karolinska Institutet. He says that Vietnam is not the only country experiencing its highest peak in the spread of infections right now and that other Southeast Asian countries are also battling the Delta variant at the moment.

These countries have a more favorable climate than cold countries like Sweden, Denmark, and Norway and the professor is guessing that maybe the virus must look a certain way to be able to spread optimally in the conditions prevailing in those countries.

The low vaccination rate is an important factor to why Vietnam is being hit with corona now. Another factor is that the country has previously dealt with the pandemic in a very resolute way. The authorities have acted quickly in regards to virus outbreaks and closed areas have been monitored by the military.

But according to Swedish Nishte Wandi who lives in the coastal city of Hoi An, near the larger city of Da Nang, this time the authorities did not act as quickly as before.

“My opinion is that they may not have been really prepared for this and have lost control of the situation a bit. It’s pretty tough actually.

We were not prepared for this wave because we did so well before,” Nishte Wandi says to Aftonbladet TV.

September 2021 • ScandAsia 33

News brief

Sweden reiterates its call on Cambodia to allow freedom of speech

A

statement posted by the Embassy of Sweden in Phnom Penh on 19 August calls on Cambodia to respect freedom of speech and assembly in accordance with its international commitments.

“All Cambodian citizens, regardless of their organizational affiliation, need to be guaranteed the freedom of speech and the freedom of peaceful assembly, in accordance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the rights enshrined in Cambodia’s Constitution. Freedom of speech is an essential par t of a functioning democracy, as are independent courts, which should not be used to silence peaceful activists,” the statement said.

The Swedish statement was a reaction to the sentence on the 34 ScandAsia • Septembert 2021

day before of the prominent labor rights activist Rong Chhun by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court. Rong Chhun was sentenced to two years in prison and fined two million riels ($500) for “incitement to cause serious disorder to social security”.

Allegedly, this was based on comments Chun made about land rights for Cambodian villagers living by the Vietnamese border.

The ruling came amid a continuing crackdown on critical voices in Cambodia and according to the Embassy of Sweden in Phnom Penh, it “criminalizes public expression of dissent or political criticism”.

“The verdict of Mr. Rong Chhun and the other two activists is of our concern, since it criminalizes public expression of dissent or political criticism, and raises questions about

Rong Chhun was sentenced to two years for “incitement to cause serious disorder to social security”.

Photo: Hong Menea

the independence of the Cambodian judicial system. Sweden jointly with the European Union in Cambodia reiterates its call on Cambodia to allow freedom of expression and assembly, in accordance with its international commitments,” the Swedish statement says.

News brief

SweCham launches first fully digital edition of ‘Member Directory 2021’

T

hai-Swedish Chamber of Commerce has launched its first fully digital edition of ‘Member Director y 2021’. The shareable, downloadable, and clickable edition gives you access to valuable business contacts and information anytime and anywhere.

“We are inviting you to increase your company’s exposure, highlight your products and services with cost-effective marketing, and reach out to the Thai-Swedish business community in our ‘SweCham Member Director y 2021’,” SweCham writes.

The digital version will be wide-

ly distributed via SweCham’s social media platforms, SEO campaign, and direct email to Swedish expatriates, Swedish companies in Thailand, Thai

and foreign chambers of commerce, organisations, and government departments in Thailand, as well as in Sweden.

Thailand Expat Guide 2021

S

candAsia has published the 2021 edition of “Thailand Expat Guide” This book is intended as a help for both newcomers and longer staying expats who have decided to live and work in Thailand. It explains and facilitates practical issues and intends to inspire readers to get more out of their stay.

This booklet is par t of the ScandAsia magazine and online media channel. ScandAsia ser ves all Scandinavian expatriates from Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland living in Thailand and elsewhere in Asia with news updates by email and online.

If you want to buy the physical book, please use this link:

https://scandasia.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b8224fe83c1 1fd75934b62042&id=54b175eb19 &e=c29e9f6d53

September 2021 • ScandAsia 35

News brief

Marimekko wraps Bangkok sky train in its iconic Unikko print to celebrate 70th anniversary

T

he Finnish floral brand Marimekko has since 1951 been on a mission to bring joy to people’s ever yday lives with bold prints and colors.

In celebration of the brand’s 70th anniversar y, Marimekko has in collaboration with Bangkok BTS launched the “Bringing joy to everyday life’ campaign which features an entire BTS sky train wrapped up in Marimekko’s signature print.

The campaign aims to bring brightness to every station in Bangkok and the train is covered in the brand’s well-known and well-beloved orange Unikko design. Unikko, the poppy print, is one of the brand’s

most recognizable designs created

by Maija Isola in 1964, who came up with it as a challenge to the brand’s founder Armi Ratia’s ban of floral patterns back in 1964.

It is not the first time Marimekko brings joy to Bangkok. Last October, the Finnish brand brightened up Bangkok’s monsoon season by wrapping a BTS sky train in a blue hue of its unique Unikko poppy print which was the brand’s fall/winter 2020 color palette.

Swedish Gaston Luga now available in Thailand

T

he Swedish brand Gaston Luga, producer of quality backpacks and accessories inspired by Scandinavian design and living, is now available in Thailand.

According to an introduction by the Embassy of Sweden in Bangkok, Gaston Luga does not only provide beautiful design and highquality products, but Gaston Luga has also committed to sustainability.

The brand does not use Animal-based materials, they use plantbased leather with some of the products being made from vegan apple leather, a biomaterial created from discarded apple skins.

36 ScandAsia • Septembert 2021

Gaston Luga also implements Low Impact Packaging in the form of boxes from FSC-certified paper printed with soy ink, making them eco-friendly and recyclable as well as biodegradable plastic.

Moreover, Gaston Luga has been a carbon-neutral organization since 2019 in partnership with Carbon Footprint Ltd to offset their carbon footprint by donating to the Escarpment Environment Conser vation Network (Esconet) to suppor t projects to restore local forests.

News brief

Christa Lund Herum - the Danish pastor in Thailand.

The Danish Church in Thailand needs a helping hand

T

he Danish Church in Thailand and its pastor Christa Lund Herum is reaching out to people, with the message of “help us to help you”. As Christa writes in the church fundraiser page “The church’s cash register is empty soon.

The last year and a half it has been difficult to collect the funding necessary to continue the church’s work in Thailand”.

The church and its pastor is involved in a lot different work that is typically characterized by being emotionally heavy. In this way the pastor helps people with a lot of the things that embassy is unable to assist in. The importance of the pastor is also recognized by the Danish Embassy in Bangkok.

Alice Rosengren Skov the consul at the Embassy of Denmark in Bangkok explains this in an interview

with NYT, in which she describes some of the cases where the pastor is critical to assist people in need with the proper support.

“The embassy is responsible for the more practical aspects of death. Apar t from dialogue with relatives about practical matters, the Embassy does not have the resources or competencies to handle the great emotions that may be at play. It can be difficult for relatives, and it is a resource for the embassy to be able to refer to the Danish pastor, who can enter into a different kind of dialogue with the family,” Alice explains.

According to Alice, it is obvious to have a pastor on-site in Thailand because there are so many heavy matters. She says that the pastor has a way with conversation, and she has witnessed the pastor help solving

difficult cases between par ties of the conflict in a very good way. Many Danes in Thailand are not covered by insurance which often results in large hospital bills that can make it very expensive for the relatives to bring their loved one home.

Prison cases are also amongst the heavy cases and the Embassy is very happy with the pastor’s effort in these cases. “In some cases, the pastor has taken the place of the Embassy, but the star ting point is that the visits from the pastor are a supplement,” Alice says. “Since the pastor can also reach out to relatives in Denmark, they can get more frequent information about how their loved ones are doing,” Alice says.

September 2021 • ScandAsia 37

News brief

Denmark’s Anne-Marie Rindom won gold in women’s laser radial.

Photo: Olivier Morin/ AFP/Ritzau Scanpix

Asian countries give million bonuses for Olympic gold - but not the Nordic

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everal countries around the world payed their Olympic gold medal winners million bonuses at the recently held Olympic in Japan. Among the nations participating in the Olympics, Singapore had the the record for paying most for a gold medal closely followed

by Taiwan. Hong Kong, Thailand and Indonesia made up the rest of the top five paying countries.

According to South China Morning statistics competing for Singapore earns golden medal winners SGD 1 million which is around $737.000, silver medals are awarded $369.000 while bronze medal winners take home $184.000 . Taiwan was almost on the same level as Singapore. Along with Hong Kong, Thailand and Indonesia the five nations where the top five payers at this year’s Olympics.

Singapore came up shor t in

38 ScandAsia • Septembert 2021

Filipino Hidilyn Diaz won gold in weightlifting - and won the equivalent of about $655.000.

Photo: Edgard Garrido winning any medals but the rest of the five countries ended up paying out $3,034,000 just for their combined five gold medalists.

Filipino Hidilyn Diaz has also attracted attention after she took

home the Philippines’ first Olympic gold ever - 97 years after the country with over 100 million inhabitants participated in the Olympics for the first time. BT writes that the Philippine weightlifter won the 55-kilo weightlifting class but she is not only rewarded with a gold medal, she will also receive 33 million pesos or what equals just under $655.000 together with a house and a plot of land from courtesy of the government of the Philippines and the private sector.

But it is looking differently in the Nordic region and in Denmark, a gold medal is only rewarded with a bonus of DKK 100.000 or what equals to just under $16.000. Expressen writes that Swedish and Norwegian athletes are not rewarded any bonuses but some athletes have bonuses written into their contracts with sponsors.

New entry regulations for travelers to Singapore

News brief

O

n 19 August, Singapore’s Ministry of Health (MOH) outlined the next steps of Singapore’s easing of COVID-19 measures in a press release.

Singapore is classifying countries/regions in one of four categories, each with different border measures, based on a traveler’s 21-day travel history before they entered Singapore. Currently, both Norway and Denmark fall under category 3.

Category 4 is the most restricted.

Work Pass holders and LongTerm Visit Pass holders still need an entry approval issued by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) to travel to Singapore. Borders are still closed for regular Short-Term Visitors/tourists from category III countries.

Please find the latest announcements here: https://safetravel.ica.gov. sg/.

September 2021 • ScandAsia 39

We recently asked several of our students: What do you want to do when you leave ISB? Some talk about their plans for college, some of their career dreams, others of their passions or their purpose. They spoke of goals that were aspirational: “I want to get good education overseas”, or altruistic: “I want to reach out to others through music and education”, and imaginative: “I want to have the power to control the weather”. They also discussed feeling supported in their learning, academically and personally.

Students at ISB are able to be their authentic selves. They are encouraged to follow their own unique paths and journeys.

They are able to see and achieve their potential, they are supported, they thrive.

We are exceptionally proud of all our inspiring students at ISB. Follow our #isbstudentspotlight series.

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