ScandAsia IndoChina April 2013

APR 2013

Vietnam Cambodia Laos

Choosing Your School

Life after Dam Norway’s contribution to Laos’ hydropower

Danish Shipbuilder:

Vietnam is fantastic!

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News Brief

“Doing Business with Finland” in Vietnam

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elebrating the 40th anniversary year of diplomatic relations between Finland and Vietnam in 2013, Team Finland in Vietnam (Embassy of Finland, Innovation Partnership Programme IPP and Finland Trade Center Finpro) in collaboration with Finnpartnership are organizing around ten business seminars in Vietnam during 2013. The idea is to promote and facilitate business between Finnish and Vietnamese actors and also offer free of charge support for example through Finnpartnership match-making service or through other Finnish financed development cooperation instruments or programs, such as IPP. The first business seminar took place on March 25 2013 in Hanoi and was organized together with the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry VCCI. “Doing Business with Finland” –seminar gathered around 70 participants, interested to find Finnish partners for example for exporting their products to Finnish markets. Team Finland continues travelling to Quang Ninh province onMarch 26 and to Thai Nguyen province on March 27. After that the plan is to continue to Hue in April, to Danang in May and to Cao Bang in June. In the autumn business seminars will reach Haiphong, Buon Ma Thuot, Dalat, Ho Chi Minh City and Can Tho.

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April 2013 • ScandAsia.Indo China

5

News Brief

Danish Foreign Minister in Vietnam

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he Danish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Villy Søvndal paid an almost week long visit to Vietnam by the end of February. The minister was there to promote and strengthen Danish Vietnamese relations.

Mr. Villy Søvndal’s visit to Vietnam comes only six weeks after the Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning Schmidt visited Vietnam following the ASEM meeting in Vientiane, Laos.

Both ministers have a very favorable impression of Vietnam and have expressed their wish to come back and visit Vietnam also in a private capacity sometime in the future.

The photo shows Mr. Villy Sovndal followed by the Danish ambassador John Nielsen arriving to one of his meetings in HCMC.

6 ScandAsia.Indo China • April 2013

News Brief

Foreigners owning more Danish businesses Asian investment in Danish businesses rose over a thousand percent in the last decade while American investment dropped slightly.

Source: The Copenhagen Post

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oreign ownership of Danish businesses has risen 55 percent according to a new study by the weekly newsletter Ugebrevet A4.

In 2004, foreigners owned 503 billion kroner worth of Danish businesses. By 2012, this had risen to 781 billion kroner.

Of the 3,401 foreign-owned businesses, 766 are Swedishowned, 378 are Dutch-owned and 360 Norwegian-owned.

With 1,357 foreign-owned business, retail and transport is the biggest sector with foreign ownership, followed by 535 foreign-owned finance and insurance businesses and 423 businesses in the industrial sector.

According to Philipp Schröder, a professor of economics at the University of Aarhus and chairman of The Tuborg Research Centre for Globalisation and Firms, the increase in foreign ownership is no cause for concern.

“At the end of the day it doesn’t really matter whether Georg Jensen is owned by Bahrainis, the Chinese or Danes,” Schröder told Ugebrevet A4. “What is important is that Danes work at the company and that their salaries contribute to Denmark’s GDP.” Schröder added that there were some disadvantages of having foreign owners, saying that they could be more likely to withdraw their investments than Danish owners if their business faces obstacles.

Foreign owners can also create cultural problems according to Peter James Stark, the international secretary for the trade union HK Handel.

“We have experienced management handing manuals to employees that detail their day down to what they would be doing exactly between 8:05 and 8:30am and things like that,” Stark told Ugebrevet A4. “The private use of phones and messaging was also banned. This sort of micro-management does not fit well with the Danish working culture.”

The increase in foreign ownership is driven mostly by investment from Asia. Asian ownership of Danish businesses rose over 1,000 percent from 3.9 billion kroner in 2004 to 46.5 billion kroner in 2012. According to Ugebrevet A4, Asian owners are primarily targeting Danish biotech, cleantech and pharmaceutical businesses.

American ownership has dropped five percent to 64.5 billion kroner over the same period, however, while the value of Australian and New Zealand ownership dropped a massive 48 percent to 3.6 billion kroner. African ownership also dropped from around one billion kroner to 0.3 billion kroner.

Ugebrevet A4’s study was conducted using figures provided by information services

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7

Danish Shipbuilder “ship-shapes” the steel for shipbuilding in Vietnam Danish shipbuilder Gunnar Lage has just started on his 17th year in Vietnam. Initially, he thought he would stay only six months.

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he Danish shipwright, naval architect and former managing shipyard director Gunnar Lage did not predict correctly about the future when he in 1996 embarked an aeroplane in the airport of Hanoi after he had accepted a contract for supporting the nearly newborn Vietnamese shipbuilding industry in the development of the industry, which actually saw the daylight in 1996.

Lage had optimistically calculated with six months stay in Vietnam but due to his growing love of the country and the work he got involved in he has now just started on his year number 17.

Due to Vietnam’s geography with a coast line as long as Norway’s, shipyards have existed in the country for many years, but they were small and dedicated to serve the local market for small transport ships and fishing vessels.

However, as part of Vietnam’s development after the end of the war in 1975 and especially after the introduction of a market economy (called “doi moi”) in 1986 the situation changed and 12 of 8 ScandAsia.Indo China • April 2013

the medium sized shipyards along Vietnam’s 3400 km coast line were merged into one shipbuilding group with the aim of establishing an international industry, which could offer shipbuilding to the both the domestic and the international market. An attractive opportunity because Vietnam had seen how positive such industries have developed in Korea and Japan.

The group of selected yards however all needed an upgrade and a modernization in order to cope with the competition from abroad and the Vietnamese got in contact with Gunnar Lage, who at that time had concluded to leave the European shipbuilding industry as most shipbuilding already in the mid nineties moved outside Europe.

The job Gunnar Lage was asked to do consisted of making the yards more effective, to improve the shipbuilding technique and finally to restructure the yard organizations and thereby enabling them to co-operate better.

Lage was well dressed for the job as he had learnt all sectors in Danish shipyards from youngest

apprentice to managing director both within design and construction and management. He had as well been “lent out” to American and other shipyards to teach them shipbuilding technology, related to special ship types.

But Lage’s initial investigations made it clear, that the process would take time and first after three years with basis in Hanoi and countless journeys up and down the coast line of Vietnam digging into the soul of each of the selected yards he could clean his working table and deliver his thick and comprehensive “To Do and Not o Do” manuals to the Vietnamese management board of the shipbuilding group.

Lage smiles when he tell about the job and the result and especially when he explains how he learned that the words “Yes” and “No” and also the words “Time Frame” have completely different meanings in the Vietnamese culture than in Europe and United States not to speak about the meaning in Denmark and Scandinavia. ”The Vietnamese learned definitely a lot from

me, but I also learned a lot from them - they were fruitful years!” Lage says.

After the completion of the shipyard upgrading project, new jobs were waiting Gunnar Lage in Vietnam. The Danish International Development Agency, Danida agreed in 2000 to assist Vietnam by improving the infrastructure in the Mekong Delta as the poor structure was a heavy burden for the development of the river delta. The assistance was intended as an improvement of the river crossings, which the population relied heavily upon. Part of the assistance was construction of 14 river ferries, larger than most of the approximately 100 ferries which operated in the Mekong Delta at that time. The plan was to let the ferries be built at Vietnamese shipyards in convenient distance to the delta.

Gunnar Lage was employed by Danida to act as representative for the Danish government/ Danida and be overall manager for the project.

This assignment required that Lage relocated from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City, thereby closer to the

Mekong Delta.

The assignment was five years with long periods of stay in the Mekong, which is a very special part of Vietnam, an area of the same size as Denmark but with a population of 18 Million people and with countless number of river arms and canals.

According to Lage the project developed into a very challenging one because the construction of 14 ferries was actually only a part of the complete package, which also comprised optimization of the totally six ferry companies, which operates all ferries in the Mekong Delta as well as upgrading of four vocational schools with the purpose of enabling the schools to train workers, who then would be able to maintain and service not only the new ferries but also the old ones (100 in all). A number of new ferry crossings should be developed and built and last, but not least, a ferry financing institution should be established so that the provinces in the Mekong Delta could finance themselves when they were in need for new ferry tonnage.

Gunnar Lage explains that all aspects in a living community as the Mekong Region were involved one way or the other and just to mention a few: Agriculture, industry, general transport, ferry building, ferry repair stations, river and canal environment an not at least all the local political administrations.

A very special jigsaw puzzle was the fact that other nations than Denmark financed the construction of road bridges over certain river arms for which reason ferry crossings should have the flexibility to be relocated. We did that with success says Gunnar Lage.

“It ended up in being the most multi package project, which I have been involved in during my now 50 years in ship design and shipbuilding tells Gunnar Lage. I loved it and I loved the Vietnamese locals, which I had to work together with.”

To be continued in next edition of ScandAsia IndoChina April 2013 • ScandAsia.Indo China

9

Life after Dam

Norway’s contribution to Laos’ hydropower Long before a USD 650 million hydropower project in Laos began operating in January, thousands of low-land Lao and ethnic minorities had to relocate their homes to new given villages. But can they attain a sustainable future after the change of location?

By Sippachai Kunnuwong

10 ScandAsia.Indo China • April 2013

(C)THPC/Jim Holmes

Moving out On January 19, 2013, the USD 650 million ThuenHinboun Expansion Project was inaugurated in Borikhamxay and Khammuan provinces, 5 hours south of Vientiane, the Lao capital. The ceremony was marked by the company’s shareholders – energy key players from Laos, Thailand and Norway – along with Lao prominent politicians.

The new hydropower plant was the second mega project the Thuen-Hinboun Power Company (THPC) has carried out in Laos and an expansion of the first-ever cooperation between its government and foreign investors since the cold war.

Just days after the launch, an activist group International Rivers published a report painting an intriguing back side of the event that had not garnered a similar attention from the media.

“The project has displaced over 7,500 people and will affect the livelihoods of tens of thousands more people living downstream,” says Tania Lee, International Rivers’ Lao coordinator in a report from her visit to the affected area in Laos over the past year.

The new project has twice the capacity of the first plant and will, according to Lee, “double the amount of water being diverted into the Hai and Hinboun Rivers, causing extensive flooding and other impacts.”

Its biggest footprint went directly to the people. 4358 persons from 760 households had to move out of their old homes to resettlement villages, provided by the company. They were, however, provided with full compensation of housing, money, electricity, community facilities and necessary goods. A further 4436 persons living along the downstream of the power station who faced extensive flood water were relocated and given compensated budget and other needs.

Also, approximately 4500 persons downstream will be relocated in the next four years. The overall number of resettled and relocated persons is a little over 13,000 when all is completed.

“THPC – which is partly-owned by the Norwegian state-owned company Statkraft – is profiting at the expense of some of Southeast Asia’s poorest people,” Lee said in an interview with a local Thai newspaper.

Laos’ economic tipping point To really examine the costs and benefits of such a project that has run for over a decade, what impact it has created, it helps to go back in time.

From the 1970s to mid-90s, Laos’ economy had remained silent and struggling.

“Back then, the country was so poor and isolated. Only 5 percent of its people had access to electricity,” says Aiden Glendinning, THPC’s communication advisor.

“The only money the government received from abroad was the fees from the airline companies when their aircrafts flew across its territory.”

The Thuen-Hinboun Power Plant, THPC’s first project, operated since 1998, was the first major industrial project in Laos in 30 years. The project was deemed as a tipping point for Lao economy as ninety-five percent of its produced power are being exported to Thailand under a long-term contract, ten percent sold to Laos.

(C)THPC

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olourfully dressed women of all ages rush around the compound like they are preparing a feast of sorts.

The crinkling sound of plates and forks tells of a meal being prepared.

One lady serves papaya salad on a table full of mouth-watering delicacies – all Lao favorites.

A middle-aged lady from Vientiane is there this afternoon to teach the female villagers - who all come from different tribes - how to process Som Pa, or smelly sour/pickled fish. The women recently formed the Women’s Union and Som Pa is a way to add product-value to the growing number of fish caught near the village, as well as to preserve them.

“You wanna try?,” the trainer asks one villager.

She nods. They swop places and an amateur fish cutting session begins.

This would be unthinkable only two years ago: In one kitchen various ethnic minorities joined together with low-land Lao - the mainstream culture - in a communal environment. The mountaineers used to live in isolation, uphill or along the river and relied on wild food and husbandry. There were little need for money, no access to electricity, and almost no connection to the outside world.

All this changed with the mega hydropower project that washed away their traditional livelihoods. Everything, for better or worse.

The Thuen-Hinboun Expansion Project in full operation since January 2013 “We bring hard currency to Laos. We pay profit taxes, dividends, royalties and the Lao shareholder is sixty percent. 98-99 percent of our staff are Lao nationals,” says Robert Allen, THPC’s general manager.

So far the company, shared by state-owned Electricite du Laos, Statkraft of Norway and Thailand’s GMS Power has contributed more than USD 300 million to the country’s state finance. And with the operation of a new dam, the production capacity will double from 220 MW to 500 MW: an estimation of USD 35 million is expected to be injected into Lao, annually.

Statkraft in Laos Not only an iconic facelift for Lao economy, the first dam was also a boon for a foreign company like Statkraft whose part of business strategy is “to develop, build, and operate hydropower in emerging markets.” Lars Magnus Guther, the company’s corporate communication advisor, indicates that Laos was such a market with a growing energy demand and huge untapped potential for hydropower.

Guther says Statkraft and Swedish Vattenfall were approached by the Lao government and Asian Development Bank (ADB) back in the early90s after Statkraft’s “100 years of hydropower competency” caught their attention. The two companies established a joint venture under Nordic Hydropower and took a 20% stake in THPC. Later, in 2001, Statkraft bought Vattenfall’s share and took over the company.

The Norwegian counterpart provided THPC with technical support, equipment and Operation and Maintenance managers posted at both project camp grounds.

Is it really “Green”?

“Sustainability” and “green economy” are among the banners THPC and Statkraft have been promoting over the years, thanks to their hydropower production that leaves zero waste and is renewable and a long list of supporting schemes aimed at helping the villagers create a long-lasting future.

But a Canadian-born activist Lee says she is rather skeptical about such offerings being at all viable. From her visits to resettlement and relocation sites, Lee states that some of the plans to restore the people’s livelihoods are proved difficult. For example, at one village, there was an attempt to develop fish ponds in the rice fields. Villagers were provided with compensated land and development equipment and training but it ended up a failure as “the valley doesn’t have good soil for dry-season rice farming.”

The loss of fishery is another alarming concern for the villagers who have not been relocated to the new villages. Lee says that stronger water flow wipes away aqua-plants along the river tributaries – what used to be the breeding place for fish – which causes frustration to the villagers who still rely on fishery as THPC’s support hasn’t yet arrived.

“That kind of situation where you have a total loss of food security and the future of people there.

I would challenge how to call that part of the green economy, really.”

Long road to sustainability During a meeting I had with Robert Allen, THPC’s general manager, at the company’s Headquarters in Vientiane, the veteran investment consultant admits he understands that changes come with consequences.

“We don’t deny that we have to move them but the new livelihoods does take an effort in time,” says Allen, adding that new paddy rice field takes 3-4 years to develop into full production. “So along the way we keep supporting the villagers until they achieve it.” The achievement is the income target April 2013 • ScandAsia.Indo China

11

Students of the relocation village Phoumakneng studying in a Lao language class.

per household of USD 1800 for resettled villagers, USD 1450 for relocated persons - 25-40% above the income levels surveyed at the beginning of the project - by diverse livelihoods.

A whole range of activities, from cash crops planting, commercial fisheries to the development of various types of fish ponds, are being introduced to the villagers by Livelihoods staff, part of Social and Environmental Division (SED), a compartment within THPC, which Allen states “report directly to me.” These projects were born to find suitable career choices for each household in a mix of schools, clinics and community infrastructures – “which didn’t exist before” – as well as the village organisation, another crucial task.

“It’s easy to put in an irrigation scheme you see in Thailand and elsewhere. But if you don’t teach the villagers how to manage it, it can be a waste.

So we’re spending a lot of time doing that too,” says Allen.

One example of the managerial buildup that is prevailing and has created quite an income for the villagers can be seen at Ban Keosenkham, located on the valley heading to the reservoir gate, where the Village Fishery Group was established. The villagers, under a supervision of THPC’s Fishery staff and district administration, regulated their own fishing rules.

Destructive fishing equipment is prohibited and fishing licensing has been set up. They also set a selling price with the merchants who travel daily to the village to buy the just-caught products.

“We are now looking into finding a suitable breeding zone for fish in the reservoir so that the number of fish will last for generations to come,” says Xiangkhan, head of the Village Fishery Group.

Allen says these approaches were taken from other community projects that had been successful in the past, in the likes of the United Nations’, World Bank’s, ADB’s and whatnot. “Are we going to have some failures? Yes, but we have to adapt. That’s the attitude we have: we change when things don’t work.”

development that has taken place means many things to many families. A new Hyundai van that is parked in front of one house displays the success of hard work that has been put into developing their first potatoes farming. Mushroom farming is also a hit here: three families even split their roles in cultivating them.

The all-weather roads have led many traders from the city coming in to pick up cash crops to sell. “It has become the main livelihood component for villagers here,” says a local truck driver whose deliveries are for the factories in the city and in Vietnam. He comes to the village during the harvesting seasons and, in a good day, would collect almost two tons of sliced potatoes.

“These villagers are from different tribes. In the beginning, some didn’t want to work because it’s not in their nature, but when they saw the neighbours profiting from the farming, it has encouraged them to do the same,” he says.

The access to electricity is a stark development

The future

One of the Livelihoods staff showing an example of a good cut.

At the resettlement site of Nong Xong, the 12 ScandAsia.Indo China • April 2013

too. They were given free installation of electricity but are responsible for paying their own electricity bills. Irrigation scheme electricity bills are paid by the company or subsidised for varying periods of time.

However critics have doubted how much benefits the project can provide to Laos as a whole, when majority of THPC’s production is being exported to Thailand and the Laotians are buying it back at a higher rate.

“The problem with electricity [in Laos] is that it’s very difficult to transport,” explains Glendenning, suggesting that the country full of natural richness is so vast when compared to its 6 million population. “To build transmission to the north of the country for only a handful hundreds is too expensive.”

On my way back from the project-inspection trip, I visited a middle school at Phoumakneng, the relocation village, a properly built building located on a higher land overlooking the entire village. But a high school across the yard is not of the same standards.

“We got compensated for what we had before. It was our traditional methods of building: to use woods and natural materials,” says the school principal Waan Phrakhunthong.

“I think we’re better off this way. Students from different villages don’t have to walk a long distance to get education anymore. We’re right here.”

Eager to hear what other villagers think of the future that will hold for all of them, I went to talk to the village head Phoumy Phetbounthong.

“Do you think you will be able to live here for a long time?” I asked.

“Oh yes. I will live here. My children, grandchildren will live here. We are stable here,” says Phetbounthong.

Those assuring words do not necessarily guarantee what will come next, but there’s one thing the general manager Allen holds dear in mind.

“Is every villager 100% happy yet? No and that’s going to be a challenge for long-term but the approach is going very well. There are also summaries of what we need to work on – improving soil and livelihoods. But we have to stay until we achieve.”

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April 2013 • ScandAsia.Indo 20/03/13 China 13.16 13

Danish Minister for Trade and Investment visited Niels Brock in Vietnam

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he Danish Minister for Trade and Investment, Ms. Pia Olsen Dyhr, recently visited Niels Brock - the Danish Business College which is present in Hanoi and HCMC and have 300 students who are all working hard to obtain an international bachelor’s degree. Niels Brock has their faculty within the Foreign Trade University.

“I held a speech for the students here in HCMC telling them about Denmark and the financial cooperation between Vietnam and Denmark,” Ms. Pia Olsen Dyhr told ScandAsia.

“The Danish government is very much interested in good business relations between Vietnam and Denmark and personally I really like Vietnam and look forward to coming here often,” the minister added.

Ms. Anya Eskildsen, President of Niels Brock Copenhagen Business College, took part in the Minister’s visit to Vietnam.

“We are happy that we had the opportunity to arrange this visit to our partner university in Vietnam,” Ms. Anya Eskildsen said.

“We hope it will lead to a review of some of the regulations in Denmark in order to make it easier for Danish universities to export education.”

“We are very happy to have Niels Brock in Vietnam – so far Hanoi and HCMC – but currently, Niels Brock is present in Vietnam through our American University.”

14 ScandAsia.Indo China • April 2013

Thoresen subsidiaries expand in Vietnam

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hailand-based Thoresen Thai Agencies Public Company Limited’s two subsidiaries in Vietnam, Baconco and Thoresen Vinama Logistic Company, in March inaugurated two expanded facilities in the southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province’s Phu My I Industrial Park.

Thoresen Vinama Logistic Company inaugurated the second phase of its bonded warehouse increasing the area of the existing bonded warehouse to 20,000 sqm from its previous size of 16,000 sqm. The new bonded warehouse will be the biggest and the most modern facility in Cai Mep Thi Vai port area with a designed capacity of 75,000 tonnes of cargo.

At the same time, the other Thoresen subsidiary, Baconco, a producer of pesticide and fertiliser also inaugurated its expanded wrapping manufacturing factory by 50,000 sqm bringing the total area of the factory in the Industrial Park to 120,000 sqm with modern production lines.

Total investment of these two projects is about VND170 billion ($8 million). Thoresen set its foot in Vietnam three years ago and has so far invested nearly $40 million in its Vietnam businesses, which included the Baconco fertiliser factory, a 20 per cent stake in Baria Serece port and the new Thoresen Vinama Logistic Company.

Thoresen said the bonded warehouse in Phu My Industrial Park is to address the rising demand for professional logistics services. Baconco, a leading domestic fertiliser manufacturer that Thoresen purchased in 2009, has expanded into warehousing, taking advantage of its prime location near Baria Serece port.

April 2013 • ScandAsia.Indo China

15

The impacts of multilingualism

By Frazer Cairns, Head of UWCSEA Dover Campus

Author biography

Frazer Cairns started his career as a management consultant and journalist after graduating from the University of York in the UK. He retrained as a science teacher and subsequently taught in the UK, Indonesia and Switzerland. He is currently the Head of UWCSEA Dover Campus.

Gajo, L., (2007) Linguistic Knowledge and Subject Knowledge: How Does Bilingualism Contribute to Subject Development? The International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 10(5) pp 563 – 581

D

espite multilingual education dating back to the ancient world in a variety of different cultures, multilingualism was seenuntil relatively recently by many education researchers as an exceptional, even hazardous, phenomenon. Trying to learn through a language other than the language spoken at home (for example learning science in English rather than Danish) was cited as the root of a number of difficulties: cognitive overload, semi-lingualism and language confusion to name but three. Learning through more than one language was, essentially, bad for you.

This point of view obviously has profound implications for international schools, where a potentially large proportion of the community is learning through a language other than their home language. It is not at all unusual for parents sending their children to a school where English is the working language to worry that speaking their home language with their children will at best impede their progress in English and at worst confuse them so that they end up speaking no first language.

Thankfully, modern educational research now sees multilingualism as a potential asset that provides learners with a strategic (and significant) advantage rather than as a cause for concern. As one might perhaps expect, speakers of multiple languages learn further languages more easily—they seem to have a higher metalinguistic awareness (in other words, they show a better understanding of the nature of linguistic structures) and a more analytical approach towards the social and pragmatic functions of language. However, more interestingly, research has suggested that a ‘uniqueness’ exists in the development of multilingual students when compared to their monolingual peers.

Empirical research has shown that multilinguals ‘know things’ that transcend the purely linguistic level according to Laurent Gajo1, a professor at the University of Geneva. In Gajo’s view of learning, the different languages interact and combine to generate, not the simple addition of distinct competences (i.e., not just two monolingual halves welded together), but rather an original, individual, complex competence on which the user may draw. Speaking multiple languages, it seems, makes you better not just at other languages, but also potentially more creative and better at mathematics, science or history.

It is important to say that learning through a language other than your home language is not an easy option or one that will yield instant results. Though

16 ScandAsia.Indo China • April 2013

many children attain basic communicative competence in a language relatively quickly, the more specific language demanded in an educational setting takes longer to acquire; most students will, in fact, initially see a drop in their overall performance as they try to adjust. Much will also depend on personal factors such as motivation, the child’s communicative needs and levels of anxiety. However, in the medium term, the drop is usually compensated for and a multilingual child usually regains their age-appropriate progress. Often times they surpass their monolingual peers.

Going back to the worried parent, should you, then, speak to your child in English at home if it is not their mother language? The research is clear - no. For a child learning in a second language it is vital to maintain their mother tongue. Skills acquired in the first language can be transferred to the second language so, for example, if your child has developed good reading skills in French or Korean, she is likely to be able to apply these skills when reading English. (One useful transferable reading skill is the ability to guess the meaning of unfamiliar words from context.) Similarly, the skills of being able to plan out a piece of writing or develop an argument in a persuasive essay can be applied in the second language once they have been learned in the first.

Many children in international schools plan to return to their home country at some point to continue their education. Students who neglect their mother tongue can often suffer from problems of identity loss or distance from their parents, and from other family members in their home country. Both of these are strong reasons to make sure they do not have gaps in their mother tongue.

Educational research has generated its fair share of false conclusions—playing Bach to your children and having potted plants in the classroom does not necessarily make them better at maths despite the claims made in some studies. It is important to recognise that the range of factors that go together to generate the positive consequences of multilingualism are not as yet fully understood, and that much will depend on the personal factors mentioned above. The choices of the institution (for instance, its language curricula and its teaching methodology) will also have a critical influence on a learner’s willingness, or reluctance, to transfer resources from one context into another. However, what is clear is the importance of the strategic and transferable skills that multilingualism can bring to children as they face a complex and rapidly changing world.

LEARNING THROUGH THE ARTS The arts are not mere diversions from the important business of education; they are essential resources.

Elliot W Eisner, “The Role of the Arts in Cognition and Curriculum” (2001)

M

usic, visual arts, dance, drama- as Elliot W Eisner says, the arts form an essential part of a well balanced education. At KIS International School, the arts are valued as a means of communication and self-expression, and as a way for students to develop an understanding of the world around them.

But art isn’t just a way to become a better student. Studying art can be a pathway to a successful career. Design and creativity are fast growing industries, with more new employees in these fields than other fields. A degree in the Arts provides a broad foundation for many career choices. KIS students have been accepted with scholarships into prestigious art universities such as San Francisco Art Institute, Savannah Collect of Art and Design and School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

There are more reasons for doing the arts. In a digital age, art is valuable in offering students the opportunity for fine motor skills development, keen observation and an alternative means of communication. A student fluent in the arts will have more success at making connections and also develop intra-personal understanding. The arts also provide an outlet for students whose strength is in using their hands or bodies to express ideas more ably than in written form. It’s a different way to be successful.

Throughout their journey at KIS, each child participates in many art activities.

There is a special “Artigras” week, there are plays and performances, art exhibitions and competitions, a film festival, visiting artists, busking day, talent shows and more.

There are ways for children to express themselves which go beyond writing essays. Each child should be given the opportunity to try various forms of expression, and to engage with the arts to become well-rounded, creative, international citizens. KIS allows each student, through their particular talents and thoughts, to be a star and shine.

Linda Belonje, BA Eng, MA Comms Director of Marketing and Development KIS International School, Bangkok linda@kis.ac.th www.kis.ac.th Tel. +66(0) 2274 3444 18 ScandAsia.Indo China • April 2013

ISS International School was founded in 1981 to serve the expatriate community in Singapore

ISS

is an authorised International Baccalaureate (IB) World School with a multicultural environment for students from more than 50 countries with no dominant group. It is the ONLY IB World School in Singapore specialising solely in the IB, incorporating IB Primary Years, IB Middle Years and the IB Diploma Program. It is also the first to offer a one-to-one Apple Macbook program. ISS has a high percentage of IBO workshop leaders, moderators and examiners among its staff, one of the highest in Asia.

ISS International School is:

Academic Program

• An established PYP, MYP and DP authorized IB World School, with years of experience offering each program.

• A truly international school with a multicultural environment, comprising of students from over 50 countries with no dominant culture.

• A school with outstanding student support, including ESL, counselling and university advising.

• The first international school in Singapore with an Apple MacBook program.

• Known for student activities, including an established CAS (Creativity, Action, Service) program with an extensive list of activities, field trips and the adventurous activity week held each year.

• ISS is an authorized IB World School offering PYP (Kindergarten 1 – Grade 5), MYP (Grade 6 – 10) and DP (Grade 11– 12). The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) accreditation enables ISS to offer a High School Diploma to their IB Diploma and IB Diploma course graduates.

• ISS offers pre-IB Diploma skills and IB Diploma subject preparation courses during the summer.

• Academic Year – August to June (Semester 1: August to December, Semester 2: January to June).

Faculty • Teachers from 18 countries.

• Predominantly trained in United States, Britain, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia.

Many faculty members are IBO moderators, examiners and workshop leaders.

Student Information • Students from over 50 countries.

• Class sizes – elementary school: 15-20 students, middle school: 20-24 students, high school: 15-20 students.

Admissions • Admissions staff are available year round to meet with potential families regarding admission for all three schools.

• Applications are accepted year round, subject to places being available.

• Please refer to the following link for the admission procedures: http://www.iss.edu.sg/ admission_procedures.php • Students must pass the English language proficiency test to be eligible for admission.

ISS International School Elementary and Middle School campus 25, Paterson Road, Singapore 238510 Tel: (65) 6235 5844 High School campus 21, Preston Road, Singapore 109355 Tel: (65) 6475 4188 www.iss.edu.sg Email: admissions@iss.edu.sg April 2013 • ScandAsia.Indo China

19

Sustainability across borders Talent development and internationalization through an exchange project with a partner school in Singapore • Talent and exchange project with the Millenia Institute in Singapore • Common theme is sustainability • Participation in the project is a reward for students across year groups and classes at Nyborg Gymnasium • Students visit each other and stay in private homes • Project is part of the internationalization, which is on the agenda of Nyborg Gymnasium

B a g s væ r d k o s t s k o l e gymnasium tid til talent

Bagsværd kostskole & gymnasium (Bk) er en udviklingsorienteret og traditionsrig skole grundlagt i 1908. elever, der vælger en uddannelse hos os, siger ja til fællesskab, faglighed, seriøsitet og individuel talentudvikling. det vi på Bagsværd kostskole & gymnasium kalder for: tid til talent. vi tilbyder: • • • • • • •

dansk uddannelse med et internationalt præg grundskole, 10. kl., studentereksamen (stX) danmarks første femårig Biotek-uddannelse 8.kl.-3.g sport- og talentklasse fra 7. kl. mulighed for morgentræning tirsdage og torsdage aktiv brug af it og internet i undervisningen enkeltværelser til kostelever, lektiehjælp hver dag

scan Qr koden og besøg vores hjemmeside www.bagkost.dk aldershvilevej 138 • dk-2880 • Bagsværd • telefon: +45 44980065 • e-mail: bk@bagkost.dk

20 ScandAsia.Indo China • April 2013

I

nternationalization opens the world and brings us closer together across language, culture, education etc. A good example is the common talent and exchange project between the Millennia Institute in Singapore and Nyborg Gymnasium. The common focal point of collaboration is the theme sustainability.

Singapore like Denmark lacks natural resources. Why not inspire each other in ways to solve our challenges? That is what the partner schools, the Millennia Institute in Singapore and Nyborg Gymnasium from Denmark, do.

The theme of cooperation is sustainability- cultural and enhanced talents are side benefits.

• The Millennia Institute is a business school, but we have chosen science as our approach to cooperation. Therefore, it is exciting for both parties to work with sustainability from an environmental, scientific and economic perspective, says Helene Bendorff Kristensen, IB Coordinator at Nyborg Gymnasium.

• Our students receive not only an international horizon, but they will also be able to use their subjects and their English on a professional basis. It provides a vision of a different culture, where you do things in a different way.

International reward for talent • Participation in the project is an academic and cultural reward to those students given the chance thereto. They really learn about other cultures, broaden their horizons, says Helene Bendorff Kristensen: • It is also extremely instructive when students live privately with local students from our Asian partner school. And from a subject content view it is rewarding to deal with the common theme sustainability.

Bagsværd Kostskole og Gymnasium

B

agsværd Kostskole and Gymnasium is a Danish school steeped in traditions and yet in constant development. The school was founded in 1908 on the brink of Bagsvaerd Lake 14 km north of Copenhagen.

Education starts in the Danish kindergarten school and ends with the Danish Gymnasium.

Boarding school students are taken in from the Danish 7th grade, but the greater part of the students joins during the last years of Grade school or in the gymnasium. The boarding house, Haraldsgave, offers 60 fully furnished single rooms where the students are helped daily on a daily basis with their homework by well educated staff who listen to the students.

Bagsvaerd has recently started Denmark’s first five year A-level for students who want to specialize in biotechnology on a higher level.

Bagsværd Kostskole og Gynmasium Aldershvilevej 138, 2880 Bagsværd +45 44 98 00 65 Email: bk@bagkost.dk Website: www.bagkost.dk

Nyborg Gymnasium has stx, hf, IB and boarding school

A

Danish upper-secondary school environment with an international agenda.

Nyborg Gymnasium addresses the growing internationalisation with programmes, study streams and a boarding school, which makes the ‘international’ the order of the day.

The students at Nyborg Gymnasium have an eye open onto the world, and they are fully capable of exploring this in school. This happens, for example, if they are students in the study stream Going Global, stay at the boarding school with other young people from all over the world, or if they are students in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, where all subjects are taught in English.

Over recent years Nyborg Gymnasium has expanded and rebuilt school facilities to ensure that the framework for the tuition is updated and inspiring. The latest addition to the school is a new building for the sciences, and a special ‘language’ zone. At the boarding school the students have their own rooms, a strong community, and a kitchen, with focus on organic cooking, providing the meals of the day.

Nyborg Gymnasium ….en route to the world

Bergen International School

T

he educational programme of the International School of Bergen (ISB) has been developed to help prepare its students for a successful future, whether that future is in the Hordaland region or outside the borders of Norway. Parents also choose ISB for the English language learning environment, the small class sizes and the challenge of the International Baccalaureate programmes. Our mission is to provide an internationally accredited education which serves the Bergen and business communities.

An education at ISB is recognized as quality far and wide. The school is accredited by the Council of International Schools and the New England Association of Schools and Colleges and is authorized by the International Baccalaureate Organization to offer their Primary Years, Middle Years and Diploma Programmes.

ISB is committed to the ethos of continual school improvement and strategic planning which are essential features of accredited schools.

Our students and staff ISB provides educational programmes in English to children between the ages of 3 and 18. The students represent more than thirty different nationalities. The teachers all hold university degrees and appropriate teaching qualifications. Class sizes are small with normally 16 – 18 students.

Bergen International School Wilhelm Bjerknesvei 15, 5081 Bergen Phone +47 55 30 63 30 Fax +47 55 30 63 31 Website: www.isob.no E-mail: post@isob.no

International Baccalaureate

- an alternative to the Danish ‘Studentereksamen’ • internationally recognized • gives admission to universities all over the world • taught in English You can stay at Nyborg Gymnasium’s boarding school.

Contact us for more information about the programme and the boarding school.

Deadline for applications: 15th of March

Nyborg Gymnasium & Kostskole Skolebakken 13, DK-5800 Nyborg, tlf +45 65 31 02 17 post@nyborg-gym.dk, www.nyborg-gym.dk

EngElskspråklig privatskolE for barn og ungdom mEllom 3 og 18 • • • • • • •

Få elever i hver klasse Trygt læringsmiljø med god individuell oppfølging God kontakt med foreldre Internasjonalt godkjente og utfordrende læreplaner Utmerkede resultater i internasjonale og norske nasjonalprøver Sentral beliggenhet med bybanestopp rett utenfor døren Nyhet– Internasjonal Videregående med godkjenning fra Lånekassen Contact us for more information: Tel 55 30 63 30 eller post@isob.no

April 2013 • ScandAsia.Indo China

21

Medium

Danish Ham with Beer

By Anders Holm Nielsen

A

terrific meal when serving a large number of guests. This recipe from Denmark combines the Danish love of pork with the fact that Danish beer is world renowned.

Evil

Serves 10 people Ingredients • 1 ham -- tenderized • ½ teaspoon • dry mustard • 4 tablespoons water • 1 cup brown sugar • 10 bay leaves • 1 liter of beer

Preparation • Remove all but a thin layer of fat from the ham.

• Score the top. Place in a roasting pan.

• Mix mustard, water and sugar to the consistency of prepared mustard.

• Cover the ham with this mixture.

• Stick cloves in the ham surface.

• Fasten the bay leaves to the ham with small skewers or toothpicks broken in half.

• Pour the beer over the ham and bake, uncovered, 30 minutes to the pound in an oven preheated to 220 ºC • Use the liquid in the pan as a sauce for the ham.

Danish Scalloped Potatoes (Creamed Potatoes) Potatoes are a very important ingredient in traditional Danish cooking.

Try this recipe for Danish scalloped potatoes. The potatoes go well with any type of steak or roast (beef, pork, lamb, veal).

Are you done?

Preparation

W

hen you have completed the above puzzles, please send your solution by fax to +66 2 943 7169 or scan and email to puzzles@ scandasia.com. We will make a lucky draw among the correct answers. Five lucky winners will receive a ScandAsia polo shirt.

Name:

___________________________________________________

Age: ________________________

Mobile:

___________________

Address:

__________________________________________________

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Email:

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Deadline for submitting your solution is 15 May 2013 22 ScandAsia.Indo China • April 2013

Ingredients • 5-6 pounds potatoes • 6 large onions – finely chopped • 4 crushed garlic gloves • Salt • Pepper • Mornay sauce (Béchamel sauce with shredded or grated cheese) • Cream (or milk if you are on a diet)

• Peel the potatoes and cut them into thin slices.

• Chop the onions • Mix mornay sauce and cream. ¼ of mornay sauce and ¾ of cream • Mix potatoes with onions and place it in an ovenproof dish • Add mix of cream and Mornay sauce so it nearly covers the potatoes.

• Add garlic, salt and pepper and stir lightly.

• Place in preheated oven at 180 degrees.

This 5 days / 4 nights private tour of Mekong and Phu Quoc Island can start any day Ask Indius Pedersen for details at travel@scandasia.com Day 1: HCMC - My Tho - Ben Tre - Can Tho (L/D) • 07:30 AM Pick up at your hotel, travel by bus to My Tho – 9:30 AM, board a wooden motor boat to Unicorn Island.

On this boat along the river’s bank, you’ll be passing through natural creeks, quiet villages and watch rural people going to work. You will see an interesting fishermen’s port, stilt houses (half on land, half on water). One of the boat’s stops during this trip is at a large orchard that has many different types of tasty tropical fruits for your enjoyments.

• Another boat stop is for the Turtle Island 1 hr from the previous one. Here, on a small row boat, you’ll see interesting transportation modes that local people use to move around.

From there, we’ll take you to a bee farm where you have a chance to taste a tasteful cup of authentic honey tea while checking out the folk music that is typical to only the people in Southern Vietnam.

• After that we’ll take you to a village where you can smell the flavor of coconut candies being made many yards away.

This is a great chance to witness how village people make candy and handcrafted items from coconuts. You might learn that those people can amazingly make dozens of useful products out of coconut trees.

• As your journey ends, you will return to My Tho by motorized boat and then travel to Can Tho. Overnight in Can Tho. Day 2: Floating market tour - Phu Quoc (B/L) • After breakfast, boarding a motor boat for a long distance trip to discover the area’s largest marketplace...on water!

Then cruising through small channels to visit a rice noodle making village, a large rice mill, and more fruit gardens.

Experience the “monkey Bridge» in the Delta. Visiting another floating marketplace and its surroundings before breaking for lunch.

• Then you will take taxi by yourself to airport and flight to Phu Quoc VN0498 at 13.05 pm. You arrive Duong Dong airport in Phu Quoc island, car/van picks you up from airport and transfer to hotel/resort. Dinner at your account.

Overnight in Phu Quoc.

Day 3: Phu Quoc Island - Swimming in the South (B/L/D) • Breakfast at hotel in Rach Gia. Then take morning boat to Phu Quoc. Check in hotel and relax.

• Afternoon visit the North to discover the primitive forest then visit the black peppers plantation at Khu Tuong, sightseeing at Phu Quoc national park. Enjoy swimming at the Dai beach.

Lunch. Return to your resort. Free at leisure in the afternoon.

Overnight in Resort.

Day 4: Phu Quoc (Natural forest in the North) (B/L/D) • Breakfast at Resort. The same morning, drive to An Thoi port, visit the Australian pearl farm on the way to the Southern island. Arrive the An Thoi port; embark the fishing boat to a thoi archipelago. Drop the anchor in a quite bay, angling to cacth few more Garrupas, snappers... Lunch with special barbecue seafood. After disembarking, drive to the Sao beach for your relaxion on the hammocks. Visit the Ham Ninh fishing village on the way back to the hotel.

Overnight in Resort.

Day 5: Phu Quoc - Sai Gon (B) • Breakfast at hotel. Free until transfer to airport for boarding to Hochiminh city.

End of services.

Price: Depending on season. Ask for a quotation here: travel@scandasia.com - Att.: Indius Pedersen Included: + Flight ticket Can Tho - Phu Quoc - Ho Chi Minh + Transports: Air conditioner tourist bus, boat trips in Mekong delta, bicycle. + English speaking tour guide + Entrance fee + Meals as indicated: B=Breakfast, L=Lunch, D=Dinner + 01 water bottles/person/1 day. + Accommodation in Can Tho + Phu Quoc: - Standard (2* hotel): Ninh Kieu Hotel + Kim Hoa Resort or Sea Star Resort - Superior (3* hotel) : Ninh Kieu Hotel or Saigon Cantho Hotel + Thien Hai Son Resort

or Huong Bien Hotel - Deluxe (4* hotel): Ninh Kieu 2 Hotel or Golf Cantho Hotel + Saigon Phuquoc Resort

or Sasco Blue Lagoon Resort Excluded: + Accommodation in Ho Chi Minh city + Airport transfer in Ho Chi Minh city at last day. + Drinking, other Foods, Tips and Personal Expense.

Condition: + Book 7 days before departure (except Peak Season) + Provide IDD or passport full name.

Children rates: + Free of charge for children under 4 years sharing bed with parents. + Surcharge 50% rate of adult for children (5-9 years) sharing bed with parents. + Over 10 years is adult’s rate. * The itinerary can be changed due to weather, tide levels and operating conditions. * Special request (diet or vegetarian, …) should be sent before your departure date.

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