ScandAsia Singapore - October 2011

OCT 2011

Singapore

Moving:

How Will The Kids Change?

Camilla Hall:

Swedish Rebel Entrepreneur ScandAsia.dk

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OctoberScandAsia.se 2011 • ScandAsia.Singapore 1

e h T IB World School in Singapore!

Specializing ONLY in the IB curriculum

ISS INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL Elementary & Middle School Campus 25 Paterson Road, Singapore 238510 Tel: (65) 6235 5844 Fax: (65) 6732 5701

High School Campus

21 Preston Road, Singapore 109355 Tel: (65) 6475 4188 Fax: (65) 6273 7065

Website

www.iss.edu.sg

Email

Focusing on Personal & Social Development, Maximizing Academic Excellence An authorized IB World School specializing only in the IB Primary Years, Middle Years and Diploma programs for ages 3 to18. Extensive range of IB Diploma subject options.

Multicultural environment with students from more than 50 countries – no dominant group.

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Outstanding student support services including university advising, counseling and guardianship programs.

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LEGIO DEL

admissions@iss.edu.sg

Accrediting Commission for Schools

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DU MONDE

Candidate School

Esteemed faculty members with a significant number of IB workshop leaders, examiners, moderators and authors.

1st International School in Singapore with a 1 to 1 Apple Macbook laptop program.

ISS is registered by the CPE l Registration no: 198104012C l Registration period: 16 June 2011 to 15 June 2015

OVERLAD STRATEGIEN TIL OS – SÅ PLEJER VI DINE INVESTERINGER

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Din investeringsrådgiver, der møder dig på din hjemmebane, forener ekspertise på højt niveau med en afslappet og imødekommende facon. Derfor vil du straks føle dig velkommen i Sydbank (Schweiz) AG.

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Kontakt os og aftal et møde Hvis du vil høre mere om, hvad vi kan tilbyde dig i Sydbank (Schweiz) AG, så læs mere på sydbank.ch eller kontakt Allan Hvii Head of Business Development +41 (0)71 227 81 60 allan.hvii@sydbank.ch

Coming Events

Your FREE ScandAsia Magazine in Singapore ScandAsia is the only magazine that covers all the Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish residents in Singapore.

We also publish a ScandAsia magazine in China, Thailand, and the rest of South East Asia.

Visit Heng Soon Farm

Annual DABS Ball

Date: 10 November 2011 Location: Heng Soon Farm

Date:

18 November 2011

Swedish Women’s Educational Association (SWEA) invites you to visit Heng Soon Farm, the most famous orchid farm in Singapore. This is a great opportunity to learn how to grow orchid. Scissors or pliers are not allowed but you can buy some of the beautiful orchids at a special price for SWEA members. Please register to sweaprogram@live.com. If you are the orchid lover, don’t miss this trip.

Save the date for the Annual Ball of the Danish Business Association of Singapore (DABS). Bring your friends and spouse to the most enjoyable party in Singapore ever! The evening night feature a delicious dinner, special drinks, entertaining activities and more. Check out www.dabs-singapore. com for latest information, venue, and the official invitation or please contact dabs@ dabs-singapore.com.

Danish Christmas Bazaar

SWA Christmas Lunch

Date: 26 November 2011 Location: Danish Seamen’s Church

Date: 7 December 2011, 12:30pm - 3:00pm Location: Danish Seamen’s Church

Please sign up for your own FREE copy: www.scandasia.com Publisher : Scandinavian Publishing Co., Ltd. 4/41-2 Ramintra Soi 14, Bangkok 10230, Thailand Tel. +66 2 943 7166-8, Fax: +66 2 943 7169 E-mail: news@scandasia.com Editor-in-Chief : Gregers A.W. Møller gregers@scandmedia.com Advertising : Frank Leong frank@scandmedia.com Finn Balslev finn@scandmedia.com Piyanan Kalikanon piyanan@scandmedia.com Nattapat Maesang nattapat@scandmedia.com Sasiprapa Silatham sasiprapa@scandmedia.com Chiraluck Maleekaew chiraluck@scandasia.com Graphic Designer : Supphathada Numamnuay supphathada@scandmedia.com Distribution : Pimjai Chaimongkol pimjai@scandmedia.com Printing : Advanced Printing Services Co., Ltd.

Daily news and features here: www.scandasia.com

Bring your family and friends to enjoy the annual Danish Christmas Bazaar at the Danish Seamen’s Church and be inspired to buy some of the wonderful festive decorations and other Christmas items. This year the date will be 26 November. You will find traditional Danish Christmas specialties, homemade delicacies, handmade decorations, home décor and advent calendars. Mark your calendar and more detail will be announced in www.dkchurch.com.

Scandinavian Women’s Association (SWA) will hold the annual Christmas lunch at the Danish church where you’ll enjoy delicious traditional Danish Christmas food. Sign up to Lis Heisselberg lis@heisselberg.dk before 4 December. Price 50 SGD Drinks are not included (except coffee & tea) but can be bought at the church. Let’s wear something Christmas style like “nissehue”, Lucia outfit or the like.

Danske Bank International S.A., R.C.S. Luxembourg, No. B. 14.101, Aut. 24859

“New job, new country, new culture. I’m confident knowing that my investments remain in good hands no matter where my career takes me next”.

Lisa, 37, CEO, International Private Banking client

Needs beyond the ordinary?

International Private Banking is a service for clients with high income or wealth, who have chosen to live outside the Nordic countries. You and your family are assigned an Executive Wealth Manager, a financial specialist, who can guide you on your overall private finances.

Your Executive Wealth Manager is available for meetings even outside normal office hours and can draw upon experts within the Danske Bank Group or our network of external specialists on areas such as domiciliation, insurance and audit.

Michael Blom, Executive Wealth Manager at Danske Bank International, will be present in South East Asia during fall 2011 and available for a private business meeting at your convenience. Call +352 46 12 75 434 or send an e-mail to michael.blom@danskebank.lu to set up a meeting and hear what Danske Bank International has to offer you.

For further information, please visit www.danskebank.lu

Family Time with Rounders

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ome 80 people, young and old, from the Swedish community here in Singapore, stepped out onto the field for a good game of rounders in the sun on 3 September 2011.

It was an afternoon of fun and games as families gathered at the OFS Sports Field at Dempsey.

After the games, the tired and hungry players were treated to Mr. Hoe’s BBQ hot dogs, hamburgers and several other dishes.

The family rounders event has become a much looked forward to yearly event and is actively participated by the Swedish community.

First ScandBizBar after the Summer Break

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round 60 people from Nordic Business Associations in Singapore joined in the ScandBizBar kick off on Thursday, 25 August.

After a good and long summer break, the event was an informal time of catching up with old friends and meeting new friends.

The ScandBizBar event is organised by the Swedish Business Association Singapore and has been since Jan 2011. The ScandBizBar takes place on every last Thursday of the month and the venue is decided and posted on the SBAS website blog.

6 ScandAsia.Singapore • October 2011

Experience life-defining education UWCSEA educates individuals to embrace challenge and take responsibility for shaping a better world.

Applications welcome for August 2012. East Campus will welcome our first IB Diploma (Candidate School) students to Grade 11 in August 2012. admissions@uwcsea.edu.sg T +65 6774 2653 www.uwcsea.edu.sg UWCSEA Dover is registered by the CPE CPE Registration No. 197000825H Registration Period 18 July 2011–17 July 2017 UWCSEA East is registered by the CPE CPE Registration No. 200801795N Registration Period 10 March 2010–9 March 2017

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SWEA Weekly Nature Walks

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very Monday, SWEA Singapore arranges a nature walk through the Bukit Timah nature reserve to the summit of Mount Bukit Timah , which is at 164m. There are usually 8-10 women enjoying this walk every week.

The trail which takes about an hour in hilly terrain is partially set with stairs to ease the passage and walking experience. There’s a rich, well preserved, animal wild life there.

Today, the reserve is one of the largest patches of primary rain forest left in Singapore.

Along with exotic birds, turtles and squirrels, the long tailed macaques are most commonly seen in this area. Flying lemurs and monitor lizards are spotted now and again.

One common way Singaporeans use to make the walking experience fun is either walking the trail bare foot or walking it backwards (local twist) This nature walk programme is a good way for new comers to meet new people and also to get a good work out in a peaceful surrounding.

Hat Themed Ladies Lunch

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magine the sight! Almost 80 ladies joined the Norwegian - Swedish Church on 4 October 2011 for the special hat themed ladies lunch! Everyone turned up in creative hats and bonnets that matched their attire on the day.

The lunch started at around 12PM with servings of Norwegian and Swedish style food. At around 1PM, almost everyone was done with their meal and was being entertained by the boys at the church, including the new Swedish priest, Lennart Uddling.

After dessert, and more entertaining performances, the ladies moved around greeting familiar faces, getting to know others, taking pictures and having a great time chatting and laughing.

The ladies lunch was organised by the church to get the ladies in the Swedish and Norwegian community further acquainted with each other through a great time.

1. Ladies lunch 2. From left: Anna Larsgaard, Mette Witte 3. From left: Elisabeth Kristiansen, Karianne Eriksen, Karen Helene Damsgaard, Melania Geest Eker, Kari Anne Grov Revheim 4. From left: Trine Luovigsen, Siri Reksnis, Ranveig Hoifodt

8 ScandAsia.Singapore • October 2011

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ScandAsia News Brief

Chubb Guards Now Securitas Guards

Finnair Flew in Angry Birds

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t was a challenge like no other. Eight of the most die-hard Angry Birds fans fought it out for four solid hours over an altitude of 10,000 metres. Using only slingshots and some really angry birds to get even with a bunch of hungry pigs, all knew that only one from amongst them could take home the coveted title in the ultimate shoot-out.

In the end, Finnair passenger Jani Uljas from Finland roasted the most pigs to emerge winner of Finnair’s Angry Birds Asian Challenge with a high score of 62,110.

The other magnificent seven Angry Birds fans who were selected to compete in the shoot-out were: Tay Sok Noy and Karen Tang from Singapore, Liew Soh Yuen and Khor Shyh Yong from Malaysia, Katja Presnal from the United States, Viktor Stenhjem from the United Kingdom and Lasse Kaila from Finland.

They were picked from among 600 entries received worldwide in an earlier contest to find the most avid Angry Birds fans to join their avian idols in their longest, non-stop flight from Helsinki to Singapore aboard Finnair.

Flight AY81 touched down at Singapore Changi Airport on 21 September at 4.20pm and docked at Terminal 1’s Gate D34.

Results of the Angry Birds Asian Challenge were announced at a press conference at the Terminal 1 Viewing Gallery.

During the competition, tweets were sent to fans everywhere so that they could follow every swish of wings and demise of pigs in real time.

Petteri Kostermaa, Finnair’s Director of Sales for Singapore and South East Asia said: “It was a thrilling fight to the finish with other passenger who happen to be Angry Birds fans joining in the game as well. We had a live Angry Birds mascot to egg the players on and turn up the excitement level. To add to the whole atmosphere, the body of our Finnair plane was painted with Angry Birds motif, as were the aprons worn by our flight attendants and passenger seat headrest.

For Finnair, the idea was through the Angry Birds tie-up with Rovio and Changi Airport to allow travellers from Singapore to get to know Finnair better and enjoy the way the airlines does things differently.

Developed by Finnish media entertainment company Rovio, the highly addictive Angry Birds video game for mobile devices has quickly become a worldwide phenomenon with more than 350 million downloads since its launch in December 2009.

10 ScandAsia.Singapore • October 2011

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ook out for guards from Chubb Guarding Services handling building security in Singapore - as of 28 September, they are actually working for the Swedish company Securitas. Eventually, the guards will change uniform to signal the new ownership.

Securitas AB bought the guarding service from Chubb for S$ 2 million - which will continue providing its other security products in Singapore. The guard business has currently annual sales of approximately S$17 million and employs over 600 guards, offering a variety of manned guarding services.

“By acquiring Chubb Guarding Services Singapore, which is also an “A” Grade Singapore Guard Company like Securitas in Singapore, Securitas has expanded its market share and business scale in Singapore,” the company said.

Chubb is owned by UTC Fire & Security - a unit of United Technologies Corp.

H&M Singapore Official Opening

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ore than 1,500 people got in line for the official opening of Swedish high street fashion label, H&M’s, first flagship store in Singapore on Saturday, 3 September 2011.

The crowd had started lining up the evening before in anticipation of the launch and the line had visibly snaked past Orchard Shopping Centre next door, down to 313 Somerset.

Although many were there as ardent supporters of the brand, others saw an opportunity to get a chance at some free merchandise, and were not dissapointed. Staff members were quick to hand out more than 2,000 umbrellas and around 5,000 bottles of mineral water.

Marking the official opening of the store, shopping gift cards worth $250 each were given to the first five fans in line. The following 10 people received $100 shopping gift cards each, while 300 others, not left out, were each given a $20 shopping gift card.

REC Singapore Unaffected by Lay-offs in Norway

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orwegian solar cell manufacturer REC’s newly opened factory in Singapore continues to operate at full capacity, while REC’s production in Norway has been suspended untill year end.

Renewable Energy Corporation (REC) earlier announced a temporary shutdown of production capacity in Norway throughout the third quarter, but on 26 August extended this shutdown untill year end. A total of around 600 employees in Norway are expected to be affected by the extended temporary lay-offs.

REC’s integrated wafer, cell and module production facility in Singapore continue to operate at full capacity.

Norwegian Business Summit kicks off in Singapore

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he Norway-Asia Business Summit in Singapore kicked off on Thursday, 29 September 2011 with a panel discussion themed how the Nordic nation’s business community can stay relevant and grow further in Asia, the world’s fastest growing economic region.

The conference was organised by the Norwegian Business Association (Singapore) but the 200 participants came from nine Asian countries to participate in the event.

Norway is consistently in the top five European countries investing in Singapore in FDI terms and the summit examines the growing trading relationship with Singapore and other economies in Asia. In total Deputy Managing Director Mr Tan Choon Shian of Singapore Economic Development Board gave the opening address. Framing Singapore’s economy against growth in Asia, he said:

“According to a study by BCG, Asia will account for 60% of the world’s trade by 2015.”

Summing up on the strengthening partnership between Singapore and Norway, Mr Tan Choon Shian added that as Singapore is being developed to be a relevant Home for Business, Innovation and Talent, Norwegian companies are very much welcomed to also consider Singapore as their Home in Asia.

“There are over 340 Norwegian companies with a presence in Singapore, and we look forward to growing our partnership to help these companies access Asia more effectively,” he said.

Norway is already the third largest European investor in Singapore, and the fifth largest globally, with a total of S$22.7 billion of Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) from Norway into Singapore.

Complete Your Christmas with

TUBORG Christmas Beer!

We are bringing in a LIMITED amount of Tuborg Christmas Beer and are ready to take your orders now.

Buy 24 cans for only $99.50 Stop by SCANDINAVIAN SHOPPE to place your order! Your Beer will arrive 2nd week in November.

SCANDINAVIAN SHOPPE * Scandinavian Shoppe 30 South Buona Vista Road How to find us?

- MRT to Buona Vista. Bus no. 200 to Lor Sarhad.

- MRT to Harbour Front / Vivo City. Bus no. 10, 30, 143 to Redwood West. Walk up South Buona Vista Road Tel:+65 6476 2575 - scandishoppe@singnet.com.sg

October 2011 • ScandAsia.Singapore 11

ScandAsia News Brief

170 Year Old Champagne Found New Home in Singapore New Priest at Swedish Church

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he Swedish Church in Singapore has a new priest, Lennart Uddling, who arrived in the first week of September from Sweden, after retiring as a priest there.

The previous priest, George Wiking and his wife Diana had returned to Sweden after serving at the church for two years. Lennart has moved to Singapore with his wife, Laila.

ScandAsia will bring an interview with the priest in its next issue.

Maersk on Time M

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170 year old champagne from Finland was on Thursday 22 September unveiled in Singapore. The Veuve Clicquot champagne was sold at an auction in Aland for 30,000 euros earlier this year.

The Singaporean resident, Ravi Viswanathan bought the bottle in fierce competition with other bidders in June in Mariehamn in Aland. He wanted the bottle so he could give it as a ten-year wedding anniversary gift to his wife Julia SherstyukViswanathan.

Julia Sherstyuk-Viswanathan added the expensive gift to her existing large collection of wine at her Russian restaurant, Buyan Russian Haute Cuisine & Caviar Bar in Singapore. The Singaporean restaurant already boasts a collection of 20 bottles of the world’s most rare vintage wines.

Among Buyan’s old bottles are seven bottles of 1907 Charles Heidsieck & Monopole Champagnes found in another shipwreck in the Baltic Sea. These were part of a Swedish cargo sunk by a German U-boat during World War I in 1916.

The recent bottle was part of a treasure of 145 wine bottles found by divers last year in a 19th century shipwreck off the Åland Islands, a Finnish-controlled archipelago of 6,500 islands in the Baltic Sea with a mostly Swedish speaking population. All 145 bottles in the shipwreck were opened, tasted and re-corked.

The authorities in Aaland, said the proceeds of the sale would go to a good cause, such as environmental measures to improve the quality of the water in the seas around Aaland, whose main industries are shipping, trade, banking, farming and food.

About 65 of the islands are inhabited, with 11,000 people living in Mariehamn, the archipelago’s only town, founded in 1861.

aersk has unveiled a revolutionary new service, Daily Maersk, on the Asia-North Europe trade lane which will dramatically change the way shipping is done. The service offers a daily departure, at the same time every day, seven days a week from four ports in Asia - Ningbo, Shanghai, Yantian and Tanjung Pelepas - yes, not Singapore... - and arrival on time at three ports in Europe - Felixstowe, Rotterdam and Bremerhaven.

The news service will start on 24 October 2011.

The daily service will be like a giant ocean conveyor belt on the world’s busiest trade lane with 70 Maersk Line ships tugging along on exact daily schedules.

To underline how firmly Maersk Line believes in the Daily Maersk concept, the company offers to pay a compensation if the containers should not arrive on time. This promise is a first in the shipping industry.

Today, as a general rule, shipping lines serving the Asia–North Europe trade are unreliable: 44% of all containers are late. 11% are more than two days late – and even as much as 8% are more than eight days late.

Before Daily Maersk, Maersk Line was already best-in-class with 75% of its vessels on the Asia–North Europe trade arriving on time.

It cannot be fun to be the other container liners operating on this route.

12 ScandAsia.Singapore • October 2011

Find one Private Banking advisor, then make sure he knows many specialists Wealth management today involves much more than selecting the best stocks and bonds. At Nordea Private Banking, we offer you an experienced personal advisor and a comprehensive overview of your wealth based on thorough research and rigorous analysis. One private banker, many specialists – making it possible.

Contact Nordea Singapore on +65 6317 6522, or e-mail eric.pedersen@nordea.com

Eric Pedersen, Private Banker

Nordea Bank S.A, Nordea Bank Finland Plc and Nordea Bank AB (publ) are part of the leading financial services group in the Nordic and Baltic Sea regions. Being the leading Nordic pan-European banking entity in Luxembourg, Nordea Bank S.A. focuses on international Wealth Management, Fund Distribution and Fund Management services. Our 400 employees serve a wide spectrum of international clients in more than 125 countries. Some products and services mentioned may, due to local regulations, not be available to individuals resident in certain countries. Published by Nordea Bank Finland Plc, Singapore Branch, 3 Anson Rd #22-01, Springleaf Tower, Singapore 079909.

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8/29/11 1:57 PM

Engage. Enlighten. Empower Innovation, communication, imagination, creativity and critical thinking! All of these traits are typical of a 21st century educated person. The Canadian International School’s (CIS) curriculum transcends traditional boundaries and offers students an education that is bold, flexible, creative, challenging and complex. Students are prepared for a rapidly changing world that contains fantastic new problems and exciting new opportunities.

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Contact Us Lakeside Campus (ECE to Grade 12) 7 Jurong West Street 41 - T: 6467 1732 E: admissions@cis.edu.sg Tanjong Katong Campus (ECE to Grade 10) 371 Tanjong Katong Road - T: 6345 1573 E: admissionstk@cis.edu.sg

www.cis.edu.sg

Canadian International School Pte. Ltd. CPE UEN: 199002243H Period of Registration: 8 June 2011 to 7 June 2015

A 21st Century Education for the Global Child

Becoming Culturally S

The Norwegian Global School functions as an online aid to Norwegian families all over the world who wish their children to be still in touch with the Norwegian language and culture. The main aim of this programme is to prepare the children for when it is time to go home to Norway.

By Kristene Silva Marie

Arne Heimestøl is one of the main teachers at the Global School who interacts online with Norwegian students all over the world. Arne visited Singapore towards the end of August to meet some of the Norwegian students he had been coaching and supervising online.

14 ScandAsia.Singapore • October 2011

ettling in a different country especially one with a culture that is unfamiliar can be quite challenging. In a similar fashion, resettling in the country of one’s origin can be equally as frustrating, particularly for those who have lived in a different country almost all their lives.

When it comes to children and teenagers, resettling in their home country can be a very difficult process for which they have to be mentally and emotionally prepared.

Naturally, children are the fast learners when it comes to adapting to the local environment. Understanding this means that within a few months, the culture shock stage is over for the child, and what they live and see is all they know.

Although this speaks greatly of how well these children can adapt to cultures that aren’t of their own, they would undoubtedly have some

trouble getting used to their own culture when the family decides to move back, in this instance, to Norway.

Fortunately for Norwegians all around the world, the Global School or Globalskolen provides education services online so that these families would not have to worry about the day when they have to head home.

Global School The Global School started in 1998 with just a handful of students, but gradually grew in numbers to around 1065 students in the autumn of 2010 making it the biggest complementary school for students abroad.

The school is a non-profit organisation with teachers who have high expertise in ICT and broad experiences from the primary and secondary schools in Norway.

Globalskolen cooperates with the academic communities in Norway and similar schools in Denmark,

Norwegian Abroad Arne Heimestøl is one of around 25 teachers at Global School whose jobs are to interact with students from all over the world.

What they do is respond to the works of students and suggests ways to make their work better in the future.

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Germany and Netherlands. It is also a Norwegian government aided institution offering free education in certain subjects relative to the Norwegian culture such as the Norwegian language, Social Studies and, Religion and Ethics.

The programme is directed to Norwegian students between ages six to 16 who live and study in primary, secondary or international schools abroad. The fact is that most children who live abroad have little or no memory of Norway except when visiting during the summer holidays.

This also indicates that their command in Norwegian and knowledge of Norway is quite limited. This is where Globalskolen plays a part by offering their services to educate these students about Norway thus preparing them while keeping them in touch with their Norwegian side.

There are around 25 teachers at Global School whose jobs are to interact with students from all over the world. What they do is respond to the works of students and suggests ways to make their work better in the future. Each teacher is assigned a group of students, of random locations, and would keep in touch and check on these students’ works.

The teaching and counseling

takes place online on a weekly basis where those who have enrolled would be given general themes and assignments to work on. These may be in the form of reading or writing and will be based on the Norwegian national curriculum, considering both content and methodology.

The students and their teacher or supervisor, do not have to be online at the same time, making the programme very flexible and fitting the lifestyle of different families, while still being able to have a fixed structure throughout the school year.

Each student is expected to study, or work on these projects for a minimum of 90 minutes per week in each semester, which consists of 15 weeks each. The program has been approved by the Education Directorate and is a part of “Complementary Education for Children Abroad”.

Arne Heimestol Arne Heimestøl is one of the main teachers at the Global School who interacts online with Norwegian students all over the world. He communicates their assignments to them via weblogs and constantly responds to their submissions.

As one of the teachers/supervisors, his job is to check the students’

work and provide comments to help them improve and get better with time.

Arne visited Singapore towards the end of August to meet some of the Norwegian students he had been coaching and supervising online. He had never been to Singapore before that and was glad that he had the chance to meet his students.

When meeting the students, he said his three main aims are to meet his pupils, get new pupils and spread the word out about Global School and what it can do for the expat Norwegian community.

gramme and the age limit is 16 years.

For example, for the school year 2011/2012, the student must have been born between 1 January 1996 and 31 December 2005.

The Globalskolen programme helps the transition process of those children in the families who have been abroad for so long, re-adapt to their home culture without too much of shocks and discomfort.

With better knowledge in the Norwegian language and culture, they will be able if not fully, at least partially fit into their community back home.

Criteria for participation There are a few criteria for students who wish to participate in the Global School programme. Every student must have a residence abroad for at least one semester, which is six months.

They also must be enrolled into a local or international school in the host country. The Global School programme is to be considered supplementary education for the Norwegian students while participating fully in the schools they have enrolled in.

The students must also be able to provide a Norwegian social security number in order to join the pro-

The three main aims to go travelling are to meet the pupils, get new pupils and spread the word out about Global School.

October 2011 • ScandAsia.Singapore 15

Preparing to Move T Moving to a different area in the same country can be quite a handful, but moving to a different country to work and serve can be more than just challenging as there would be quite a lot to take care of before leaving and upon settling down.

by Kristene Silva Marie

here are many factors that would instantly appear in a person’s mind once they receive the news of an opportunity to work abroad. To make it easier and more organised, it is certainly better to identify the necessary points to take care of before leaving your home country, or moving back.

The right way to do it is by starting with the very basics which is, making a list. By doing this, all the things that has to be done within the one or two months will be visible thus more organised and easier to carry out.

It is best that preparation begins as soon as you receive news about your coming move. Most of the time, you won’t receive the news at an ideal timing, forcing you to rush into getting everything organised and prepared.

Pre-Move sale Some of the first areas to look into before moving are the things in your

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16 ScandAsia.Singapore • October 2011

house. Separate them into what you are most likely to bring with you and what you don’t need.

The trick is to pick out the ones you know you are not going to look for within the next five months. This will help you identify things you don’t need which you could get rid of by selling them in an auction or sale.

While sorting out your things, it is good to start investigating on moving companies to get a feel of the options you would be dealing with. You will most probably be referred to a move consultant, who will provide the preliminary information about destination customs requirements, insurance, packing techniques, timing, etc.

You can then request for a detailed budget proposal which will include the estimated volume or weight of shipment, a total estimated price for the move, time required to complete the job, what is included in the package and so on.

The proposal will give you a better understanding of what you can

Abroad

expect when obtaining the services of the moving company of your choice.

Once you have made comparisons based on the information on the budget proposals you have gotten from the companies and weighed the differences in their services and charge, the decisionmaking process would be easier.

If you have children, it is important that you arrange for your children’s school records to be transferred to a new school or daycare centre.

Some moving companies even provide relocation services like looking for school options for your children around your new destination on top of packing your goods and moving them. So if you have children, this service could come in handy for you. Of course, you could always just look for one yourself if you prefer it that way.

To prepare for your actual packing and avoiding total chaos on the actual day of your moving out, ordering supplies such as boxes, tape, Bubble Wrap, and permanent markers would help. Also look into ordering specialty containers, such as dish barrels or wardrobe boxes.

It is also a good thing to use up all the stored items that cannot be brought with you to your new home such as frozen or perishable food and cleaning supplies.

Packing Up Under a rare incident of being informed very much prior to your move, you could actually start packing around a month before actually moving out.

You could start by packing things that you use less frequently such as a waffle iron and croquet set. Also keep in mind to declare, in writing, any items valued over $100 per item, such as a computer.

It is good to have your containers labeled and numbered clearly with its contents and the room it’s destined for. This will help you to keep an inventory of your belongings. Pack and label “essentials” boxes of items you’ll need right away Around this time, it would be wise to inform certain parties such as banks, brokerage firms, magazines and newspapers you subscribe to, credit card, insurance and utility companies. It is also important to arrange for medical records to be sent to any new health care provider or obtain copies of them yourself.

Banking options should be prearranged. If you already have an account, double-check if it is usable in the country you are going to. Discuss other options with a consultant at the bank and find out whether you are eligible to open a bank account in your host country.

Most often, people forget the simplest of things like reconfirming arrangements with the moving company a couple of weeks before, packing up suitcases with enough things needed for everyone in the family for a few days while the unpacking of the other stuff are done.

Self Preparation There are bound to be mixed feelings about the move, especially ones that involve worry and anxiousness.

It may be because you don’t really know what to expect, what kind of area you will be living in, the services offered in that area and other, not so troubling things like that.

Here is where the benefits of the internet come into full-fledge use. Using the internet, you can browse through the available services nearby your future home and maybe even learn a few words of the local language or dialect.

It would help if you found out some information on how to apply for an appropriate Visa upon reaching your host country. This information is essential and would help relieve a few nerves.

Having taken all these steps you can ensure a smooth and organised move without having to worry about the hassle of last minute issues or miss-outs.

October 2011 • ScandAsia.Singapore 17

Lonely Third Culture Kids ‘Third Culture Kids’ have problems establishing relationships.

Restlessness and isolation seem to follow them wherever they move. And eventually becoming adults doesn’t change a thing.

By Kristene Silva Marie

T

hird Culture Kids are children who spend a significant part of their growing years in another culture. By mixing their home country culture with their host country culture they develop a kind of third culture which they share mostly with other third culture kids.

The term is not new. It was first coined in the 1950’s by Ruth Hill Useem.

TCKs, also sometimes called “global nomads”, are experts when it comes to handling being on the move. Traveling for business or holiday poses little or no problems at all for them. But that same carefree attitude doesn’t always apply in their dealing with relationships.

The idea of commitment, overwhelming enough for most nonTCKs, can stir much insecurity and fear in these individuals, who were basically raised around the world.

On one hand, TCKs would step into situations with other TCKs and rapidly form strong bonds with them, usually because they get talk-

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18 ScandAsia.Singapore • October 2011

ing about their similar experiences and challenges. But on the other hand global nomads feel comfortable keeping an emotional distance.

Loneliness and isolation A common aspect of a global nomad’s life is saying goodbye countless times, not only to people, but also to schools, homes, cultural identities and aspects of a country they had come to love.

Loneliness and isolation can become two unwelcome shadows when a single move turns into two moves, and then three moves and so forth. Sometimes for TCKs, being sociable seems like too much of a burden. In those times they feel it’s easier and more pleasant to be alone.

It is not surprising that their first reaction when they find out that a friend is leaving in a couple of months, is emotionally detaching themselves thinking letting go now is better so when the moment of true goodbye arrives, it wouldn’t ache quite as much.

Emotional withdrawal is the

main reaction of many TCKs when faced with “goodbyes” to loved ones leaving on, for example, business trips for a few days.

Without realising it, they withdraw with the thinking that the best defense against pain, is to guard their feelings and be prepared to drop a relationship at any moment’s notice.

Not having had a sense of being in a large social support group, it can be difficult to develop and maintain one later. Most people however, don’t realise this because they have friends, family, their church and a sense of community to lean on.

They know that they are isolated only if they choose to be.

But for those who have moved around a lot, a stable community is a new concept which would take time to really understand or even to trust.

Unresolved grief How TCKs handle partings becomes a critical component of their lives. It may take years for them to actually figure out how to respond, when even small goodbyes trigger mudslides of denial and emotion.

Some of the deepest on-going struggles they face are the ones with trusting and creating genuine relationships because this means they are required to be vulnerable time and again.

Vulnerability includes, revealing their true feelings to others, caring deeply about the presence and love of others and being willing to share pain and tears with others.

This struggle with intimacy may create all kinds of learning opportunities in any close relationship a TCK has. For example, those who have grown up in one place will probably have a tough time understanding why their TCK friend or partner seems to have this restlessness and inexplicable desire to move and change.

When you say goodbye as many times as a TCK does you can start building up some pretty intense grief. This is probably the heaviest burden in the backpack of a Third Culture Kid. It takes time for them to shift their paradigm from feeling saying goodbye means “NEVER seeing that friend or loved one again” to just a “goodbye for now”.

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Moving Back Not Easy Reverse culture shock is an emotional and psychological stage of re-adjustment most people experience when they return to their home country. It is often worse than the initial adjustment to living abroad.

By Kristene Silva Marie

M

oving back to your home country after living abroad for a while, the country you used to call “home sweet home” suddenly doesn’t exude the warm, tingling feeling you expected, but rather a biting coldness making you take a mental step back. Everything seems

almost right, almost the same, but something has changed. You start to feel left out and estranged. This is what is commonly known as the repatriation depression.

Months or years later, your call in that country ends and you are soon ready to board the plane home but after mere hours of being home, you realise that something is

off and start wondering what had gone missing.

Repatriation depression is similar to the culture shock you may have experienced when you first went abroad, only in reverse. Just as it took time to adjust to a different culture when you arrived there, it may take some time to re-adjust to home.

Many are not aware that living in a different country all those years has exposed them to a new culture and without realising, they have changed their lifestyle to conform to the society around them.

Personal Experience

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20 ScandAsia.Singapore • October 2011

Reverse culture shock is an emotional and psychological stage of re-adjustment, similar to your initial adjustment to living abroad.

The chance of experiencing reverse culture shock increases the longer you’re away from your home culture and the easier you adapt to your host culture.

In addition to emotions such as depression, disorientation, and helplessness, symptoms of reverse culture shock include increased irri-

tability with your home culture and a longing to return to your previous host culture.

You may no longer feel at home in the culture into which you were born. Similarly, your new global perspective may cause you to experience insights about your home culture that are not shared by your friends and family.

You may even feel more connected to your previous host culture than your home culture. Although consequences of culture shock include confusion, loss, and anger, preparing for reverse culture shock can help you contend with its weakening effects.

Give it time The same skills that helped you adapt to your host culture, adaptability, flexibility, and knowledge that “this too shall pass”, will help you readjust to your home culture.

Allow yourself to feel confused and give yourself time to transition to your home culture. Have faith in yourself and know that just as you successfully dealt with culture shock, you will also successfully deal with

reverse culture shock. Most importantly, be good to yourself.

There are several challenges you may face upon returning to your home country after being abroad for some time. Taking the process seriously by being realistic and thinking about your possible reactions can make your return both more enjoyable and productive.

The fact that you have to keep in mind is that you have experienced trying to adapt to a new culture and finally conformed to the society there.

Challenges of Reverse Culture Shock Challenges you may face include boredom, where after all the newness and stimulation of your time abroad, returning to old routines and lifestyle (however comforting) can seem very dull.

Another inevitable occurrence you would experience is that as much as you want to share about your memories abroad, those around would not be able to digest everything you have to say.

This is not because they are not interested but because they find it difficult to enter your frame of thought and most probably don’t find what you say as interesting as you do.

What could help is that you include elements of life that they are familiar with such as food, school, shopping, etc.

Just as you have altered some of your ideas and attitudes while abroad, the people at home are likely to have experienced some changes. These changes may be positive or negative, but expecting that no change at all is unrealistic.

The best preparation is flexibility and openness.

Sometimes the reality of being back “home” is not as enjoyable as the place you had in your mental image. When real daily life is less enjoyable or more demanding than you remembered, it is natural to feel some alienation or even become quite critical of everyone and everything for a while.

It was the same as when you first left home. Mental comparisons are fine, but keep them to yourself until you regain your more balanced cultural perspective.

Although not widely grasped, mental preparation before moving home is essential. It not only helps you reconnect with the people around you but helps them reconnect with you. You did it before moving away, didn’t you?

Preparing for repatriation?

1. Realise that you are returning home a different person than when you left, and you’re going to need time to adjust.

2. Be understanding of family and friends who expect you to be the same person you were when you left although you have undoubtedly changed.

Santa Fe Completes Merger Santa Fe has completed its acquisition of Interdean, Europe’s leading relocation company. The group now provides a single source solution across three continents; AsiaPacific, the Middle East and Europe.

T

he Santa Fe Group has completed the acquisition of Interdean, Europe’s leading relocation services company.

Headquartered in London, Interdean offers relocation and move management services from a total of 48 offices with 1,200 employees in 35 countries across Western and Eastern Europe, Russia and Central Asia.

This transaction follows Santa Fe’s recent acquisition of Wridgways Australia.

Collectively the Santa Fe Group now offers professional relocation, moving and records management services through 120 offices in 50 countries and provides a single source solution to its customers and partners across three continents; AsiaPacific, the Middle East and Europe.

Currently, Santa Fe’s 3,150 dedicated professionals are now servicing approximately 100,000 relocations each year.

Santa Fe and Interdean have

been close partners for a number of years and the merger is a natural fit.

“We expect our organizations and customers alike will experience added value through increased efficiency and an expanded service scope that focuses purely on serving our clients.” says Lars Lykke Iversen, Chief Executive Officer of the Santa Fe Group.

“We are pleased that Interdean’s senior management team is enthusiastic about the merger and remains committed to the company. We have great respect for the entire Interdean organization and what they have accomplished in building Europe’s leading relocation services organization. Their experience and skills are key reasons behind this merger and will benefit our customers and the entire Santa Fe Group, he adds.

To find out more Santa Fe, Interdean aand wridgeways, please visit these websites: www.santaferelo.com www.interdean.com www.wridgways.com.au

3. Find others who have lived abroad with whom you can talk and share your experiences.

4. Create a scrapbook of memories which include photos, theater or museum stubs and other souvenirs from your time abroad. Not only will you gain a lifelong keepsake, you will also have something to be able to look at when you are feeling down or homesick.

5. Keep in touch with your friends abroad by email, phone or traditional snail mail. You may even want to begin considering a trip abroad to see those friends.

6. Write about your experiences abroad. Not just a journal to help you adjust and explore your feelings about returning home, but an article or a series of articles to submit to your local newspaper or magazines.

October 2011 • ScandAsia.Singapore 21

Swedish Rebel Entre A Flying in royalty and celebrities to Singapore for environmental impact.

By Andrea Chalupova Hessmo

lthough typically Scandinavian in appearance, Camilla Hall’s temperament seems far from Nordic cool.

“The Vikings were not cold but friendly people and they liked to party!”, she says intensely, explaining the gap in the Singaporean entertainment-market that led her and her husband Michael Ma to create the successful club and restaurant-chain IndoChine - a fusion of Swedish creativity and Asian entrepreneurship.

Having successfully expanded IndoChine to Phuket, Jakarta and Hamburg, the passionate Swedish entrepreneur has moved on to a more challenging mission: to engage corporate executives in environmental care and create awareness of global environmental issues that affect us all.

Camilla is the special advisor to Dr Ashok Khosla, a world authority on environmental issues and president of IUCN, the world’s largest environmental network. She has organised many high-profile events for

22 ScandAsia.Singapore • October 2011

the global network in Asia as well as in Europe, such as Cop15 in Copenhagen.

“We don’t need more handbags in the world,” she says.

“We need clean water, health care, schools and energy. Poverty is not ethical and it’s not good for business either as it creates disease and waste. We should look at the problems as a business opportunity. Business opportunities and innovation will create jobs and we have to act now.”

Green festival: a global forum of ideas The goal of the upcoming annual Green Festival on 20-26 November at IndoChine Singapore is to support IUCN and to create a powerful Triple Impact Forum where CEOs, investors, decision-makers, high profile people, media as well as the top-management of IUCN will be inspired to interact and create new ideas and solutions.

“My company Maangroove & Partners is the spearhead and organizer of IndoChine Green Festival

and we’re taking it to the next level with Maangroove Triple Impact Forum: to create financial, social and environmental impact. We do the lobbying for IUCN in Singapore and the political work to get NGOs and the right movers and shakers involved. Business opportunities happen when people meet and get to know each other.”

The IndoChine Green Festival is on its seventh year in Singapore, currently featuring a marine theme for 2011. The focus is on Southeast Asia and the Southeast Asian Coral Triangle, which accounts for a third of the world’s coral reefs and 35 percent of coral reef fish species.

“We need to remind entrepreneurs of the urgency of the destruction of the waters and create triple impact. We are people from the whole world who want to create awareness, jobs and show that it’s possible to create and innovate without destroying the environment,” Camilla says.

Ever since I met Camilla, she has been devoted to find more solutions to realize my dream: to eradicate poverty in the world! She is using her international network and business development experience to help me, IUCN & Development Alternatives to create awareness and raise funds.

She always reminds me she is not doing this for IUCN. She is doing this for all the women and children that don’t have a voice. She will do whatever it takes to change the mindset of the world’s leaders. When I told her about the Development Alternatives method: that we can teach a woman to read, write and calculate in 50 days for a cost of USD 100 per woman, she asked me why organisations like Asian Development Bank are not investing in schools and hospitals for everyone ?? I am very certain that soon when TERRA VIVA project will launch this will happen!

Dr Ashok Khosla, President of IUCN

Camilla on stage at Green Festival in Singapore 2009.

Kenyan Nobel Peace Prize laureate Wangari Maathai, Dr Ashok Khosla and Camilla Hall at the COP 15 meeting.

epreneur Camilla Hall Swedish royalty and celebrities supporting the event

In order to draw the world’s attention to global environmental issues, Camilla has invited Prince Carl Philip of Sweden and his mentor, the world-renowned Swedish photographer Mattias Klum to the Green Festival. The marine conservationist Pierre Costeau is also joining the event as an IUCN Ambassador.

“Our King Carl XVI Gustaf was very engaged in WWF early on and thanks to his involvement, he also got the whole Swedish elite involved. The King and the whole royal family in Sweden have a genuine concern for the environment, as does Prince Albert of Monaco.”

Mutual lessons for Sweden and Singapore Camilla says that for business to stay competitive in the future, business leaders must face the environmental challenges and find ways to convert them into opportunities for

the people and the planet. Although Singapore is exceptionally clean, Camilla as well as many Scandinavians who live here are shocked at the lack of environmental consciousness, such as the constant use of plastic bags and lack of recycling.

“There is an enormous waste of energy and resources in Singapore and it’s used and handled ineffectively. We don’t need 18 degrees air-con on day and night in the shopping malls. Singapore could be the largest producer of bio-fuel in the world. It’s about the will to change and this is why we’re taking action. All waste is money. You can turn plastic into other materials.”

Although Swedes and Scandinavians in general are environmentally conscious, she thinks that both Sweden and Singapore have a lot to learn from each other in this area.

“When Singaporeans do something, they do it seriously and cooperate closely with entrepreneurs and business-leaders. While we may be good at managing green companies

in Sweden, we’re not so entrepreneurial in actually creating new jobs.

We don’t see the business opportunities in Asia and Middle East, perhaps due to a lack of understanding of the corporate cultures there.

Asians have an amazing drive that we could learn from.”

“The financial crisis in Europe is a wake-up call: we can’t rest on our laurels anymore. Asia is often being accused of copying ideas. But when you put several ideas together, you create a new idea and that’s innovation. Here, there are 2 billion people who are so motivated, focused and who work incredibly hard. But when it comes to the environment, I think that on both sides, many people are too lazy. They assume that politicians will always do the right things.

We have to question our politicians much more. ”

Future goal: reuniting ABBA A believer in the power of music, Camilla has also invited Swedish mu-

sician Anders Ekborg to participate in the festival, as well as Aussi rockband Stone Circle and UK rock band Rubylux. In previous years, she has flown in international pop-stars such as Ace of Base and Cotton Club.

One of her big future goals is to reunite ABBA for a large-scale performance for the environmental cause.

“In order to wake people up, we need to call in the big guys like ABBA” she says.

“I would like to make them understand the enormous global impact they could have if they used their influence. Music is a universal language, which has the power to affect everyone, regardless of background or ethnicity. It could accomplish extraordinary things worldwide.”

If you want to get involved in the Green Festival or the Maangroove projects, contact Camilla Hall on: +65 96803175 camilla.hall@indochine-group.com Green Festival 2011: http://www.indochine-group.com

October 2011 • ScandAsia.Singapore 23

Singapore Inspires N

Marianne, Christine and Vildana are three post graduate students from Norway who joined the Norwegian Entrepreneurship Programme. They come from different fields of expertise but joined this programme with a mutual goal, to understand more about business start-ups.

By Kristene Silva Marie

24 ScandAsia.Singapore • October 2011

W

hether it was the cultural or business aspect, Marianne Solheim, Christine Nilsen and Vildana Grabovica were drawn to choose two year old start-up company Eksalife in Singapore for their placement for the Norwegian Entrepreneurship Programme (NEP).

All three of them come from different parts of Norway and did not know each other while still back home. They had pursued their education majoring in different areas in different educational institutes.

Marianne, 23, is a marketing graduate from the capital city of Norway, Oslo. She had pursued her education a little further into the area of economics with some coursework.

Although she has not started her Master’s programme as of yet, she plans to enroll in fall 2012.

Marianne notes that after an intense summer student programme in Singapore where there had been so many impressions and things to learn, she intends to take some time getting things into perspective on what to do next.

“After this training period is over, I have decided to stay on in Asia for another month, until 1 September, to travel around. I figured since I am here, it is a great opportunity to go visiting places,” she said.

Christine, 26, who is a major in Law, will be completing her final semester of Master’s programme when she gets back to Norway. She plans to base her final thesis on all the legal aspects of start-up companies in Norway. Her goal is to come up with a manual for companies in Norway to start-up a business.

This is not the first time Christine has been in Asia. She has visited Bali and Vietnam before but this was

Norwegian Start Ups In a country like Singapore, you learn that it is not so hard, or that complicated to start a business.

You just have to go for it. While in Norway people are more afraid of failing or taking risks. You can start up companies in a day and get government funding more easily. There are more new companies here than in Norway.

the first time she was in Singapore.

“Singapore is a hub. I wanted to learn how they do business here because of the cultural differences compared to Europe. That is what attracted me,” she said.

After she is done with her Master’s Degree programme, Christine is considering travelling a bit before taking on an internship at a regular company.

“I feel that I need more work experience before starting something of my own which is what I would like to do. It is a dream,” she said.

Vildana has been taking her Master’s in Business Administrations.

She majors in Energy and minors in Innovation. She is also left with her final thesis to concentrate on when she get back after the NEP Her reason of choosing Singapore is because of the number of Norwegian companies that has

been set up here which are big on both energy and innovation. She said that she is able to see herself settling in Singapore in a couple of years.

“I can see myself here actually, probably in a couple of years. It is a nice place and I like it,” she said.

She is very interested in energy and innovation and plans to put her knowledge into good use while working at a regular company and eventually, start something of her own.

The Programme The Norwegian Entrepreneurship program (Gründerskolen) is an academic cooperation programme involving all the universities and several university colleges in Norway.

The Centre for Entrepreneurship at the University of Oslo, however, has the overall academic and administrative responsibility for the

programme.

The ladies share that there are distinct cultural differences between Norway and Singapore which clearly influences the approaches taken by companies in Singapore, and that is a learning experience for them.

Vildana said that Asia is on the way up and other countries are on the way down so it is a good place to be at.

“In a country like Singapore, you learn that it is not so hard, or that complicated to start a business. You just have to go for it. While in Norway people are more afraid of failing or taking risks,” she said.

Marianne also pointed out that due to the government funding and quick procedures of establishing a company, Singapore is a convenient place to start up companies as compared to Norway.

“You can start up companies in a day and get government funding more easily. There are more new companies here than in Norway,” she said.

Tasks and projects conducted by them at Eksalife have been very flexible, in the sense that they are able to choose what projects they wanted to carry out.

Marianne shared that on her first day at work, her boss told her to adopt a boss’s mindset.

“He said ‘You should think that you are the CEO of the company.

What do you do or want to do to bring value to this company,’ and I think that was very motivating,” she said.

The one project they had taken upon themselves to do to add value to the company is the webpage improvement because they consider the webpage as a very important web portal for international travel.

“We tried to make it more sellable, interesting and more simple, Vildana said and added “In Norway, we are very used to more simple web pages where navigation is easy so we tried to incorporate that here, to make it exciting.”

Work placement for the NEP will give the students a better understanding of practical Entrepreneurship. Students are to attend lectures where they are trained to write and produce a complete business plan.

At the end of the three months, they are handed certificates of at-

tendance, a critical appraisal of the business plan and a final grade.

Singapore Marianne, Christine and Vildana had only been in Singapore for three months during which they had to try and fit in to the local way and get used to the people, food and language.

Marianne said that she finds it is very different because of the various cultures that live in the same place and Vildana was taken by how well planned things were in Singapore.

She said that although it is common in countries all over the world to have “Do Not Litter” signs up, she was surprised that in Singapore, they actually work. People are sensitive and pay attention to the rules.

“Like for an instance, the garbage and the restrictions of eating and drinking in the MRT stations and all, Singaporeans generally do not go against these rules and by that, everything is clean,” she said in surprise.

Christine added that initially she was constantly worried when she does anything and if it was breaking any laws but gradually, she got used to it.

Apart from some lunches or dinners with their colleagues and boss, all three of them haven’t been able to explore Singapore as much as they would have wanted to. Instead, due to their heavy and packed schedule, they have to attend classes hence spending time with fellow students.

Eksalife Eksalife is a two year old company which links travellers with tour operators, travel guides, government tourism agencies and other related businesses.

They seek and bring non-traditional travel consultants, agencies and individuals, tour guides, volunteer coordinators, accommodation providers, tourism-related NGOs and advocacy groups together to offer good choices in unconventional travel.

Eksalife is a member of the International Ecotourism Society, Ecotourism Society of India and established strategic initiatives and partnerships with various government and advocacy groups in South Asia and South East Asia.

October 2011 • ScandAsia.Singapore 25

Tales of Pains and Ga Finally an honest book about Filipino maids and their lives as overseas workers.

By Gregers Moller

F

ilipino maid Papias Generale Banados has collected and written a collection of stories about other Filipino maids.

This is what makes this book “The Path to Remittance” such a refreshing and unsentimental input in the debate about human trafficking. This is not another sympathetic academic who wants to save the world.

The twenty stories are told in a straight forward language that has been only slightly edited without destroying its authenticity by Singaporean journalist Kalinga Seneviratne. Most of the stories show that, although their lives have not always been easy, most of the girls have managed somehow to succeed in their mission to remit more or less money back to their families in the Philippines.

Expect long hours and high responsibility for the money, you can send home to the often not so grateful family - after the agents have taken their big share.

Money suckers The twenty cases all have a few things in common.

First of all it is clear that the placement agencies suck more than their fair share of the income of the girls especially on their first trip overseas. They should urgently be competed out of the marketplace maybe a Scandinavian NGO could help the maids establish a strong cooperative with a reasonable service fee. Stairway Denmark, Care, where are you?

Secondly, the families back home all too quickly start looking at the maids as walking ATM machines. And they are never happy no matter how much the maids remit. An obvious advice would be to stop remitting so much and start saving a bit more.

Filipino maids gather on their day off and enjoy a few hours with other Filipinos. If you have an affair, these are the days when they can open a room at one of the many Hotel 81 all over the city.

Swedish Angmoh family

“The Path to Remittance: Tales of Pains and Gains of Overseas Filipino Workers”

by Papias Generale Banados can be bought online here: http://www.selectbooks.com.sg/ getTitle.aspx?SBNum=052282 Price: US$11.55 (SGD15.00*) Format: Paper Back, 122 pages ISBN: 9789810889562

One of the girls tell about her time as a maid with a Swedish family: “After my 2 year contract was finished, I got a transfer to another employer, people call angmoh here - means white people - a Swedish family. Most maids from the Philippines like to have an angmoh employer. They think they get treated better and these people are rich and pay them better too. But some angmoh wives don’t like to employ Filipinos, they think it is not good for their husband!”

She was paid 400 SGD per month with Sunday and public holidays off with no curfew (that is they don’t have to return at a certain time in the evening).

26 ScandAsia.Singapore • October 2011

Lunch at Lau Pa Sat, one of the biggest hawker centers in the Singapore central business district, where a lot of Filipino professionals eat on weekdays. Today, there are around 70.000 Filipino maids in Singapore - but there are more professionals.

ains The family had a daughter and two dogs and gave her the first month salary in her hand so she could refuse to pay the 500 SGD transfer fee, that the agency tried to charge her.

A year later, the company, that the husband worked for, asked him to move to Beijing, where they were starting up a new venture. But the family knew an American couple, who were happy to take over their maid so it was not a major crisis.

This story, like most of the stories, does not have any dramatic ending. Frances left the Philippines 18 yeas ago and simply plans to stay on in Singapore the rest of her life.

Family, sex The book deals with the all the aspects of the maids’ existence written in a matter-of-fact style. Everything is told, more or less as it happened when it happened.

There is the typical affair in the Philippines, that leaves her pregnant. The struggle to earn enough at home that gives her the idea to work overseas. There is the typical smart agent, that lets her sign a bunch of papers only later to inform her how many months it will take her to pay their fees back. There is the affair her husband has, if not before she leaves, then for sure after she has left. And then there is the disappointment that all the remittance she has earned and sent home seems to be gone, spent on items of no lasting value, when she eventually comes home to visit the family.

There is also the natural romantic relationship, that she may develop. It is often with another foreigner working in Singapore, mostly Asian men but also sometimes European, Middle Eastern or American. There is no denying that some also find sex to be a sideline income.

What is refreshing is, that there is no sensational focus on this “secret” side of their lives. The girls in Papias’ book are neither humans without sexual needs nor lusty maids jumping into bed with their employers at the first opportunity.

It is just part of the story just like the other conditions they face in a foreign country at the lower end of the food chain.

The same goes for the abuse, that some of them have experienced. The details of their abuse is not told with the purpose to stir up

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emotions, create pity or indignation.

It is just what happened.

Help from HOME The second last chapter of the book deals with the NGO called HOME, where abused maids can get a shelter. In the case we are told about, it was another maid who through her kitchen window saw the madam in the other apartment repeatedly beat the maid and eventually called HOME. When the police came to investigate the matter, the madam first tried to prevent the maid from talking to them. Eventually, they ask ed her to pack her belongings and took her to HOME. Here, they search for new jobs for the maids as they need income.

Their agents are typically not willing to help them.

Since it was founded in 2004, HOME has helped more than 50,000 migrants and victims of human trafficking and forced labour.

Bridget Tan, who is the President of HOME - an abbreviation for Humanitarian Organisation For Migration Economics - explains in this chapter why it is so difficult for the Singaporean society to prevent the economic exploitation of the maids.

It is because most of the transactions are done in the source country and there are no paper work, that the worker has signed, which could be used in court to charge the agencies for taking exploitative fees from the maids.

“Employment agencies straddle the worker from the very point of go,” argues Tan. “The worker or maid has already 2,000 Singapore dollars in debt to pay when she arrives and employment agencies in Singapore will buy this worker from the Philippines agency at about 2,000 dollars a hit - then when they come here they will top it up with another 600 dollars so 2,600 dollars for getting them an employer in Singapore.

Most of these women are more than willing to pay this because they are enticed into thinking that working overseas you can earn very much more and they don’t calculate this cost of placement. “

A ‘must’ for newcomers The book gives a great insight into the lives of the Filipino maids and should be a must read for new Scandinavian families moving to Asia and looking for a maid.

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Finnish Sail Boat Skipper to Pick Singaporean Top Crew Ludde Ingvall, big sailing boat legend from Finland, anchored up his 30-metre-long carbon fibre boat “Audi Ultra” at the Marina Bay at the beginning of September while searching for crew members to join a team of sailors eager to put Singapore on the map in international sailing competitions.

By Gregers Moller

28 ScandAsia.Singapore • October 2011

T

he co-skipper of the boat, Singaporean sailor Tan Wearn Haw who is also the CEO of SingaporeSailing, was the first person to be announced.

The Audi Ultra boat is one of the most advanced and light-weight ocean racing yachts worldwide. Observers said that basing in in Singapore would help to boost the sport of sailing in Singapore as it competes in regional races.

Throughout September Ludde Ingvall and Tan Wearn Haw conducted trials to select a 24 to 28men crew, half of whom will be Singaporeans. There were plenty of talent to fill that quota. Some 70 Singaporeans sent in their applications and the SSF will be recommending 12 sailors and six reserves for the team.

The first race where the new team will compete is in the China Coast Regatta from Oct 14 to 16, then comes the Hong Kong to Vietnam race (Oct 19) and then it’s up to Phuket for the 25th Phuket Kings Cup Regatta from Dec 3 to 10.

Singapore Sailing Federation (SSF) general manager Jason Lim was delighted with the initiative.

“This is an opportunity for young sailors to have a shot and jump start into big boat sailing, which we could not afford”, he said.

“They will get a chance to leap frog into a new level of sailing and we don’t want to miss it,” he said.

The team of Singapore sailors

mixed with half 50 percent international crew members could soon be challenging the likes of 2010 champion Oracle Racing and Team New Zealand in the prestigious America’s Cup if the plan by the owners of the Audi ultra Super Maxi racing yacht takes off.

Ludde Ingvall, who has twice raced around the world first thought about the idea 10 years ago, but at the time it was too early for Singapore, he says.

“With the talent pool available today, we feel we can help advance them into big boat and professional sailing,” he now says.

“If this runs well here, in 2013, we could have a Singapore-built boat racing in the United States, Europe, and win. The objective is to have the Number 1 Super Maxi in the world.”

“The talent is here and they just need to be given a chance. We are quite happy to have people sail with us and move on. If we become the stepping stone, in 2013 we could have five big boats competing for Singapore as individual groups and have a big skill set and crew pool to think about the America’s Cup.” Singaporean co-skipper Tan agrees: “Sailing is a very interesting and dynamic industry, so in terms of a sailor, as a sportsmen, you do need platforms like this to cross over into the real world, the ‘big boat world’ and that’s where the professional sailors are,” said Mr Tan.

Henderson Waves

N

ear the Danish Seamen’s Church, the Henderson Waves bridge is well worth a visit. It spans the Henderson Road to Connect Mount Faber Park where the Danish Church is located with the Telok Blangah Hill Park opposite the Church.

The bridge has a unique waveform made up of seven undulating curved steel “ribs” that alternately rise over and under its deck. The curved “ribs” form alcoves that function as shelters with seats within.

Slats of yellow balau wood, an all-weather timber found in SouthEast Asia, are used in the decking.

Look out for carvings on the slats marking the height you are at on various points along the bridge.

The wave-forms will be lit with attractive LED light from 7pm to

2am daily, giving the bridge an illuminative glow.

The designs of Henderson Waves and the nearby Alexandra Arch goes back to 2002 and were selected from an international design competition launched by the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Singapore.

The whole area is known as The Southern Ridges and comprise of a 9 kilometre chain of green, open spaces spanning the rolling hills of Mount Faber, Telok Blangah Hill Park and Kent Ridge Park before ending at West Coast Park.

It is an area steeped in history and is home to some of nature’s greatest gifts of flora and fauna. It is also one of the best spots in Singapore to catch panoramic views of the city, harbour and the Southern Islands.

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Medium

Finnish Kitchen

T

he Finnish kitchen is a bit controversial. A few years ago, the former French President Chirac claimed that “After Finland, Britain is the country with the worst food” and the Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi is quoted for saying: “I’ve been to Finland and I had to endure the Finnish diet”.

The harsh critiques was answered with a defense for Finnish food by some international food reporters, and in 2008 a Finnish pizza chain won the America´s Plate International pizza contest beating Italy. The Finnish pizza chain named their award winning pizza ”Berlusconi”.

The Finnish kitchen is quite much more than pizza though. Berries, mushrooms, bread, cold water fish and meat from deer and other wild living animals are highly prized ingredients in the kitchen.

One of the most welknowned Finnish dishes is the Porankäristys, sauteed reindeer. Now reindeer seems to be a little difficult to find in SE Asia why ScandAsia will like to challenge our readers and suggests to substitute the reindeer with meat from water buffalo. And we will be very interested to hear about the result from any of our readers brave enough to try.

Evil

The Dish Poronkäristys, sautéed reindeer, is perhaps the best known traditional meal from Lapland, especially in Finland, Sweden and Norway. Usually steak or the back of the reindeer is used. Slice it thinly (easier if frozen rather than only partially thawed), fry in fat, traditionally in reindeer fat, but butter and oil will do, spice with black pepper and salt, and finally some water, cream, or beer is added. The dish is often fried with chanterelles and leeks, and served with mashed potatoes and cow berry preserves or, more traditionally, with raw cow berries mashed with sugar. In Finland it is often served with pickled cucumber, which is not as common in Sweden.

Are you done?

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:

___________________

(6 portions) • 800 gr sliced reindeer (poronkäristysliha) • 50 gr butter • 3 dl beer* • 2 small onions • 1 ½ tsp salt • 3 tbs flour • ½ tsp ground black or white pepper *Instead of beer, you can use cream or water to prepare the Sauteed Reindeer Sauce.

Recipe Cooking and Preparation Method

Address:

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

Brown the sliced reindeer meat and chopped onions in butter, preferably in a cast iron casserole pot. Season the meat with salt and pepper and add the flour, stir. Add the beer and stir again.

Place the lid on top of the pot and allow to simmer at a low heat for approximately one hour.

Email:

__________________________________________________

Food Serving Suggestion

Deadline for submitting your solution is 15 November 2011 30 ScandAsia.Singapore • October 2011

Serve the Sauteed Reindeer Sauce hot together with mashed potatoes, loganberry jam, pickled beetroots and pickled cucumbers.

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