ScandAsia Singapore - October 2016

OCT 2016

Choosing BUSINESS

PEOPLE

COMMUNITY

START-UPS

Lifestyle Asia 10 years

Marcus Wallenbarg at Swe-SEA Summit

Volunteer at Danish Seamen’s Church

Slush debut in Singapore

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Community

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Nordic Golf Tournament 2016

I

t was a grand day at the greens when the annual Nordic Golf Tournament took place at Laguna National Golf & Country Club, Singapore on 14 September.

Organized by Danish Business Association Singapore ( DABS) and Swedish Business Association Singapore (SBAS), the event started with a scrumptious lunch, followed by 18 holes of golf at the PGA Rated Masters Course, and finished off with an excellent BBQ Dinner along with the announcements of the tournament winners. Tournament prizes for the top 5 winners were awarded.

This year the organizers also offered a professional golf clinic on the day of the tournament for those who were keen on learning how to play golf.

PEOPLE

arg at Wallenb Marcus Summit Swe-SEA

UNITY COMM Danish r at Voluntee Church Seamen’s

PS START-U t Slush debu e in Singapor

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October 2016

ScandAsia Community 22 School choices for Nordics in Singapore

6

Mr. Mikael Damberg

Mikael Damberg, Minister of Enterprise & Innovation at Swe-SEA Business Summit

20 How do you pick the perfect school for your children

10

Mr. Riku Mäkelä

ScandAsia Business

Riku Mäkelä represents Team Finland in Southeast Asia

22 30 Pia is volunteer at Danish Seamen’s Church 31 Danish Ambassador Dorte Bech Vizard welcomed by community

6 Sweden Southeast-Asia Business Summit

Minister Mikael Damberg, Sweden’s Smart industry strategy, Marcus Wallenberg, SBAS’ Jan Djerf

17 Slush Singapore start-up event

Finland’s proud start-up movement debuted in Singapore on 20 September

12 Mr. Richard Nilsson

Lifestyle Asia, started in Hong Kong by three young Swedes, celebrates 10 years.

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Business

Mikael Damberg, Sweden’s Minister of Enterprise & Innovation:

“Immense opportunities for trade with Southeast Asia.”

T

here are great oppor tunities that the Sweden-Southeast Asia Business Summit, held for the very first time on 21-22 September in Singapore, can contribute to increased trade/ business and learning insights from one another.

Mr Håkan Jevrell, Ambassador of Sweden to Singapore; Mrs Ylva Berg, CEO, Business Sweden – the Swedish Trade and Invest Council; and Mr Jan Djerf, President, Swedish Business Association of Singapore all gave their opening remarks in this spirit, pointing SEA as a huge, potential growth market for Swedish businesses.

“Here at the summit I think we might share a common passion and that is for Swedish companies to expand in SEA and Singaporean companies to invest more in Sweden. At Business Sweden we do whatever it takes to open up global markets for Swedish businesses,” said Ylva Berg.

In attendance was also Sweden’s Minister of Enterprise & Innovation Mikael Damberg, who in this opening speech pointed to the around 600 Swedish companies across business sectors ranging from service to manufacturing and retail that are already present in Southeast Asia and inventing tomorrow’s world.

“The oppor tunities for trade between Sweden and Southeast Asia are immense. With a rapidly growing middle class and a population 6 ScandAsia.Singapore • October 2016

of 650 million people, the growth of the region is one of the highest in the world. Southeast Asia has the third largest labour force, and it’s the fourth largest exporter in the world. The countries in the region plan to make significant investments in infrastructure in the near future, opening up interesting business opportunities,” said Minister Damberg and continued: “Not only is Southeast Asia described as a growth market, it is also critical part of world’s trade today.”

“The purpose of the Sweden – Southeast Asia Business Summit is to provide a platform for Swedish businesses to get insights into the potential that the markets of Southeast Asia have to offer and to identify synergies between companies and across markets.”

“In order to tackle major challenges of our time we need to promote even more of innovation.”

The minister pointed to a few examples of Swedish innovations that have made a difference.

The Innovation Union Scoreboard 2016, an index published by the European Commission, ranks Sweden as the leading countr y for innovation among EU member states. The reasons for this include a historic tradition of inventors, a social environment that encourages creativity, a commitment to gender equality and a strong belief in the individual. Close collaboration between research institutes and the private and public sectors is another key factor, setting the

foundation for Swedish global companies.

“Sweden’s prosperity is built on innovative and successful export companies that time and again have managed to renew and reorganise production and products to keep pace with changing markets” “Continued success, however, require that our existing companies keep adopting, with continued investment. Our continued ability to change and adapt is crucial and therefore the Swedish government earlier in the year launched the Smart industry strategy,” announced the minister.

“The capacity for innovation that the employees and companies in the industrial sector and the industry-related services possess still forms the bedrock of Sweden’s prosperity. This may seem obvious. But for too long, the Swedish industrial sector has been treated as a historical remnant on the path towards the post-industrial service society. And this has come at a cost.

When the full impact of the financial crisis hit the economy, there was a lack of desire to mitigate the consequences and many jobs were lost in Sweden.

There was significantly more resolute action in many of the countries with which we compete,” he previously has said about the strategy.

“The Swedish industrial sector is faced with challenges. Digitalisation is pushing the industrial sector’s already high rate of transformation even further, paving the way for new business models

Smart industry a strategy for new industrialisation for Sweden

I

n 2016 the Swedish Government has taken action to strengthen the development of Swedish industry. Smart industry is a new industrialisation strategy that aims to strengthen the industrial sector’s competitiveness and reinforce Sweden’s position as an attractive location for industrial production. Sweden will become a world leader in the innovative and sustainable production of goods and services.

Sweden’s industrial sector will increase its competitiveness and participation in global value chains, primarily in the high value-added segments.

Sweden’s prosperity is built on innovative and successful export companies that time and again have managed to renew and reorganise production and products to keep pace with changing markets

and making others redundant. For small companies in particular, it is an enormous challenge to keep up with the pace of technological development.”

“The Government’s strategy for new industrialisation is to strengthen companies’ capacity for change and competitiveness. It is an important stage of the effort to benefit from the window of opportunity for new industrialisation that is now open to Sweden. Rapidly rising wage costs and problems with the environment, quality and long lead times in the former low-cost countries in Asia have made Swedish production of goods and services more competitive. At the same time, automation and digitalisation are bringing with them new opportunities for profitable and sustainable production in a completely new guise – connected, more automated and knowledgeintensive. Sweden now has the upper hand and it is high time that the industrial sector was prioritised.”

At the summit’s Gala Dinner that Mikael Damberg co-hosted with Mrs Ylva Berg, the minister emphasised that Southeast Asia offers huge oppor tunities and that it is also about creating better lives for people living in this region.

“I think we can do good things at the same time as we create better opportunities for people.

That’s why I find that this meeting is so important and fruitful. It is the first time we have this kind of meeting in this region. It is also the starting point.

This is actually the first phase of an intense period

of time when Sweden will have a lot of efforts into this region. I know there will be lots of MOUs and letter of intents signed this year with Southeast Asian states: energy, transport within Indonesia; followed by life sciences with Vietnam.”

Sharing his initial assessment of the summit he said: “And I am totally convinced, after hearing of the advances, of investment, of creating the smart cities and nations in this region, that there are huge possibilities to work together, both on finding new partnerships but also finding new business opportunities.”

“The export strategy puts an emphasis on emerging markets. We have to be stronger where the growth rate exists and where exciting things happen. And I see that Sweden now puts an extra effort on being here, seeing it and also understanding what needs to be done and I hope that this conference is a starting point. I know that several of my colleagues in the government will travel to this region in near time,” Mikael Damberg continued and mentioned upcoming delegations.

“This is altogether a strategic choice for Sweden, to be more present here, to actually work with long-term relations, to build confidence for the future. I hope that you have found new par tners and new associates during these meetings,” said the minister as he concluded the summit’s first day with a Swedish toast.

There are four focus areas of particular importance: • Industr y 4.0 – Companies in the Swedish industrial sector are to be leaders of the digital transformation and in exploiting the potential of digitalisation.

• Sustainable production – Increased resource efficiency, environmental considerations and a more sustainable production are to contribute to the industrial sector’s value creation, job creation and competitiveness.

• Industrial skills boost – The system for supplying skills is to meet the industrial sector’s needs and promote its long-term development.

• Test bed Sweden – Sweden is to lead research in areas that contribute to strengthening the industrial production of goods and services in Sweden.

The strategy is described as an important stage of the effort to benefit from the window of opportunity for new industrialisation that is now open to Sweden.

Digitalisation is changing ever ything.

Digitalisation is resulting in enormous opportunities to develop a new, smarter and more sustainable industrial sector.

“The digitalisation of the industrial sector’s production, products and capacity to transform enormous quantities of data into new businesses is completely vital to the industrial sector’s future competitiveness. But the perspective needs to be wider than this. This is because ever greater demands are simultaneously being placed on the long-term sustainability of production and the utilisation of resources. That is why Sweden’s strategy for new industrialisation aims beyond connected industry and also encompasses the ambition to cope with the demand for renewal that growing sustainability requirements are placing on the industrial sector and its products,” states Minister Mikael Damberg.

In a concerted national effort Sweden will take action to facilitate structural transformation in the industrial sector.The tools will include laws and regulations, investments in enterprise, education and innovation, public procurement and opening up the public sector, providing testbeds and open data. The strategy is suppor ted by an action plan, which will be published on the Swedish Government website and updated continuously.

October 2016 • ScandAsia.Singapore 7

Business

Jan Djerf, SBAS, at summit: Swedish businesses ought to work in tandem

A

t the inaugural Sweden–Southeast Asia Business Summit, held in Singapore on 21 – 22 September the numerous attendants from Sweden as well as the region were welcomed by Sweden’s Ambassador to Singapore, Mr Håkan Jevrell, Mrs Ylva Berg CEO, Business Sweden – the Swedish Trade and Invest Council, and Mr Jan Djerf, President, Swedish Business Association of Singapore (SBAS) and Team Sweden Singapore representative, who all gave their opening address.

Jan Djerf looked back to 1982,as the Swedish Business Association in Singapore has been active ever since, “providing Swedish businesses a common ground to consolidate business networks and open more doors for collaboration in the local and regional business scene. This includes arranging Business Delegations from Singapore to numerous ASEAN member states.”

He pointed to that there are now more than 250 Swedish companies established in Singapore.

“As global economies turn toward Southeast Asia to seek growth opportunities, it is all the more significant for Swedish businesses to work in tandem with each other in order to generate more effectiveness in driving the growth of Swedish businesses within the ASEAN region,” he said in reference to the very first summit, believe this to be one of the push factors, “We can come together on a common platform for productive discussions and sharing of best practices.”

“This also gives us a chance to strengthen Swedish relations in the various ASEAN member states, he continued, “ASEAN stands as a strategic

partner for Sweden and to the European Union as a whole. The importance of regional blocs in today’s trade environment becomes all the more prominent. No one country can withstand today’s turbulent international trade winds alone.There is strength in numbers.”

The SBAS President mentioned: ASEAN is a market of 633 million people and it is projected to increase to 717 million in 2030, according to a EU report. At present, the bloc represents the world’s 7th largest economy and is projected to become the 4th largest economy by 2050. For the past two years, foreign direct investments into the large 6 ASEAN countries have surpassed that of China.

“Such optimism is similarly reflected in the findings of a recent EU – ASEAN Business Sentiment Survey. The results display a bright confidence of European businesses in ASEAN, where almost two thirds of the respondents plan to expand their operations and head count in the region.”

“85 % of the respondents also acknowledged the numerous opportunities when they indicated that they plan to increase their level of trade and investment in the region over the next five years,” Mr Djerf highlighted.

“EU has been actively working towards an EU – ASEAN Free Trade Agreement that would immensely benefit trade for both regional blocs.

There are also numerous bilateral negotiations between the EU and key ASEAN countries such as Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia Thailand and the Philippines.”

“Having said this, it is impor tant to bear in mind that ASEAN is an extremely diverse regional bloc. Not only are there stark differences in standards of living and GDP per capita, but this diversity extends to culture, language and religion.

Thus, businesses looking to ASEAN must rethink their business and investments strategies because a one-size fits all option will not align well.”

As first entr y point to ASEAN one will instinctively look to Singapore before expanding further into the region he said.

“Singapore, in particular, stands out in the region. This vibrant city state is renowned for its top-notch infrastructure and is extremely business oriented in many respects. In the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitive Index 2015 – 2016, Singapore ranks as the 2nd most competitive economy in the world.”

Thus, this Sweden-SEA Business Summit offers an excellent platform for business owners and key industrial players to gain relevant and novel insights from industry peers across the region through a lively exchange of ideas, experiences and opinions,” he concluded.

Marcus Wallenberg: potential to do more in Southeast Asia

T

he first ever Sweden-Southeast Asia Business Summit contained a number of prominent business representatives, not least Mr Marcus Wallenberg, Chairman of the Board, SEB, SAAB Group & Foundation Asset Management, and who has personal long experience of visiting and doing business in Southeast Asia. Mr Wallenberg is also a Board Member of Temasek Holdings in Singapore since 2008.

Mr Wallenberg’s keynote speech presided

8 ScandAsia.Singapore • October 2016

the ‘Economic and Political Outlook on Southeast Asia’ session, where he opened with the question: ’Why are we here?’

He said that Sweden’s businesses have been very successful in other regions in the world, and that Sweden is moving away from moving a lot of business onto global stage.

“Here in Asean region demographics are moving in such as way that we know that markets will develop substantially. From Sweden we have not done enough in the Asian region. I have come to that insight. I have been travelling her since the mid 1980s, and Sweden, as nation, is not doing enough. We are not living up tot the potential.”

Looking back he said that many Swedish companies arrived to Southeast Asia after the second world war and that there was been a lot of R&D and substantial investment in production here.

“But I think this is only the start, we have much more potential to increase the capacity out here.”

“I think globalization still has great potential but it is about doing things differently. Going forward I think technological development and movement of science will develop globally in a

different way.”

Marcus Wallenberg anticipates focusing on new scientific areas and new science going forward.

“We are now looking into a number of possibilities in the research and development side, within life sciences and forestry, as examples.”

“We come from a country of very strong innovation skills. As a Swede to my fellow Swedes, thinking about this region: I think we are sometimes a bit hesitant to put our weight forward. Products don’t sell by themselves,” he told the government and business representatives.

“Out here we have to be very astute in being strong in the markets, and be very active, and invest in this region in order to success. And we have to have established presence here, with production etc. and we must to have long-term commitment. In my humble opinion Asians want to see that kind of commitment.”

“This summit is an excellent star t,” he continued.

“While China previously grabbed all our attention, now with slow growth there we could do even more here for the long term. This is the time!”

Business

Swedish SEA business summit: Ambassador announces continuation

D

ay 2 of the Sweden-Southeast Asia Business Summit continued with a highly insightful session on CSR, followed by more ‘Success stories – perspectives from the ground’, where the Swedish companies Axis Communications, Spotify and Volvo Trucks South East Asia shared their experience of doing business in the region.

And as the Sweden-Southeast Asia Business Summit came to an end at lunchtime on 22 September Sweden’s Ambassador to Singapore and head of the organising team for the inaugural event, H.E Håkan Jevrell, put forward the question to the audience and received a resounding ‘yes’ in response: Would you like to see this event taking place again?

Upon that immediately positive response the Ambassador disclosed that there would indeed be a continuation. That was already clear based on strong interest from other Swedish Embassies and Team Sweden representatives in the region.

Mr Jevrell told the well-attended summit that the several embassies were already battling between each other to become the next hosing Southeast Asian capital.

“It’s ver y positive to see that there is a strong interest from the business community to see a follow-up event. The Sweden–Southeast Asia Business Summit provided an excellent opportunity to get insights from industry peers and policy experts and to meet with potential par tner,” Håkan Jevrell replied to ScandAsia concerning the importance of the participants’ feedback for a continuation of the summit concept.

“Everyone within Team Sweden is very happy with the outcome of the summit, and there

is a positive attitude towards the future. The Sweden–Southeast Asia Business Summit 2016 exceeded its aim to attract business leaders and decision makers from Sweden and the region,” he continued.

“Taking on an event of this size is a significant commitment, but there are still several interested parties.”

When closing the summit the ambassador said that the next summit’s location and dates would be announced within only a few weeks from now.

“Team Sweden has shown to be a success, and any follow-up will certainly be within that framework,” he commented in terms of who will be organising the event onwards.

All par ticipating companies and other stakeholders will be asked to give their input following the inaugural event: “In a few days, each and every delegate and par ticipant will get a follow-up email including feedback opportunities.”

The ambassador personally gave his initial evaluation as follows: “I’m extremely happy with the outcome. My team has together with the other players within Team Sweden done a tremendous job and one must bear in mind that very few people have done most of the work.

No external organiser or event firm has been involved. I’m also very proud of the outcome when it comes to media. It’s rare to see such Swedish media presence at an event far away from home, and the coverage in Singapore has also breached all expectations. A big thank you to my staff, Team Sweden, all the volunteers, and to my wife Catharina who’s been running the press department pro bono.”

“When talking about the future, I believe

most see it as a biannual event but let’s see what the business community wishes.”

The summit featured key political and business representatives from Sweden and Southeast Asia, including Mr Mikael Damberg, Minister for Enterprise and Innovation, Sweden; Mr Lim Hng Kiang, Minister for Trade and Industry, Singapore; Mrs Ylva Berg, CEO, Business Sweden – the Swedish Trade and Invest Council; Mr Marcus Wallenberg, Chairman of the Board, SEB; Mr Magnus Böcker, Executive Chairman of Blibros and former CEO of Singapore Exchange; Mr Piyush Gupta, Chief Executive Officer and Director of DBS Group and many more.

October 2016 • ScandAsia.Singapore 9

Business

Riku Mäkelä

is Team Finland’s extra resource for SEA Photos and text by: Joakim Persson

A

sia can now benefit from an extra resource thanks to enhanced efficiency and coordination within the ‘Team Finland’ umbrella, where one of six persons spread out globally is placed in Singapore, And this resource is a Finn with relevant knowledge within the right fields of experience, namely Mr Riku Mäkelä, Trade and Innovation Affairs Counsellor at Embassy of Finland in Singapore.

10 ScandAsia.Singapore • October 2016

The Team Finland concept was established some 3-4 years ago as a network model for connecting all public ser vices in Finland. It targets companies in order to assist them in internationalization, and also to targeted foreign companies interested in investing into Finland.

Third, it should boost the Finnish brand abroad for travel and other services.

Another important objective is to identify and seize the new opportunities arising globally.

The Finnish government has allocated extra

funding to the concept, and its recent objective is to take Team Finland activities systematically to the next level and beyond.

Improved Coordination “We have looked for different ways of optimizing the resources and impact of the public support mechanisms and public services that we provide in Finland for innovators and for companies, and especially for companies looking for international business growth,” comments Riku.

“In Finland, like any other countr y there are within all sectors several agencies and government-funded activities doing similar things and it is a matter of maximising the impact of those activities by better coordination.”

In a previous position where he reported only to Tekes (Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation) in Silicon Valley, Riku experienced first-hand the lack of information sharing and synchronisation.

“There wasn’t much info flow between my work and other ministries and agencies in Finland. Since back then we have devised lots of mechanism for maximising the information flows and joint coordination and planning for different kind of services we see that Finnish companies or foreign investors might need.”

Finland is looking for ways to do things more efficiently.

New posts in hotspots “One of the big things that we have initiated in 2016 is the new posts with specialists in foreign trade and innovation placed in six hotspots that we didn’t cover well enough earlier. So actually we didn’t have anybody looking after these trade connections or FDI or innovation connections between Singapore and Finland and actually Southeast Asia and Finland and also connecting to Europe. That role had been missing in many places and Singapore is the only additional post we added for Asia,” he explains further.

It is a pilot until the end of 2018 to test how good this will work. Riku sits in an embassy, employed by MFA, but is dedicated to specific directions and purposes and suppor ted by three different organisations. He is part of three different teams.

“Singapore is a great way to connect to investment flows, start-ups, growth companies, businesses in the region, and to connect them to Finland and the wider Europe,” he thinks.

Riku’s region is primarily Southeast Asia but relating to investments linked to Singapore also includes China and India. He is however only one extra person at a small embassy, and will focus on a limited number of priority areas at any time.

“We are very careful in our strategy where to put our focus and so on.”

Main areas of attention The Counsellor lists the main areas for now as being: - Singapore ICT Smar t Nation, especially healthcare and education-related, digital services and solutions.

- Vietnam: “Finland is moving from official development aid-focused collaboration with Vietnam over forty years towards multiple kinds

of partnerships in all sectors. Within a few years we will finish our last big bilateral development aid projects and programmes. Mainly we are looking for bilateral and multilateral business collaborations, within innovation, education etc.

Tekes (Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation) currently running one special programme for emerging countries is one example. I am supporting their BEAM programme from here.”

- Third big focus area in 2016 is start-ups and investments. “One great activity in that sector is the Slush event in Singapore. That is the biggest effort so far between the Nordics and Singapore and SEA/Finland – Singapore within the start-up scene.”

The Team Finland network is a par tner of Slush, and in that capacity co-organised the ‘Connecting Globalizers and Localizers’ matchmaking event. It aimed to connect growth stage companies looking to scale their solution globally (Globalizers) and serial entrepreneurs or intrapreneurs (Localizers) looking to adopt existing innovative solutions from another region to start a new business venture within their local and regional markets in SEA countries.

The event adopted an alternative approach towards internationalization. By providing leading start-ups a platform to showcase their solutions.

Bottom up approach It turns out that Riku has a lot to say regarding start-ups within the areas of focus. He himself has background as an entrepreneur in the IT sector, before he landed his “dream job” at Tekes (which is all about innovation, business growth, turning ideas into businesses).

“When Vietnam star ts doing something it happens fast,” he says when talking about its potential and the tipping point that is not yet there in terms of regulations and handling of foreign companies. “I was working there with start-ups for the last two years prior to Singapore.

When we star ted suppor ting incubators and accelerators there we started to educate trainers for start-ups while not much was happening.Then we saw that it looked like an eco system for startups started to develop fast. Two years later there is almost too much happening.”

“The most impor tant things happen through grassroots so that’s bottom up, and regulatory things and policies have to happen top down. But things star t to happen thanks to bottom up. That is for example why we did everything we could through local grassroots organisations, just like in Finland; the biggest boost I claim for the Finnish star t-up scene to evolve would not have happened without it was the Slush, the first star t-up event in Finland, which is entirely organized by entrepreneurs, volunteers, students and so on. And it also

accelerated the knowledge in the Finnish government and public sector for the need to suppor t bottom-up approaches.”

“In Vietnam, there are plenty of really smart and passionate people and that’s number one for start-ups to succeed and we found plenty of them, which tells that there will be lots of successes coming.”

For the start-up scene he thinks the tipping point in Vietnam will come no later than next year, while for foreign business in general it will take longer.

“One of the factors in reaching that tipping point is the FTA with the EU. That will give a boost.”

“A large number of Finnish companies have been looking actively towards Vietnam and a number are active already, with more than 100 are doing business in Vietnam but only a minority of them with own operations. There is lots of potential; the question is how to tap into that.”

Clean-tech, energy and telecom (with different types of applications for mobile world) sector players from Finland are actively looking towards Vietnam, Riku has noted.

Team Finland ready to link He also finds Singapore’s start-up scene promising: “There are hundreds of start-ups in incubators and accelerators and so on in Singapore now and it will be highly interesting to follow and also connect Finnish and also Nordic start-ups and investors to the scene here and back to Finland and beyond.”

Riku and the Finnish embassy’s task are to link Finnish companies, innovators and organisations to Southeast Asia, especially Singapore, and to link Singaporean/SEA companies, potential investors and travel business developers to Finland.

“If anyone in Finland or in the Nordics, or in SEA, is interested in this breech between SEA and Singapore and Finland and through Finland to the EU we are happy to help. So we are a good first contact point; my task is to connect directly.”

He is also confident that this pilot project will grow into an established format.

“We believe we’ll continue and also expand these kinds of posts and mechanisms. We’ll see how it goes and it depends who will be in government, with the current one being highly proactive for international business support and investment to Finland.”

October 2016 • ScandAsia.Singapore 11

Business

Richard Nilsson

The Lifestyle Asia journey: ten years and still evolving Text and photos (except portraits): Joakim Persson

W

hen learning all about how Lifestyle Asia came into being and grew into the recognised online platform for luxurious lifestyle it is today one can only nod in approval to how true their tagline ‘Pioneering the online luxury space’ is.

Hearing their story, told by co-founder and Singapore-based Richard Nilsson, also gives perspective on the incredible internet and digital media development since then, when luxur y brands, as in one example, still stuck to the position that they “would never go online”, when the three Swedes started out.

This business case also describes the sort of challenges, oppor tunities and many pitfalls when building a business in Asia; in this case the establishing of company with regional operations within media B2C consumer marketing.

This September LifestyleAsia.com, after months of work on a makeover, launched its redesigned, much sleeker and very stylish website.

This also coincides with celebrating ten years in business for the Swedish trio who have steadfastly navigated takeover offers, constant cash flow

12 ScandAsia.Singapore • October 2016

difficulties, growing without major investors, bad advice, and the consequences of believing in themselves – and in others.

Richard today describes their concept as Asia’s premier online luxury and lifestyle magazine with a focus on curating original content in both old and new luxury. It’s for mobile savvy individuals whom seek out the latest trends an information with a par ticular interest in luxury - watches, jewellery, cars, fashion, wine & dine, travel, beauty and events across Asia’s lifestyle destinations.

Stureplan, Stockholm as template But we have to go back in time to October 2005, eleven years ago, and Stockholm, Sweden, where this media firm within upscale lifestyle has its origins.There, the trio of young inner city Swedes, Christopher Lindvall and Sebastian Svensson in addition to Richard had already grown tired of the duck pond (satirical comparison of an all-toosmall country and its elite to a pond of quacking ducks), the inner circle of faces that are always the same and conversations that are quite superficial.

But Stockholm also gave some inspiration for the adventure to come, in the form of the website

and magazine stureplan.se (among others) and the trio’s common interest in lifestyle and luxury in general.

“We used to patronize the clubs and were interested in fashion and all that and followed those web sites.”

“We used to sit on the weekends and follow up on the previous night’s events but also talk about how tired we were about life around Stureplan and about what we could do; perhaps start something somewhere else, and felt it would be fun to explore the world.”

Coincidentally, Christopher had a friend over in Hong Kong who had enticed him with what a fantastic market there was over in the Far East and that as Asia’s New York Hong Kong lacked a good platform for English readers about what one can do, shopping, where to travel in the region, clubs etc.

Settling down in Hong Kong After contemplating this idea the trio decided to visit Hong Kong for the first time on a discovery trip.

“We walked around there in t-shir ts in

December, feeling free, in what seemed like a really cool city and thought it was fantastic, with palm trees and all. There was a buzz, very hectic and people everywhere.You had ten Louis Vuitton boutiques, and so many nightclubs and restaurants. And you could walk into 7 Eleven at 3 am and buy a bottle of vodka,” recalls Richard.

“We met Christopher’s friend and people within nightlife and fashion, hotels etc. and presented our idea of a digital lifestyle magazine.

And the response from those we met – partly from within the sector and people in the bar who seemed to be in the know (wearing the right type of clothes, was knowledgeable) was so good that in February 2006 we moved to Hong Kong!”

They came there with no business plan and a few screen dumps a friend working at one of the Stockholm-based websites had provided them with as a favour. And so, without a website, they set out building the boat and trying to sell their concept.

After being fooled on paying way too expensive rent for a really shabby apar tment they got assistance to find a better, however unfurnished one, that they equipped with three

We had managed to convince one of the coolest nightclubs to give us their Friday for free for our important launch. A Filipino working at Disney who took us under his wings, had made sure to put us in contact with and invited what was supposedly the coolest people in Hong Kong.

October 2016 • ScandAsia.Singapore 13

Business

None of the customers complained that there was no website; few understood anyway, as it was so new then. And to get an online connection in the nightclub was a challenge. So the development has been incredible. And looking back at the fact we were sending faxes to request meetings… if you say that to people today…!

14 ScandAsia.Singapore • October 2016

mattresses, minimal work desks, a phone line each – and a fax machine.

They had to send media kits to potential customers via fax. Nobody answered anyway and email was out of the question back then.

Also, still being very early days in Hong Kong, it turned out to be very difficult to get customers to spend advertising on online banners.

“Only those that could sell something via clicks did it, but it was very difficult with the luxury brands – where we had planned to make money.”

Bite the bullet Then it was the small matter of building the website, where the Swedes’ naivety was put test.

Their Hong Kong friend had recommended a company in India as the right guys for the job: this company was the “most professional he had ever met through his other daily job”.

“We said O.K. We had gathered some money but had very small resources and kept our spending very low.That website effort cost us SEK 200 000 which we paid in instalments. It was expensive back then, and very few could build sites. Today when we build a state-of-the-art site we might pay SEK 300 000 and then get a fantastic website. The problem was what we never got a final product that we could launch. We felt that this might not work.”

Even though their Hong Kong contact persisted that it would all materialise at the end it didn’t. With the launch planned for July 2006 only three weeks away the Indians confessed – and demanded more money to continue.

The Swedes then had to bite the bullet and find another solution – which was to replicate a site from Sweden for their own brand Lifestyle, at a cost of another SEK 100 000.

They had no choice than to hold the launch event without a website, for which they had managed to get Svedka Vodka, Sony Ericsson, Lufthansa and the Swedish clothing company J. Lindeberg (who dressed them up to look proper).

“We had managed to convince one of the

coolest nightclubs to give us their Friday for free for our important launch. A Filipino working at Disney who took us under his wings, had made sure to put us in contact with and invited what was supposedly the coolest people in Hong Kong.”

“None of the customers complained that there was no website; few understood anyway, as it was so new then. And to get an online connection in the nightclub was a challenge.

So the development has been incredible. And looking back at the fact we were sending faxes to request meetings… if you say that to people today…!”

State of the art website In contrast, Richard describes the new 2016 website as state-of-the ar t, were things have come a long way: “we made an entirely new site and added completely new banner formats to turn our advertisers really excited.”

“We are first in Asia with many new things.

And every time we have launched a new site it’s been like that. Even newspapers here are far behind on user friendliness and how one should present articles. Step one is to continue making a much more smartphone friendly website, as most consumers will primarily be using larger smart phones. We have about 50 per cent today on desktops/laptops, so still quite high, but mobile will gradually increase to up to 80 per cent and desktop users will turn very low,” he comments and concludes that it is incredibly important that the website works seamlessly on all different devices and browsers.

They are also advancing in terms of marketing and e-commerce: “We have a completely new fashion spread, a ‘look book’ they call it, where we believe that a lot of the shopping will happen onwards. We will par tner with e-commerce companies where we function as a shop window and a drop-shipping model for e-commerce where they manage the delivery of product and we only take commission. We will do the same with restaurant bookings etc. So the plan is really

that Lifestyle will be a one-stop shop with the vision that everything you can read about on Lifestyle Asia should be able to be purchased via a click.”

First investor But rewind to 2006, where the adventure started for real when they bumped into a Swedish “investment underdog”, Anders Lönnqvist.

They strived on, had a variety of customers, such as energy drinks, produced a Hong Kong version of a Swedish print magazine, and meanwhile Mr Lönnqvist needed some concierge sort of assistance from the Lifestyle Swedes. He also got curious about their business, asked for a business plan (which did not exist but they now came up with one), and it paid off. In 2007 their first 1 million Hong Kong dollars was landed, and with Servisen Investment Management as their first investor they could set up a real office, employ a writer etc.

Meanwhile, they realised they needed to focus and drop the many side projects that were coming in for good.

Also, they had many website issues, but luckily managed to get an old friend within IT from Sweden to come over, who also fell in love with Hong Kong, and started building a much better website.

As V.I.Ps on the dining and nightclub scene the Swedes could for that reason be mistaken for being spoiled brats who had arrived from Sweden enjoying the good life with daddy’s money, which was exactly what people within the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, that they had joined, believed.

“Fooling around and going to clubs, yes we did that too and we probably gave such an impression, but the J. Lindeberg suites etc. we had been given for free to wear, and all the tables at the clubs were all barter deals, while in reality we took out about SEK 3000 a month in salary and lived sparsely together. But what was good with that was that we learned the value of money.”

They were also running out of money again and went to their investors. Meanwhile, the owners of prominent print media group contacted them, being interested in buying up Lifestyle and having the Swedes facilitating their new online concept.

“They had released a new magazine, and somehow found our images online from their event and said that this was what they must do to within digital.”

What then followed was that the Swedes started negotiations without the knowledge of their existing main investors.

“We were young and naïve and thought we knew everything, though we clearly didn’t.”

The deal was ruined when they brought along their surprise last-minute adviser, a banker, asking for HK 36 million, when they had already negotiated for the take-over sum to be HK 20 million.

“This was recognition that we were on the right path, that this might eventually take off in Asia, even though we felt that Asia and Hong Kong that are in the forefront when it comes to Asia embracing trends from the west, might never work anyway. It has always been at the back of our minds that we might never be able to convince the luxury brands, as it has been so incredibly challenging to convince them.”

Their main investor scolded them for their secret negotiations – after all this was his expertise, buying and growing and selling companies!

Hong Kong remains a problem Lifestyle then got another HK four million dollars from their investors and decided to expand out of their problems.

“We had not really landed Hong Kong financially, and aimed to expand in Singapore, believing that everything that works in Hong Kong must also work in Singapore, and there was a big brother syndrome. This is before the casinos and what you are seeing in Singapore today.”

Richard moved to Singapore to take up the

helm and before long they had opened up also in Thailand – with the trio now in three different cities.

“The problem was that the three musketeers were now spread out and we had not really established Hong Kong. And the saying is: you can never expand yourself out of existing problems or a market that does not work. But we believed in economy of scale and other things.”

Sure as fate the global recession then struck towards the end of 2008.

“We were lucky then we had collected the new investment, and we have always been very careful, almost stupidly careful. So instead of staking fully, we have used the funds sparsely in order to survive a little longer. And that is just pushing the problems ahead of you. But we couldn’t really go for it either as there were no advertisers back then,” Richard evaluates.

Meanwhile, they had also taken some more bad advice. Their new investor in Singapore, who had bought shares from their existing investors, and who facilitated setting up Lifestyle there, advised them a supposedly “perfect partner” also for Thailand.

“Young and stupid we travelled up to meet this person who turned out to be a real con man who had bluffed around in Asia. But there was not much online assisting any due diligence back then.

He became a co-owner with 45 per cent in the Thai company.”

In the end the Swedes, when confronting their new co-owner and receiving threats from him, decided that the only solution was to buy him out.

The overall situation made them decide to all move back to Hong Kong, get rid of staff and drive the markets remotely as much as possible.

But having found the love of his life in Singapore, Richard was soon back there, though with a ban on spending money.

“I manged to build up Singapore from 2009 to where we are today, and things got better and better and we turned a profit in 2010 and October 2016 • ScandAsia.Singapore 15

Business

also increased revenue with 200 per cent so we grew exponentially and the market started to come back, with the fashion company Burberry as customer.”

Some Nor thern European brands, such as Burberry being from the U.K. where there were more IT culture, understood the value of the online world better and had started early with e-commerce. (Today 60 per cent of their customers are the luxury fashion brands.)

Since then it has been something of a rollercoaster ride for Lifestyle, with 2011 down, up again in 2012, but still with liquidity problem: “It’s a very difficult business to be in here. There are no ways to get customers to pay, no collection companies enforcing payment. We’ve had a lot of hassle, going to the pawnshop with watches at occasions in order to be able to pay our staff salaries. We have done all sorts of things.”

In the past four years they have earned money and Richard anticipates that for 2016 there will be some dividend for their shareholders.

More luxury and style Only in the last three years the market has really turned ripe for Lifestyle and since then they 16 ScandAsia.Singapore • October 2016

began rebranding themselves to be more luxury and less lifestyle in 2013, going for Swatch group (owner of Omega, Blancpain, Breguet, Calvin Klein), Chanel and Louis Vitton and those type of customers.

“And when you want to aim for those and seeing how much they spend on print magazines, and reaching very few readers, sooner or later they will wake up and move advertising from glossy print to online and that is where we have to capitalise on our first mover advantage.”

Since then a lot more effort has gone into own content, and especially ‘style’, produced by own style editors that were recruited in 2015 to take things further in this direction by producing own fashion spreads etc.

“We’ve had to produce much more content within this segment so brands feel that Lifestyle is a product they must be in as they cover our segment but also that they have the right readers; those who are luxury customers.”

Anticipating new owners “We expanded to Kuala Lumpur in 2011 and ran it from Singapore. And that went quite well there as we had no costs.We had some freelance writer

and I went up by bus doing sales and did business development.”

However Richard regrets setting up local companies in Malaysia in Thailand, due to high operational costs and lots of red tape there.

“All those having luxury print magazines have approached, wanting to buy us, but it has been on the wrong terms. But maybe we will not be independent forever. It took ten years to build a good company – that’s what it takes, they say.”

And Richard feels that they have not landed yet; still there are many things that can be done to extend the journey.

“There is incredible potential. When I meet the customers many know us within the industry.

But there is a lot more we could do.”

He still frequently meets people who have never heard of Lifestyle Asia.

“Then I feel disappointment. It’s a failure when someone who has been here relatively long and who seems to like what we write about are not familiar with us. But when we tell people within our business sector that we have spent 10 years and USD 1 million only and taken it to where it is today they say: ‘Wow, fantastic!’”

Business

Finnish global start-up event Slush debuts in Singapore

O

n 20 Septemberthe global startup movement Slush from Finland saw its debut in Singapore, with the main stage titled the ‘Future Stage – a Window Into Tomorrow’, with themes intending to show what the world could look like in ten years from now.

Anna Ratala, Head of Slush Singapore, took to the stage to let the attending representatives of the movement how exciting it was for all parties to be able to launch Slush also into Southeast Asia and to build many good things for start-ups and future entrepreneurs.

And one of the co-founders of Slush, Peter Vesterbacka introduced the idea behind the Global Slush Community and how it had all started back in Finland.

Peter, who has founded and been active within start-up companies for years, told the story of he how had held a talk at a Finnish university on that it is O.K to be an entrepreneur. The Finns are very modest so it would open up the mind-set and acceptance by saying that. But when the 600 students were asked how many of them would like to be an entrepreneur in their career only 3 raised their hands.

“That is a disaster, the future of Finland is at

stake,” Peter and his colleagues had concluded and decided that something had to be done.

That is how Slush was born to create events and getting together to talk about start-ups and ideas and entrepreneurship.

“First you think you are crazy wanting to do a start-up, but then you discover, through the movement, that there are also other people with ideas for start-ups. And then you begin to accept that it is O.K. to go for it.”

Describing the incredible growth of the Slush movement Peter continued: “It is not Silicon Valley – we wanted to make that very clear. What we are building something that is much better, because it is different.That is why it’s called Slush.”

“I express a big thank you to all volunteers.

This has always been the case: by the community for the community, by entrepreneur s for entrepreneurs, by start-ups for start-ups; a massive educational movement if you like. In Finland we grew from 200 people in 2008 to nearly 20 000,” he continued and concluded and set the goal also for Singapore: “We did a cultural revolution in that after just five years more than 50 per cent of the students raised their hands to the question if would like to become and entrepreneur. And this was accomplished by young people. It’s the

bottoms up grass movement that can change the world and make it sustainable.”

Later during the Slush day a conversation between Anna Ratala and Peter Vesterbacka was also broadcasted live on the Internet, also as a breakfast show for those back in Finland, from the cosy live stage resembling a cosy, local coffee shop.

There, Anna praised how in a “start-up start” Slush Singapore had been put together in just 101 days, thanks to entrepreneurs, students and fresh graduates; including all the way from Finland as well, and from other countries in Southeast Asia.

“We are so proud to land this grounds-up movement in Singapore and would like to grow more. And we are looking forward to bridging European and Singaporean start-ups and startups in Southeast Asia via Singapore.”

Peter reiterated: “It’s always about bringing people together and a good thing to realise that ere are other crazy people than yourself! It’s perfectly O.K to be an entrepreneur!”

It’s not an easy task to be an entrepreneur.

But it’s not all about success there are some many start-ups not yet on the magazines. Failure and making mistakes are also a part of the journey and nothing to be afraid of but to embrace. You can still make it even though it is not easy!” added Anna.

“Sharing experiences helps; it’s good to hear also about not so successful entrepreneurs, and learn from that and avoid doing the same failure yourself,” Peter filled in.

One other presentation that drew a lot of interest was when Hugh Mason from JFDI, Co-Founder and CEO for Singapore’s ver y first accelerator outlined their efforts so far, the reasons for the many start-up failures, and the new novel path ahead for JFDI, a new model he hope would also become accepted more broadly in the future. The accelerator had just announced closing its star t-up boot camp programme in Singapore prior to Slush Singapore.

JFDI now has shifted from accelerating independent star t-ups to wor king with corporations and create new businesses, where a big part is collaborative innovation.

Most failures among Singapore’s star t-ups are due to not having found a customer with a problem worth solving, he said.

And: “With the eco system in Asia developing into the next stage you need people around you who have done it before.”

Hugh also highlighted the fact that with 570% forecasted growth in Asia for the next 20 years we are sitting here in Asia in what must be seen as the most interesting region.”

“But we have a fragmented diverse region in Southeast Asia and to become scale-ups we have to have something else.”

October 2016 • ScandAsia.Singapore 17

Business

Business Sweden appoints Tobias Glitterstam to head Asia Pacific

T

he previous China manager Tobias Glitterstam has been appointed to lead Business Sweden for the Asia Pacific, from 1 September 2016. Glitterstam will report to CEO Ylva Berg and be par t of included in Business Sweden’s management group in Sweden.

“Asia Pacific is a dynamic region that offers interesting growth oppor tunities for Business Sweden’s customers, both leading corporations as well as specialized small and medium-sized companies. I am very glad that Tobias Glitterstam with his many years of Asia experience will now take over responsibility for this hight-priority region,” says Ylva Berg, CEO at Business Sweden.

Glitterstam will in his new role be responsible for Business Sweden’s 14 offices and trade secretaries in the Asia Pacific. To continue to strengthening Business Sweden’s presence in the region he will be based in Shanghai.

“It is with great confidence that I will take over responsibility in this fast-growing region.

I look forward to following the Asia’s market development on site, to make common cause with our customers in strategic growth initiatives and to give full support to the Swedish company’s market penetration in the region, “said Glitter Tribe.

Glitterstam has operated in Asia since 2004 and has broad experience in the region. Prior to his current role as Trade Comissioner and China director at Business Sweden, he was Partner at the global consulting giant Accenture.

Business Sweden’s purpose is to help Swedish companies to achieve their full international potential, and foreign companies to reach their potential through investments in Sweden. We do this through strategic advice and practical suppor t, both in Sweden and in nearly 50 of the world’s most promising markets. Business Sweden is owned by the state and industry and was established on 1 January 2013 by a merger of the Swedish Trade Council and the Invest Sweden.

Finnish energy-giant to sell its Singapore properties

T

he marine and energy company Wartsila from Finland is selling five industrial properties in Singapore as a part of a global asset-light exercise.

The properties at 11 Pandan Crescent and 14 Benoi Crescent will be sale-and-leaseback deals while the three remaining properties at 43, 45 and 47 Gul Drive will be outright sold.

The facilities at 11 Pandan Crescent and 14 Benoi Crescent are currently Wartsila’s base of operation. After the lease has been completed War tsila plans to work with the buyer on upgrading the facilities and maximise their plotratios.

Wartsila Singapore employs more than 1,000 people and globally and their net-wor th was valued at around USD 7,5 billion last year – 97,8 percent of which comes from departments outside of Finland.

Source: Business Times

18 ScandAsia.Singapore • October 2016

Business

Malaysian brings Finnish success to Singapore

A

t Slush Singapore, an anchor event under the inaugural Singapore Week of Innovation &TeCHnology (SWITCH), also various entrepreneurs and start-up stakeholders share insights as part of the programme.

One of the entrepreneurs, who presented her journey and shared some quite enormous challenges and her success that eventually came from perseverance, was Malaysian-born Evon Soderlund who ended up in Finland and eventually made success as an entrepreneur – but not without being tried and tested to the very limit.

She also brought news at Slush Singapore that she and her husband’s successful concept Huone Events Hotel will come to Singapore in early 2017!

Evon come on the Live Stage at the inaugural Slush Singapore (par t of the global star t-up movement from Finland) and began by singing a song about a diamond.

To cut a long story short, her childhood had been tough, deserted by her parents as a little child and brought up by her grandparents. Evon was born in a small remote village in Malaysia.

Once her mother finally returned Evon as exposed to abuse and eventually decided to run away at 19 years of age.

“I ended up in Finland, saying yes to marry a Finnish guy after only three months of dating, and 12 years later we are still together and also have a family now,” she recalled.

How she got to a start in Finland was to go and literally begging the Malaysian ambassador to give her the advertised job as clerk at the embassy. She did not have much of an education – only high school – but she got the job and managed to learn English well there.

Later she got into studying hospitality management which lead on to staring up the

really unique concept of an events hotel; a hotel without bedrooms.

“We put meetings on the highest priority level for revenue instead of the number of bedrooms one can fill.”

By doing so the meetings and events can get all the attention in the concept.

“We make people meet better. Our meetings facilities are almost like co-working space,” explained Evon.

“But getting investment for something nobody had done before, a truly original concept, was not easy back in 2012. So we took on 600 000 Euro in debt.”

Two times personal bankruptcy threatened them and the second time the judge of the court deemed they should get one more chance based on the business model.

“Within a years time I tripled the hotel in size. And we are here and now bringing the announcement that we are going in to Singapore in February next year! The next stop will be South Korea. We have hosted 4,000 events, won seven awards, and dealt with two bankruptcies along the way.”

“And I hope to see the concept in all major cities in the world onwards.”

“Fellow entrepreneurs,” she addressed the audience, “It is essentially it will become a diamond if you just keep on polishing. It may be tough but it was my biggest learning. Try harder and keep polishing!

The Slush movement’s objective is to form an entrepreneurial community to help start-ups succeed globally. Slush is organized by a nonprofit community to allow the next generation of great companies to have the ecosystem they deserve to succeed on a global level. It is built for entrepreneurs by entrepreneurs, and it is meant for growth companies of all stages and industries.

October 2016 • ScandAsia.Singapore 19

Business

Scandinavian Leadership

especially if combined with a Seen with American eyes, the Scandinavian way of managing a business is completely unique. Especially if its combined with an American “can do-attitude”.

W

hen Chris Shern, Managing Director, IME (International Management Education), came to Denmark as an e x c h a n g e s t u d e n t fo r the first time more than 32 years ago, it was far from decided that he would end up settling down there. Nonetheless, he returned to Scandinavia after a trainee course for SAS in the US; a hiring that through different positions would bring him to the top of the organization.

From there he could really experience the difference between Scandinavian and American management.

“In many ways I felt privileged because SAS is a real Scandinavian business and as an American, the Scandinavian culture fascinated me - when Norwegians, Swedes and Danes could be at same meeting and understand each other 20 ScandAsia.Singapore • October 2016

in their own different languages,” Chris Shern explains.

Lifelong learning is the key to success For Chris Shern, the concept of “lifelong learning” was a bit of a revelation. It is a concept that he met multiple times during his stay in Denmark.

“Lifelong learning is a unique Scandinavian model that gave me an insight into leadership both from an inside and outside point of view. Scandinavian management is unique, with its relatively small chain of command along with the involvement of employees and its consensus-seeking style.That is why it is often people find it attractive to work for a Scandinavian company abroad – because they value their employees,” Mr. Shern points out.

Management in a VUCA world A group of visionary leaders from the former

Aarhus Business School in Denmark originally established IME in 1994. Since then, progress has gone fast and today, the main purpose is to teach top managers the competencies required to compete in an international world.

“The world is on its way into a four th industrial revolution – a VUCA world (Volatile, Uncer tain, Complex and Ambiguous). In my opinion, it is necessar y to work with the Scandinavian values and the Scandinavian management model. However, it is also necessar y to add a global mind-set and an American ‘can-do’ attitude to it. It is important not to get limited by what Scandinavians call ‘janteloven’, which is basically a form of modesty and to conform into societal expectations. It is exactly a combination of both - the Scandinavian and American mindset that is the foundation behind the Danish

entrepreneurial success in the US”, Chris Shern states.

Unlearn and relearn IME offers inter alia some of the most thorough top management educations - the Henley Executive MBA programme and the IME Mini MBA programme. Later is a shor ter version based on the seven modules of the classic MBAprogramme and it has just been launched in Singapore in September this year, with the first class starting in January 2017.

The aver age age of an IME student attending the programmes is about 40 years, so most participants are about halfway through their career. We are talking about people who already attain a higher education and some, or many years of experience in the world of business, who at one point decides to get even better equipped to deal with the many global challenges that business is exposed to.

“They are individuals who want to gain a better understanding of the complexities that exist in a company. Many of the fundamental principles in our Mini MBA programme are the foundation for understanding international business. Simultaneously, there are greater and greater expectations for managers to acquire

knowledge in new and complex areas. There is an expectation to ‘learn’, ‘unlearn’ and ‘relearn’ – maybe repeatedly throughout life”, Chris Shern explains.

Managers also get disrupted Personally, Chris Shern thinks the concept of lifelong learning is more relevant than ever – especially with disruption as the biggest threat towards most businesses, who have not fully adapted to the four th industrial revolution, which refers to Big Data, The Internet of Things, Robotics, Artificial intelligence, Argument reality and other disruptive technologies. It is necessary to develop management, as never before, so they also become disruptive.You have to ask yourself: ‘What does disruption mean to me as an individual and as a manager? Everyone in management needs to ask themselves this question, no matter what you’re working with. 10-15 years’ of one’s industr y knowledge can become wor thless overnight, if the game rules and business model are fundamentally changed and the competition no longer comes from competitors alone but from entirely new technologies. Therefore, lifelong learning is more relevant than ever, Chris Shern explains.

The type of management required The basic business structure is rarely up for discussion in top management. However, management during the ‘times of extreme changes’ requires ever-increasing understanding of yourself as a manager.The manager who leans back and relies on his/her existing knowledge and status will over time no longer be able to gain support from his/her employees. Namely, employees can always gain more knowledge through for example, Google or from sparring with other colleagues. It requires a manager who understands oneself and understands the inevitability of increasing transparency, both as an individual as well as a leader. The IME Mini MBA has a lot of focus on personal development as a foundation for developing one’s global mind-set. Because it is the global mind-set that helps you to navigate no matter what situation you end up in - it is your global navigation system, Chris Shern underlines.

Read more about IME Mini MB A at http://ime.com.sg

is unique

global perspective CHRIS SHERN

Age: 52 Education • Executive MBA, Henley Business School (2000 - 2002) • Associate of Arts, Anoka Technical College (1989 - 1990) • Bachelor of Arts, University of Minnesota (1985 - 1989) Career • Managing Director, IME / Henley Business School Denmark (2015 - today) • Managing Partner, ADVANT Partners LLC (2014 today) • General Manager - Italy & Eastern Mediterranean, Scandinavian Airlines (2009 - 2013) • Director Sales - International Areas, Scandinavian Airlines (2006 - 2009) • Director - Commercial Relations, Scandinavian Airlines (2000 - 2006) Private • Married to Helene Lissau Shern, father of two, living in Copenhagen (Denmark)

October 2016 • ScandAsia.Singapore 21

Preschool Theme

Choosing

a Preschool Choosing a preschool when moving from Europe to Singapore has become increasingly difficult for parents. There are more and more institutions established all the time, and each institution has its own unique philosophy and attributes. Comparing what they offer with the needs of your child is no simple task.

I

f you are looking for a preschool for your child, the first question is if it should be a local preschool or an international preschool?

In most countries in Asia, a local preschool is an option - although certainly a more challenging option for your child. If you child is mixed European - Asian this may, however, not be so frightening a prospect. And mostly it will have an economic silver lining as local private preschools are less costly compared to international preschools.

However, physical punishment has not been abolished in all Asian school systems, so take this into consideration. Ask each preschool, that you visit, how they administer physical punishment and if you are not comfortable with the answer, go to the next on your list or ask if they can make an exception for your child.

Most European families prefer the international option combined with some form of mother tongue playgroup or preschool class.

Location and approach Location near the home is mostly the top priority.

Next you need to find out which of the basically two different approaches, the preschools on your shortlist believes in. One approach is play-based - the other is academical.

In a play-based program, children choose activities based on their current interests. The term “play-based” is often interchanged with “child-centered,” which could be used to describe the majority of available preschool programs. The play-based classroom is broken up into sections, such as a home or kitchen, science area, water table, reading nook, space with blocks and other toys, or other areas. Teachers encourage the kids to play, facilitating social skills along the way.

The academic programs are “teacherdirected,” “teacher-managed.” In these classrooms, teachers lead the children in a more structured way, planning the activities, then guiding the children in doing them. This design is aimed at 22 ScandAsia.Singapore • October 2016

preparing kids for the primary school setting.

For the most part, classroom time is devoted to learning letters and sounds, distinguishing shapes and colors, telling time, and other skills.

While play-based approaches may work for most types of children, any quality preschool program can set the foundation for the transition to kindergarten and beyond. What matters is that your child is learning from adults who engage and stimulate intellectual curiosity while imparting social skills.

Watch your child!

Never mind how diligent you do your homework you will never be able to foresee if your child will thrive at the selected preschool.

It is therefore important that you make a habit of spending more time than you used to at home talking to your child about how their day was. What they did in class, and what they did outside. Let them tell about their friends. Listen.

All may initially sound fine and uncomplicated, but that may just be a honeymoon period. This is the most important step of them all. If your child develops in any way you find disturbing or starts showing signs of discomfor t going to school, what then?

Pulling your child out This is the disaster scenario: What if you picked the wrong preschool for your child? Is it better to leave the child and help him or her cope with the issues, or should you pull the child right away and switch to another preschool?

Some child psychologists advise parents in the first instance to let the child stay. If they learn that their parents eagerly help them ‘flee’ anxietyprovoking situations, it confirms to the child that the world outside the home is indeed meant to be feared.

The challenge is from the beginning to make the right choice of preschool that best suits the

individual needs of your child. The risk is that these needs may not be obvious until after they have started in the preschool or that unforeseen issues arise.

The preschools willingness to discuss the problem is essential. A school’s lack of understanding and suppor t will increase the problem, leaving you to deal with a distressed child who is being largely ignored by the staff. In this case, you should of course move your child to another school.

It is not ‘giving up’, it is the acceptance of an unworkable situation. Fighting on in the old preschool may work, but simply changing to a new preschool may in the end be the best thing that you could ever do for your child.

October 2016 • ScandAsia.Singapore 23

Preschool Theme

How expats maintain their language in Singapore

by Johannes Kjemp

S

candAsia has spoken with a few Scandinavians living and working in Singapore about their children and how they handle the challenge of maintaining their mother tongue when living in a foreign country.

Maintaining the Danish language in Singapore Mikkel Aabye recently moved from Denmark to Singapore with his wife Christina Aabye. Together they have three children attending the Overseas Family School. Mikkel and Christina were fond of the school’s values and were also attracted by the offer of Danish-taught classes within the institution.

Mikkel and Christina’s children are in the Kindergarten 2 and pre-Kindergarten 2 levels of their education (K2 and pre-K2 for short). They have four lectures a week in Danish and the rest in English. According to Mikkel Aabye, their children 24 ScandAsia.Singapore • October 2016

are very satisfied with the variation in language.

Mikkel and Christina plans on bringing their children home to Denmark in a couple of years.

For that reason, it’s important to them that the children maintain their native language, Danish.

They speak Danish at home, but practices English as well. They read good-night stories in Danish and they watch Danish television for kids like DR Ramasjang – a Danish channel by Denmark’s media giant, Denmark’s Radio.

“Most of the communicating is in English when we’re out”, says Mikkel. “They are still learning it but we hope they can do both languages fluently soon. They’re still young, so they are eager to learn!”

Norwegian, Polish and English – finding the balance Another couple facing the same challenge is Harald Lundestad and his polish partner,Agnieszka.

Together they have 4 year old Leopold. He is

currently attending Eton House International Pre-School where the classes are mainly in English.

At home, Harald and Agnieszk are taking a “one parent, one language” approach. Agnieszk talks polish with Leopold and Harald speaks Norwegian with him. Agnieszk spends the most time with Leopold so Polish is the dominating language for their son and Harald admits that Norwegian actually comes in third, behind English.

However, they do travel to Norway every summer for three weeks where Leopold plays with the Norwegian children and gets a sense of Norway’s culture, environment and language.

Leopold also picks up a lot of German which he tends to mix with his Norwegian. “It is a bit annoying when he sometimes says “Ich bin” instead of “Jeg er”, or “danke” instead of “takk”, says Harald. The German comes from short visits to family and friends in Germany, and from playing with German kids.

children’s native Adding Chinese to the mix Trine came to Singapore, from Denmark, with her children in October 2014.

Her son is 10 and her daughter 5 years old.

They’re both attending the Canadian International School, Tanjong Katong Campus.

The son’s classes are exclusively in English, the daughter however is taught both English and Mandarin. Neither are taught Danish in school but it’s important for the family that they learn about the Danish language and culture. Therefore, all communication at home takes place in Danish.

They also visit Denmark annually.

In their freetime Trine’s son plays soccer and her daughter attends several different dance classes. They prioritize activities over Danish lessons to avoid school days that becomes too long and exhausting.

Mainting a language can be difficult for a child abroad but it’s definitely possible, especially in an international diverse city as Singapore.

October 2016 • ScandAsia.Singapore 25

Preschool Theme

What do kids in Singapore learn in Kindergarten?

By Andrea Strachan, Canadian International School Vice Principal Primary School, Lakeside Campus

C

urrently there is a lot of debate in Singapore about the ‘schoolification’ of Kindergarten. Unlike the Nordic approach where formal teaching approaches to reading, writing and mathematics start when children are at least 6 years old, many children in Singapore are required to start when they are still in Kindergarten, leaving little time for them to develop other important skills.

Learning at Singapore’s Canadian International School (CIS) Kindergarten is different. Not only do we teach our youngest students the basics of reading, writing and mathematics but also a whole lot more! Through our inquiry, play-based approach, our students are equipped with skills that will help them achieve success not only in learning but also in life...

Personal and social development CIS Kinder gar ten begins with nur tur ing students’ personal, social and emotional wellbeing. Our teachers work with our students to help them learn how to get along and share with their classmates while also establishing a routine, and learning how to respect and understand rules.

Learning how to learn Children who learn how to learn when they are young, develop a love of learning that can last a lifetime and be extended to all areas of their life.

At CIS we help our youngest students develop

effective strategies for learning by suppor ting their development of positive attitudes, habits and learning styles such as persistence, curiosity, self organisation and reasoning skills.

Academic outcomes At CIS we not only focus on helping our youngest students meet key academic benchmarks (such as basic literacy and math skills), we also help them to extend beyond these in any way they can. Through differentiated instruction where we tailor activities to meet each child’s individual needs, all of our students are able to achieve their full academic potential.

Each of our students have the opportunity to learn a broad range of academic subjects including learning an additional language. In PreKindergar ten they can enrol in our Chinese immersion programme while in Junior and Senior Kindergarten, they can choose between our daily Chinese or French language programme, or our pioneering bilingual Chinese-English programme which goes all the way up to Grade 5.

Learning through play There is often a misconception that play-based learning in Kindergar ten is a waste of time.

Some believe it doesn’t rigorously help students develop academic skills and assume that the more time children spend on formal approaches to mastering the basic elements of mathematics and reading, the more likely they are to succeed in school.

Decades of research shows that these assumptions are incorrect. Learning through play provides meaningful contexts for young children to learn concepts and practice skills. It also nurtures key cognitive, social, physical and language skills, makes learning enjoyable and encourages children to explore, collaborate and take risks. It is well documented that by the age of 10, children who have ‘played’ in Kindergarten excel in many ways over those who have not. They are more advanced in reading and mathematics, and are better adjusted both socially and emotionally.

At CIS our play-based approach includes hands-on learning both indoors and outdoors.

For instance, children at our Lakeside campus learn about important math concepts such as volume, capacity and measurement while playing with water in our new Outdoor Discover y Centre’s mud kitchen. In terms of literacy, we build skills through activities such as writing and drawing on the centre’s ar t walls and leaving simple messages for friends in secret places around the garden.

So, what can you expect your child to learn in a Kindergarten in Singapore? In a traditional sense, you can expect them to learn “the basics” of early literacy and mathematics. But, at CIS, they will also learn so much more. They will learn to get along with others and make friends, important life skills such as increased self-control and independence and effective strategies for learning. But most importantly, they will learn to love learning!

For more information about our Kindergarten programme, book yourself a personal tour or sign-up for one of our monthly open houses at www.cis.edu.sg/openhouse.

26 ScandAsia.Singapore • October 2016

THE BEST CHOICE

OF EDUCATION

FOR YOUR CHILD STAMFORD AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

Education which celebrates global mindedness

at age 3 in Pre-Kindergarten through graduation and is combined

Globalism lies at the heart of Stamford American International School

with the American Education Reaches Out (AERO) standards giving

as their ethos is built around international education and is core

families the peace of mind, knowing their children’s education in

to daily school life. With a truly globalised community of over 65

Singapore has been aligned to US curriculum standards.

nationalities enjoying an international education in Singapore, cultural kinship is important and celebrated. Stamford American welcomes the Swedish and Finnish supplementary schools on campus weekly for mother tongue instruction, plus the daily and bilingual language program in Mandarin or Spanish is taught by native speaking specialists from age 2. The established Mandarin/English Bilingual Program is offered from Pre-Kindergarten to Grade 4 which aims to

Specialist education included in the curriculum As part of the curriculum, Stamford American also offers specialist programs such as music and physical education, starting as early as 2 years of age. In the Early Years, children have weekly music lessons under the world-renowned Suzuki Violin Program with the option to progress to Cello at age 5. The exceptional music pathway

develop students as being truly bi-literate, bilingual and bi-cultural.

at Stamford American offers students a plethora of opportunities to

We chose Stamford back in 2011 initially because of the

participate in the well-respected specialist PE program called

opportunities offered in Mandarin. Both our boys attended a bilingual

SMART Steps which progresses to the Perceptual Motor Program

local preschool, so we wanted to make sure they could maintain their

(PMP) at age 5, developing essential body and brain skills.

Mandarin abilities even after the switch to an international school

join musical ensembles through to graduation. From age 3, students

system. At the time, most international schools offered Mandarin

A visit is worth a 1000 words

only 2-3 times a week but Stamford offers daily Mandarin classes

Stamford American has an Admissions concierge who are extremely

and also an opportunity for our younger son to continue bilingual

well versed in all the programs and facilities on offer. The friendly

education. – Sari Nobell, a Finnish parent at Stamford American.

team host free Early Years playgroups, monthly open houses, as well as personal tours tailored to each family’s grades and interests.

Education which nurtures the whole child

Do you have one child in grade 1 who loves soccer and math, and

For families choosing their children’s education in Singapore, it

another child in grade 5 who speaks mandarin and loves theater? A

is important to be reassured that the school they choose offers

visit will afford you the opportunity to explore these passions and see

curriculum rigor combined with holistic opportunities beyond the

world class facilities to support them.

classroom. Stamford American is focused on developing the ‘whole child’ spanning 16 grades from Early Years to Secondary. The school offers education, sports and co-curricular programs for children from aged 2 to 18 years. The International Baccalaureate curriculum starts 28 ScandAsia.Singapore • October 2016

+65 6653 7907

www.sais.edu.sg

Preschool Theme

Come And Play With Us!

Y

oung children learn best through playing, and at KIS they have plenty of opportunities to do so.The Early Years Centre at KIS, with both indoor and outdoor play areas, provides a spacious, safe and fun environment for children to play and learn. During the school day there are times for free play and for set activities which together help children develop their knowledge and skills.

The playgrounds and fields at KIS give children space to run around, climb, swing, ride tricycles and play games with their friends. Staying active is an important part of a healthy and balanced lifestyle, something we hope children will learn from a young age.

But in addition to providing physical benefits, children also learn knowledge and skills through play. By playing with different materials (water, stones) for example, children will learn to understand the differences between solids and liquids. Sorting different shapes or making patterns provide early logic and math understanding. Children love to dress up or imagine scenarios, and nurturing their imagination supports creativity, not just in the arts, but also in problem solving. Playing also helps develop skills, such as communication skills, social skills, investigation skills and motor skills, all of which are important foundations for learning and for life!

KIS is a full IB World School and children in our Early Years learn through the IB Primary Years Programme. The approach to teaching and learning is play based and hands on. Playing is a wonderful and powerful way of learning that allows children to explore, discover, hypothesise, predict, problem solve, construct and document their deepening understandings of the world in which they live. Most of all though, your child will have fun learning at KIS! For more information contact us at admissions@kis.ac.th or visit www.kis.ac.th Linda Belonje KIS International School, Bangkok, Thailand October 2016 • ScandAsia.Singapore 29

The ultimate choice for your child’s education Australian International School The Australian International School (AIS) offers its students a holistic education filled with unique opportunities, allowing them to grow in confidence and to contribute to the world around them with creativity and initiative, whatever their abilities or aspirations. True to AIS’ globally focused, distinctly Australian ethos, AIS students, aged 18 months to 18 years old, enjoy a global education that is underpinned by the standards and content of the Australian curriculum. With a reputation for excellent results and high-quality, passionate teaching team, AIS’ students are able to achieve beyond their potential; academically and across all areas of their development.

Outstanding Early Years Program for 18 months to 5 years old The specialist AIS Early Years curriculum draws upon the inquirybased Reggio Emilia philosophy of learning, acknowledging that children learn best when at play and when their surroundings are designed with them in mind. The AIS Early Years program includes daily Mandarin, weekly Speech and Drama Program, physical education and movement under the SMART Steps Program, music and violin – all designed to support young learners in expressing their creativity and fostering their love of learning.

A unique Curriculum Program From Early Years through to Elementary school, children at AIS enjoy the world-recognised IB Primary Years Program (PYP), a trans-disciplinary, inquiry-based approach to learning that is engaging, relevant and challenging. This, guided by Australian Curriculum standards in literacy and numeracy, prepares students for future success in their IGCSE, HSC and IB Diploma studies and

examinations in Secondary. We are proud to share that our Elementary students achieve NAPLAN Reading and Numeracy results 20% higher than the New South Wales average. In Secondary School, 91% of students scored above the IB world average in 2015.

Cultivating a love for languages AIS celebrates the cultural diversity of its student body, which is made up of 50 nationalities. Mandarin, the most widely spoken language worldwide, is taught daily from age 2 to age 11. Differentiated into a Core and Core Extension classes in Elementary School, and taught by engaging and highly qualified native speakers, the AIS Mandarin program ensures each student is stretched and stimulated as they progress. In Secondary School, AIS’ students can continue to study Mandarin, or can branch out into French and Indonesia, as well as a wide-range of Mother Tongue options.

For non-native English-speaking students, the Intensive English Program develops the confidence to communicate effectively in English.

To learn more about the Australian International School and its programs, book a personal tour or place at the monthly Open House today by visiting www.ais.com.sg or call +65 6653 7906.

EDU-2-2037 19/2/2016 – 18/2/2020

Australian International School Pte Ltd is registered by the Council for Private Education.

CPE Registration Number 199204405H. Period of Registration 6 July 2015 to 5 July 2019

30 ScandAsia.Singapore • October 2016

13 Ope w n w. & 1 ai 4 Hou s.c om O se .sg ct ob s /o pe ne er v

w

Your child’s Passport to Success

en

ts

Part 6:

Opportunity

The ONLY

School to offer

International and Australian Curriculums The International Baccalaureate Diploma Program and the Australian Higher School Certificate offer choice in curriculum to suit your child’s future path.

DID YOU KNOW AIS STUDENTS ENJOY

IB

DIPLOMA PROGRAMME

AUSTRALIAN

OR

HSC HIGHER SCHOOL CERTIFICATE

www.ais.com.sg +65 6653 7906 Offering the best of the Australian curriculum and the International Baccalaureate for children aged 18 months to 18 years old.

EDU-2-2037 19/2/2016 – 18/2/2020

Australian International School Pte Ltd is registered by the Council for Private Education. CPE Registration Number 199204405H. Period of2016 Registration 6 July 2015 to 5 July 2019 October • ScandAsia.Singapore

31

Preschool Theme

New Head of Pre-School at The German European School Singapore (GESS)

Laura Munaro, Head of Pre-School at The German European School Singapore (GESS)

L

aura Munaro joined GESS in August - the beginning of the academic year 2016/17.

Laura describes herself as an “educator at heart”.

From the age of six, Laura knew she wanted to work in education. Her interest in all aspects of education has led her to be well qualified in a number of education specialties.

Laura has taught at kindergar ten, primary and secondary schools on a range of different subjects such as Italian, philosophy, psychology and social studies, to name a few.

Most recently, Laura completed her second MA in Primary Education at the University of Bologna, Italy, with research based on teaching

languages in immersion settings through an inquiry approach.

Like GESS, Laura believes that every child has many talents; that they’re intelligent, capable, creative and enthusiastic and it is our job to support them in their learning journey through offering them as many meaningful experiences as possible.

The first school you choose for your child is one of the most important milestones in their life.

Knowing this, GESS Pre-School provides a learning environment that is engaging, safe and stimulating, promoting passion and love for learning in children from 18 months to six years of age.

GESS believes in the benefits of bilingualism and offer its students the possibility to choose between German and English as language of instruction. Additionally, GESS provides Danish classes to Danish native speakers from Pre-School to Secondary.

At Kinder gar ten and PreP r i m a r y, G E S S o f f e r s t h e International Baccalaureate Primar y Year s Programme (IB PYP); an inquiry-driven approach to teaching and learning.

Laura’s approach to education

is rooted in constructivism and socio-constructivism. She has been greatly influenced by the Reggio Emilia philosophy of education, which shares a ‘rich’ image of the child, similar to the IB PYP approach. It is based on the belief that children are endowed with “a hundred languages” through which they can express their potentials, ideas and abilities. The Reggio Emilia approach sees the child as co-constructor of knowledge and places great impor tance to the environment, which is considered the ‘third teacher’.The Reggio Emilia approach is based on the principles of respect, responsibility and community through exploration and discover y in a suppor tive and enriching environment which constantly takes into consideration the interests of the children.

Laura and GESS’ Pre-School staff believe that everything they do at school needs to be intentional.

What they mean by this is that with every provocation offered to a child, it is carefully planned and takes in to consideration the children’s prior learning and experiences, in order for the children to build up new knowledge and understanding.

The GESS Pre-School has

an enthusiastic team of teachers and suppor t staff who share the same ideas and work to provide a safe, welcoming and nur turing environment for all the children.

Staff consider each child is unique.

The teachers work together to ensure they provide children with oppor tunities for their own inquiries and discoveries, and to suppor t each child’s learning journey.

I n n ov a t i o n i s c o n s t a n t l y included in the teaching and learning. At Pre-School, GESS has introduced the use of technology in the classroom. Teachers use technological devices as playful and collaborative tools that deliver meaningful creative tasks to their students. They are using them to explore a range of apps, art-making and pedagogical approaches that will enhance creativity, visual literacy and divergent thinking, all through the use of devices!

GESS is currently building a new campus that will consolidate its existing two campuses in to one, purpose-built campus with stateof-the-art facilities. The campus is set to open in August, 2018.

For more information about GESS’ Pre-School, please feel free to contact the Admissions Office at admissions@gess.sg or +65 6461 088.

32 ScandAsia.Singapore • October 2016

Community

A

priceless job Meet a volunteer at Danish Seamen’s Church

By Maria Andreasdottir Sørensen

I

t might not pay your bills, but being a volunteer enriches you with other values than money.

ScandAsia has met Danish Pia Nørgaard Pedersen, who has been volunteering at the Danish Seamen’s Church in Singapore since October 2016, and loves her job.

“I have a very rewarding job. Sometimes I forget it’s just volunteering.”

It comes naturally to 26-year old Pia Nørgaard Pedersen to give a helping hand, but she did not expect to become a full-time volunteer when she visited the Danish Seamen’s Church in Singapore for her first time. She had moved to Singapore with her boyfriend in September 2015, after she had finished her bachelor degree at Copenhagen Business School. After a month in tropical latitudes in search for a job, Pia visited the 34 ScandAsia.Singapore • October 2016

Danish Seamen’s Church.

“When you’re Danish in Singapore, you automatically get to know about the Seamen’s Church. It’s more than a church, it’s a community for Danes, too,” she says and adds “..which is a perfect place for newcomers to get to meet new people and build up a network.”

When she showed up at the top of Mount Faber, Pia walked into the middle of a packed “Jule Basar”-meeting (=Christmas Bazaar) at the church, which she later recognizes to be the biggest annual event at the church. Pia was welcomed by an engaged group of people, who quickly incorporated Pia and made her join the coffee table.

“I wanted to be a part of this immediately.

People were so passionate about organising this

event, and every person in this meeting wanted to contribute in some way to make a wonderful Julebasar.”

Suddenly, Pia had put herself in charge of the responsibility of a Christmas food stall, and, due to her educational background, all PR- and communication related work, too.

“I would do newsletter s, invitations, advertisements, and other PR tasks, be in charge of one of the food stands selling Danish hot dogs, and I would help bake goods and Christmas cookies, too.”

And this was only the beginning.

Full-time volunteer After her first visit, Pia returned to the church the next day. She was already given a lot of

Community responsibility, and she made sure it was given to good hands. It didn’t take long before it was wellknown Pia did an excellent job regardless of what task she was given – or wanted.

“It doesn’t feel like you are doing something unpaid, and just because it’s not paid, does not mean you should settle for less. You want to do a great job. The church has been so good to show their gratitude towards its volunteers, and they count on us,” says Pia and admits, that the search of a paid job was shoved into the background.

There is no “permanent” volunteers, but up until the time Pia got a part time job as a media analyst in January 2016, she went to work at the church almost every day, which, in her own words, made her a full-time volunteer.

“The work at the church gave me routine and good moments with new friends. It became so natural to be a part of the church, and it is wonderful to know your help is needed and appreciated.”

According to her, it is not that difficult for the

church to find volunteers when it needs help, but her new part time job did not equal her goodbye to volunteering for the church. Instead, now she has two par t time jobs. One with salary, one without. And she is happy with both of them.

“I was already so engaged in the church work; it wouldn’t make sense to leave. And I love the variation the two jobs give me.”

At the church, Pia does ever ything from helping organize events, collect and wrap Christmas gifts for Danish companies, updating social media and newsletters, and many other communicative and PR-related tasks. Because of her commitment to her work, she is also asked for new initiatives and ideas, even if it is not a job for volunteers. It’s a symbol of the appreciation of having her as a part of the team.

“I had not expected my stay in Singapore to consist of so much volunteering. With that being said, it has been so surprisingly profitable.” says Pia Nørgaard Pedersen.

New Danish Embassy team welcomed

O

n 22 September Danish Business Association DABS held a welcoming event for the new team at the Embassy of Denmark in Singapore, Mrs Dorte Bech Vizard, Ambassadordesignate of Denmark and Mr Henning Nielsen, Consul/Deputy Head of Mission.

They both introduced themselves and received a warm welcome by DABS members and other guests.

The event was held at the Singapore Cricket Club with gourmet food and fine wine. Dorte Bech Vizard spoke in front of the crowd about globalisation and the importance of inclusion of other cultures in society. The Ambassador-designate enlightened the audience on the latest developments in Denmark and initial thoughts on Danish-Singaporean relations going forward.

Formerly, Dorte was the Director for Invest in Denmark and Innovation in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Copenhagen. Dorte has also held the position as Head of Department for Legal and International Affairs in the Danish Ministry for Children, Gender Equality, Integrations and Social Affairs. As Manager for the Strategy Team with Deloitte Business Consulting, Dorte brings solid experience from the private sector as well. She holds a Master of Law (LLM) from Aarhus University. Dorte is married with two children, aged 10 and 13 years.

Mr Henning Nielsen was previously the team leader for the Consular Service Operation Centre in the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Copenhagen. With previous postings to Prague, Kampala, Dhaka and New York, Henning brings to Singapore a solid practical and judicial experience on consular issues relevant for Danes in Singapore. In addition, Henning has a wide working experience within administration and IT. He is married with two adult children.

October 2016 • ScandAsia.Singapore 35

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