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Swedish Press N Y A
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May 2020 Vol 91:04 $5.95
The Swedish Diaspora
04 2020
Interview with Louise Svanberg Golden Green Exports Polarpriset 2020
Hong Kong attractive to Swedes
The Swedish Community in Hong Kong By Ingrid Reinli, SVIV Representative
Ingrid Reinli. All photos © Andrea Björsell
According to the Swedish Consulate General there are approximately 2,000 Swedish nationals residing in Hong Kong, and this number includes children. Personally, I think the number was higher until recently, considering the many young, ambitious Swedish entrepreneurs who have been tempted to try out their business ideas in an advanced, densely populated and financially strong part of the world, in particular in the e-commerce sector. But one has to take into consideration the turbulent times that started with the protests in early June 2019 and continued throughout the second half of 2019. The demonstrations have affected business in Hong Kong negatively ever since. This period was succeeded by the even more devastating coronavirus situation. But Hong Kong people are resilient and strong. Their efforts to retain local democratic rule of law as well as introduce strict measures to control the coronavirus are exemplary.
Hong Kong is a city the size International city and regional hub of the Swedish island of Öland Most Swedish nationals come to with a population of 7.3 million. Hong Kong through a job assignment. Hong Kong is a regional hub in Asia A former British colony and and many companies have regional now Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), it will remain “one country, two systems” until the year 2047. It is a regional hub, a financial business center and a fascinating place that leaves nobody untouched by its charm. It is also the home of a small community of Swedes.
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offices in the city. The regional office staff cover many countries in the south east Asian region from here. Hong Kong SAR offers rule of law, an independent judiciary system and fundamental freedoms of information and expression, which makes business life easy. Hong Kong SAR means that Hong Kong keeps its own rules until 2047 according to the 50-year transition agreement from 1997. However, the interpretation of this agreement is under scrutiny by the current mainland Chinese Government which has resulted in protests such as the umbrella demonstration in 2015 and the most recent one in 2019. Hong Kong has a stable economic environment, an attractive tax regime and a transparent banking system, so foreign businesses can feel safe, and company registration is easy and non-bureaucratic. Hong Kong cannot be replaced by any other Chinese city in the short term.
A great way of life
The vast majority of Swedes stay 2 – 4 years in Hong Kong and then move on to somewhere else or return home. A few stay on longer and make Hong Kong their home either permanently or for 20+ years,
but most of them leave before retirement as the cost of living in Hong Kong is high, with housing and medical insurance being very expensive. Spouses are granted dependent visa status which allows them to work, and some spouses do take advantage of this possibility. However, many parents with children in international schools are expected to help out with activities organized in and around school as well as after school, making it difficult for both parents to maintain a full-time job. Also, since there are many nice arrangements organized through SWEA and other communities, everyday life is full of social events. Hiking is a popular activity among Swedes in Hong Kong; the city offers fantastic hiking routes, marked by distance posts and nicely maintained by the Government. Hong Kong is very mountainous, so the hiking is challenging but the views are breathtaking. Most Swedes who reside in Hong Kong for a shorter or longer time period simply love the life here. Hong Kong is a place where one can maintain a Western lifestyle with the added exotic flair of Asian influence. Hong Kong offers a high standard of living, a safe and organized society with a modern infrastructure system of internet connection, metro, buses, trains, trams, ferries, etc. In addition, the city has an incredible food scene
suitable to all budgets, great entertainment, fantastic rooftop bars and party life in abundance. When the weather is at its best in Hong Kong (Oct – Nov) it is the opposite in Sweden. Conversely, the weather is bad in Hong Kong during the summer months June – August, i.e. the typhoon season with hot, humid and rainy weather. This is when most Swedes enjoy the beautiful Swedish summer back home in Europe. To many Swedes living here, Hong Kong offers a perfect mix of both worlds.
Extensive Swedish traditions and activities
The Swedish organisations present in Hong Kong are the Consulate General, the Swedish Chamber of Commerce, the Swedish Church (1.5 staff shared between Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing and Taiwan), Business Sweden, SWEA, and the Swedish School which is currently available in 3 different locations around Hong Kong (offered to children aged 6 – 13 after regular school). There is also a possibility to study Swedish as a minor subject at Hong Kong University. Some 90 Hong Kong students sign up each year to study Swedish because they watch Swedish movies and listen to Swedish music. They like to impress on their friends with IKEA vocabulary, i.e. knowing the meaning of the IKEA product names. They are also fascinated by Swedish advancements regarding equality, paternity leave and environmental concern. There are four IKEA stores in Hong Kong, all equipped with a food store section, but the really good shop to buy Swedish and Nordic delicacies is at SverigeShoppen where the
whole community as well as other people buy food (dry, fresh and frozen), candy, spirits, snuff (snus), ice cream for pet dogs, gifts, and much more. The Swedish organizations arrange regular cultural activities such as Walpurgis night on Repulse Bay beach, Midsummer luncheon for the business community plus a Midsummer fair with games, market stalls, garland making, singing and dancing around the maypole, Lucia procession at St John’s Cathedral, Swedish film festival at Hong Kong University, Nobel gala dinner, Swedish winter (introduction to winter sports, snow, Santa and Christmas traditions), Scandinavian Christmas fair, Easter mass, and many other events. The activities are dependent on voluntary help from the community, and many Swedes feel happy and proud to assist in any way they can. For Lucia, “lussefika” is offered thanks to SWEA members baking saffron buns. SverigeShoppen’s owner dresses up as Santa and hands out candy bags to the children, the Consulate sponsors “glögg” and coffee, and the Swedish Church staff lead the choir rehearsals. In short, Swedes in Hong Kong live an enjoyable life and cherish the time here to explore the city and its neighbouring region.
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Putting Sweden on the Map At Home
“Swedes abroad are an untapped asset ...
Global S
Louise Svanberg, Chairman of the Board of Swedes in the World (SVIV).
Louise Svanberg. Photo: Bengt Säll
Louise Svanberg is Chairman of the Board of Swedes in the World (SVIV). She is the former CEO of EF Education First, the world’s largest private educational company. She joined the company in 1985 and became CEO in 2002. In 2004, Louise was named the Most Powerful Swedish Business Woman by the economics magazine Veckans Affärer. She also ranked No. 35 on Fortune Magazine’s list of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business. She was awarded the Franklin D. Roosevelt Humanitarian Award, as well as the European Union Business Women Award as one of the ten most powerful business women in Europe. Louise serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, of Essity, Sweden and of CERAS Health, New York.
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Please tell us where you were born and where you grew up. I was born in Stockholm by two very nice parents. My dad had lived a long time in Asia. However, they discovered that they had different definitions of what to call “home”. My dad moved back to Singapore and my mom stayed in Stockholm. I spent a lot of my youth travelling back and forth between Asia and Europe. I felt equally at home in both places. I graduated in Economics from the University of Stockholm and earned degrees in languages and political science at Sorbonne in Paris. I lived in Paris, Lugano, Milan, Rome and Zurich. One thing became clear to me: you will be changed forever after having lived abroad. In 1985 I ended up in Boston after being offered an interesting job with EF Education First. I didn’t feel very American and agreed to the position for one year only. Now, 32 years later, I am still here and loving it. My husband Carl-Henric Svanberg and I spend most of our time in Boston and Stockholm. Between us we have six children – two here in Boston. Tell us about the barriers Swedish expat professionals encounter when returning to Sweden. One thing I hear often is that Swedes returning home after a number of years find it difficult to re-integrate
into the company and into Swedish society. Also, the companies sometimes acknowledge that they could do a better job of re-integration, and especially of taking full advantage of the returnees’ valuable experience and cultural awareness. You need, however, to be flexible, either with the timing of your return or on the type of job you wish for – you can rarely have both. It can take time to rebuild a social network. Often, expats form their own networks to share their experiences, and one of the roles SVIV plays is to participate in those networks. We can offer practical advice regarding schools, healthcare issues, etc., to bring the networks up to date. Many other countries experience the same difficulties. For many years, highly ambitious Asians have applied to American universities and colleges, and many have remained in the U.S. to pursue great careers. But a new trend has emerged, in that Asians countries are increasingly encouraging these graduates to return to seize new opportunities. The same thing is happening with students from countries like Germany, France, the US … but not Sweden. It is fine to send people out in the world to gain valuable experience,
l Swedes
...“that Sweden should be grateful to have.”
but the true value is if we can attract them to return later. This is what is called “brain circulation”. Sweden doesn’t quite appreciate the tremendous value that returning Swedish expats represent. We have more multinational companies per capita than any other country. One key reason, I believe, is our long-standing tradition of being open-minded, traveling abroad, speaking foreign languages, integrating in foreign cultures and then coming back. The low level of “brain circulation” is an untapped prerequisite for Sweden’s continued international competitiveness. To find a top job, whether private, public or in academia, there is a growing expectation that you should have worked abroad. How does SVIV interact with the Swedish government to lower these barriers for returning expats? We are working with the Department of Justice to find ways of facilitating the integration of foreign spouses in terms of residence and working permits. SVIV has also been approached by the government to use our nearly 100 representatives around the world to report on Swedish expats’ concerns. These concerns may have to do with passports, visas, work permits and jobs for spouses, and how to trans-
late children’s grades from foreign schools to Swedish equivalents. The reason the government has asked SVIV for help is that we have more direct contact with individual expats. Do you foresee any interest in SVIV and the Swedish government to collaborate with Swedish Press in supporting expats? First of all, Swedish Press is doing a great job raising the above issues by publishing related articles. One reason why married Swedes are reluctant to move abroad nowadays is that often both husband and wife have parallel careers, so if one of them is offered a career-enhancing position abroad, the accompanying spouse is unlikely to find a similar opportunity. We have therefore instituted a program called the medföljarprogrammet, in which the spouse is invited to join the local SVIV, work with us, represent us, taking on assignments from us – voluntary work that helps enrich his/her own CV while abroad. The program also aims to facilitate jobseeking and social re-integration for returning spouses. Another program aims to develop a better appreciation of “brain circulation” among companies and other institutions. The more people who know about these two programs, the better, and Swedish Press serves an important role by increasing awareness of these in North America. [Swedish Press publicized both programs through Cecilia Borglin’s
articles in our February, March and April 2020 issues.] Lastly, in these unprecedented Corona times, we have had very constructive discussions with Sweden’s Foreign Minister, Ann Linde, how to work together to support Swedes living or traveling in North America. We would look for Swedish local residents to act as “mini-ambassadors”, to offer advice to trapped Swedish visitors in practical matters and also offer emotional support. Swedes abroad are an untapped asset that Sweden should be very grateful to have. In which area do you feel Sweden contributes most globally? The U.S. has an endless number of technology companies – Amazon, Google, Facebook, to name a few. Sweden does not have many big tech companies, but we have a large number of smaller ones. Google and others buy our embryo companies for a lot of money, which is a pity for Sweden, because we should hang on to them. We also have a long tradition on the cultural side, such as in film and music. For being such a small country, we are quite versatile. Another area where Swedes contribute globally is in leadership. Many companies are thriving because of our open, non-hierarchical, transparent leadership style – an approach which is also one of our great exports. Interviewed by Peter Berlin
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Hemma hos
The Streets are a Playground for Artist Johan Karlgren
[Design]
By Kristi Robinson
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f there is one thing that needs to be seen right now, it is the art of Johan Karlgren. Johan’s street art is where imagination, nostalgia, and humor meet up for an epic play session. Going by the name Pappas Pärlor, translated as “Daddy’s beads”, Johan uses the unlikely medium of plastic fuse beads to create his gaming-inspired pieces of art. Through landscapes and built objects set in the natural environment, he brings his characters to life in the most entertaining ways.
With candour he describes what he calls his “strange work situation and strange life”, and the journey that brought him to where he is. As a child he was an avid Nintendo player and spent much of his adult life trying to reclaim parts of his childhood by collecting video games. Having amassed a huge collection, he refers to himself as not so much of a collector, but more of a hoarder. Fast forward some years and Johan had two young kids. He and his wife swapped traditional gender roles to show them that, regardless
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Pappas Pärlor Johan Karlgren. Photo: Pontus Johansson
of gender, they can do anything. Johan tried cross-stitching but found it too time-consuming. He found Perler beads, known as Munkplast beads in Sweden, and says he immediately fell in love with them. The bead aesthetic was a perfect match with Johan’s affinity for pixelated 8-bit video games. He began by selling his gameinspired art at markets and fairs, and then moved on to comic book conventions and video game fairs. About half a year later he became a full-time street artist, after his first Instagram post launched his career. From that single post he sold so many pieces in one day that he just couldn’t ignore it, and realized it was possible to make a living from his art. Now, six years on, and he hasn’t looked back. Most of what he does is inspired by his childhood, whether it is a video game, or a
movie scene he wants to interpret. He considers his work play, and he just wants to make people laugh. What he enjoys creating most is smaller pieces. He finds that the biggest challenge is to minimize something down to its raw essence, and make something recognizable out of the smallest possible quantity of beads. Johan calls his street art ‘social disobedience with a conscience’. He is careful not to leave his art on private property, or in places where it could end up in the water. His hometown of Motala has been the backdrop for much of his art, but his pieces can also be found hiding or hanging out in the streets of cities like Stockholm, Paris, and Barcelona. The biggest issue with
having his art in an urban setting is that it gets stolen, so he doesn’t always leave his work at the scene; some are given away, and some are sold. With his large online following and successful webshop Pappas Pärlor which has been put on hold for the moment to pursue other projects, it is clear that people are excited to see more of what Johan has to share. Check out all of Johan’s amazing street art at pappasparlor.com All photos except top middle ©Johan Karlgren
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Road to 2045
Road to 2045 Green Tech Through Improvement As Well As Innovation By Jakob Lagercrantz
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here have been many attempts over the years to establish a Swedish green tech export. Green tech is an area which offers hope and inspires technological development. It is also growing. According to the Cleantech Global 100 Report 2020, investments in their selected 100 top companies reach 3 billion dollars annually. Bloomberg News reports an astounding 330 billion dollars invested in clean energy globally in 2018, with 80 percent allocated to sun and wind. There are large gains to be made; moving towards a circular economy in the EU would save up to 380 billion dollars. Yearly. This makes sense, because emissions and waste are lost resources. The more we recycle the more we save. Sweden has, in reality, moved one step further than a focus on green tech. Rather than concentrating only on new innovative companies, we should look at how green solutions are implemented
in traditional industries. Why not recognize Scania’s or Volvo’s export of state-of-the-art buses as green tech, or the super-efficient ball bearings from SKF? Not to mention developments in the pulp and paper industry where energy efficiency is finally gaining ground, and also pulp mills which are now producing fuels for the transportation sector from former waste streams. Volvo is still well known and respected in California, as is was the only car company that met the environmental challenges set up by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) in the 1970’s. Volvo developed the catalytic converter, thereby introducing a way to decrease nitrogen oxides and other harmful pollutants from vehicles. This was helpful in limiting smog – recalling that, at the time, Los Angeles was the most polluted city in the US. CARB was counting on companies to rise to the challenge, and Volvo came up with a technological solution. It took more than ten years before Volvo introduced the same catalytic converters in cars in Sweden. So, was Volvo a green tech company, or “just” a car company using innovation to win market shares? The key is
continual improvement. In 1970 the total Swedish energy demand was 375 TWh, including industry, cars, housing, etc. In 2018, with almost twice the population and number of cars, and with a huge increase in the number of electric appliances, the demand was 373 TWh. Where one would expect increased energy use, we have in fact had a small decrease. This was achieved in small steps through diligent work by committed companies. If, back in 1970, we had set up a target to decrease energy use, we would today be even further along than the Swedish 2045 target of netzero CO2 emissions. All done through smart thinking, whether or not we call it green tech. The Swedish 2030-secretariat was formed to support the decarbonization of the transport sector in Sweden. The secretariat is independent from political parties and technical solutions. Top left: © Swedish Algae Factory; Middle: Solvatten is water treatment and solar water heating in one. © Solvatten; Top right: Northvolt is Europe’s first homegrown gigafactory for lithium-ion batteries. © Northvolt; Bottom left: The Mimbox allows users to wash more sustainably. © Mimbly; Bottom right: Thin solar cells roll out from the printing press. © Epishine/Thor Balkhed
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