Dutch Excellence - Dutch Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong

How Excellent Are We?
Ihad a whole thing written about how excellent our banking system is and
how utterly crap the banks in Hong Kong are. Our banks are a breeze to
work with, internet banking is simple and ATM cards are not suddenly taken
off the Cirrus network making it now possible to withdraw money while in Iraq
or Yemen, but leaving you penniless after having arrived at Schiphol Airport
(yes, HSBC, I am talking to you!).
But just when I wanted to submit my piece, ABN and especially ING
experienced nothing but trouble with their online banking, SNS Bank fell over
due to idiotic managers and our savings are no longer… safe. Back to the
drawing board!
When meeting foreigners, the first thing they will mention, is that we are
excellent football players. And we are. Or actually, they are, because I can’t
play to save my life. But then I recollected the horrible Euro-campaign in
Poland and Ukraine last year….
The Dutch are multilingual? Well, most try to be and unashamedly speak
Dutch loudly with a German accent and then claim to be fluent in German. I
have come across Dutch who will still ask for the ‘card’ or the ‘map’ in a
restaurant… And everyone knows someone having lived in Hong Kong for
over 5 years who still doesn’t know how to ask for the bill in Cantonese. We
are not afraid to speak a language, but fluently….? Not really. Nowadays,
there are even Americans that speak Putonghua rather well!
Are we great diplomats then? The last international diplomat we had will
mainly be remembered for allegedly pinching ladies’ behinds. I think Belgians
are the true diplomats as they never feel the need to tell everyone how things
are or should be. We just have very big mouths that get us places and make
sure we are not forgotten, but our straightforwardness often makes us step on
some toes over and over again. Still, we are adventurous and boldly go where
no-one has gone before; although society in the homeland is very
discouraging and disapproving of anything out of the ordinary.
But, I hear you say: in the 17th century we sailed the seven seas and fought
the many beasts! The VOC was the first multinational and we…. yeah, yeah,
but if Abel Tasman had not been such a slacker, Australians and Kiwis would
speak Dutch by now and don’t get me started on Manhattan... Who trades
New York City for Suriname, a great city for great food? Not sure.
Finally, I found it! Inventiveness!! To name a few Dutch inventions: the
microscope, telescope, fire hose, submarine, stock market, 4WD car, speed
camera, electric shaver, cassette tape, Laser disc and the CD-player all came
from Dutch minds. How excellent is that? I wonder what will be next.
News and Views
By Mark Scholz,
ms@presenttime.com
17