December 2008 / January 2009 - Association of Dutch Businessmen

Singapore
Dutch sporty ADB members
in Singapore! By Madelon van Tol
Due to the constant heat in Singapore it might
be quite a challenge to do sports (outside). The
Dutchies nevertheless seem to be very active! I had
the honor to interview the following committed
sportive ADB members about their sports:
Football: Ard Huisman (Director Finance
at Vopak)
Golf: Rob de Louw (General Manager Digital
Document Systems Asia Hub at Océ)
Hockey: Olaf Kwakman (Global Development
Manager at Springglobalmail) Geertje
Langezaal (Organizational Psychologist at
LeAD Consulting Group).
Tennis: Marianne Doele (owner of the
Bodyfirm) and Rutger Oudejans (Regional
Area Sales Manager at DMV Fonterra-
Excipients)
Let’s get started!
Could you please tell me about your football
team members Ard? Are they all Dutch?
“The Hollandse FC is an unaffiliated football club,
and although most players have a Dutch mother
tongue, the club is also open for non-Dutch
players. We are participating in the Cosmo League,
which is the expatriates’ amateur football league
in Singapore. The league consists of 15 teams
Ard and teammates after a match at a “not the best” football field.
from a variety of countries, including England,
Japan, France, Germany, etc. Ever since the
1970s the motto of the Hollandse FC is “let the
best team become second and the Dutch win”.
In reality though we can generally be found in
the “rechterrijtje”, and often in the southern
part of it”.
And Rob; are you an experienced golfer?
Where did you learn to play? Where do
you golf at the moment?
“I started playing golf for the first time in
Singapore about 2,5 years ago purely because of
business reasons. I had been invited for attending
some tournaments organized by my customers in
the Asian region and I was pretty confident it would
not be so difficult to play golf. Honestly speaking
I really felt embarrassed about my game. My wife
and I decided to play golf together and we took
golf lessons once every two weeks. Meanwhile I
practiced a lot on the driving range and played
every week at Safra and Green Fairways which
are two 9 holes public golf courses”.
Could you please elaborate a bit on playing
tennis in Singapore, Marianne?
“I play tennis ever since I was 8 years old and
always loved the game.
When I came to Singapore 3 years ago I picked
it up again and joined the Dutch Club. Since I work
full time, I don’t have a lot of time to play. I am
happy to play once or twice a week. We play a
lot of doubles, mainly because of the heat I think.
The Dutch Club has a lot of active tennis players.
Some ladies (and a few men) really dedicate a
lot of time in organizing fun tournaments for
all different levels. Fortunately everyone can
join; there is no waiting list. I do enjoy watching
tennis and I think it’s really nice that nowadays
the women are not only very powerful, but they
have turned the whole scene into a fashion show
as well!
I heard the ZOAT was a fantastic event!
How did your hockey team play at the
ZOAT, Olaf?
“Great! It was a fantastic tournament, very well
organized, and we enjoyed it to the max. Having
450 Dutch hockey players from all major cities in
South East Asia together is a guarantee for a great
atmosphere. But besides the enjoyment we also
played really well and won the tournament!”
12
Vol.18 • No. 10 • December 2008 / January 2009