December 2008 / January 2009 - Association of Dutch Businessmen

SPECIAL
Pump Room, Brix, the Screening Room or stay the whole evening
at Harry’s.
Regarding restaurants we have got a simular response. Most prefer
breakfast at home, if elsewhere then it would be at Epicurious, Simply
Bread, Ps Cafe, Toast Box, Fullerton, Starbucks or Muddy Murphy’s East
Coast Park. Beside these restaurants many others are mentioned. For
lunch we got a whole list of different names that range from (specific)
foodcourts, the regular coffee places to expensive restaurants that
offer lunch buffets.
For dinner there are some favourites: Flutes, Lido, Cliff, IndoChine,
Jumbo, Chrystal Jade, Picotin and the various restaurants in Rochester
Park. But not one really comes out as the most favourite.
Graph 13
Friends of ADB members
Although the majority of 34% has a mixture of different nationalities
among their friends, for 29% of the respondents the majority of their
friends is Dutch. Only 8% have Asian friends, with Singaporeans as the
major nationality (see graph 15).
The worst experience of last year
What were the worst experiences of last year? 15 respondents (20%)
can’t recall a bad experience or didn’t have one in the past year. Most
mentioned was the economic downfall with all its consequences; loss of
money, depreciation of the value of shares, people loosing their jobs or
who are no longer certain of their job, and the difficulties people face in
finding a new job. Another one was the increase of the rent which meant
for several people that they had to move to a new place. Others faced the
death of family members and/or friends, medical problems and illnesses
or got divorced. Some had a car accident. One person mentioned the
feeling just before his/her first bungy jump above Kawarau River in New
Zealand. Also work-life balance, the stress calls during holidays, the long
hours at work and the amount of traveling were mentioned.
The best experience of last year
And least what were the best experiences of last year?
New borns or expecting a new family member (together 15%) were
the biggest highlight in the past year. Another highlight was a holiday
with family or friends (15%). The Formule1 race was a highlight for 10%
of the respondents. Others won a big contract, set up their own business
and got it working or their business grew beyond expectations. Meeting
new people or having great friends is also mentioned several times. And
finally, for some their highlight was arriving and settling in Singapore.
Graph 14
Graph 15
Hopefully you enjoyed reading the results of the 38 questions of the
ADB Magazine Survey 2008. In short we can say that the 40% of the ADB
members like to live in Singapore and still want to live here for several
years. We all live in different areas of Singapore although more of us are
living in the area of Holland Village. We like to travel a lot and in the
region; we prefer to go to Bali. We visit the Netherlands quit frequently.
The majority works for a company but still a lot of the members have set
up their own business. We miss our Dutch cheese and dropjes. We have a
hate love relation with the weather; we love the temperature and hate
the humidity. Volunteer work is not really our thing. For drinks Harry’s
bar is our favourite and for dinner we all have our own favourites.
In next year issues of the ADB Magazine we will highlight different
topics mentioned in the survey.
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Vol.18 • No. 10 • December 2008 / January 2009