December 2008 / January 2009 - Association of Dutch Businessmen

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Conference Calendar A selection of upcoming conferences in the region in January/February: Brand and Product Management in FMCG companies 7-8 January 2009, Kuala Lumpur General Office Skills for Clericals and Admin Staff 11-12 February 2009, Damansara Perdana Search Engine Marketing Conference 12-13 January 2009, Singapore World LNG Finance Summit 2009 18-21 January 2009, Dubai Anti-Corruption Asia Congress 2009 19-21 January 2009, Hong Kong Indonesian Telecoms International Summit 19-21 January 2009, Jakarta The Fundamentals of Natural Gas 22-23 January 2009, Singapore Middle East Energy Security Forum 2-4 February 2009, Dubai 9 th Annual Insolvency Practice Symposium 5-6 February 2009, Melbourne Contract Selection & Risk for Major Projects 9-11 February 2009, Sydney China Competition Reform 12-13 February 2009, Beijing Pricing Strategies for Telecoms 12-13 February 2009, Bangkok Marketing to Young Professionals 16-17 February 2009, Singapore Western Australia Power & Gas 2009 17-19 February 2009, Perth Retail Space Asia 2009 17-19 February 2009, Shanghai Complex Project Management 23-26 February 2009, Sydney Indexing & ETF Investments Asia 2009 24-25 February 2009, Singapore Anti-Monopoly & Competition Law Forum 24-26 February 2009, Hong Kong The Second Annual Global Learning Summit 24-27 February 2009, Singapore Log on to www.conferencebay.com for more information on these and many other events. And remember, you can make a bid and decide the price you’re willing to pay for any of the conferences listed on Conference Bay! 30 Vol.18 • No. 10 • December 2008 / January 2009
Column By… Yet another weekend Richard Soemita Most of you who have been in Singapore for over a year will notice that there will come a time when you think ‘what the hell will I do this weekend?’. Of course this is not the case when you have a family (especially with kids), have lots and lots of ‘real friends’ (expats, not locals) and are as pathetic like the locals that shop all the time as soon as they have a spare minute. I’m talking about a single guy (+ daughter) like me or even young couples that wanna do more than enjoying the great Singapore culture. Ehhh, shopping or working that is! During the first few months you explore the club scene and all the bars. Apart from spending half your salary on a good night out (drinks are so expensive!) you will find out very soon that the club scene is not that fantastic here. They are either too crowded, too young, too many prostitutes (who do a good job in disguising themselves, pretending they are locals on a night out), bands playing the same songs in the exact same order, too dark so you get scared to be groped by a ladyboy or it is freezing so hard that even the wildest techno music will not make you sweat. With regards to bars I have not found my ‘local’ yet apart from one bar that I go to with colleagues since this one is 10 steps away from the office and one does not want to waste valuable ‘beer time’. Harry’s on Boat Quay is of course so-so, that is if you do not want to bump into the Dutch colony. There are a few nice rooftop bars and Holland Village does have a bit of the European atmosphere mostly created by 99% of white folks walking around and their kids terrorising the blocked off street with their scooters or skateboards. Basically it is the locals that I blame for the dull atmosphere. Did you ever wonder why you never come across ‘strange characters’ (type of village idiot you come across in Amsterdam in every neighbourhood) or groups of boys celebrating a stag night? In Amsterdam I come across idiots on a daily basis, so bad that when you meet someone ‘normal’ you think that he is the idiot! What I’m saying here is that if the locals act a bit more like idiots and stop worrying about losing face, life would be a lot more fun on this island! Once you have done all the clubs and bars, including Orchard Towers, one will start exploring Asia. Bali, Bangkok, Ho Chi Min, Hong Kong, Hanoi, Siem Reap etc. Most of us have seen all these places in the first 3 months. You can always tell if someone has been a bit longer here in Singapore when they say that they are off for a long weekend to Wellington, Bombay or Sydney. My Dutch friend, just hops over to California and hardly knows where Amsterdam is, but that happens when you are in Singapore for donks! Even artists avoid Singapore except if you are Paul Anka, The Osmond Family, Jose Feliciano or Rick Ashley. Perhaps they want to see Singapore a last time before they pop off, since I thought that most of them were already dead! I will not mention the exorbitant ticket price you have to pay too, you should be paid when going to Paul Anka’s funeral…ehh concert! Then again would you go to Paul or Tsai Chin? Have you ever been to a concert here and wondered if people are really listening carefully or if everyone has fallen asleep? Everyone here sits very docile on their seat and you never hear the occasional ‘yeah’ or ‘right on’ from the audience. The last time I shouted ‘oooh yeah!’ in the Esplanade everyone in front of me, including the first and second rings turned around and looked at me like I should be locked up for 20 years. Last year I saw this Japanese band in Paradiso and The Melkweg called the Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra. This band has 11 members and one cannot sit still when one sees their amazing performance. I therefore had serious question marks why this band would visit the Esplanade. Where would we dance and could we burn down the roof? This band already exists for many years and has a huge Japanese support. This was noticeable during the concert and as soon as the first tune was blasted into the crowd everyone jumped up and stormed to the front: all Japanese, the angmohs and me! But within seconds a large army of security guards controlled the group and we were all summoned to go back to our seats. Dancing was allowed in front of your seat, but only there. You could spot all the locals immediately who refused to stand up and remain seated. It therefore is quite clear that everyone without realizing, flees the island. As far as great art exhibitions go we can forget these since only a handful people will visit these. On my last visit to the Historical museum I noticed that most of the space was taken up by this bar and restaurant and the museum part kind of looked pretty empty. I also wonder how much entertainment the new IR Project will provide. Not sure if Europeans are waiting for more canto-pop discos and a casino which probably will only attract mainland Chinese and other gamble-crazy Asians. Looks like I will continue my long weekends in Amsterdam or ‘relax’ on Sundays at East Coast Park where most of the island hangs around on a strip slightly wider than and as long as the Kalverstraat. Try to find a quiet spot! 31 Vol.18 • No. 10 • December 2008 / January 2009
Page 1: December 2008 / January 2009 MITA 3
Page 4 and 5: A monthly publication of the Associ
Page 6: November Review Pareto is different
Page 9 and 10: December Review Madelon van Tol, Ma
Page 11 and 12: Business OCTOBER 2008: DutchCham Lu
Page 13 and 14: Singapore with a Dutch touch. Nowad
Page 15 and 16: Singapore Taken after the victory o
Page 17 and 18: Singapore Christmas and Christmas t
Page 19 and 20: Singapore 31 October Official Openi
Page 21 and 22: Business The workspace of… By Sha
Page 23 and 24: SPECIAL Magazine 2008 By Frank Kuij
Page 25 and 26: SPECIAL Pump Room, Brix, the Screen
Page 27 and 28: Lifestyle dried plums. And what was
Page 29 and 30: plantation and we ate a traditional
Page 31: Lifestyle in SingaporeBy Dennis van
Page 35 and 36: Embassy Info Public holidays 2008/2
Page 37 and 38: Association Info Job Seekers / Inte
Page 39: Indian colonial antiques - Past Per

December 2008 / January 2009 - Association of Dutch Businessmen

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?