May 2009 - Association of Dutch Businessmen

Interview
Get those green fingers working!
By Gwendy Krijger
There is no denying that when you arrive
in Singapore whether you are returning
from travelling or as a first time visitor you
immediately feel you are in the tropics as you
make your way from touchdown to sitting down
in your home or hotel – the greenery from the
airport terminal to the ECP as you head into
town is all around you as you take the taxi ride
down one of the world’s most amazing tree lined
highway’s boasting flowering Bougainvillea’s in
colours you never thought existed.
So how does one use that inspiration of living
in the tropics to get the green finger bug and
start to build your own garden? I asked that same
question as I moved out to Pasir Ris after living
in the city for three years where I found myself,
not in a house, but in a condo living on the ground
floor with a big terrace that was all mine to paint
green!
Google to the rescue! I ran a search on garden
services Singapore and clicked on the link to
Hollandia Home Services where I found to my
delight what looked like a really welcoming ‘made
in Holland’ approach to services around the garden
and home. I decided to investigate more and
before I knew it was driving down the SLE following
my GPS to Sembawang Park to interview the guy
behind the business idea to write this article.
The funnier (and honest) part was a few days
earlier in my ignorance of being a new ADB ‘lid’ and
only recently starting to write for its magazine,
the business man behind Hollandia Home Services
turns out to be Remco Muzerie which was rather
‘a-muzing’ as I made a lovely pitch on the phone
to him saying how I was representing the ADB and
would love to write an article about Hollandia
Home Services as a means to profile Dutch-led
business ideas and would he have time for me to
interview him. A real blooper when you find out
that Remco is on the board of the ADB! Small world
Lah these Dutch people in Singapore!
Nonetheless, there is still much to be said
about the idea of Hollandia Home Services which
was born out of the frustration that we have all
experienced where the handyman, gardener, pest
control guy comes to your house, can’t speak
English, charges you 50% more because you look
like you have loads of money (or he thinks the
company is paying) and then politely forgets to
clean up the mess made with cleaning the airconditioning
system. Sound familiar?
Step-in Hollandia Home Services whose aim
it is to find the subcontractors that pass their
level of service quality which covers areas
such as communicating effectively in English,
understanding what good service really means to
us foreigners; and the difference between good
and bad quality work. The contractors chosen
have all gone through a ‘hidden interview process’
where they unknowingly quote for a piece of
business yet do not know that there is more
business opportunity if they do a good job – that
way Hollandia has been able to test their services
and ensure they are sincere and honest.
Furthermore, living up to their ‘made in
Holland’ approach – Hollandia ensures that the
price quoted to you is equal to or less than you
would get by going directly to the gardener
himself. I don’t know about you but for me, even
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Vol.19 • No. 4 • May 2009