Sept 2005 - Association of Dutch Businessmen

September 2005 

MITA 373/03/2001

PROLOGUE 

Dear members, 

I recently joined the ADB board and have the honour of writing my first prologue for this 

excellent magazine. I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself. My name is 

Remco Muzerie and I have been living with my family (two kids) already for 5 years in 

Singapore. My profession lies in the telecommunication world. 

Remco Muzerie 

I also would like to take this opportunity to say farewell to one of our board members. 

Jeroen Keunen is unfortunately stepping out of the board due to his busy travel schedules. 

Jeroen, on behalf of the ADB I would like to thank you for all the contributions you have 

done for our organization in the past three years. 

As usual the Black Tie Dinner was a success (see pictures on Pg 3). On behalf of the board 

and the members I would like to thank Unilever for sponsoring our 14th Annual Black Tie 

Dinner. For obvious reasons our members always appreciate this event and it is also a good 

way of getting to know each other better. Of course for many of us it was also the first 

opportunity to meet our guest of honour, His Excellency Mr. Chris C. Sanders Ambassador 

of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Singapore and Brunei Darussalam. 

We are also going to have a couple of very interesting activities in the coming months. Our 

upcoming event will take place on 12th of September. This event will bring together a 

panel of professionals who will discuss sustainable development from a business perspective 

with the title ‘Your Business Strategy and the Environment; Integration or Marketing?’ 

Please read more about it in ‘Association Info’. 

The board has already started filling up 2006 with interesting events. However, I would 

like to invite all the members to come up with opportunities of getting high quality speakers. 

There is always an interest for high profile speakers, which suits our members and potential 

members alike! 

Hope to see you soon. 

Warm regards, 

Remco Muzerie 

Bram Steenks 

Frans van de Bospoort Charlotte Ruegg Wim Samlal Jeroen Keunen Matthieu Quere Freddy Meindertsma 

1 

Vol.15 • No. 7 • September 2005

A monthly publication of the 

Association of Dutch Businessmen 

ADB BOARD 

Bram SteenksPresident 

Frans van de Bospoort 

Vice-President 

Charlotte Ruegg 

Honorary Secretary 

Wim Samlal 

Honorary Treasurer 

Jeroen Keunen 

Member 

Remco Muzerie 

Member 

Matthieu Quere 

Member 

Freddy Meindertsma 

Member 

EDITORIAL COMMITTEE 

Wieteke Dijkxhoorn 

Jeroen de Koning 

Debby Reemers 

Brigitte Velema 

Lineke van Nederpelt 

Michael van Ommeren 

Barry Doesburg 

Wil Kolen 

SECRETARIAT 

Lineke van Nederpelt 

Mailing Address: 

c/o 22 Camden Park, Singapore 299814 

Telephone: 9101 6201 

email: adb@pacific.net.sg 

Contents 

PROLOGUE 1 

REVIEW 

ADB Black Tie Dinner 3 

BUSINESS 

Reuters – A global financial 4 

information company 

An inspiring speech and an important message 6 

ASIA 

For Fame & Glory - 11 

The 30 th Olympic Games in Beijing 

Website : www.adb.org.sg 

Email : webmaster@adb.org.sg 

Editorial contributions for the next issue may 

be sent or handed over to the ADB Secretariat, 

before or on the day of the monthly ADB 

meeting. The contents of this magazine are partly 

based on information received from third parties. 

The Committee does not take responsibility 

for the correctness of the articles. 

Designed by Jennifer Phua 

Printed by Khoo Sun Printing Pte Ltd 

MITA 373/03/2001 

Membership fee is S$ 100 per calendar year. 

For registration, please see the website 

www.adb.org.sg/en_member_signup.htm. 

Membership is renewed automatically effective the 

first month of the new calendar year. 

Make your cheque payable to “Assocation of Dutch 

Businessmen” and send to ADB, c/o 22 Camden Park, 

Singapore 299814. 

Termination of membership must be received by 

ADB Secretariat in writing before 1 January, otherwise 

you will be charged for the full amount for the following 

calendar year. 

Please notify the ADB secretariat of any changes in 

employer, (email) addresses or any other personal 

particulars that might be of interest to the ADB 

administration. 

SINGAPORE 

The transformation of Singapore’s City Centre 14 

BIZZ AGENDA 16 

KNOW YOUR TAX 

Indonesian financing transactions: 19 

from 0% tax to 20% tax? 

DUTCH NEWS 20 

POP & DROP A QUESTION 

Banda Aceh, working for Doctors 22 

without Borders 

EMBASSY INFO 23 

ASSOCIATION INFO 24 

2 


▼ 

REVIEW 

ADB Black Tie Dinner 

A very successful ADB Black Tie Dinner was held 

on the 27 th August. Eighty persons attended this 

popular event at the Hollandse Club. As usual 

Chef Woon and Mr. Boon and their staff prepared 

and presented an excellent 5-course dinner 

accompanied by selected wines from all over 

the world, followed by an enjoyable party till 

the early hours. His Excellency Mr. Chris C. 

Sanders Ambassador-designate of the Kingdom 

of the Netherlands to Singapore was the guest 

of honour. 

Kindly sponsored by Unilever 

His Excellency Mr. Chris C. Sanders 

and Mrs. Marianne Sanders 

Margreet van Vliet and Chef Woon 

Bram Steenks 

▼ 

A drink before dinner 

Overview 

Music during dinner 

Rob and Betty van Zwieteren, David and 

Karianne Blackmon, Peter van Rossum 

Caroline Ruijg, Menno Douwes Dekker, 

Claudette Dumoulin 

Marijke den Ouden, Eduard and Marleen 

Holtz, Jeroen and Marleen Keunen, 

Edward Tonino 

Charlotte Ruegg, Gilbert Ruegg, Boele 

de Bie, Rutger van Thiel, Etteke de Bie, 

Mylene van Thiel, Nienke Vergouwen 

Music after dinner 

More pictures at www.adb.org.sg 

3 


BUSINESS 

A global financial information company 

By Erik de Boer 

Reuters 

is commonly 

known as the 

world’s largest 

international 

multimedia 

news agency, 

more than 90% 

of its revenue 

actually derives 

from its 

financial 

services 

business. 

Reuters is a global information company. Reuters 

provides indispensable information tailored for 

professionals in the financial services, media 

and corporate markets. Owing to a reputation 

for speed, accuracy and independence our 

information is trusted and drives decision making 

across the globe. 

Although Reuters is commonly known as the 

world’s largest international multimedia news 

agency, more than 90% of its revenue actually 

derives from its financial services business. Reuters 

serves some 328.000 financial market professionals 

working in the financial markets around the world. 

Reuters aims to provide them with the high-value 

content and tools they need to compete in their 

markets. 

The company’s core strengths lie in providing 

the content, analytics, trading and messaging 

capabilities needed by financial professionals. 

Reuters chooses to use open technology in its 

products, based on industry standards. This enables 

customers to search, store and integrate financial 

information with content from other sources, such 

as in-house databases. Reuters also provides 

these users with specially designed tools to help 

them reduce risk, distribute and manage the 

ever-increasing volumes of market data, and 

offers bespoke automated trading products for 

the Treasury market. 

Serving a Diverse Audience 

The vast majority of Reuters revenue is derived 

from the financial products and services business. 

These customers make up a highly diverse 

audience. Operating in the dynamic financial 

markets, they deal in equities, fixed income, 

foreign exchange, money, commodities and energy 

markets. They rely on a range of workstations, 

trading tools and other products to gain a 

competitive advantage. Based on the shared 

needs of those communities, Reuters operates its 

business through four divisions: 

Institutional Sales & Trading. The Institutional 

Sales & Trading division focuses on Reuters core 

business among its sales and trading end-users who 

are dealing in the foreign exchange, fixed income, 

equities, commodities and energy and related 

markets. In the offering for this segment, Reuters 

combines cross-market data with analytics, 

charting capabilities, news and transaction 

capabilities. The intent is to give traders and 

salespeople the tools they need to interpret, 

communicate and trade across all markets or a 

specific market or region. 

The Reuters Messaging system, for example, 

is a secure instant messaging tool that enables 

financial market professionals to connect in 

real-time with clients and colleagues to discuss 

anything from potential trades to arranging a 

drink. 

Research & Asset Management. The Research 

& Asset Management division concentrates on 

supporting end-users such as portfolio managers, 

wealth managers, investment bankers and research 

analysts in making complex financial decisions 

outside of the sales and trading environment. This 

segment of clients requires a combination of 

real-time estimates, research and fundamental 

data together with comprehensive news and 

pricing information. 

Enterprise. The Enterprise division targets the 

complete business enterprise as a customer, as 

distinct from the individual end-user. While less 

visible than the frontline information terminals, 

these enterprise-wide products are geared towards 

helping the entire organization work smarter. 

The Enterprise division focuses on enterprise 

information distribution systems, risk and 

enterprise information products. This includes realtime 

datafeeds to fuel enterprise-wide operations; 

connectivity to trading venues and liquidity; and 

risk management solutions that enable banks to 

better manage risk. 

Media. In addition to market professionals who 

rely on news to trade and make decisions, Reuters 

supplies news – text, graphics, video and pictures 

– to media organisations and web sites across the 

globe. The Media division focuses on the wholesale 

media business and serves the needs of the world’s 

newspapers, magazines, television and cable 

networks, radio stations, websites and consumers 

(through www.reuters.com). 

Reuters News: Breaking the news first 

Reuters is the world’s trusted independent source 

for news and information. Since 1851, Reuters 

journalists have been at the frontlines reporting 

world-shaping events as they happen. Every day, 

approximately 30,000 headlines, including third 

party contributions, and over eight million words 

4 


BUSINESS 

Fact File: 

• Founded in London in 1851 

• Over 14,700 staff in 92 countries 

• More than 328,000 professional users worldwide 

• Reuters Group 2 004 revenue: £2.8 billion 

• Constituent of FTSE100 index 

• Listed on LSE (RTR) and NASDAQ (RTRSY) 

are published in 19 languages. Today, Reuters 

supplies breaking news on politics, business, sports 

and entertainment to publishers and broadcasters 

worldwide. 

Trust is increasingly becoming a central issue 

in providing news. Digital technologies have made 

it easier than ever to become a news provider. 

However, to become a trustworthy news provider 

is much harder. Reuters News continues to be based 

on the Reuters values of independence, freedom 

from bias, speed and accuracy. 1 

Reuters Consumer Services offers a personal 

multimedia news and information service to 

investors and business professional in the UK, US 

and Japan. The information is delivered on 

multiple platforms including online, mobile and 

interactive TV. Over one billion people see Reuters 

news every day. 

Reuters Foundation: Making a 

difference 

The Reuters Foundation is an educational and 

humanitarian trust funded by Reuters. It embraces 

especially educational, humanitarian and 

environmental projects, including the training 

of thousands of journalists from developing 

countries, and providing news to international 

disaster relief organisations. 

Reuters in Singapore 

Reuters operation in Singapore dates back to 

1868 and is now 137 years here. Since then, the 

company’s operations have seen some tremendous 

growth. 

Powering the financial markets with: 

• Information on 40,000 companies 

• Financial information from 258 exchanges and OTC markets 

• Financial data updated at 8,000 times per second, and at peak time up 

to 23,000 times per second 

• The largest dealing network community with more than 17,000 foreign 

exchange and money market traders 

• The world’s largest international multimedia news and television agency 

network - 2,300 editorial staff, journalists, photographers and camera 

operators in 196 bureaux 

• Among the most read news sources on the Internet reaching millions in 

their offices, homes or on PDAs 

In addition to becoming a headquarters for 

Reuters in the region, Singapore is now also base 

to Reuters ASEAN channel business operations. 

Today, the company employs 650 staff in Singapore. 

Reuters Asia Pte Ltd, the Asia Pacific headquarters 

of Reuters, has been based in Singapore since 1997. 

In 1992, Reuters invested 43 million Singapore 

dollars in its Science Park building. Three years 

later, Reuters opened its Main Technical Centre, 

which is one of three global hubs that ensure 

customers have continued access to Reuters news 

and information. In 1997, Reuters Asia’s sphere of 

responsibilities expanded to encompass activities 

such as the World Editorial Desk. 

Reuters has a global network of 600 news 

photographers who deliver a world-class collection 

of news, sports and entertainment photography. 

In April 2005 Reuters chose Singapore as its base 

for the company’s Global Pictures Desk, at the 

Singapore Science Park. This pictures desk has 

grown from seven staff to 40 since then. The 

expansion enables Reuters to receive, process and 

transmit pictures to the world’s 1500 media 

companies around the clock from Singapore. 

Reuters supports local tertiary institutions 

and professional associations. In Singapore, the 

company has supplied about 50 million SGD in 

online information services to educational entities 

such as the Wealth Management Institute, National 

University of Singapore and the Polytechnics. 

To find out more about Reuters please visit 

www.reuters.com, or feel free to contact Erik de 

Boer via email on erik.deboer@reuters.com. 

1 Adapted from: Tom Glocer - Reuters CEO, ‘The aim is truth’, 

FT.com site, Jul 12, 2004 

5 


BUSINESS 

An inspiring speech 

and an important message 

Stanford Report, June 14, 2005 

® 

‘You’ve got to find what you love,’ Jobs says 

This is the text of the Commencement address 

by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar 

Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005. 

I am honored to be with you today at your 

commencement from one of the finest universities 

in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth 

be told, this is the closest I’ve ever gotten to a 

college graduation. Today I want to tell you three 

stories from my life. That’s it. No big deal. 

Just three stories. 

The first story is about connecting the dots. 

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 

months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for 

another 18 months or so before I really quit. 

So why did I drop out? 

It started before I was born. My biological 

mother was a young, unwed college graduate 

student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. 

She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by 

college graduates, so everything was all set for 

me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. 

Except that when I popped out they decided at 

the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So 

my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call 

in the middle of the night asking: “We have an 

unexpected baby boy; do you want him?” They said: 

“Of course.” 

My biological mother later found out that my 

mother had never graduated from college and that 

my father had never graduated from high school. 

She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She 

only relented a few months later when my parents 

promised that I would someday go to college. 

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I 

naively chose a college that was almost as 

expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class 

parents’ savings were being spent on my college 

tuition. After six months, I couldn’t see the value 

in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my 

life and no idea how college was going to help me 

figure it out. 

And here I was spending all of the money my 

parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to 

drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It 

was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it 

was one of the best decisions I ever made. The 

minute I dropped out I could stop taking the 

required classes that didn’t interest me, and begin 

dropping in on the ones that looked interesting. 

It wasn’t all romantic. I didn’t have a dorm 

room, so I slept on the floor in friends’rooms, I 

returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy 

food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town 

every Sunday night to get one good meal a week 

at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much 

of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity 

and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. 

Let me give you one example: 

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the 

best calligraphy instruction in the country. 

Throughout the campus every poster, every 

label on every drawer, was beautifully hand 

calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn’t 

have to take the normal classes, I decided to take 

a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned 

about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying 

the amount of space between different letter 

combinations, about what makes great typography 

great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle 

in a way that science can’t capture, and I found it 

fascinating. 

None of this had even a hope of any practical 

application in my life. But ten years later, when 

we were designing the first Macintosh computer, 

it all came back to me. And we designed it all into 

the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful 

typography. If I had never dropped in on that single 

course in college, the Mac would have never had 

multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. 

And since Windows just copied the Mac, it’s likely 

that no personal computer would have them. If I 

had never dropped out, I would have never dropped 

in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers 

might not have the wonderful typography that they 

do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots 

looking forward when I was in college. But it was 

very, very clear looking backwards ten years later. 

Again, you can’t connect the dots looking 

forward; you can only connect them looking 

backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will 

somehow connect in your future. You have to trust 

in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, 

whatever. This approach has never let me down, 

and it has made all the difference in my life. 

My second story is about love and loss. 

I was lucky - I found what I loved to do early in 

life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage 

6 


BUSINESS 

when I was 20. We worked hard, 

and in 10 years Apple had 

grown from just the two of 

us in a garage into a $2 billion 

company with over 4000 

employees. We had just 

released our finest creation - 

the Macintosh - a year earlier, 

and I had just turned 30. And then 

I got fired. How can you get fired from a company 

you started? 

Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I 

thought was very talented to run the company with 

me, and for the first year or so things went well. 

But then our visions of the future began to diverge 

and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, 

our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I 

was out. 

And very publicly out. What had been the focus 

of my entire adult life was gone, and it was 

devastating. 

I really didn’t know what to do for a few 

months. I felt that I had let the previous generation 

of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the 

batonas it was being passed to me. 

I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and 

tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a 

very public failure, and I even thought about 

running away from the valley. But something slowly 

began to dawn on me - I still loved what I did. The 

turn of events at Apple had not changed that one 

bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. 

And so I decided to start over. 

I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that 

getting fired from Apple was the best thing that 

could have ever happened to me. The heaviness 

of being successful was replaced by the lightness 

of being a beginner again, less sure about 

everything. It freed me to enter one of the most 

creative periods of my life. 

During the next five years, I started a company 

named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and 

fell in love with an amazing woman who would 

You’ve got to find what you love. And that 

is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. 

Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, 

and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do 

what you believe is great work. And the only way 

to do great work is to love what you do. 

become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds 

first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, 

and is now the most successful animation studio in 

the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple 

bought NeXT, I retuned to Apple, and the 

technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart 

of Apple’s current renaissance. 

And Laurene and I have a wonderful family 

together. 

I’m pretty sure none of this would have 

happened if I hadn’t been fired from Apple. It awful 

tasted medicine, but I guess the patient needed 

it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. 

Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing 

that kept me going was that I loved what I did. 

You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as 

true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your 

work is going to fill a large part of your life, and 

the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you 

believe is great work. And the only way to do great 

work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found 

it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all 

matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find 

it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets 

better and better as the years roll on. So keep 

looking until you find it. Don’t settle. 

My third story is about death. 

When I was 17, I read a quote that went 

something like: “If you live each day as if it was 

your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” 

It made an impression on me, and since then, for 

the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every 

morning and asked myself: “If today were the last 

day of my life, would I want to do what I am about 

to do today?” And whenever the answer has been 

“No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to 

change something. 

Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most 

important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me 

make the big choices in life. Because almost 

everything - all external expectations, all pride, 

all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things 

just fall away in the face of death, leaving only 

what is truly important. 

Remembering that you are going to die is the 

best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you 

have something to lose. You are already naked. 

There is no reason not to follow your heart. 

9 


BUSINESS 

the doctors started crying because it turned out 

to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is 

curable with surgery. 

I had the surgery and I’m fine now. 

This was the closest I’ve been to facing death, 

and I hope it’s the closest I get for a few more 

decades. Having lived through it, I can now say 

this to you with a bit more certainty than when 

death was a useful but purely intellectual 

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. 

I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly 

showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn’t even know 

what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was 

almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, 

and that I should expect to live no longer than 

three to six months. My doctor advised me to go 

home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor’s 

code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell 

your kids everything you thought you’d have the 

next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It 

means to make sure everything is buttoned up so 

that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It 

means to say your goodbyes. 

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that 

evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an 

endoscope down my throat, through my stomach 

and into my intestines, put a needle into my 

pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was 

sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that 

when they viewed the cells under a microscope 

Concept: 

No one wants to die. Even people who want to 

go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And 

yet death is the destination we all share. No one 

has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, 

because Death is very likely the single best 

invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears 

out the old to make way for the new. Right now 

the new is you, but someday not too long from 

now, you will gradually become the old and be 

cleared away. 

Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true. 

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living 

someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma - 

Which is living with the results of other people’s 

thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions 

drown out your own inner voice. And most 

important, have the courage to follow your heart 

and intuition. They somehow already know what 

you truly want to become. 

Everything else is secondary. 

When I was young, there was an amazing 

publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which 

was one of the bibles of my generation. 

It was created by a fellow named Stewart 

Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he 

brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in 

the late 1960’s, before personal computers and 

desktop publishing, so it was all made with 

typewriters, scissors, and Polaroid cameras. It was 

sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years 

before Google came along: it was idealistic, and 

overflowing with neat tools and great notions. 

Stewart and his team put out several issues of 

The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had 

run its course, they put out a final issue. It was 

the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back 

cover of their final issue was a photograph of an 

early morning country road, the kind you might 

find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so 

adventurous. Beneath it were the words: “Stay 

Hungry. Stay Foolish.” It was their farewell message 

as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I 

have always wished that for myself. And now, as 

you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you. 

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. 

Thank you all very much. 

10 


ASIA 

For Fame & Glory - 

The 30 th Olympic Games in Beijing 

By Barry Doesburg 

The 117 th International Olympic Committee Meeting 

in Singapore was not one to be missed. For sure 

the media did not. From July 6 th to 9 th the entire 

IOC, over 100 voting members, together with the 

organizing committees of the five candidate cities 

gathered in the Raffles Ballroom of the Raffles City 

Convention Centre to elect the host city of the 

Games of the XXX Olympiad in 2012. London beat 

Paris in the final round 

of voting by 54 votes to 

50. This will be the first 

time that a city will host 

the Olympic Games for 

the third time. London 

hosted the Games in 

1908 and 1948. The other Candidate Cities Paris, 

New York, Moscow and Madrid were thanked by 

IOC President Jacques Rogge for their excellent 

efforts and the quality of their candidatures. 

Once more, it became clear that the Olympic 

Games are much more than just a sporting 

event. History, pride, patriotism, politics, media 

attention, tourism, enormous budgets boosting the 

economy and infrastructure, are raising the stakes 

high. The toughest and most prestigious battles 

are fought seven years before the torch even hits 

the fire. The British brought Tony Blair and David 

Beckham; the French had Jacques Chirac to support 

their bid. The IOC itself is not very shy of prestige 

either. It is full of royalty: Prince Willem Alexander 

of Orange, Le Grand-Duc de Luxembourg, Princess 

Nora of Liechtenstein, HRH Princess Royal of 

Great Britain and Price Albert II of Monaco are all 

members. 

China knows it, desperately needs it and no 

doubt will make the Games to a big success, the 

Chinese way. The dragon has many faces. And the 

timing is perfect! 

Some Background 

The Beijing 2008 Games will take 

place from 8 August 2008 until 24 

August 2008. Approximately 10,500 

athletes are expected to participate 

in the Games with around 20,000 

reporters, photographers and 

cameramen bringing the Games to the world. 

That’s 2 media staff for each athlete! 

The official emblem of Beijing 2008 entitled 

“Chinese Seal-Dancing Beijing” combines the 

Chinese seal and the art of calligraphy with sporting 

features, transforming the elements into a human 

figure running forward and embracing triumph. The 

figure resembles the Chinese character “Jing”, 

which stands for the name of the host city and 

represents a particularly significant Chinese style. 

The artwork embodies four messages: Chinese 

culture, the color of red China, Beijing welcomes 

friends from all over the world and to promote 

the Olympic motto of ‘Citius, Altius, Fortius’ 

(Faster, Higher, Stronger). 

Economics & Infrastructure 

Beijing will experience a major boost in its world 

standing in connection with the Olympics and is 

hoping to cash in with total investments in the city 

expected to exceed US$182 billion. Of this US$34 

billion will be pumped into the city’s infrastructure 

and service industry and more than US$36 billion 

in the development of finance, trade, logistics, 

exhibitions and tourism sectors. Another US$3.7 

billion will go on 400km of new expressways, US$6.7 

billion on public transport (among others 4 new 

subway lines) and other roads and US$4.4 billion 

on environment protection. And so it goes on. 

Altogether it will be one of the largest construction 

projects ever in China since the construction of 

the Great Wall. 

Beijing mayor Wang Qishan explained that in 

terms of urban development, China’s capital lagged 

far behind previous host cities as Sydney and 

Atlanta. It still has 400 villages on its outskirts and 

hotels and hospitals are all concentrated in the 

city centre. One of the most urgent needs is to 

develop housing, roads and other infrastructure in 

outlying areas to diffuse the 14 million people and 

2 million cars (The Straits Times, 21/05/2005). To 

improve the safety of the athletes and all visitors 

during the Games. The security budget is likely to 

top the US$1.3 billion spent in Athens. 

Other cities will be involved as well in the 

Olympics. The Organising Committee for the 

Games (BOCOG) has announced that partnership 

agreements have been signed with four cities 

outside Beijing, that will host the football 

preliminaries during the 2008 Games: Tianjin, 

Shanghai, Shenyang and Qinhuangdao. The 

equestrian events will be held in Hong Kong for 

the welfare of the horses. 

The Olympic village, which covers a total area 

of 66 hectares, lies at the North end of Beijing’s 

central axis and has the Olympic Forrest Park to 

its North and the major Olympic venues to its South. 

The village will join a long list of important sites 

11 


ASIA 

It is expected 

that the Games 

will at least add 

another 0.3-0.4% 

to the gross 

domestic product. 

Western 

economists 

assume that the 

Olympic Games 

speed up the 

development and 

may save as much 

as ten years. 

According to the 

Beijing City Tax 

Department for 

every 10 billion 

yuan spent on 

the Olympics, 

GDP will increase 

with 3.7 billion 

yuan. 

www.as-p.de 

on the central axis, including the Forbidden City - 

getting a thorough makeover before the Games - 

and the Temple of Heaven. Once the Games are 

over, the village will be taken over by a private 

development company, who will remodel the 

apartments into residential buildings. 

Architecture 

It is expected that the Games will at least add 

another 0.3-0.4% to the gross domestic product. 

Western economists assume that the Olympic 

Games speed up the development and may save as 

much as ten years. According to the Beijing City 

Tax Department for every 10 billion yuan spent on 

the Olympics, GDP will increase with 3.7 billion 

yuan. The sector likely to benefit most from the 

Games is of course the construction industry; 

they are winners already. 

The reinvention of Beijing as a modern 

international city ready to host the 2008 Summer 

Olympic Games has presented Chinese planners 

with a dilemma - how to reconcile imported 

design ideas from the West with China’s unique 

architectural heritage. A score of landmark 

projects defining the future face of Beijing has 

been awarded to foreign architects. For example, 

what is dubbed Beijing’s first European-style 

skyscraper, which will host the headquarters of 

China Central Television, is on the drawing boards 

of Dutch architects from the Office for Metropolitan 

Architecture. 

One of the most interesting projects is that of 

renowned German architect, Albert Speer Jr., who 

has designed an ambitious plan to build a 25- 

kilometer boulevard (north-south axis) across the 

city that will connect the new Olympic Park in 

the north with the Imperial Forbidden City and 

Tiananmen Square in the city center. This urban 

planner happens to be the son of Adolf Hitler’s 

personal architect, Albert Speer and the choice 

has stirred many ghosts from the past in Germany, 

where architects have suggested that there is an 

uncanny parallel between the Beijing axis of Albert 

Speer Jr. and the north-south axis planned by the 

elder Speer for Hitler’s new Berlin, which was to 

be called “world capital Germania”. Of this great 

world capital, which was to house ten million and 

be completed in 1950, only the foundations were 

ever laid, when the big chancellery of Germania 

was built in 1936. 

The sixty-eight-year-old Speer responds to 

these accusations of having dug up a Nazi town 

planning project with these words: “It is an 

unfortunate fact that comparisons with my father 

are inevitable, but I want to help ferry Beijing 

into the new millennium. The Berlin project in the 

’30s was just megalomania”. Setting aside these 

likeline, Speer Jr’s project offers a number of 

responses to urban issues in Beijing. Above all, its 

big pollution problem is solved by recycling water 

or rainwater, use of alternative energy sources 

and environmentally sustainable factories. 

Politics 

When IOC excluded South Africa from the Games 

between 1964 and 1992 due to the apartheid 

system, it made a rare principle action to make 

South Africa aware that its policies did not meet 

international standard. The Free Tibet Campaign 

claims now that the IOC is measuring double 

standards and has opposed Beijing’s bid and calls 

on the IOC to put human rights at the top of the 

agenda. Supporters within the IOC suggested 

that the Olympic Games would facilitate an 

improvement in human rights. 

Reuters reported in January 2001, even before 

the bid, that Liu Qi, Mayor of Beijing and now 

President of the BOCOG, told an Olympics rally in 

September 2000 that the city would “resolutely 

smash and crack down on Falun Gong and other 

evil cults”, and drive away beggars, the homeless 

and prostitutes to prepare for the 2008 bid. And 

just over a week after the IOC decision in July 2001, 

Chinese Vice Premier Li Lanqing made a direct link 

between Beijing’s success in being granted the 2008 

Olympic Games and the regime’s crackdown on 

Falun Gong. 

Very different visions altogether but they all 

use the Games as a political tool. Jacques Rogge: 

“On the issue of human rights... the IOC will make 

sure that within its sphere, which is sport, that all 

the human rights are totally respected.” 

Another issue is that of the political status of 

Taiwan. The Republic of China (ROC) competed as 

Chinese Taipei at the 2004 Summer Olympics in 

Athens. In addition, a flag was especially designed 

for the games separate from the flag of the 

Republic of China. The ROC flag is banned at the 

Olympic Games. 

In Mainland China, 

the team is known as 

the “Zhongguo Taibei 

Team” (Taipei, China, 

where China implies the PRC) and in Taiwan the 

team is known as the “Zhonghua Team” (another 

variation of the term China, but obtained here as 

12 


ASIA 

an abbreviation of Zhonghua Taibei). During the 

Opening Ceremony, the banner held by Chinese 

Taipei read (in Greek) “KINEZIKH TAIIIEI”, yet the 

team marched under the letter “T” (as if the 

second word came first), so that it would not have 

to march immediately after China. The same order 

was observed in the placement of the flags around 

the Athens Olympic Stadium. 

The 2008 Summer Olympics torch relay will 

achieve a world record as the Olympic flame will 

be carried up to Mount Everest — known by the 

Tibetan (and Chinese) people as Chomolangma — 

the world’s highest peak. It will be carried up the 

southern slope from Nepal before carried down the 

northern slope into Tibet, and will be the highest 

altitude achieved in the history of Olympic torch 

relays, to be accomplished by eighty specially 

trained mountaineers. The BOCOG has also 

expressed the wish that the torch relay be carried 

through Taiwan. On top of that it has expressed 

the wish for peace and a brighter future by 

unveiling the 2008 Games slogan “One World, 

One Dream”. That’s the Olympic spirit. 

Sport & Performance 

China returned to the Olympic Games in 1984 after 

a voluntary 32 year absence (again for political 

reasons). It gradually improved its performance 

and doubled the number of medals from 32 (15 

gold) in Los Angeles 1984 to 63 medals (32 gold) 

in the Athens Games of 2004. With that China has 

gained a position in the medals top three next to 

sports powers USA and Russia and has taken over 

from unified Germany. Chinese athletes have 

proved to be very skilled in badminton, table 

tennis, shooting, weight lifting, diving and artistic 

gymnastics. 

In Athens, Li Ting and Sun Tiantian surprised 

the women’s doubles tennis with a victory, Xing 

Huina won out of the blue the Olympic gold medal 

in the women’s 10,000m and Liu Xiang produced 

an upset victory, by winning the men’s 110m hurdles 

and the first gold 

medal ever won by 

a Chinese men’s 

athlete from the 

track and field in the 

Olympics history. 

“I’ve proved that 

the yellow skinned 

man can win,” Liu 

Xiang said after 

winning the race. 

“I’ve proved that 

China and Asia can 

also win. I believe 

more miracles will happen to me. I believe the 

Olympics in Beijing will be the most successful 

ever staged.” China has stacked its 407-strong team 

at Athens with young athletes to groom future 

champions, and the squad is expected to excel. 

For sure Beijing 2008 will put some pressure on 

its athletes. 

Another interesting question is if Singapore 

will finally get its highly desired second medal. 

‘Tiger’ Tan Howe-Liang made himself immortal by 

winning the silver medal in the men’s weightlifting 

for lightweights in Rome in 1960. It has been dry 

for 44 years. 

Did you know.... 

… that according to historical records, the first 

ancient Olympic Games can be traced back to 776 

BC. They were dedicated to the Olympian gods 

and were staged on the ancient plains of Olympia. 

They continued for nearly 12 centuries, until 

Emperor Theodosius decreed in 393 A.D. that all 

such “pagan cults” be banned. The ancient Games 

included running, long jump, shot put, javelin, 

boxing, pankration (combination of boxing and 

wrestling often ending in death) and equestrian 

events. The famous marathon race did not exist in 

the ancient Games. Famous Greeks attended, or 

even participated in the ancient Olympic Games: 

the philosopher Socrates, Pythagoras, Plato, 

Aristotle and even the father of medicine, 

Hippocrates. The philosopher Plato was a double 

winner of the pankration. 

… that Beijing was also candidate city for the 

XXVIIth Olympic Games in 2000. In Monaco in 1993, 

it lost in the final round from Sydney with just 45 

votes to 43. It was said that Australian John Coates 

bribed the IOC members Charles Mukorea (Kenya) 

and Francis Njangweso (Uganda) on the eve of the 

election during dinner offering them 35.000 dollars 

each masked as sport development aid. 

… that next to Willem Alexander and Anton 

Geesink there are two more Dutch IOC members: 

Hein Verbruggen and Els van Breda-Vriesman. 

Hein Verbruggen is currently President of the 

Coordination Committee for the Games of the 

XXIX Olympiad in 2008. 

… that the FIFA Football World Cup is the 

most widely-viewed and followed sporting event 

in the world, more so than even the Olympic 

Games. 

Stadium entrance at Olympia 

13 


SINGAPORE 

The transformation of Sin 

With the opening of the new Singapore Management 

University (SMU) building at Stamford Road, and a new 

National Library at Victoria Street, Singapore has introduced 

its city centre as the ‘knowledge hub’ for the future. 

The move from the old SMU building was completed 

on July 31 2005, by a flag lowering ceremony at 

the historical Bukit Timah Campus which it had 

occupied since 2001. 

This was followed by a celebratory parade of 

about 1000 students which ended at SMU’s new 

City Campus. 

Professor Howard Hunter, President of the 

Singapore Management University mentioned in 

his speech that “With SMU and other educational 

institutions coming back into the city, new life is 

being injected into the area. It will only be a matter 

of time before the manifestations of youth will be 

evidenced here, in the type of commerce and retail 

space, in the myriad of events, many of which will 

involve the public, and in the simple hum of activity 

that will be felt as students, faculty, staff, immerse 

themselves into city living. The landscape of the 

city is set to undergo a metamorphosis, of sobriety 

to colour and stateliness to excitement.” 

SMU is Singapore’s first private university 

funded by the government and the first university 

in Singapore to occupy a city campus. The new 

campus, which lies integrated into the cityscape, 

took five years of planning and construction and 

comes at a cost of about $426 million. The planning 

for the campus site has involved a broad spectrum 

of professional, community, civic and public groups. 

With its location in the historical centre, flanked 

by museums, theatres, art galleries, cafes, 

restaurants and a range of shopping choices it will 

link in one integrated, people-friendly civic web. 

The buildings’ heights are kept to the scale and 

height of the city campus’ surroundings and a new 

Bras Basah Park has been designed to be the focus 

of both the cultural district and the new university. 

The campus will be easily accessible, as the Marina 

MRT Line will include a subway station within the 

university grounds. 

The campus located in an area of 4.5 hectare, 

can accommodate about 15,000 students over 6 

buildings holding 4 schools: Lee Kong Chian School 

of Business; the School of Accountancy; the School 

of Economics & Social Sciences; and the School of 

Information Systems, which has a partnership with 

Carnegie Mellon University. SMU’s current 3,800 

students will start their new academic term in the 

City Campus in August. A year-long celebration with 

an official grand opening in January 2006 is set to 

follow in the coming months. 

The National Library in Victoria Street reopened 

its doors to the world on the 22nd of July, 

with which it has completed its move from the old 

building at Stamford Road. 

In 1999, the National Library Board (NLB) 

signed a Memorandum of Understanding with 

Singapore Management University with regard to 

the provision and management of library, research 

and information services for the university. Through 

this, the NLB will provide expertise in planning, 

establishing and managing library and information 

services for the university. SMU will gain access 

14 


SINGAPORE 

gapore’s City Centre 

By Wil Kolen & Brigitte Velema 

to the NLB’s extensive collections and services, 

and through the NLB’s partnerships with other 

institutions both locally and internationally, SMU 

will also have access to the information resources 

at these institutions. The collaboration with the 

NLB will help place SMU in a strategic position as a 

world-class tertiary institution supporting business 

learning, organising joint seminars, workshops and 

courses in the business and management fields. 

The 16 storey National Library Building along 

Victoria Street, was built at a cost of S$230 million. 

With a floor area of about 58,000 square meters, 

it is more than five times bigger than the old 

National Library at Stamford Road. The new library 

has also almost tripled its volumes to 630,000. 

Besides library facilities, the new building also has 

4,000 square meters of floor space for commercial 

use and it will be the home to the new 600-seat 

Drama Centre - a feature not found in libraries 

anywhere in the world. 

The modern and impressive size of the building 

is one of the good examples of the high standard 

in architecture that is found in the city centre. 

From the outside it looks like a massive block, but 

once inside the building area you find huge open 

spaces that give the building a lighter character. 

It is positioned as the new knowledge icon in 

the heart of Singapore’s civic, cultural and arts 

district. The goal is to turn libraries into interactive 

spaces where creativity is experienced, explored 

and expressed and a platform for community 

formation. At the same time it marks a renewed 

push to propel library resources into the digital 

age with the launch of the NLB Digital Library at 

www.nlb.gov.sg, which offers for the first time a 

seamless interface of library services, transactions 

and general information in one web portal. In 

addition, a wide array of digitised materials is 

available. These include unpublished works of 

Singaporean authors, digitised rare materials on 

Singapore and Asian heritage, and digitised 

international resources available through partner 

libraries, such as the British Library. 

Since the opening weekend, the new National 

Library has already featured a line-up of events 

around specific themes. From August to October 

is the “Istoria” festival. Istoria, derived from a 

Greek word meaning both “history” and “story”, 

promises a heady mix of exhibitions, programs, 

workshops and activities. Exhibition themes include 

“Shaping Singapore” (on the evolution of the 

Singapore cityscape). Another interesting event is 

the exhibition, Zheng He and Maritime Asia, from 

13 August 2005 right through to 10 February 2006. 

The event celebrates the 600th anniversary of the 

remarkable maiden voyage of the legendary 15th 

century Chinese explorer, whose ports-of-call 

include Malacca, Aceh, Calicut, Bengal and Hormuz. 

More information on opening hours, events 

and other libraries in Singapore can be found on 

http://www.lib.gov.sg 

The 

collaboration 

with the NLB 

will help 

place SMU in 

a strategic 

position as a 

world-class 

tertiary 

institution 

supporting 

business 

learning, 

organising 

joint 

seminars, 

workshops 

and courses 

in the 

business and 

management 

fields. 

15 


BIZZ AGENDA 

World Food Fair 2005 

Taste the world of food cultures. 

2-6 September 

Suntec, Halls 602/603 

www.worldfoodfair.com.sg 

 

Women Expo 

All things female! 


Expo, Hall 5B 

www.womenexpo.com.sg 

 

NATAS Holidays 2005 

Consumer travel fair. 


Suntec, Hall 601/603 

www.natas.org.sg 

 

Tyrexpo Asia 2005 


Singapore Expo, Hall 2 

www.eci-international.com 

 

Wire & Tube Asia 2005 


Singapore Expo, Hall 3 & 4A 

www.wire-singapore.com 

www.tube-singapore.com 

 

Global Franchising & Licensing 2005 

The 7th international event for business opportunities 

and intellectual property rights. 

Retail Industry Trade Event 2005 

The 4th international supermarket product, retail 

equipment, display, storage and technology exhibition 

and conference, incorporating FMCG2005, ShopFit2005 

and Retail IT2005. 


Suntec, Level 4 

www.rite-exhibition.com 

 

Global Entrepolis 

The enterprise, innovation & technology exchange. 


Suntec 

www.globalentrepolis.com 

 

3GSM World Congress Asia 2005 


Suntec 

www.3gsmasia.com 

 

ARTSingapore 2005 

Network between art dealers, art collectors and art 

lovers. 

29 September - 3 October 

Suntec, Level 4, Hall402 

www.www.artsingapore.net 

 

Integrated Systems Asia 

Encompasses products, technology and solutions for 

the entire systems integrated industry. 

12-14 October 

Suntec 

www.is-asia.com 


Suntec, Level 4 

www.gfranchising.com 

16 


KNOW YOUR TAX 

Indonesian financing transactions: 

from 0% tax to 20% tax? 

Pieter de Ridder and Michiel Boeren 

Loyens & Loeff, tax advisers, Singapore 

Some time ago we published an article 

entitled: Indonesian financing transactions: 

going Dutch or not? Now, approximately 

six months later, one can observe that the 

Indonesian tax authorities seem to have 

decided on an entirely different path 

with respect to the tax treatment of 

international payments in general, and 

with respect to Indonesian financing 

transactions involving a Dutch BV company 

(‘BV’) in particular. 

Let’s backtrack: on 1 January 2004 the 

tax treaty between Indonesia and The 

Netherlands took effect. Pursuant to article 

11 of the treaty, the Indonesian withholding 

tax on interest payments to Dutch lenders 

is reduced from the domestic statutory rate 

of 20% to nil, provided certain conditions 

are met (one of them being that the interest 

is paid on a loan made for a period of at 

least two years). Since that date, a number 

of large international bond/notes issuances 

have been conducted, using Dutch BV 

companies as the issuer of these bonds and 

notes. Also, a number of foreign lenders 

have restructured their offshore loans to 

Indonesian companies by assigning their 

loan receivables to Dutch BV companies. 

This was inspired by the benefit of getting 

the zero interest withholding tax rate in 

Indonesia, instead of the statutory 20% 

Indonesian withholding tax rate (or the 10% 

interest withholding tax rate in the second 

best tax treaty situation). Moreover, these 

transactions were helped by the fact that 

Indonesia had unilaterally terminated its 

tax treaty with Mauritius during 2004, 

which induced many international lenders 

as well as Indonesian borrowers to take 

steps to restructure their existing Mauritius 

financing arrangements, by moving the 

loans to the Netherlands. 

For some time during 2004, a rumour 

had been circulating that the Indonesian 

tax authorities would take the view that 

the interest article in the revised tax treaty 

with The Netherlands could not be applied 

because Indonesia and The Netherlands had 

not yet settled the mode of application of 

the interest article of the tax treaty (article 

11(5) of the tax treaty). Paragraph 5 

stipulates that “The competent authorities 

of the two States shall by mutual 

agreement settle the mode of application 

of paragraphs 2, 3 and 4.” 

Despite the fact that this view goes 

against the general interpretation 

consistently applied by other countries - 

as well as the official commentary on the 

OECD Model Convention - and contradicts 

Indonesia’s practice to date not to 

challenge the mode of application 

mentioned in 23 other existing Indonesian 

tax treaties (as well as the previous Dutch/ 

Indonesia tax treaty), the Indonesian 

Director General of Taxation (‘DGT’) issued 

a circular on 1 June 2005 stating that 

Indonesian borrowers have to withhold 10% 

withholding tax on interest payments to 

Dutch lenders, regardless of whether the 

interest is paid on a loan made for a period 

of more than two years. Technically, we 

believe this decision is flawed. Practically, 

it creates a lot of confusion in the 

international market place. 

Furthermore, on 7 July 2005, the 

Indonesian DGT issued another circular 

which has great impact on the application 

of tax treaties generally. This circular does 

not only apply to overseas interest 

payments but also to overseas dividend 

and royalty payments (as well as anything 

assimilated to interest, dividends or 

royalties) made by Indonesian payers. The 

circular deals with the term ‘beneficial 

ownership’, which is a term used in 

Indonesia’s tax treaties dealing with 

reduced withholding tax rates on dividends, 

interest and/or royalty payments. It 

requires the overseas recipient of the 

aforementioned payments, to qualify 

as the ‘beneficial owner’ of these 

payments, in order to be able to 

claim the reduced withholding tax 

rate specified in the tax treaty. 

If the recipient would fail this 

requirement, the payment is 

subject to 20% withholding 

tax in Indonesia. 

The term ‘beneficial 

owner’ is not defined 

in any tax treaty and 

therefore in general, 

but subject to 

conditions, this term 

must be interpreted 

in accordance with 

the domestic tax 

legislation of the country 

applying the tax treaty. 

Presently, the Indonesian tax law does 

not contain a definition of the term 

‘beneficial owner’. In the 7 July circular, 

the Indonesian DGT has attempted to define 

this term in a negative form. He stipulates 

that ‘special purpose companies’, ‘paper 

box companies’ and ‘pass-through 

companies’ are not considered to be the 

‘beneficial owner’ of the payment, and 

consequently the payments will be subject 

to 20% Indonesian withholding tax. The 

position of the DGT is expected to have 

significant consequences for, inter alia, 

international finance transactions involving 

overseas (including Dutch) companies 

acting as the lender, as these companies 

in the views of the Indonesian tax 

authorities may not be eligible for tax 

treaty benefits. It would also have potential 

negative impact on foreign holding 

companies as well as overseas service or 

royalty companies. 

Given the fact that the circular was only 

released recently, we are, together with 

Indonesian tax practitioners, discussing 

the circulars mentioned above with 

the respective local tax authorities in 

Indonesia as well as the Netherlands. 

We are examining possible alternatives. 

One of the suggestions being raised by 

Indonesian tax practitioners, is that it may 

be helpful if the BV company involved would 

obtain a statement from the Dutch tax 

authorities that it is considered to be the 

‘beneficial owner’ for Dutch income tax 

purposes. Such a statement may then 

strengthen the position in Indonesia 

that the BV is more than just a 

‘special purpose company, 

a ‘paper box company’ or 

a ‘pass-through company’. 

It is very important 

that clarity on both the 

Indonesian side as well as 

the Dutch side is obtained 

as soon as possible. Not only 

will the recent developments 

cause hesitation on how to deal 

with currently existing finance 

transactions, but it will also 

cause contemplated new financing 

activities to be put on hold and this 

may affect the economic growth and 

stability in Indonesia. 

19 


DUTCH NEWS 

2005, Dutch Media/Newspapers 

Hot June 2005 week claims 

300 extra lives in Netherlands 

In the week running from June 20 to 26, 2005, the first series of hot summer 

days, the number of deaths in the Netherlands was nearly 2,800, some 300 

above the level of an average week in early summer, data by Dutch Central 

Bureau of Statistics (CBS) showed. 

The average maximum daily temperature was 27.6 degrees Celsius in 

that week. The mild summer weather prevailing in the following weeks 

resulted in a relatively low mortality rate. 

Analysis of data covering the period June 13 to July 3, 2005 reveal that 

the daily mortality rate increases by five to seven persons with each degree 

the maximum daily temperature rises. This also applies to other hot periods 

in the summers of the last five years. 

A research shows that temperature-related mortality is least affected 

by an average daily temperature of 16.5 degrees Celsius. 

A previous research of CBS showed that a temperature increase of one 

degree results in an additional 25 to 35 deaths a week. An analysis based 

on daily figures shows that the strongest effect on the daily mortality rate 

is recorded on the day immediately after a very hot summer day and that 

the high mortality rate is often retained during the next few days. A higher 

mortality rate is mainly related to diseases of the respiratory and 

cardiovascular systems. 

Queen drops out of 

Forbes 100 Most 

Powerful Women list 

Queen Beatrix has dropped out of the list 

of the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women 

of the U.S. business magazine Forbes. 

In the 2004 list of the World’s Most 

Powerful Women, the Dutch Queen 

occupied the 35th position. 

The U.S. Minister of Foreign Affairs, 

Condoleezza Rice, retained her leading 

position in the 2005 list of Forbes. She is 

followed by the Chinese Deputy Prime 

Minister Wu Yi. 

The only Dutch woman on the 2005 

list is the Euro Commissioner Neelie Kroes, 

who occupies the 44th position. 

The Forbes evaluation was based on 

a composite of visibility and economic 

impact. The latter, in turn, reflects three 

things: resume, the size of the economic 

sphere over which a leader holds sway, 

and a multiplier that aims to make 

different economic criteria comparable, 

according to the Forbes website. 

Albert West to visit 

Dutch troops in 

Afghanistan 

Dutch singer Albert West will visit the 

Dutch troops from the International 

Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in 

Afghanistan and give a number of 

concerts, the Dutch Ministry of Defence 

said. 

West will leave for Afghanistan from 

the Eindhoven Air Base, southern 

Netherlands, on August 2, 2005 and is 

expected to return on August 10, 2005. 

The idea for West’s visit came in the week, 

ended June 22, 2005 after the release 

of a music video with Dutch troops in 

Afghanistan. West is currently in the 

charts with the song “Is this the way to 

Amarillo”, which is used in the video. 

West will perform at a number 

of locations, where Dutch troops 

are deployed, including the Kabul 

International Airport and the provincial 

reconstruction team in Pol-e-Khomri. 

75% of Dutch fear 

increasing choice 

opportunities 

Three fourths of the Dutch find it 

increasingly difficult to make a choice, 

especially regarding their health 

insurance, early retirement or electricity 

provider. 

Some 46 pct of the surveyed said they 

did not have the time to choose from so 

many options. According to the survey, 

half of the Dutch citizens feared the 

possibility of making the wrong choice 

about their health insurance. Three 

fourths of the Dutch citizens suspected 

that the changes in the health care and 

pension system would prove expensive 

and only 16 pct expected to get a financial 

advantage. 

Some 60 pct considered that the 

suspension of collective arrangements of 

health insurance and other social issues 

would decrease the degree of solidarity 

between the people. 

Dutch hotels not 

prepared for Chinese 

tourists increase 

Dutch hotels and the tourist sector 

in general are not prepared for the 

expected significant increase of 

Chinese tourists, the director of the 

Netherlands Board of Tourism and 

Conventions (NBTC), Hans van Driem, 

said. 

Currently, the hotels do not offer 

Chinese-language TV channels, 

newspapers, guides and room service. 

The hotels do not offer Chinese 

cuisine, either. In the majority of the 

Dutch hotels smoking is already 

forbidden, while many Chinese guests 

are used to smoking in the rooms. 

The number of Chinese tourists in 

the Netherlands increased to 82,000 

in 2004, while in the first quarter of 

2005, 20,000 Chinese visited the 

country, compared to 11,000 tourists 

in the same period of 2004. 

20 


DUTCH NEWS 

2005, Dutch Media/Newspapers 

Education level of Dutch population increases 

The average education level of the Dutch population increased in the period 1996-2003, the Dutch Central Bureau of 

Statistics (CBS) said. 

The difference in the education level between men and women decreased, but the difference between the various 

age groups remained intact, although the education level of older people improved slightly. Turks and Moroccans are still 

the lowest-educated group in the Netherlands, although the sharpest improvement in education level was recorded in 

these two ethnic groups. 

In 2003, 25 pct of the Dutch population between 25 and 64 years had completed education at vocational college or 

university level at least, compared to a bit over 20 pct in 1996. The share of low-educated persons decreased in this 

period to 30 pct from 40 pct. 

In 2003, three out of 10 men had at least a vocational college or university degree against some 25 pct among women. 

The share of low-educated women declined and, at the same time, the share of female secondary school graduates increased. 

The share of low-educated is highest in the 55-64 age group. There are substantially fewer low-educated people in the 

25-34 age group and more people with secondary and higher education. 

The education level of the native Dutch population is evidently higher than that of the non-native population. Over 

25 pct of the native Dutch graduated from vocational colleges or universities in 2003, against 18 pct of the non-natives. 

Edwin van Oudshoorn 

wins Dutch Frans 

Molenaar Award 2005 

Dutch fashion designer Edwin van 

Oudshoorn, 25, has received the Dutch 

Frans Molenaar Award 2005 for young 

fashion designers. 

Van Oudshoorn received the prize 

from Frans Molenaar during the opening 

of the third edition of the Amsterdam 

Fashion Week on July 28, 2005. 

The money prize of the award is 

10,000 euro ($12,100). Van Oudshoorn 

was awarded the prize for his collection 

inspired by the Russian folklore and 

the impressions he got during a visit at 

the Hermitage art museum in Saint 

Petersburg, northwestern Russia. 

Van Oudshoorn graduated from the Art 

Academy in Arnhem, eastern Netherlands, 

in 2004. 

The opening evening of the 

Amsterdam Fashion Week was closed 

with the fashion show Mansharey of 

Dutch designer Effi Mansharey. 

Frans Molenaar, born on May 11, 1940 

in Amsterdam, is a fashion designer and 

designer of furniture and glass. He was 

educated at the Trade School for Tailors 

in Amsterdam from 1955 until 1958. 

Molenaar worked as a tailor with Guy 

Laroche in Paris and as a fashion designer 

with Nina Ricci, also in Paris. As of 1995, 

the Frans Molenaar Award is given every 

year to encourage young fashion 

designers. 

21 



Banda Aceh, working for 

Doctors without Borders 

Question to Sanne 

Gooskens working 

at Philips, all round 

consultant quality 

group 

Why was it important 

for you to go to Aceh? 

And what were your 

experiences over there? 

Answer 

Christmas 2004, on holiday 

in the beautiful and quiet 

outback of Western Australia. Apart from a lot of 

sun and sea, there is nothing. No noise, no news. 

Only days after Christmas the news of a massive 

wave hit us. Having experience as a logistician for 

Doctors without Borders, I felt I had to offer my 

assistance. Back in Singapore, I wrote an e-mail. 

My preference was to work from Singapore, but if 

needed I would be willing to travel to Aceh. Luckily 

Philips immediately allowed me to take one month 

unpaid leave. I could not stay longer, because of 

work but moreover because I could not miss the 

first birthday of my daughter. If required I could 

always come back. 

Doctors without Borders called me as soon 

as they read my mail and asked me to take the 

first plane possible to Aceh. With my logistical 

experience in war countries, I was given the job 

of Security Coordinator. The toughest job of all 

logistics. Managing planes, trucks, warehouses, 

cars, generators, batteries, radio’s, computers, 

wells, hoses, pipes, pumps and even latrines is 

better than taking care of the security of 70 expats, 

200 national staff and a great deal of supplies in 

Aceh. Okay, I would not be jealous of one person: 

the base logistician, who has to take care of expat 

housing and food. 

After a difficult farewell at home, a briefing in 

Jakarta and a stopover in Medan, I landed in Banda 

Aceh. It was full of journalists and aid workers. 

Why would Doctors without Borders still be there? 

I was used to operate in areas where nobody 

dared to venture out to, and now I landed in the 

big circus of humanitarian aid. Around 200 small, 

big, Christian, military, new and established 

organizations were running around. All having 

enough money and people, but often lacking 

experience and most of all coordination. 

It was mid January, and after the exploration 

of the situation in the province in the first two 

weeks, the conclusion was that there was no 

medical emergency. Because of the presence of 

all humanitarian aid in Banda Aceh, Doctors without 

Borders quickly ventured out to towns and villages 

along the coast. As in Banda Aceh, the situation 

was devastating; the once beautiful and rich 

towns were split in two, with one half totally 

washed away. 

Surprisingly, about half of the health structures 

and medical people survived. But many medics 

were traumatized, busy looking for their relatives 

or trying to clean up some of the chaos, so our 

doctors and nurses helped to run the health 

centers. Luckily there were no epidemics, so more 

work was to be done on prevention: shelter, water 

and sanitation. But most attention was needed 

for mental health care. People were already 

traumatized by the ongoing civil war and on top of 

this the Tsunami hit. Now they are sitting around, 

no place to go and nothing to do. So we started 

workshops on building houses, making boats, 

cooking, music and playing together with a lot 

of talking. 

As for the people, my worries as a security 

coordinator were the earthquakes and the war. 

Earthquakes are hard to forecast, it is easier to 

follow movement of rebels than movements of 

earth and sea. And not easy to protect people 

except for some basics like making sure people 

carry a radio (the only communication device 

working in times of chaos) and move out of the 

house at the first trembling. The civil war in Aceh 

has been going on for a long time, with the 

government of Indonesia trying to get control over 

the people and the rich resources in Aceh, and 

the Acehnese fighting for their freedom. But all 

was in a state of shock after the Tsunami and 

therefore unpredictable. Aceh had been closed 

for all foreigners for years and now suddenly 

had to open up. Both parties could gain supplies 

and attention. The military tried to control all 

incoming goods by checking freights, demanding 

storage in military warehouses and military 

convoys for transport. Of course this had to be 

paid for as well. To maintain neutrality Doctors 

without Borders can not work with the military, 

and to do no harm you would never pay a party at 

war. After long negotiations we could travel 

without escorts, but we still needed many checks 

22 



and green lights for every trip, plenty of work for 

the security coordinator. And luckily no incidents 

of shooting or looting. But at night in the half 

destroyed towns and villages, sitting at home at 

the curfew of eight o’ clock you could sometimes 

hear the distant shooting in the mountains. That 

is the constant fear of the people in Aceh, the 

fear of being caught in fire is even bigger than 

the fear for another Tsunami. 

Living in the war in Burundi or Aceh, constantly 

afraid that rebels will pass by to steal and abuse, 

is terrible. On top of this, a sudden wave takes 

away half of your family, friends and belongings. 

It is great to help providing at least a little care 

and attention to those who need it so much. And 

I learned a lot from how people deal with their 

loss and their fear together. For example the three 

guards who lost everything in the Tsunami and 

got together on the roof of our warehouse calling 

themselves ‘Baywatch’. I do miss the work for 

Doctors without Borders, but it is really hard 

to combine with a family. And it is good to be 

back home. 

EMBASSY INFO 

Power Gen Asia 2005 

Trade Show and 

Conference 

VGT-Netherlands Association of Dutch Gas Turbines, led by delegation leader, Mr. Andre 

Mom, is leading a delegation of its members to participate in the above international 

trade show scheduled to be held from 13 to 15 September 2005 at Suntec City, 

Convention Hall no. 402. 

“Holland Pavilion” is proud to present the following companies which will showcase 

the latest in Dutch power generation technology and services : 

• Hubert Stavoren • Brush HMA • NEM BV 

• Sulzer Elba BV • Aarding Thermal Acoustics BV • Stork Turbo Services 

• Stork Thermeq • Tri-O-Gen • Petrogas Gas Systems 

An official Dutch Reception to be hosted by the new Netherlands Ambassador to 

Singapore, Mr. Chris Sanders, will be held in their honour on 14 September during the 

“Dutch Hour” from 4 pm to 5.30pm at the “Holland Pavilion”. 

ADB members are hereby invited to this event to network with the Dutch delegates. 

Those who are interested, kindly register with Mrs. Liz Ng : nlexport@singnet.com.sg 

by 12 September to obtain an official invitation to the Reception. 

However, you are also welcome to drop in at the “Holland Pavilion” on any of the 

show-days between 13 to 15 September during official show-times from 9.30am to 

5.30pm daily. 

More information about PowerGen Asia 2005 Trade Show can be found at its homepage: 

www.powergenasia.com 

23 


ASSOCIATION INFO 

New Members 

Pieter Idenburg, Suntec Singapore 

Geert van de Ven, Pan Asia Paper 

Bart Voeten, DigiContacts 

Laurus Meulenberg, BHP Billiton 

Stephanie van Aken-Smulders, 

AQ Services International 

Maarten Koning, ING Bank 

Cathy Fijten, 

Atlantis Healthcare Singapore 

Wilhard Kreijkes, Fugro Survey 

David Blackmon, 

Shell EP International 

Aernout van der Gaag, 

Shell EP International 

Ab Meijer, ABN AMRO Bank 

Leaving Members 

Marc Krabbenborg, ABN AMRO 

Adrie Somers, Philips 

SEPTEMBER EVENT 

Your Business Strategy and the Environment; 

Integration or Marketing? 

How do major corporations strike a balance between 

Business Strategy and Social Responsibility? 

This event will bring together a panel of professionals who will discuss Sustainable 

Development from a business perspective. Panel Members for this evening include: 

Mr. Kesava Sotham – Group Managing Director / CEO from ASIA Carbon International B.V. 

This is a Dutch Company with headquarters in the Netherlands. The Company specializes 

in mitigating global warming, using various mechanisms as provided for under the Kyoto 

Protocol. He and a colleague will highlight the Kyoto protocol (being the United Nations 

Framework Convention on Climate change). 

Mr. Christophe Inglin, Managing Director, Shell Solar Private Limited 

For more than 30 years The Shell Group has been active in the conversion of sunlight into 

electricity and the provision of solar power solutions. Shell Solar (a part of Royal Dutch 

Shell) provides an integrated solution; from manufacturing silicon components, solar 

cells and modules to selling and designing complete systems for grid connected or remote 

power applications. The Research and Development department contributes largely 

to the improvement of our products. The department works closely together with the 

different manufacturing sites and internationally famous research institutes. 

Date: 12 September 2005 

Venue: Hollandse Club Main Hall 

Time: Drinks 7.30pm and start of panel discussion at 8pm 

WELCOME TO ALL ADB MEMBERS! 

Internship & Job Seekers 

Name 

: Mike See 

Age 

: 25 years 

Telephone number home : +31-26-3231888 

Email-address 

: m_see1980@hotmail.com 

Study: Bachelor of Arts; teaching English as a foreign language 

Specialization: Teaching English. I speak Dutch and English at 

native level. Furthermore I speak Mandarin, Cantonese and 

Hokkien fluently. 

Working experience: During my college years I have taught 

English to secondary school students. These were compulsory 

internships at various secondary schools. Apart from that I have 

also tutored students in their English. In addition I had a few 

jobs on the side like working as a postal worker when I was still 

in college. 

Looking for: I am looking for jobs as a teacher of English. But I 

am also interested in jobs like a clerk or other administrative 

functions. Furthermore, I am quite capable of translating Chinese 

texts into English or Dutch. 

Name 

: Michiel Dunning 

Age 

: 27 years 

Telephone number office : +31-36-5345688 

Telephone number home : +31-36-5304557 

Email-address 

: mm_dunning@hotmail.com; 

michieldunning@yahoo.com 

Study: Senior General Secondary Education. Royal Dutch Military 

Academy. 

Specialization: Leadership/management/administrative 

Working experience: 2 nd Lieutenant infantry platoon, 

commander in the Royal Dutch Army (management/leadership); 

Account manager at a bailiffoffice (office management/ 

leadership/admininistrative work) 

Looking for: Considering my experience in the Army, I am 

primary looking for a job in Security/Protection. Because of my 

experience in administrative work, I am very motivated to work 

in that field. I am open to educate myself in the event that 

future courses are required for a job. 

Name : Claudette Dumoulin 

Age : 28 years 

Handphone number : 9660 2175 

Email-address : cmdumoulin@hotmail.com 

Study: Master of Science Degree in Communication Science 

and a Bachelor degree in Office Management. 

Specialization: Corporate Communications 

Working experience: As a junior Communication Consultant in 

Amsterdam, she moved to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where 

she became Sales & Marketing Manager at a prestigious golf 

course. During her career she chose to work in a wide variety of 

different companies to develop her skills and has built up a 

thorough knowledge of corporate communications. Her main 

activities include consultancy, management training, project 

management and office management. 

Looking for: Employment in hospitality, consultancy or FMCG. 

24

Sept 2005 - Association of Dutch Businessmen

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