Sept 2005 - Association of Dutch Businessmen

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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 Vol.15 • No. 7 • September 2005
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 Vol.15 • No. 7 • September 2005
Page 1 and 2: September 2005 MITA 373/03/2001
Page 3 and 4: A monthly publication of the Associ
Page 5 and 6: BUSINESS A global financial informa
Page 7 and 8: BUSINESS An inspiring speech and an
Page 9 and 10: BUSINESS the doctors started crying
Page 11: ASIA It is expected that the Games
Page 15 and 16: BIZZ AGENDA World Food Fair 2005 Ta
Page 17 and 18: DUTCH NEWS 2005, Dutch Media/Newspa
Page 19 and 20: POP & DROP A QUESTION Banda Aceh, w
Page 21: ASSOCIATION INFO New Members Pieter

Sept 2005 - Association of Dutch Businessmen

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