April 2010 - Association of Dutch Businessmen

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Column Are you being served? by Richard Soemita “‘Wait’ appears in the word waiter, in this case it probably referred to ‘wait forever’!” When I go to my local food court the prawn noodle man can see me already from a far distance. As soon as we make eye contact he just follows every move until I raise my finger (like at an auction…..and the price goes up with 1 million!) to give him the go ahead for the SGD 4.50 bowl, with the big prawns. Sitting at my fixed table, I nod at the juice man who immediately starts the blender going for my usual melon juice. By the time I sit down and get tissues out of my pocket, the prawn noodle arrives together with my nice cold juice. I pay the 2 guys on the spot, and for SGD 6.00 I enjoy a fantastic meal that was brought to me within 1 minute and 34 seconds. However, you will not experience the same when you go to a restaurant in Singapore. If you are lucky, the waiter may give you the menu and run away instead of taking the drinks order first. After all, we live in a humid country where everyone needs a drink after just a 10 meter walk. So you need to call the waiter back and place your order. When you order the food you go through the same agony. Most of the time they do not know what the dishes look like, so don’t bother to ask them any details about the dish, let alone what type of sauce comes with it. Then they start writing in their booklet as if preparing an essay for school. How difficult is it to remember a steak ‘well done’, if that’s all you have ordered? Then they tell you that they will repeat the order. By the time they have repeated the order, I could have already eaten half a steak with a bottle of wine. It gets even more complicated when you ask him to bring the sauce on a side dish. The expression on their faces is just amazing. Recently, we placed a regular order in this restaurant . The meal came pretty quick, but there was no sign of the drinks. So we asked the waiter to check while we were already half way through the meal. After checking for the second time, there was still nobody showing any intention of pouring wine in glasses. By the time we finished the meal there was still no wine. So we complained and asked the waiter for some ice water. He came with a green wine bottle, making us all exited. However it appeared that this was used as a water bottle. Then finally the wine arrived. No excuses whatsoever and until today we did not understand why it took 25 minutes before the wine arrived. I thought of approaching the Manager, but judging his age of approx 18 I did not bother. ‘Wait’ appears in the word waiter, in this case it probably referred to ‘wait forever’! At this stage we were already annoyed and asked for the bill. Funnily enough the bill was presented within a minute. However, there were 2 positive points: all 4 dishes came at the same time (because we all ordered the same!) and no plates were removed from those that finished their meals first (again, because we all finished around the same time). Usually, dishes are removed as soon as one finishes the meal, unlike some hawker centres where auntie takes away your dish while you are still eating. Angmohs tend to pause after a few minutes while eating, but auntie may have the impression that you are finished. My tip: always hold on to your plate / bowl and always keep a look on the drinks, before you know your glass is gone. The restaurants really have to pay attention to their service level. Singapore gets over 12 million tourists every year. In order to serve these tourists, one ought to have professional and qualified staff and not kids (some of the waiters here look younger than my 13 year old daughter) that hardly have any clue on how to serve clients. ‘Angmoh food’ (like pizzas and steakhouses) doesn’t come cheap, so one would expect better quality with regard to the service level. Auntie from the food court has never had any training or education at the hotel academy, but for sure she will make you happy when you get your food in a flash. 26
Embassy News The Embassy is closed on the following days in April/May 2010: Friday 2 April (Good Friday) Monday 5 April (Easter Monday) Thursday 13 May (Ascension Day) Friday 14 May Monday 24 May (Whit Monday) Friday 28 May (Vesak Day) Queen’s Day, Saturday 24 April 2010 Mr Johannes W. Gunivortus Jansing Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Mrs Barbara Jansing have the pleasure to invite the Dutch community for the Queen’s Day reception on Saturday 24 April from 19.00 – 21.00 hrs at the Hollandse Club, 22 Camden Park. This will enable the guests to also attend the “Orange Ball”, if they register, which will be held that same evening at the Hollandse Club from 21.00 hrs onwards. Memorial Service, Kranji Commonwealth Cemetery, Tuesday 4 May 2010 On Tuesday 4 May, we will commemorate the Netherlands victims of World War II. The ceremony will take place at the Kranji Commonwealth War Cemetery at 18.00 hrs. The Ambassador will lay a wreath and a two-minute silence will be observed. You are invited to attend. Whoever wishes to lay flowers on any of the Dutch graves is most welcome to do so. Tweede Kamer verkiezingen 9 juni 2010 Nederlanders in het buitenland die op 9 juni 2010 willen stemmen bij de verkiezingen voor de Tweede Kamer, moeten zich uiterlijk op 27 april registreren bij de gemeente Den Haag. Op 9 juni 2010 vinden in Nederland de verkiezingen voor de Tweede Kamer plaats. Tijdens deze verkiezingen kunnen alle Nederlandse kiesgerechtigden hun stem uitbrengen. Dit geldt ook voor kiezers met de Nederlandse nationaliteit die buiten Nederland wonen of tijdelijk in het buitenland verblijven en niet meer bij een Nederlandse gemeente staan inschreven. Voor deelname aan de verkiezingen dient u zich te registreren bij de gemeente Den Haag. Indien u al geregistreerd bent (doordat u zich voor de vorige Tweede Kamerverkiezingen in 2006 hebt laten registreren) krijgt u binnenkort automatisch het registratieformulier toegestuurd. Wanneer u zich voor de eerste keer wilt gaan registreren, kunt u gebruik maken van het formulier dat binnenkort op www.denhaag.nl beschikbaar komt. Ook op www.uheefthetvoorhetzeggen.nl zal een link naar dit formulier worden opgenomen. U dient tevens van het registratieformulier gebruik te maken als uw adres tussentijds is gewijzigd of als u zich eerder hebt laten registreren voor de Europese verkiezingen in 2009. Uw registratieformulier moet uiterlijk 27 april zijn ontvangen door de gemeente Den Haag of een Nederlands consulaat, een Nederlandse ambassade of de Vertegenwoordiging op de Nederlandse Antillen en Aruba. Celebrate Queen’s Night Thursday 22 April 2010 at Harry’s Bar Boat Quay For the thirteenth year running, Harry’s Bar at 28 Boat Quay will celebrate Queen’s Night. Crazy Hour prices on Heineken Draught ALL NIGHT. Listen to live music by Crossroadz. Enjoy delicious Dutch cheese, herring and bitterballen. Come dressed in orange and enjoy free Heineken from 6.30pm – 8.30pm. Enjoy delicious Dutch cheese, herring and bitterballen 27
Page 1: Association of Dutch Businessmen in
Page 4 and 5: Contents Vol. 20 / No. 3 / Apr 2010
Page 6 and 7: Events The Meeting ended with an in
Page 8 and 9: Business Working for AXA Insurance
Page 10 and 11: Interview Interview Pieter de Ridde
Page 12 and 13: Interview Interview with Pieter Ide
Page 14 and 15: Interview new events that we are pr
Page 16 and 17: Bizz News Court opens way for fligh
Page 18: know your tax Some considerations b
Page 21 and 22: Green Page ©Cat Holloway/WWF-Canon
Page 23 and 24: Singapore Corporation tax - Land In
Page 25 and 26: Not to miss Jamie Cullum 13 Apr Jam
Page 27: Travel The National Palace museum i
Page 31 and 32: IHC Merwede anchors in Singapore IH

April 2010 - Association of Dutch Businessmen

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