ScandAsia February 2018

FEB 2018

BUSINESS

Nordic Chambers Thailand

deepen cooperation

PEOPLE

Pirkka Tapiola new EU

Ambassador, Thailand

COMMUNITY

Lisa Boldt-Christmas waves

Hong Kong bye bye

LIFESTYLE

Sleepy Sam’s gone Cube

Penang theme:

Live, play, work

– the formula for

manufacturing hub

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2 ScandAsia • February 2018

February 2018 • ScandAsia 3

February 2018

24

Ms. Lisa Boldt-Chrismas

Bids Hong Kong farewell

ScandAsia

Stories

14 Sweden participated in

World Islamic Economic

Forum

48 Family-friendly Penang

50 Sleepy Sam’s gone Cube

55 Danish pop star in

Singapore

Penang theme: business

and lifestyle

ScandAsia

Business

16 Nordic Chambers in Thailand

Launched deepened cooperation

20 Volvo Buses and NTU

cooperation

Test trials autonomous electric buses

23 COMB+

Nordics-China start-up accelerator fund

Human

resources:

56 Digital recruitment

improvements

58 My latest position

32

29

Mr. Kim Højlund

Appointed as new ambassador to Vietnam

30

Mr. Pirkka Tapiola

New EU Ambassador to Thailand

14

48

50

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Editorial

What do you say?

It has been my privilege to serve the Nordic community in

South East Asia with internal and external communication

for a lifetime.

During these past 25 years, I have worked with many

outstanding persons who have understood how they could

use ScandAsia in their own interest and at the same time help

their fellow Scandinavian expats becoming more informed,

more inspired.

Could you be one of them?

Try to look at yourself from the outside. You are maybe

selling a Nordic product or service in Asia. Your product

solves a problem for certain people and improves their lives.

Have you ever noticed how people listen when at a dinner

table you get excited and start talking about how your sector

is developing and how your product and know-how is part

of this?

If you could write it and an editor could help you

shape it up, more people would be fascinated by what

you know. Maybe they could even become your brand

ambassadors.

Or maybe your life in Asia has given you the opportunity

to bring up your children in a different culture than the

one you grew up in. You have come to reflect on how you

pass on values and inspire your children by living your life

the way you do and making the choices you make in your

every day life.

If you could share these thoughts with other Nordic parents

you could inspire them to reflect on these important

issues, too. Before you know it, you have material for a series

of articles.

One of the benefits of the fast changing technology

involving publishing these past 25 years is that your content

reaches readers in a way that the old paper magazine

never could. You can include links and videos and the search

engines helps you reach an audience that you could never

reach before.

But it starts with a person wanting to tell something. It

starts with you making the decision to send me an email

with your idea.

Kind regards

Gregers Moller

Editor in Chief

PS. Notice the destination theme!

The theme format you find in this issue about Penang is completely new one for ScandAsia. It covers both the business and the

lifestyle aspect of a specific destination in Asia. Penang is a brilliant destination to start off with, due to its special combination

of beach attractions, while at the same time having manufacturing, R&D etc. We show investment attractiveness, opportunities

and talk to locally based Nordic companies and people there etc. In line with the new ScandAsia these features will in the future

always have two angles; Business as well as Lifestyle.

ScandAsia is a printed magazine and online

media covering the people and businesses

of Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland living

and working in China, Hong Kong, Thailand,

Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines,

Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.

Who should subscribe:

ScandAsia subscribers are typically Nordic

expats and companies from the Nordic

countries living in and active in Asia.

Another group of subscribers are Nordic

people living in the Nordic countries who

subscribe to ScandAsia for personal or

business reasons. We also have many Asian

subscribers, who for a wide range of reasons

are following the activities of

the Nordic expats and companies via a

subscription to ScandAsia.

The ScandAsia magazine is produced every

month and distributed to all print version

subscribers via postal services and to all

eMagazine subscribers via email. Subscribing

to the eMagazine is FREE - simply sign up

on the ScandAsia.com website.

Become a ScandAsia user/

get free digital ScandAsia magazine

or paid subscription via

www.scandasia.com!

Publisher :

ScandAsia Publishing Co., Ltd.

211 Soi Prasert Manukitch 29

Prasert Manukitch Road

Bangkok 10230, Thailand

Tel. +66 2 943 7166-8

Fax: +66 2 943 7169

E-mail: news@scandasia.com

Editor-in-Chief :

Gregers A.W. Møller

gregers@scandmedia.com

Managing Editor:

Joakim Persson

Joakim@scandmedia.com

Advertising :

Finn Balslev

finn@scandmedia.com

Frank Leong

frank@scandasia.com

Graphic Designer :

Peerapol Meesuwan

Peerapol@scandmedia.com

Production Manager:

Sopida Yatprom

Printing :

Inthanon Interprint Co., Ltd.



Opinion

Is Thailand Facing

Another Migrant Exodus?

By Daniel Lindgren, founder of Rapid Asia Co., Ltd - program evaluations,

KAP Studies and behaviour change specialists

Thailand has some 3–4 million

migrant workers that

fill the gap for much needed

low-skilled labor and companies

in several sectors are

dependent on these workers. However,

a recent Royal Ordinance issued on June

23, 2017, has sparked concerns among

employers. Although the proposed penalties

under the Royal Ordinance have

been postponed an initial exodus of migrant

workers has been observed and

many fear it could escalate. Why would

this happen and what is the potential

solution?

It is worth pointing out that Thailand

has a rapidly aging society, due to longer

life expectancy and reduced birth rate,

so it is dependent on migrants to fill

the gap in its labor force. But fostering

regular migration has proven to be a

daunting challenge for Thailand. Recent

studies carried out by Rapid Asia have

found that about 50 percent of migrant

workers are irregular and some would

argue that the actual percentage may

be higher still. Many of these workers

choose to migrate via irregular channels

due to the higher cost and time associated

with formal migration channels. In

some cases, the cost is several times

higher. The question is, would the 2017

Royal Ordinance on Foreign Workers

Management help to push migrants

through regular channels and obtain

proper work visas?

The new ordinance would penalize

employers and workers who fail

to comply, with penalties ranging from

400,000–800,000 baht for employers,

and 2,000–100,000 baht plus up to

5 years in prison for workers. Tens of

thousands of migrant workers have already

left the country, and when the

ordinance comes into full effect, it could

cause an escalated exodus. To provide

employers and migrant workers more

time, key parts of the new ordinance

have been pushed forward to January

1, 2018.[1]

Another challenge is the bottle necks

that already exist in the system. For example,

the Department of Employment

already has limited capacity to deal with

its current load of enquiries and it would

be difficult for it to cope with a heavier

workload. Others point to the potential

negative effects of the new ordinance.

For example, it is very likely that employers

would pass on any increases in

labor costs to migrant workers, many of

whom already struggle to pay off debt

associated with recruitment and other

migration costs. This could make hiring

more difficult and lead to labour shortages,

as well as creating more vulnerability

among migrant workers.

But would it be possible to create

a win-win-win situation for the government,

employers and migrant workers?

In 2015, the Thai Revenue Department

offered a tax amnesty[2] for small and

medium-sized enterprises as an incentive

for companies to cease the common

practice of preparing two sets of

books and become properly registered

for tax. A similar strategy could be applied

in the case of migrant workers by

offering lower cost work permits as an

incentive. This could provide employers

with more cost-effective labour, reduce

the debt burden for migrants, and reduce

labour shortages. A market needs

assessment of employers and migrants

may be needed to verify where the lines

should be drawn. But given that Thailand

attracts a substantial proportion of irregular

migrant workers, the potential

for increased revenue from issuing more

work permits may well be greater than

issuing fewer at a higher cost. If the objective

is to maintain (or even increase)

the workforce, while at the same time

increase compliance, a similar strategy

to that of the tax amnesty seems reasonable.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed

in this article are those of the

authors and do not necessarily reflect the

official policy or position of ScandAsia Publishing.

Examples of analysis performed

within this article are only examples. Neither

ScandAsia Publishing nor any person

acting on its behalf may be held responsible

for the use which may be made of the

information contained therein.

If you would like to share your

thoughts and insights on this

page contact Managing Editor at

joakim@scandmedia.com

[1] Including penalties for employees, punishments for employers who hire workers for certain professions without permits, and recruiting workers without

permits (Articles 101, 102, 122 and 119)

[2] Royal Decree 595 for tax amnesty and tax holidays was a temporary opportunity for a voluntary self-disclosure to the Thai Revenue Department,

eliminating any penal sanctions and included incentives of a zero rate for the first year and a reduced rate of 10 per cent for the second year.


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News Brief

Denmark to strengthen regional

coordination

By Gregers Moller

Danish Ambassadors from across

South East Asia and trade advisors

from each embassy’s commercial

department met Monday and

Tuesday 22 and 23 January 2018 in

Singapore to discuss how they could

improve the coordination of the efforts

in selling Denmark’s core competencies

across the region.

The meeting is a regular annual event

and included also representatives from

the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Denmark,

IFU, EKF and company representatives

from Vestas and GN Hearing.

During the meeting, ScandAsia’s

founder Gregers Moller also had an opportunity

to present how using ScandAsia’s

magazine and website setup could

help communicate the message.

According to the Danish Embassy in

Indonesia, the Regional Meeting was a

great success and did strengthen the aim

of having regional cooperation across

the Danish Embassies even further. To

fully utilize their time, the trade advisors

also met some of the Danish companies

that are working regionally out of

Singapore.

The meeting was focused on Denmark’s

commercial activities in the region

and did not involve the consular

section of each embassy.

Philippines-Sweden Political Dialogue

meeting

During the dialogue, both sides discussed

a wide range of issues, including

general political and economic developments

in both countries; pending bilateral

agreements; possible cooperative

activities in various fields of endeavour,

notably trade and investment; the Philippine

chairmanship of ASEAN; Brexit; and

other regional and international issues.

Mr. Stenström also headed the Swedish

delegation to the Philippines Sweden

Airport Collaboration on November 21

to 22. The collaboration is in line with

commitments that Swedish Minister

for Enterprise and Innovation Mikael

Undersecretary Enrique A. Manalo

and Swedish State Secretary

for EU Affairs and Trade Oscar

Stenström, and their respective delegations,

met on 25 November 2017 in

Manila for the Philippines-Sweden Political

Dialogue, which falls under the ambit


of the political consultations mechanism

between the Philippines and Sweden.

This is the fourth time that both countries

have met to discuss developments

in both countries and in their respective

regions as well as future directions in the

bilateral relationship.

Damberg and Transportation Secretary

Arthur Tugade reached during the former’s

visit to the Philippines in 2016 that

coincided with the re-opening of the

Swedish Embassy in Manila.

Source: Department of Foreign Affairs,

Philippines

News Brief

Norway’s Foreign Minister Eriksen

Søreide’s Myanmar visit

On 19 November the Royal

Norwegian Embassy in Yangon

was proud to receive Foreign

Minister Ine Eriksen Søreide in Yangon.

This was the minister’s very first visit

to Myanmar, and one of her first visits

abroad as Foreign Minister. In Yangon,

she met with local, international and

UN organizations, learning about the

situation in the country. She also met

with representatives from Norwegian

businesses and NGOs in Myanmar.

“I am glad to be in Myanmar, and

have been very well received by people

here. This is an important moment for

me to visit Myanmar and to engage with

civil society and the government. I look

forward to further strengthening the

relationship between our two peoples,

including working together to resolve

difficult challenges in Rakhine and elsewhere,”

Ine Eriksen Søreide said.

On 21-22 November Minister Eriksen

Søreide was in Nay Pyi Taw to

attend the 13th ASEM Foreign Ministers’

Meeting. There she met with colleagues

from Asian and European countries,

including State Counsellor Aung San

Suu Kyi.

They had a good and open discussion

on the situation in Rakhine, including on

the importance of providing humanitarian

access, security and safe return.

Eriksen Søreide reiterated Norway’s

readiness to assist the Government of

Myanmar in this difficult and complex

situation. They agreed to work together

to achieve peace, stability, harmony and

sustainable development in Rakhine,

stated the Norwegian embassy.

Source: Royal Norwegian Embassy in

Yangon

How can you make your money work

while you enjoy life?

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Michael.Blom@nordea.sg

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Nordea Bank S.A, Singapore Branch is part of Nordea Group, the leading financial services group in the Nordic and Baltic Sea regions. Some products and services may, due to local regulations, not be available to individuals resident in certain countries and their availability

may depend, among other things, on the investment risk profile of persons in receipt of this publication or on any legislation to which they are subject. Nothing in this publication should be construed as an offer, or the solicitation of an offer, to purchase, subscribe to or

sell any investment or product, or to engage in any other transaction or provide any kind of financial or banking service in any jurisdiction where Nordea Bank S.A., Singapore Branch or any of its affiliates do not have the necessary license. Published by Nordea Bank

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News Brief

Annual Danish Footprints held

in Vietnam

In later November 2017 Danish companies,

their families, friends, business

partners and local authorities participated

in Danish Footprints 2017. The

aim of the event was to promote Danish

corporate values and business culture,

this year with a particular focus on public

health, occupational health and safety,

healthy lifestyle and work-life balance.

For the first time in Vietnam in 2015,

the Danish Footprints event was held in

Ho Chi Minh City.

The event also offers a chance for

Danish firms to meet and share their

business management policies to support

Vietnamese people and the community

where the companies and their

employees are operating in.

Danish Footprints was organized

for the first time in 2015 by The Danish

Embassy in Vietnam in collaboration

with many Danish firms.

‘Fostering CSR in the Philippines’

conference

Swedish and Filipino companies

champion responsible business

More than 150 leaders in business

and government convened at Fostering

CSR in the Philippines: Conference

on Responsible Business at Makati

Shangri-La Hotel on 17 January. The

conference was a joint effort to champion

corporate social responsibility (CSR)

as a way for companies to contribute to

the achievement of the Sustainable Development

Goals, reports the Embassy

of Sweden, Manila.

It was organized by the Embassy of

Sweden in Manila, ASEAN CSR Network

and the League of Corporate

Foundations.

Notable speakers were H.E. Ambassador

Harald Fries (Swedish Ambassador

to Manila), Ms Yanti Triwadiantini

(Chair, ASEAN CSR Network), Mr

Roderick De Castro (Chairman, League


of Corporate Foundations), Mr Jaime

Augusto Zobel de Ayala (Chairman

and CEO, Ayala Foundation, Inc.), H.E.

Mr Leo Herrera-Lim (Representative

of the Philippines, ASEAN Intergovernmental

Commission on Human Rights),

Ms Diana Madunic (CSR Ambassador

of Sweden), Undersecretary Claro A.

Arellano (Department of Labor and

Employment - DOLE).

Swedish companies that shared their

insights included IKEA, Scania Philippines,

Tetra Pak Philippines, Ericsson and H&M,

while Filipino companies included Ayala

Corporation, Jollibee Group, Nestle,

San Roque Power Corporation, BPI and

Bato-Balani.

Source: Embassy of Sweden in Manila

News Brief

Sweden’s education minister visited

Indonesia, Singapore

International cooperation between

higher education institutions and

world-class teacher training programmes

were in focus when Swedish

Minister for Higher Education and

Research Helene Hellmark Knutsson

visited Indonesia and Singapore back in

October 2017.

In Indonesia, Ms Hellmark Knutsson

met Minister for Technology, Research

and Higher Education Muhammad Nasir

to discuss international cooperation on

higher education and research. She also

visited a university, and met students and

representatives of the Indonesian Academy

of Sciences and other actors in

research and innovation. The trip was a

follow-up of the State Visit in May 2017.

“I’m visiting Indonesia along with

several of our universities with the aim

of increasing cooperation between our

countries. We need to collaborate more

across national borders to meet global

challenges such as antibiotic resistance

and climate change. But also to strengthen

Swedish companies operating in a

global market with tough competition.

As a tool for this, I signed an agreement

with Indonesia’s Minister for Research

on increased cooperation in research,

innovation and education. Indonesia is

the world’s fourth largest country seen

by the number of inhabitants and with

a rapidly evolving economy. Increased

cooperation can give us many benefits

and create new jobs in Sweden!” the

Minister commented via social media.

Singapore’s teacher training programmes,

meanwhile, are outstanding,

and the country tops international

assessments of student achievement.

There, Ms Hellmark Knutsson met Minister

for Education Ong Ye Kung and

visited the National Institute of Education

to learn about Singapore’s work

on teacher recruitment and lifelong

learning, and the reform efforts behind

these. She also met the Science Council

of Singapore and visited the prominent

Nanyang Technological University,

where Swede Professor Bertil Andersson

is President.

The Swedish minister travelled with

a delegation consisting of the Swedish

Research Council and representatives

of six Swedish higher education institutions.


News Brief

Sweden participated in 13 th World

Islamic Economic Forum

The World Islamic Economic Forum

(WIEF) was hosted for the

13th time on 21-23 November

2017, this hear held in Kuching on Borneo,

Malaysia. Sweden participated in

WIFE for the first time with an official

delegation headed by Ambassador

Juhlin-Dannfelt with the participation

of Stockholm Chamber of Commerce,

Ericsson , EQT and the start-up My-

Bazar. Appreciated Swedish speakers

at WIEF were Andreas Hatzigeorgiou,

Chief Economist at Stockholm Chamber

of Commerce; Johan Bygge, CEO

EQT Asia; Todd Ashton, Managing Director

Ericsson Malaysia, Bangladesh and

Sri Lanka; and Armin Osmancevic, CEO

MyBazar. The Swedish consulting firm

SixYearPlan also participated in WIEF in

Kuching.

With ‘Disruptive Change: Impact and

Challenges’ as theme, the 13th World

Islamic Economic Forum discussed the

impact and challenges of life-altering

disruptive ideas as well as technologies,

with some of the finest minds in the

world today.

In line with what’s occurring globally,

the 13th WIEF theme reflected the


transformations motivated by disruptive

technologies and how, despite this, there

are positive inclinations arising amid

a contradictory sentiment. Intensive

and transparent discussions penetrated

the various facets of the phenomenon

called the fourth industrial revolution

and its implications for states and business.

Various themes such as the Internet

of Things, Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain,

Automation, Sustainability, etc.

were highlighted. The Swedish speakers

contributed with appreciated lectures

and seminars on gender equality

in business and female entrepreneurship

(Johan Bygge, EQT), the development

of the cashless society, fintech, circular

economy and sustainability (Andreas

Hatzigeorgiou, Stockholm Chamber of

Commerce), Internet of Things (Todd

Ashton, Ericsson) and Blockchain (Armin

Osmancevic, MyBazar).

The WIEF Foundation, formed on

the initiative of former Malaysian Prime

Minister Abdullah Badawi, took charge

of WIEF 2006, headquartered in Kuala

Lumpur. Chairman of the WIEF Foundation

is Tun Musa Hitam, Deputy Prime

Minister in Malaysia, while WIEF Chairman

of the WFD is always the Malaysian

Prime Minister.

The foundation organizes annual

summits that have been held in Istanbul,

Kuala Lumpur, Islamabad, Kuwait City,

Jakarta, Astana, Johor Bahru, Dubai and

London. The foundation also organizes

several capacity building programs; Business

Women Network, Young Leaders

Network, Education Trust and threefour

round table calls per year.

The annual summits usually take

place in a Muslim country, but were carried

out in 2014 for the first time outside

of the OIC country circle when the

WIEF summit took place in London. At

the WIEF Summit in Kuching, 21-23 November,

political leaders like Malaysian

Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, senior

ministers from Indonesia, Morocco and

Iran, as well as regional decision-makers

as president of the Russian Republic of

Tatarstan participated. Top international

business leaders such as co-founder of

Apple Steve Wozniak also participated

as speakers.

Sources: WIEP, Embassy of Sweden in

Kuala Lumpur

Danish week - Sustainable City

Solutions in Vietnam

News Brief

In December 2017, the Embassy of

Denmark in Vietnam launched a

series of events under the theme

‘Danish week - Sustainable City Solutions’

in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

The campaign included exhibitions,

seminars, film screening, master classes

and a competition looking for practical

ideas on how to ensure greener and

cleaner cities.

The campaign is an initiative of the

embassy, co-organised by National Univeristy

of Civil Engineering in Hanoi

(NUCE) and Universtiy of Architecture

Hochiminh city (UAH), with supports

from local authorities, organisations

and companies from Vietnam and Denmark.

“Denmark is among the world leaders

in green technology, and Green

Growth is an important area of Vietnam

-Denmark’s Comprehensive Partnership

agreement. With this campaign

we hope to create opportunities to

exchange inspiration and knowledge

with Vietnam on how to build green

and sustainable cities”, said ambassador

of Denmark to Vietnam, Ms. Charlotte

Laursen.

The seminar under the theme was

hosted by NUCE (in Hanoi on 12 Dec)

and by UAH (in HCMC on 14 Dec).

During the seminar, experts from Denmark

and Vietnam will share experiences,

lessons learnt, good practices in

urban planning policy and solutions.

Also, students from NUCE and

UAH had opportunity to attend master

classes with the famous architect

from Denmark Hans Peter Hagens and

Head of Technical and Environment

Department of Aarhus city Mr. Mogens

Bjørn Nielsen.

An exhibition for the public showcased

some of the best sustainable architecture

designs and city development

projects from Denmark.

Another event to linked with ‘Danish

week - Sustainable City Solutions’ was

the final round of the competition ‘Raising

Awareness on Green City Solutions

in Vietnam’, where best ideas on how to

ensure greener and cleaner city in the

locality were rewarded. The competition

was co-organised by the embassy

and the Denmark – Vietnam Alumni

Network.

Denmark – Vietnam Comprehensive

partnership

Within the framework of the Comprehensive

Partnership Agreement

signed by the two countries in 2013,

the Vietnamese-Danish relationship is

a partnership focusing on political dialogue,

cultural exchange, commercial

activities, and targeted ODA-projects

matching Denmark’s strengths within

green growth, food and agriculture,

health and education.

Bilateral trade between Vietnam and

Denmark has increased significantly

since 2011 and interest from Danish

companies in cooperation with Vietnam

within trade and investment continues

to increase. Currently more than 130

Danish companies are represented in

Vietnam and many more are interested

in doing business in Vietnam.


Business

All four Nordic Ambassadors in Thailand and Nordic Chambers of Commerce

representatives celebrating the kick-off for enhanced Nordic cooperation

Four Nordic chambers

of commerce in Thailand

to deepen cooperation

The four different Chambers of Commerce in Thailand from the

Nordic countries are embarking on a strengthened and on-going

cooperation, which was being kicked off with a launch event in

Bangkok.

By Joakim Persson

A

well-visited evening event on 11 January 2018

saw all the four Chambers of Commerce

organisations (Danish-Thai, Thai-Finnish, Thai-

Norwegian and Thai-Swedish) in Thailand kick

off their, intended, deeper-than-ever-before

collaboration. It was announced to the members and guests

in the lovely garden of the Residence of Danish Ambassador

Uffe Wolffhechel, at the Royal Danish Embassy, also with all

four Nordic Ambassadors gracing the event with their attendance.

At this Nordic New Year’s Kick-Off 2018’, aside being

briefed on the collaboration, those in attendants were encouraged

to network and to discuss ideas around the new

partnership further, also being encouraged to present any

idea to the respective Executive Directors of all the four

chambers of commerce.


Welcoming all guests the event Karri Kivelä, Executive

Director of the Thai-Finnish Chamber of Commerce, told

that the newly established Nordic Chamber cooperation in

Thailand would like to start up was born out of friendship,

common minds and common set of ideals. And said they all

hoped it will be a success.

“We cannot promise anything but hope this will be the

kick-off of a closer co-operation between the Nordic Chambers

here in Thailand.”

“Also, Iceland has requested to become an associate

member of the Nordic block here in Thailand, thus making

it possible for a true Nordic cooperation between all five

Nordic countries represented in Thailand,” he continued.

The Thai-Finnish Chamber of Commerce (TFCC) President

Mr Jari Hietala gave further details on behalf of the

Nordic Chambers and began by noting that seemed to be

We cannot promise

anything but hope this will

be the kick-off of a closer

co-operation between the

Nordic Chambers here in

Thailand.

Ambassador Satu Suikkari-Kleven

Host for the event: Danish Ambassador Uffe Wolffhechel

off to a good start: “It is very encouraging to see so many of

you participating tonight; we are 200 plus in this garden. Really

encouraging for us in the chambers! We might be on the right

track; at least there seems to be high interest at least among

members towards intensified the Nordic cooperation.”

Jari Hietala focused on to first outline the bigger picture

about Nordic countries and the Nordic Chambers of Commerce,

followed by the big picture the Nordic chambers in

Thailand’s future cooperation.

The Nordic countries rank high in all major international

classifications and ratings, when it comes to competitiveness,

innovations, digitisation etc.

“Also many Nordic companies present in Thailand are

global leaders in their particular sectors. And in Asia the

Nordic countries are also very visible; with the exception of

Iceland they have embassies and diplomatic missions in all

larger countries in Asia, as well as chambers of commerce

organisations or business councils.“

The President pointed to that the Nordic countries share

many things where the ‘Nordics’ is, especially when looking

at these countries from the Thailand perspective, an easily

understood entity.

Outlining the Nordic chamber cooperation he continued:

“In order to meet the business challenges for Nordic

companies in Thailand and to offer more benefits for the

members the Nordic chambers have decided to work

more closely together. This means that we still operate

independent bilateral chambers but combine our limited

resources in some key areas. The boards of four Nordic

chambers will govern the cooperation and we have also

welcomed Iceland to participate in the development and

according to their resources.”


The Nordic chambers

will start selling a Nordic

Partnership status

The basic aim Jari Hietala said is business-driven: to be able

to meet the competition in the market place, to offer more

benefits to members and partners, and to enjoy the logical

benefits for the Nordic cooperation.

The events programme for 2018 is not decided yet but

will be presented in the near future.

“We wanted to present to you all this Nordic cooperation

initiative tonight as we now have a good time to discuss

this plan and get to know each other a little better. You are

all most welcome to pass your ideas and suggestions to the

Nordic Executive Directors. This is the way we can build a

yearly Nordic programme for the coming years.”

At more general level the 2018 Nordic cooperation plan

include the following: Advocacy work; organise events Nordic

values, innovations and expertise promotion; offer concrete

Nordic partnership to Thai companies who want to reach

the Nordic businesses and communities in Thailand; create

an inside market with the Nordic companies with the help

of introductions through the Nordic Chamber offices and

board members; create up-to-date programme to our chambers

online platform; Nordic logo and images available to all

partners; organise a couple of key Nordic events targeted to

our Nordic communities, and to form task groups in charge

of the various collaborative parts.

Furthermore, the Nordic chambers will start selling a

Nordic Partnership status as the highest level of cooperation

with companies that want to work with the Nordics together.

These Nordic partnerships will then the right to use the

Nordic logo, images and slogans.

The Honorary Consul Mr Paul Weber The Consulate-

General of the Republic of Iceland also held a short speech,

saying: ‘I’m happy to be here and see my dream come true!

Because I tried to do what you have now succeeded in doing,

when I was the President of DTCC in the 1990s. And

I’m very glad that the very small Icelandic community has

been accepted in this community as associate of the Nordic

members. We will certainly do our best to support this very

good initiative and in the true Nordic spirit. Five together

have bigger voice than one!”


Finnish liquor and meat minister

delegation in Singapore

Business

During 10 – 12 January Finland’s

Minister of Agriculture and Forestry

Jari Leppä and a Team

Finland business delegation promoted

Finnish meat and liquor production

companies in Singapore.

Pure ingredients and production of

quality goods are the key concepts of

Finnish food and drink industry. The Finnish

companies have excellent chances to

expand their businesses to Singaporean

market, where customers are demanding

and look not only for quality but also

unique culinary experiences.

In this first ministerial level Team Finland

visit to Singapore Minister Leppä

on 11 January met the Minister of National

Development Lawrence Wong

and the Minister for Trade and Industry

S. Iswaran. Both ministers welcomed the

import of Finnish high-quality products

to the Singaporean markets and emphasized

the importance of branding.

Both meetings were held in a positive

atmosphere and the Finnish-Singaporean

cooperation in this field looks

prosperous, reports the Embassy of

Finland, Singapore.

On the same day the over ten Finnish

meat product companies, breweries and

distilleries presented their high-quality

products to potential Singaporean partners

at a Food from Finland Networking

Event. And on 12 January a tasty lunch

consisting of products of Finnish meat

companies was served at Ambassador

Paula Parviainen’s residence. Talented

Pihlaja Ahlava was the chef behind the

lunch.

Companies: Altia Oyj, Atria Finland

Ltd, HKScan Oyj, HKScan Asia Ltd,

Kyrö Distillery Company, Laitilan Wirvoitusjuomatehdas

Oy, L’Uomu Nokka /

Luomu Invest Oy, Northern Lights Spirits

Oy, Shaman Spirits Oy, Tenu Ventures

Ltd, The Helsinki Distilling Company,

Ägras Distillery Oy.

Sources: Embassy of Finland in Singapore,

Finland Ministry of Agriculture and

Forestry


Business

Singapore test trials of Volvo

autonomous electric buses

Volvo Buses and Nanyang Technological

University (NTU) in

Singapore have signed a cooperation

agreement on a research and

development program for autonomous

electric buses, part of the Land Transport

Authority of Singapore’s drive.

Singapore and its LTA are recognized

for their focus on public transport and

deployment of autonomous vehicles in

the effort to create a sustainable city

environment. Singapore has announced

that self-driving buses will be deployed

in several areas of the country by 2022.

For Volvo this will be the first autonomous

application in public transportation.

Volvo has already demonstrated

the autonomous technology in mining,

quarry and refuse collection operations.

“We are seeing fast-growing interest

in both autonomous and electric vehicles

in cities all over the world. Together

with NTU, one of the world’s leading

universities of technology, we now

have the possibility of testing various

solutions under realistic conditions in a

major city that has high ambitions for its

public transport,” said Håkan Agnevall,

President Volvo Buses.

“We consider Singapore and NTU

as excellent partners for Volvo, offering

an enabling environment and complete


ecosystem of research, development

and implementation of new solutions.

The technology developed in Singapore

can contribute to future autonomous

applications by Volvo Buses.”

The basis of the program consists

of two all-electric 12-metre Volvo 7900

Electric buses, of the same type that

Volvo Buses already delivers today. Volvo

and NTU will build the autonomous

driving solution on Volvo’s platform.

One of the autonomous electric

buses in the program will be used on

Singapore’s advanced new test facility

for autonomous vehicles, CETRAN,

which was inaugurated in November

2017. Here, NTU’s researchers will in

a fenced-off area be able to test new

functionality and study how the bus interacts

with other road-users in various

conditions.

The second bus will be used for tests

in the bus depot in partnership with the

public transport operator SMRT. The

aim is that tomorrow’s autonomous

buses should be able to charge their

batteries, drive through the depots to

the vehicle wash and park – entirely

autonomously.

“Our electric buses already make it

possible for cities to improve their air

quality and reduce noise levels. With our

system approach to electromobility we

in addition open up new ways for urban

planning. When developing autonomous

solutions for public transport we can really

leverage the Volvo Group expertise

in this rapidly developing technology

field,” Håkan Agnevall said.

The cooperative program between

Volvo Buses and NTU under way will

initially last for two years. The jointly

developed autonomous electric buses

will arrive into Singapore in the beginning

of 2019.

Mr Desmond Kuek, President and

Group Chief Executive Officer, SMRT

Corporation, said: “Our goal is to stay

future-ready by keeping abreast of latest

land transport solutions for safe,

efficient and comfortable journeys, and

adapt such urban mobility solutions to

Singapore’s unique operational setting.

This MOU paves the way for SMRT,

working with our partners, in hosting

operational trials for autonomous buses,

and the command & control system

required for operating such smart vehicles.

SMRT will leverage on decades of

experience in operating and maintaining

buses to lead the operational testing

and evaluation of autonomous buses

for their eventual safe deployment on

our roads.”

Fast-charging stations based on the

common OppCharge interface will be

supplied by ABB. The OppCharge interface

is very well suited for autonomous

charging solutions in bus depots as well

as in running traffic.

According to ABB Technological University

has estimated that electric vehicles

could make up as much as 50 per

cent of Singapore’s motor population

by 2050. ABB has long been at the forefront

of developing greener solutions

and we are proud to be helping make

this vision become a reality.

Volvo Buses is one of the world’s

leading manufacturers of electrified buses

and has thus far sold more than 3800

hybrid buses, electric hybrid buses and

all-electric buses.

Nokia collaborates with StarHub:

Singapore IoT development

Business

Nokia and StarHub plan to develop

new IoT use cases and

applications in the areas of

connected living, connected vehicles

and connected buildings, with plans to

offer commercial services to customers

the first quarter of 2018. The alliance will

enable easier and more rapid development

of IoT services and help enterprises

discover and capitalize on Smart

Nation opportunities and capabilities to

propel their business.

Nokia will support StarHub and its

partners in the development of user

cases such as for smart parking, environmental

sensors and video analytics.

Nokia will also help StarHub promote

the benefits of IoT technology through

various activities, including developer

outreach programs and participation in

IoT-related events. Nokia Bell Labs will

provide added consultancy services to

StarHub and its enterprise customers

to accelerate Singapore’s IoT market

momentum.

“A large component of Singapore’s

Smart Nation initiative involves the deployment

of IoT devices in the environment,

including in the home, along

streets and in parks, and in offices. The

granular data derived from these sensors

will allow enterprise customers to

understand and gain insights from their

customers, improving operational efficiencies

and aid in long-term planning.

We will leverage Nokia’s IoT technology

to help address urban challenges faced

by our government and commercial

customers. We also look forward to

building viable business models on this

nascent technology, “ said Dr Chong

Yoke Sin, Chief, Enterprise Business

Group at StarHub.

“We are honored to be working

with StarHub to help maximize the

gains from the vast potential of IoT. We

are committed to supporting service

providers in IoT to gain new customers

and add new revenue streams. Nokia

is at the forefront of the evolution of

IoT, and our insights will enable StarHub

to build and deploy high-value services

and business models,” said Nicolas Bouverot,

head of Asia South Market Unit

at Nokia.

Nokia Bell Labs expects that the

number of IoT connected devices is expected

to grow from 1.6 billion in 2014

to between 20 and 46 billion by 2020.

In September Nokia announced it

was expanding its Internet of Things (IoT)

services offering to help mobile operators

enter new IoT market segments or

expand their footprint geographically. In

addition, the company has complemented

its end-to-end validation and testing

services with Nokia TestHub, designed to

accelerate new technology launches, for

example in IoT and the cloud.

The Nokia IMPACT IoT platform

has been designed to seize the opportunities

our connected world will bring.

With Impact, service providers, enterprises

and governments can capture

more customers, develop new business

models, and differentiate their competitive

position in the market. Impact offers

a secure, standards based, simplified IoT

platform on which to build and scale

new IoT services.

Swedish Versasec

opened Singapore Office

Versasec, the leader in smart

card management systems, has

opened of its new Singapore office

(December 2017) serving resellers,

customers and prospects in the Asia-

Pacific region.

The new Singapore office joins the

company’s existing locations in Dubai,

the US, Germany, France, the UK and

company headquarters in Sweden. Versasec’s

new Singapore location gives

Versasec global, round-the-clock coverage

for its popular identity and access

management solutions.

“Our Asia-Pacific client and reseller

list is expanding quickly, and we wanted

to ensure they will have local representation

from Versasec,” said Joakim

Thorén, Versasec’s CEO. “Having feet

on the street in Singapore positively

impacts our ability to win new projects

and implement them throughout the

Asia-Pacific region.”

Yin Hong Lee is Versasec’s first hire

in the Singapore office, and he will

strengthen the sales and business development

team in the region. He reports

to William Houry, Versasec’s VP of Sales.

Mr. Lee is an experienced sales engineer

with in-depth knowledge of the Asia-

Pacific security and access market. He

is familiar with all aspects of smart card

technology and public key infrastructure

(PKI) and has implemented many twofactor

identification projects during his

career.

Versasec is the leading provider of

state-of-the-art, highly secure identity

and access management solutions. With

its flagship product, vSEC:CMS, Versasec

eases the deployment of physical and

virtual smart cards for enterprises of

any size. Versasec’s solutions enable its

customers to securely authenticate, issue

and manage user credentials more

cost effectively than other solutions on

the market.

Versasec maintains its mission of providing

solutions that are affordable and

easy to integrate, coupled with first-class

support, maintenance, and training.


Business

AstraZeneca joins with Chinese

investment fund to develop new

medicines

AstraZeneca has announced a

strategic joint venture with the

Chinese Future Industry Investment

Fund (FIIF) to form an equallyowned,

stand-alone company in China

to discover, develop and commercialise

potential new medicines to help meet

unmet needs globally, and to bring innovative

new medicines to patients

in China faster. FIIF is managed by the

SDIC Fund Management Company

(SDIC Fund), a private equity management

company.

The new company, Dizal Pharmaceutical,

incorporates all scientific and

technical capabilities of AstraZeneca’s

Innovation Center China (ICC), and

holds exclusive rights to develop and

commercialise three potential medicines

currently in pre-clinical development

from AstraZeneca’s pipeline in

its main therapy areas of oncology,

cardiovascular and metabolic diseases,

and respiratory. It is also expected to

initiate novel clinical programmes.

Dr. Xiaolin Zhang, previously Head

of AstraZeneca’s ICC, has been named

as Chief Executive Officer of the new

company. All staff employed by the

ICC have been invited to join the new

company.

“AstraZeneca has a long-standing

and strong commitment to China,

which we are reinforcing today with

this ground-breaking joint venture. By

joining forces with the FIIF, we aim

to accelerate the local discovery and

development of innovative, affordable

medicines for patients in China and


around the world,” said AstraZeneca

CEO, Mr Pascal Soriot.

“FIIF is delighted to be collaborating

with AstraZeneca to promote the development

of innovative medicines. AstraZeneca’s

Innovation Center China

has an excellent track record of drug

discovery, and the synergy created by

combining AstraZeneca’s scientific talent

and assets with FIIF’s China expertise

and funding will help further promote

innovation in medical science,”

said Guohua Gao, Chairman of SDIC

Fund.

The remit of the FIIF in the pharmaceutical

industry is to promote the

development and manufacturing of

innovative medicines in China through

strategic partnerships. The joint venture

also strengthens AstraZeneca’s commitment

to enhancing China’s research

and development capabilities through

diversified external partnerships that

deliver value to patients in China.

SDIC Fund is an independent private

equity fund manager that was

established in August 2009. It currently

advises and manages more than RMB

60 billion of capital. The Future Industry

Investment Fund is one of the funds

managed by SDIC Fund. The limited

partners of SDIC Fund include a wide

range of institutional investors across

China. The core strategy of SDIC Fund

is to invest in market leading companies

with attractive growth prospects

and outstanding management teams.

In partnership with the portfolio companies

and their management teams, it

aims to contribute strategically and add

business value to the companies. SDIC

Fund’s primary focus in China includes

healthcare, advanced manufacturing,

TMT and environmental protection.

AstraZeneca has been present in

China since 1993. The global, scienceled

biopharmaceutical company develop

long-term partnerships with

Government, academia and local scientists

across research and development

(R&D) and manufacturing.

AstraZeneca has end-to-end R&D

capabilities in China, from discovery

to clinical development and manufacturing

of innovative medicines and

employs 11,000 people throughout

the country.

Business

Nordics-China start-up accelerator

program, fund

Chinese business accelerator

COMB+ and the Beijing Institute

of Collaborative Innovation

(BICI) have announced (in connection

to Slush 2017 in Finland) the creation of

a new Artificial Intelligence Fund with a

target size of €65 million. The fund will

focus on international technology startups

entering the Chinese market.

The fund is part of the Comb+ Sino

Track accelerator program, which was

launched a year ago. Already 19 Nordic

start-ups have participated in the program,

which is now expanding globally.

The pitching competition at the

event included 10 finalists - jury selected

children’s franchise Dibidogs as the winner,

opening a shortcut to the Sino Track

program.

“We are very happy to announce

our new fund with the Beijing Institute of

Collaborative Innovation as part of the

Sino Track program,” said Leo Zhu, CEO

of Comb+. “We see Helsinki, Beijing’s

sister city, as the best place in the world

to launch our fund.”

Their CEO said that by opening the

Sino Track program to all exceptional

technology and cultural start-ups aspiring

to enter the Chinese market, their

ambition is global.

The Comb+ Sino Track accelerator

program has previously included Finland’s

Flexound, an acoustic tech startup,

which has since opened sales channels

in China through a partnership with

electronics retailer GOME.

“China is the number one country

for Flexound,” said CEO Mervi Heinaro.

“Besides the great market potential,

we also appreciate the speed at which

things get done. In our minds, China is

the best place to go global.”

The Sino Track program connected

the Finnish company with over 20 relevant

Chinese investors and institutions,

including major media company Xinhuanet,

and GOME, which operate over

2000 retail and online stores. Through

the introductions, Flexound managed

to open a sales channel in China in only

three weeks.

Meanwhile, Finnish investment firm

Pivot5 launched the first business accelerator

between the Nordics and

China, the ‘Nordics-China Innovation

and Start-up Acceleration program’ -

also run in cooperation with Beijingbased

business incubator COMB+. This

accelerator aims to help start-ups based

in the Nordics establish and grow their

presence in China.

Comb+ (owned by SkyOcean, a publicly

listed company on the Hong Kong

Stock Exchange) is a full-lifecycle entrepreneurship

service platform based in

Beijing, China. It is dedicated to creating

an ecosystem for global entrepreneurs

and start-ups to realize their dreams. As

a new-generation innovation incubator,

it has a unique “platform + investment”

business model. Comb+ focuses on providing

entrepreneurship services to and

investing in early-stage start-ups in the

technology and cultural industries.

It has two campuses, with room for

hundreds of companies, as well as an

established investor network.


Community

Lisa Boldt-Christmas:

Goodbye,

Hong Kong

Lisa Boldt-Christmas, her husband Martin and their three daughters

Ella, Selma and Saga are planning to move back to Sweden this

coming summer - twelve years after the family arrived Hong

Kong. Lisa is currently the chairperson of the Swedish School and

currently runs six after school classes in three locations.

By Colin Rampton.

From the blonde hair and good looks, you might

suspect that Lisa Boldt-Christmas is Swedish, or

at least North European, but when she is speaking

you could mistake her for being British. Her

unaccented spoken English is impeccable. It did

not come as a surprise to discover that Lisa can also speak

French and German as well as her native Swedish.

We met recently at the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club

adjacent to the famous ‘Noon-Day Gun’ (which incidentally

is surprisingly loud!). The Chart Room is an oasis of peace

and tranquility, close to Causeway Bay Shopping District –

one of the busiest in the territory.

Lisa is a vibrant, articulate lady with an engaging personality

and a ready smile. I formed the impression that she is

very competent, and clearly a person who gets things done.

A Gothenburg native

Lisa was born and raised in Sweden’s famous second city.

After completing her Upper Secondary schooling and

undertaking a period of French study in Toulouse, she

enrolled at Gothenburg University. At the University she

completed a Business Degree. She studied for part of her

course in Nice where she further developed her French

skills.

Lisa loves the west coast of Sweden and the family maintain

a summer house on the island of Koster. Lisa is at her

happiest when living near the sea.

Lisa met her future husband Martin in Gothenburg.

After graduation, the young couple went their separate

ways but later reunited in London and married in 2006.

Lisa admits to suffering initially from culture shock in the


Hong Kong is very

convenient, you have

all the ingredients

of a big city but on a

relatively small scale.

It is also a very safe

place and I love the

beautiful hiking trails

Lisa Boldt-Christmas with a great view of the city from one of

her favorite hiking trails.

British capital, but she soon adjusted and for six years

she lived, worked in and grew to love London. Lisa was

employed in an innovation management consultancy

company. At the time Martin worked in banking and the

offer of a short contract in Hong Kong seemed too good

an offer to refuse.

Coming to Hong Kong.

After six years of London life, Lisa and Martin were ready

to leave and in 2006, the young Swedish couple arrived in

Hong Kong, for what they thought would be a one year

posting. As seasoned city expatriates, it did not take them

long to settle. Conveniently they already had some friends

living in the territory, who were able to help with the adjustment.

Lisa also sought support from the local Swedish community.

The Swedish Chamber of Commerce (SwedCham)

invited them to social events aimed at young professionals,

and they soon established a network of local friends. There

was no question of not extending their stay. Eleven years

and three children later they are still here, although as you

will see, Sweden has begun to beckon.

Hong Kong Life

Lisa and her family live on Hong Kong Island close to the

vibrant and bustling center of the territory. She has many

good things to say about her current home.

“It’s very convenient here, you have all the ingredients of

a big city but on a relatively small scale. It is also a very safe

place and I love the beautiful hiking trails”

Of course she has some reservations about living in such

a densely populated area. The air pollution, while not getting

any worse, is a continuing source of concern.

Lisa does not miss the cold Swedish winters and she

enjoys the warm Hong Kong climate. She was surprised at

some of the weather extremes however, recalling a time not

long after she arrived when it rained incessantly for weeks

and the view of Kowloon across the harbor was obscured:

“It was like living in a white-out, and I thought the rain would

never stop.”

The couple’s daughters were born in Hong Kong. They

are ten year old twins Ella and Selma and their eight year

old sister Saga. The girls happily attend one of the English

Schools Foundation (ESF) International Primary Schools on

Hong Kong Island. It is a ten minute drive from the family

home at Jardine’s Lookout. On Thursdays after school they

study their home language at the Swedish School.

Lisa fondly recollects the excellent care she received at

one of the territory’s private hospitals when the girls were

born. She expressed concern that maternity units in Sweden

are currently stretched and underfunded.

Final year in Hong Kong

Coinciding with the end of the school year in June 2018, the

Boldt-Christmas family has made the decision to return to


Lisa Boldt-Christmas in a

selfie trying to prove wrong

the misconception that Hong

Kong is all about sky scrapers

and bustling city life.

Sweden to live in Stockholm. This is timely for the twins -

they will be leaving their Primary school and would have to

change schools anyway. Although Lisa speaks of Hong Kong

with affection, she and Martin want the girls to have solid

Swedish roots. Thus, circumstances will soon change for the

family, but Lisa and Martin have not ruled out another move

abroad at some stage in the future.

The Swedish School

We went on to discuss the provision for children to develop

Swedish and learn about Sweden’s history and culture. Lisa

is currently the chairperson of the Swedish School, which

was founded in 1984 and currently runs six after school

classes in three locations. Lisa heads a committee of volunteers

and she oversees practicalities such as the hiring of

teachers and assistants, rental agreements, collecting fees

and compiling development reports. The Swedish Government

provides the School with a grant towards its costs.

Although numbers of children attending did drop a few

years ago, they have recovered and now stand at a healthy

fifty-six. Each attending child must have at least one parent

who is a Swedish National. The parents are very supportive


The Swedish School takes up a fair amount of

my time but it has been a rewarding couple of

years. I have seen the number of students grow

and we have opened at a new location. When

I leave as chair later this year, I know that the

organization is in a good and stable place and

that my successor will work to further improve

the quality of the education we provide.

of the School’s aims and objectives and are happy that their

children have the opportunity to develop their Swedish

skills. Lisa summed up her commitment to the school:

”The Swedish School takes up a fair amount of my time

but it has been a rewarding couple of years. I have seen the

number of students grow and we have opened at a new

location. When I leave as chair later this year, I know that

the organization is in a good and stable place and that my

successor will work to further improve the quality of the

education we provide.”

Lisa is also a member of the Swedish Women’s Educational

Association (SWEA), a worldwide organization with

a very active Hong Kong branch. The SWEA maintains a

valued connection to the Swedish School.

An Environmental Campaigner

Recently Lisa has become an active member of the Sustainability

Committee of SwedCham. After watching the very

moving documentary “A Plastic Ocean”, Lisa has been made

fully aware of the devastating impact of plastic in our oceans.

Sweden is a leading nation in recycling and most Swedes

have a recycling mindset. Although recent local strides have

been made, there is still a lot more to do in Hong Kong.

Many other Asian countries lag even further behind.

Lisa is passionate about this issue and the Sustainability

Committee hopes, through education and facilitation,

to make people aware of the need to preserve our ever

dwindling resources. Lisa’s family are avid and practical supporters

of the issue. They have minimized the use plastic in

their home and embraced composting.

Lisa is clearly a busy woman. Balancing an active family

life with her community activities and the two businesses

that she runs from home (the distribution of Air Purifiers

and ‘Art on Perspex’). Often there are not enough hours in

the day for her but Lisa prefers it like that. When she leaves

Hong Kong next year she will certainly miss the territory

and in return she will be sorely missed.

Lisa Boldt-Christmas is a lady who gets things done and

her future projects are sure to be successful. Hong Kong’s

loss will surely be Stockholm’s gain.

For information about the Swedish School in Hong Kong

go to www.svenskaskolan.hk


Community

Sweden/EU arranged ‘A Plastic

Ocean’ Singapore screenings

Embassy of Sweden together with

EU Delegation, Embassy of Belgium

and SwedCham arranged

two sold out screening in Singapore of

the film ‘A Plastic Ocean’ on 3 and 8

February.

The thought-provoking film was followed

by an insightful panel discussion

moderated by Ashwin Subramanian

from Gone Adventurin, and the panellists

were Ms Hailin Pek, ZeroWaste SG,

Mr Philip Hermans, General Manager

DEME, Mr Armin van Overbeek, Sales

Director Asia Pacific, Billerudkorsnas.

‘A Plastic Ocean’ begins when journalist

Craig Leeson, searching for the elusive

blue whale, discovers plastic waste

in what should be a pristine ocean.

The screenings aimed at highlighting

the alarming consequences of plastic

pollution in our oceans and stimulate

discussion on how to mitigate plastic

waste.

Take on the challenge and reduce

the use of plastic! #saynotoplastic

Source: Embassy of Sweden in Singapore

Swea Professional

launched in Bangkok

The Swedish Women Abroad’s

Bangkok chapter has launched

SWEA Professional. This was announced

with a kick-off event on 15

November.

Swea then met at Hotel Pullman

Grande Sukhumvit and after a nice networking,

including a presentation by

Swea and Swea Professional they divided

the attendants into smaller groups to

brainstorm: “How should Swea Professional

take form? What questions are of

importance? Which type of events and

seminars are we interested in? There

were many answers, and creative suggestions

and and we now have a clear

picture of what the members want out

of this. The evening was very successful,

attracting long-time members as well as

new ones,” stated Swea Bangkok.

Those interested can stay informed

via ScandAsia’s calendar of events as well

as via Swea’s activities news distribution.

Come January Swea Professional will

host a seminar with AnnaKarin Norling

from Sida/Swedish Embassy in Bangkok.

Source: Swea


Community

Kim Højlund

Christensen

Denmark’s next

ambassador to

Vietnam

H.E. Ambassador Charlotte Laursen is leaving

this Embassy of Denmark in Hanoi, come

March 2018, to become the Danish ambassador

in Finland.

To replace ambassador Laursen Denmark’s Ministry

of Foreign Affairs has appointed Kim Højlund Christensen

(currently in the Danish Ambassador in Brazil)

as Denmark’s next Ambassador to Vietnam.

Ambassador Laursen will move to become Denmark’s

new Ambassador in Helsinki, Finland.


Community

Pirkka Tapiola new EU Ambassador

to Thailand

and is the father of three children.

“Thailand is truly a wonderful country

and I am very glad to be back here.

I am definitely not a stranger to your

country, having previously served here

between 1998 and 2001,” Ambassador

Tapiola said.

“The EU and Thailand have had a

close and strong relationship over thirty

years, but it can, and definitely needs

to be closer. Thailand plays an important

strategic role in ASEAN, Southeast

Asia and Asia as a whole. I am looking

forward to strengthening EU-Thailand

relationship in all aspects including political

partnership, trade, cooperation,

environment, climate change, democracy,

good governance, human right and

cultural diplomacy as well as working on

regional cooperation to address global

challenges,”

“My wife Olga and I look forward to

discovering more aspects of our new

home in the country, Thailand,” he added.

Source: European Union Delegation in

Thailand

The Finnish diplomat H.E. Mr Pirkka

Tapiola is back in Thailand, this

time as the Ambassador of the

European Union! The Ambassador arrived

in Thailand in September of 2017

and formally assumed his duties on 10

December 2017.

Prior to taking up his current posting

as EU Ambassador to Thailand, Ambassador

Tapiola headed the European

Union Delegation to the Republic of

Moldova in 2013-2017. A career diplomat,

Ambassador Tapiola holds a Master’s

Degree in International Relations

from the University of Helsinki. He

speaks Finnish, English, French, German,

Russian, Ukrainian, Swedish and some

Romanian and he is currently working

on improving his Thai, writes the EU

delegation in Thailand.

Ambassador Tapiola has extensive

experience from several regions in the


world. He began his career with the Organisation

for Security and Cooperation

in Europe (OSCE) in the Baltic States

and subsequently worked with the Ministry

for Foreign Affairs of Finland.

The Ambassador previously served

as Deputy Head of Mission of the Embassy

of Finland in Bangkok with crossaccreditations

to Myanmar, Cambodia

and the Lao PDR from 1998 to 2001.

He subsequently served as Deputy

Head of Mission in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Within European Union diplomacy,

Ambassador Tapiola previous positions

include Senior Adviser on Eastern Europe

in the Strategic Planning Division

of the European External Action Service

(EEAS), and Senior Adviser to the then

EU High Representative for Common

Foreign and Security Policy, Dr Javier

Solana.

He is married to Mrs Olga Tapiola

Community

Swedcham Hong Kong’s challenge: Say

No to Plastic Waste

No to Plastic Waste’ is the

2018 New Year´s Resolution

‘Say

from the Swedish Chamber of

Commerce in Hong Kong!

“The world produces more than 300

million tons of plastic every year, including

billions of plastic bottles and five

billion plastic bags. In Hong Kong alone,

we throw away approximately 200 tons

of plastic bottles every day! Since plastic

does not decompose, and is for the

most part not recycled, it needs to go

somewhere. Sadly, huge amounts of

plastic end up littering our landscape

and our oceans. Natural beauty is being

ruined, plastic is entering our own food

chain, and entire ecosystems are threatened,”

writes SwedCham Hong Kong.

SwedCham is through its Sustainability

Committee shining a light on this

issue. They have screened the awardwinning

movie Plastic Ocean, and are

working with stakeholders, ranging from

government to NGO’s, to support the

development of an action plan for Hong

Kong.

The Swedish business organisation is

challenging its members to make resolution

on this matter for 2018. Those

respond in the affirmative to the following

statement, are by default ready to

accept the challenge: Starting in 2018,

those members will not offer water

or other beverages in disposable plastic

bottles or cups in our Hong Kong

workplace.

Participating companies in the ‘Say

No to Plastic Waste’ challenge will be

listed on the SwedCham website and in

SwedCham publications.

Although SwedCham are expecting

government and producers of plastic

products to step up and shoulder their

responsibility, they firmly believe that all

of us, as consumers, need to help with

reducing plastic waste at source. That is

why SwedCham is reaching out to its

members with the challenge.

We are hopeful that a high participation

rate among SwedCham members

can lead to other chambers of

commerce and business organization

in Hong Kong accepting the challenge

as well!


Penang theme: Invest In Penang

Penang:

Live, play, work

The increasingly successful industrial hub and growing tourism

destination of Penang owes everything to its unique history that

goes back many centuries. Today this forms the base for embracing

digitisation and making Penang one of the most liveable cities in

the world.

By Joakim Persson

When flying in over Penang and after landing

at its airport it becomes clear that

this island has a lot of industries. When

driving towards George Town, passing

by the industrial zones covering large

area it also gets very visible what kind of industries - names

like Broadcom, Bosch and Western Digital appear along the

road. For those not familiar with Penang it is well known as

an Electrical and Electronics hub, playing a big part in that

Malaysia is now the world’s seventh largest E&E exporter.

But Penang is equally known for its history going back

many centuries (even more so after George Town obtained

Unesco heritage site status some ten years ago) and that has

formed the unique foundation for today’s Penang. The island

became a western trading outpost in the late 1700s but even

earlier it was a centre for trade.


People are very

important; we want to

attract the best to come

and live and work in

Penang

Dato’ Seri Lee Kah Choon, Invest In Penang Director

Invest In Penang, the Penang State Government’s investment

promotion agency, situated in Bayan Lepas industrial

zone points out this history. “The British, when moving

further east from India, found it to be a very good place for

doing business and trade because of the Asean countries and

China doing a lot of trading here,” Dato’ Seri Lee Kah Choon,

Special Investment Advisor to the Chief Minister of Penang

and Invest In Penang Director, tells ScandAsia.

“The British came and brought in the Indians, started off

with plantations and then discovered tin and the Chinese

workers came down and started mining.”

The positioning of the island state promoted today is

similar, and, as described by the Director, ideal for European

companies as a gateway to Asia: “Whether you like it or not,

China is the biggest market in Asia. And they find that by

moving some of their operations to the ASEAN market and

closer to Chinese, they can benefit from a lot of cost advantages.

But to move directly into China is a cultural shock and

very difficult. Some who went directly previously had a bad

experience, whereas here, because of our history, the system

and the thinking are strongly internationalised. Our legislation

and the way things are done in Malaysia are very much

aligned with the western world, so much so that they come

here to do production and export to China - which we have

a free trade agreement with.”

“The British’s former Straits colony also left behind good

English education and a big pool of human talent. The Japanese

and Americans found this pool to be valuable for their

manufacturing and started up here.”

Penang slowly went into manufacturing for import substitution,

growing into the dominant world player it is today. In

numbers this translates into its manufacturing pillar contributing

towards 45 per cent of GDP of Penang state - which

achieved GDP growth of 5.6% in 2016, outperforming the

national GDP of 4.2%.

“Over time the pool of talent could sustain development

and today, based on the E&E, we have developed other

production as well; mainly solar, LED and medical devices,”

continues Dato’ Seri Lee Kah Choon.

“We have a pool of experienced engineers who have

been working with multinationals all these years and have

picked up a lot of experience throughout their careers.”

“Some companies are doing nothing except R&D today

and the commercialization of R&D to their products.”

One trend is that manufacturers have decided to move

into consolidation of their services with backroom services.

Tapping into this Penang will open a high-end Global Business

Services (GBS) complex by 2020.

For instance, Intel and Dell now have GBS operations in

Penang. GBS that started only five years ago already employs

10 000 people, which is just beginning, according Invest In

Penang. Also non-manufacturing are on board this, such as

Citigroup and AirAsia.

In 2016 Penang recorded the second largest investments

in Malaysia for GBS or ‘Principal Hub’ with an investment

value of RM4.1 billion, after Kuala Lumpur.

Manufacturing of Industrialized Building System (IBS) is

another niche where Malaysian Industrial Development Authority’s

(MIDA) targets to attract 100 such companies to the

country by 2020. Interestingly, there is a large new Swedish

company investment of RM 100 million into this, in Penang

Science Park. Scandinavian IBS (SIBS) is establishing a facility

to manufacture pre-casted apartment units for the Swedish

and European market.


The Sarkies brothers, world-renowned The Eastern & Oriental Hotel

The other main pillar is the service sector, where one

finds a sizable chunk of logistics thanks to air freight,

all the cargo transports to and from the island and

businesses like Broadcom making Penang their logistical hub.

This pillar also includes the other main reason for visiting

Penang, namely for culture/heritage and holiday stays and to

a growing extent for medical tourism. George Town/Penang

has made its significant mark in history also for international

travel and the emergence of hospitality, much thanks to

the legendary Sarkies brothers behind the equally worldrenowned

The Eastern & Oriental Hotel and sister property

Raffles Hotel. At the dawn of tourism to the far east E&O

opened its doors in 1885 to welcome the international elite

(including famous actors and writers today adoring the hotel’s

walls), setting the benchmark for upscale travel and being

at the centre as the island’s number one social gathering place

ever since.

Today, tourism is one of the major revenue sources,

second only to manufacturing. More recently tourism got a

big injection in 2008 when George Town was by UNESCO

as Heritage Site. “This has helped the tourism in Penang by


The way things are done

in Malaysia are very

much aligned with the

western world

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng with Erik Thomaeus,

Managing Director of SIBS AB

bringing in a total amount of 7.3 million tourist based on hotel

sources and has enabled Penang to attract enthusiastic travellers

around the world by giving them a new option of destination

to visit,” a representative for G Hotels tells ScandAsia

Office space occupancy is another key indicator – where

Penang has the highest occupancy in Malaysia. The demand

for office space, especially MSC status buildings (for ICT and

ICT-facilitated businesses), is increasing in Penang as it continues

to attract more investments and business expansion.

The objectives for Invest In Penang are to sustain and

rejuvenate Penang’s economy by enhancing and continuously

injecting business activities in the State through the promotion

of foreign and local investments including the spawning

of viable new growth centres.

As a one-stop agency they, absolutely free or charge, assist

those who want to set up production or a business in the

state. The agency provides comprehensive information on

Penang’s investment opportunities and facilitates the running

of a business at every stage including the setting up of a new

investment.

“Penang is a state without natural resources. But what we

have is human resources, so we want to reach out to the international

investment community to share with them the vision

about the plans to make Penang one of the most liveable

cities in the world. We want to make Penang a Live, Work and

Play destination for people. People are very important; we

want to attract the best to come and live and work in Penang.

The government side prepares the environment for business

to flourish, for people to live a comfortable life - that is our

vision,” is Dato’ Seri Lee Kah Choon’s take on how Penang

wants to be attractive.

He points to that the environment and surroundings are

conducive for living; people can find a good job and work for

big companies who in turn can find the right talent. Play is

about the wealth of recreational opportunities and access to

quality medical services and education in the form of international

schools.

“In terms of liveability Penang is one of the best in Asia as

well as in the world,” he points out. “There are many things

we still need to do but are happy to be here we are today.”


Penang theme: Nordic businesses

The Nordics in Penang:

business solutions, brands,

production and design

As Penang develops and its economy keeps on growing, Nordic business

solutions and brands can meet certain needs, use it for production and

cater to consumer demand (such as in the example of H&M and Ikea).

By Joakim Persson

Upcoming Ikea store, part of integrated shopping centre within

Aspen Vision City

Volvo Retail Experience: Scandinavian ‘living room’

Monitor ERP System Southeast Asia, office

Most of the Monitor ERP System team in Penang

The presence in the State of Penang of brands and

businesses from the Nordics is being significantly

strengthened. Not so much within electrical

and electronics (E&E), which have dominated

Penang’s manufacturing hub, but within automation

(now in focus), paired with the expanding GBS and

other digital solutions. The depth of the businesses present

and new opportunities for investors and entrepreneurs are

growing. Penang now also supports to build up the local

eco-system for start-ups, which ought to catch the Nordics’

attention.

One quote from Chief Minister of Penang, Lim Guan Eng

is a strong indicator for the changes already set in motion:

“The new ABCs of the business world in the digital era today

are Industry 4.0-centred applications in Artificial Intelligence,

Big Data Analytics, Cloud Computing and robotics.


The speed of sales we have now points

to that within two years we will have a

vast number of new customers!

Some Nordic companies have been around for a long

time already, while there are also newcomers. But

where the Nordics are really making a visible, wider

mark is through a few well-known consumer brands: Volvo

Cars and the upcoming Ikea store.

To give a boost to Scandinavian design, and certainly setting

the scene for Ikea, Volvo Cars now have two showrooms,

where the Volvo Retail Experience at the mainland-based

dealer is conceptualised as a Scandinavian ‘living room’.

An IKEA store, situated in Batu Kawan, is set to open in

early 2019 as a significant magnet, part of the new integrated

shopping centre within Aspen Vision City.

“Attracting IKEA to our state has long been a key part

of our plan to make Penang’s mainland a sustainable, urban

destination where people live, learn, work and play,” said the

Chief Minister at the ground breaking ceremony.

“Penang’s great vision for infrastructure and business climate

makes this a very attractive place for us to be a part of,

and we know that we have to do our part to make the vision

become a reality,” said Christian Rojkjaer, Managing Director,

IKEA Southeast Asia.

The promotion of Swedish style and culture will be a

strong part of it, including a free playground for kids called

‘Småland’ and a Swedish Bistro & Food Market.

Other Swedish companies with presence are Monitor

ERP System SEA, Nolek (leak testing) and Nolato EMC Production

Center.

Monitor is a fast-growing company with its own proprietary

ERP system for manufacturing that has chosen Penang

as its base, currently with four Swedes in their team.

In Penang alone, their customer base is huge. “For us it’s

an infinite number of manufacturers in Penang; thousands, if

including the mainland side. But it’s small enough to be able

to find ways in and open doors,” says Managing Director

Daniel Häggmark.

A significant door-opener is their deepened contact with

FMM (Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers) thanks to several

events they held together.

Monitor is there as business process management software

supplier, as Penang aims to play a leading role in Malaysia’s

Industry 4.0 transformation. One indicator is that

Malaysia only has 33 automated robots for every 10,000

manufacturing workers. Singapore has 398, in comparison.

Daniel says that they have more than they can cope with

in Malaysia alone, but since they are targeting also the region

they continue to recruit locally, to meet the increasing demand.

“Especially we hire consultants because it takes at least

a year to become independent and self-going. And the speed

of sales we have now points to that within two years we will

have a vast number of new customers!”

“It is easy to find people with right qualifications,” thinks

the Swede. “We have not recruited from outside so far.”

Monitor’s first customers in Malaysia were there. And as

they got more and more customers in Penang they remained.

“If one should live and work in Southeast Asia I find Penang

optimal,” says Daniel.

Nolato, based in Penang Science Park opened their new

factory there in June 2014, producing mobile phone components

and medical devices.

One of the key reasons for this facility General Manager

Allen Tan says is to serve and grow their clients in SEA. “Another

is the local talent; people who have the right mix of

different cultures and diverse experience (personal or working)

- which I call unique. I used to work in Nolato China for

six years in the same role, so I clearly see the difference in that

talents here have a better position in meeting international

standards. Besides, with people well versed in languages also

helps a lot in the communicating with our colleagues in different

countries, especially China for smooth technology and

project transfer.”

Instead of full automation which Allen says is not realistic

due to the nature of the business Nolato has applied a strong

Lean concept in the production. “This allows us to be efficient

and continuously keep our total direct head count low. A very

clear result is that with 80 people compared to the previous

100 sales turn-over has increased two-fold. Getting everyone

to adhere to the lean/no waste concept is the biggest challenge

with the locals’ mind-set. Therefore, we are going to

implement a reward program to encourage and motivate

our people to consistently improve. I know many companies

who prefer adding more people as the easiest solution to

solve any constraints. For us, that would be the last option.”


Päivi Suutari, GM for Huhtamaki

Foodservice SEA

Huhtamaki paper cup

Moving on to Denmark Ambu (medical sector), Barkath

Co-Ro, Linak Actuatos and Scan Global Logistics

are present. Danish jewellery brand House of

Amber has also opened up their first retail store in Southeast

Asia on the island.

From Finland, Polar Electro Malaysia produces their sports

training computers (particularly known for developing the

world’s first wireless heart rate monitor) there, while Lexi

Solutions and Huhtamaki (a global specialist in packaging

for food and drink) are relative newcomers. Lexi is a cloud

ware company that provide solutions-driven improvement

programs.

Huhtamaki expanded its foodservice manufacturing

footprint to Southeast Asia and significantly strengthened

its presence and capability to serve customers in Malaysia,

Singapore and other regional Southeast Asian markets when

it in 2015 acquired a Penang-based, privately owned paper

cup and foodservice packaging manufacturer.

“The factory has been there for a long time already and is

the leading producer of paper cups and plates in Malaysia. We

do have local competitors as well, while Huhtamaki generally

is growing either by establishing green field factories, or

through acquisition,” comments Päivi Suutari, GM for Huhtamaki

Foodservice SEA.

“Quick service restaurants the likes KFC and Burger King

are our customers, while the end consumers may not know

about Huhtamaki at all,” she explains the product’s use.

“Our aim is actually to expand in this area, so we are

looking beyond our current product offering to products like

bags. We are already exporting to neighbouring countries

and we’ll continue to heavily invest in the plant to grow. Also,

we have invested in modern machinery with much higher

output and efficiency.”

“In Penang we have also recruited some new office staff

and I’m very happy to see there is highly skilled, competent

labour to recruit, within areas like sourcing, HR or quality

and safety management. It has been beneficial for us that the

area has high-tech electronic industries in place. We have

recruited people who have also earlier worked for global

companies as it is easier for them to adapt to the Huhtamaki

culture and way to operate and manage people and operations,”

says Päivi who spends a lot of time on site.


Spinfy’s team

Penang’s great vision

for infrastructure

and business climate

makes this a very

attractive place for us

to be a part of

Spinfy Finnish start-up

The last company highlighted is also Finnish and one

that reflects how the business on the islands is widening,

with start-ups becoming part of the mix: Spinfy

is about to launch their very own kindergarten concept to

reach customers and build a market.

Its owner chose Penang simply because he liked it. “Attitude,

lifestyle… everything seemed to fit perfectly for Finnish

attitude,” thinks Petri Karjalainen, plus that he wants to be

close what he, as many others, consider to be the best street

food in the world. And he doesn’t mind the beaches either.

“Education for e-learning market is growing rapidly around

the world but where it grows the fastest is in Southeast Asia.”

As the basis for its business Spinfy produce e-learning

solutions mostly for early education, e.g. kindergarten and

pre-school age. “We’ve been working together with the best

early learning educators, the University of Helsinki in Finland

and good brands like Moomin. Kids play the game during

pre-designed lessons, and happen to learn a language at the

same time.”

The start-up has rolled out an English language learning

game for 3-year old children, today in use by all major kindergarten

operators in Finland.

One practical reason for moving to Malaysia is the vast

number of man-hours involved in doing the animations.

“Here we can do it with a lower production cost. At the same

time we can adapt to the local market better and consider

cultural aspects.”

However, Spinfy has also come across two challenges in

selling their solutions to local learning institutes in Asia: Those

who really need the solution can’t afford it while those who

can do not believe that something made in Finland could

match or even be better than something from the native

English-speaking countries.

The solution for Spinfy is to become a competitor. After

some trials during 2017 with a Finnish teacher on site in Penang

they are in 2018 launching their very own kindergarten

brand that will include their custom-made e-learning method.

“We don’t need to do any other product development

than the games; the whole Finnish day care concept has been

developed since 60 years back in Finland.”


Penang theme: Heritage and lifestyle

Where cultures blend

keeps evolving

Text and photos: Joakim Persson

The first noteworthy thing when arriving for the

latest visit to Penang was to find only one plane

parked at the gates at the airport – nearly unheard

of these days at any airport of this size! But,

visitor numbers, based on the island’s expanding

sectors, are all set to grow (with nine more hotels to open in

2019 and the island state staking drawing in more meetings).

And Scandinavia welcomes! Inside the terminal huge ad

display promotes the upcoming Ikea store. To think back on

when Nordic people first set foot on the island we have

to go way back in time. A few years ago ScandAsia actually

investigated when the first Swede had set foot on Malaysian

soil. A book about the Dutch East India Company, (VOC) reveals

astonishing information that some 15 000 Scandinavians

went to Asia during the period 1633 – 1687 on board Dutch

ships alone. Many more travelled with the Danish East India

Company and on other ships.

Penang (Pulau Pinang) island, situated at the northern entry

point to the Straits of Malacca was for instance a natural

harbour during the monsoon months for Danish and Dutch

ships so many, for certain, came on shore there.


Then, in the early 1800’s other travellers stepped ashore.

Among other nationalities Indians, Hokkien Chinese and

Portuguese, along with George Town being part of the British

Straits Settlements (1826 – 1957), came to play important

roles for Penang remaining a meeting point of East and West

today.

How life conditions were way back in time one can get insights

about through various books about Penang’s early days,

as well as at the Penang State Museum, offering an insightful

introduction to Penang’s culture and social history. The first

recommendation is for also books where the Areca store and

café is your go-to place for interesting books on local history

and culture. And add to that, the shop at the Eastern & Oriental

is also a must for their unique books and great selection

(in addition to excellent souvenirs, clothes and other textiles!

In this theme we just give enticing hints and observations

about it all, and to not overwhelm you. Let your love affair

with Penang begin; an exotic mélange of the old and the

new, a bustling port, a heritage city and an industrial base!

And while enjoying Penang’s rich amalgamation it becomes

Shared bikes

and living heritage

evident that it is the various flavours from Penang’s long history

that have paved the way for the island’s rather unique

characteristics and fundamentals.

Actually several trips are required to get to grips with the

island. One can come here time and again and still find great

discoveries. Its multi-faceted cultural blend is manifested in

many ways (food, languages, churches) – where both rainforest

and thousands of manufacturers share the island’s surface.

To get into town or over to beaches one can take the

airport bus for close to nothing. Otherwise using the app and

booking Grab taxi is also affordable.

When it is time to venture outside the Link bike sharing

system is a welcoming addition that one can sign up for via an

app or a website at a cost of RM 1 per hour only! One should

be aware that the heat gets pretty unbearable during the day.

Pedestrians can use the five foot ways to some extent (one

of the distinct, local features). But it gives more freedom than

being stuck in the island’s ubiquitous traffic jams.

Or take a Thrishaw ride (tricycle pedicab; an endangered

means of transportation from yesteryear) touring the heritage

sites of downtown George Town.

Those who like photography have come to the right place:

any seemingly dull backstreet may hide some gems waiting

for one to discover, such as history-filled old buildings with

distinctive architectural features, and ornamented Chinese or

Indian temples.

Of course one can feel surrounded by tourists, but it does

not take much of an effort to get beyond the well-trodden

paths now heavily promoted and frequented by visitors. Getting

lost in Penang – is a good thing to do! You might stumble

across amazing architectural discoveries etc. Especially at dusk

and during the night, when the white-washed colonial buildings,

churches etc are illuminated, is a different experience

altogether.

One trend is to tour the town’s street art that have

become renowned and has spread across the state. Artists

have even been commissioned to give more life to the town.

There is even a brochure about these uniquely painted walls

mimicking life in the city and the wrought-iron caricatures.

The entire old quarter of George Town is made up of

rows upon rows of shop houses (the largest number of

pre-war shop houses and buildings of any city in SEA), some


Street Art, George Town

Guests of the legendary

E&O Hotel can press

the vintage style ‘Butler

Call’ button in the room!

‘Breakfast please!’

still inhabited by extended families that have lived there for

three or more generations. And that formed the basis for a

for Penang catalyst event: the listing in 2008 of the historic

city as a Unesco World Heritage Site.

This has had all kinds of consequences and this kind of

listing can be for good and for bad.

Well aware of the risks Penang State government established

George Town World Heritage Incorporated (GTWHI)

to spearhead efforts to ensure that George Town’s legacy

would not be lost. It is “a living legend, but it will disintegrate

before our very eyes should we fail to nurture it,” states the

agency.

We have yet to see if George Town can retain its status

when it is up for renewal by Unesco in 2018. The outcome is

a crucial issue for Penang, and an interesting topic to follow

in 2018. A report by Khazanah Research Institute (KRI) points

to that it is at risk, stating that some 8,500 residents from 591

households had left already two years after its nomination

as a World Heritage site. Many either were forced to move

out due to their inability to cope with the increasing rent, or

reaped the benefit of skyrocketing property prices.


Pinang Peranakan Mansion

Nyonya Breeze Desire restaurant, Straits Quay

Tea at E&O Hotel

Between 2009 and 2013, some 231 residential properties

have been repurposed to accommodate other commercial

activities. Within that time, hotels and tourist accommodations

in the area had grown from 61 premises to 97. This situation

has led to the change in the social fabric of the site, which was

the main criterion for the bestowal of the coveted title.

The world heritage status has meant a lot of improvements

to George Town and its visitors. Whole blocks have

been wonderfully refurbished in keeping with the heritage

zone’s traditions, while there are still many dilapidated shop

houses. An abundance of interesting lodgings, cafes etc. have

sprung up.

Historic and heritage facts on signboards have been put

up and one can grab several brochures/maps that are perfect

guides to what there are to discover. One map displays the

Cultural Enclave with mosques, temples, kongsis, mansions

and churches; the Waterfront with the Town Hall, City Hall

etc.; the Leisure Zone in which legendary Eastern & Oriental

Hotel (E & O hotel) dating back to 1885 is situated; and finally

the Heritage Traders (including joss stick maker, pastry baker,

signboard carver etc.)

Meanwhile, an application is in the works for another

listing, namely the Unesco Biosphere Reserve. Penang Hill

and a 130-million old undisturbed rainforest older than the

Amazon on the island hold great potential to be listed.

Two cultural names one cannot avoid noticing in

Penang, and that might be completely unfamiliar, are

‘Peranakan’ and ‘Nyonya’, both also the name for a specific

cuisine. The Peranakan culture was born out of Chinese

settlers who immigrated into northern Malaysia. George

Town boasts places of interest for this culture and no one

more so than the Pinang Peranakan Mansion, well worth a

visit for its architecture alone. This museum mansion with its

green façade and characteristic window shutters does not

go unnoticed.

Around the heritage there are whole blocks with Peranakan

homes; shop houses with their unmistakable colourful

and ornamental street front facades - some them derelict

and up for sale.

As for the cuisine the Nonya Breeze Desire restaurant,

situated at Straits Quay Mall, is recommended as ideal to try


Street food in George Town

Poolside at G Hotel Gurney

We have yet to see

if George Town can

retain its Unesco World

Heritage status up for

renewal in 2018

eating Nonya food! It’s also a nice excursion to this colonialinspired

mall and to get to try out Penang Nyonya food

proper (a fusion of Chinese, Malay and also Thai influences.)

The island has also been famous for a long time as a mecca

for food lovers, especially hawker food. Here one can find

unique dishes, which reflect the intermingling of nations. For instance

Mamak Mee Goreng is a dish with flavours from China,

Penang and Southeast Asia but cooked by the Indian Muslim

community. You cannot leave the island without having tasted

some of these! Some hawkers serve food in the mornings, and

some only in the evening – and on certain spots.

When it comes to the quality a previous food critic friend

however says she thinks it has deteriorated; disappointing to

the extent she has lost interest!

But it is quite an experience with these street hawkers,

many of them family-operated and having been in exactly the

same spot for three generations!

Try the Penang Hokkien mee, a prawn-based soup, and

Char kway teow, a stir-fried noodle dish. As you hear servants

loudly shouting out drink orders, make sure to place yours – it

is mandatory!


G Hotel Gurney lobby bar

Mango Tree Place – Hideaway

G Hotel Kelawai’s Spoon

Black Kettle Bistro, Patisseri & Café

Restaurants come and go quite rapidly, so don’t be surprised

if your favourite place is no longer on a future visit.

While looking for a new café that can satisfy people from

the Nordics with great fresh brew and Danish pastries there

is a new superb one: Black Kettle Bistro, Patisseri & Café on

Chulia Street. Here you find what you are looking for and

more: all sorts of coffee paired with almond croissants, orange

cranberry scones etc. and also a food and wine menu!

Italian cuisine is showcased at its best at downtown Via

Pre Penang Italian Restaurant as well as the classic and reasonably

priced Bella Italia, situated closer to Gurney Plaza, on

Burma road.

Try Mozzarella in Carozza sandwich with Minestrone

soup, and Fettuccine salmon pasta or Spaghetti con pollo

alla pesto!

From there it’s walking distance to the island’s best shopping

malls, upscale Gurney Paragon and Gurney Plaza, and to

a few top waterholes as part of a long and pleasant afternoon

and evening. (On route there take a small detour, on foot,

to look at the two privately owned really old houses along

Kelawai road!) In-between shopping, heading up to the pool

bar of G Hotel Gurney (now with completely refurbished

rooms) to enjoy ‘Infinity Hours’ which meant 50% discount

on drinks between 3 pm – 7.30 pm do not leave much else

to yearn for! And it’s possible for paid access to the pool itself.

Towards the evening nearby sister property G Hotel

Kelawai’s Spoon restaurant offers a splendid international

buffet, Sundays – Thursdays, with cuisines from around the

world, and where a free flow of house beer and wine lands

at RM 150 Nett! The meat flame-grilled to perfection is

sublime and the selection of the spread enough for the four

whole hours it can be enjoyed! Smoked mackerel, Seafood,

Pan-fried chicken with rosemary and garlic jus etc. and way

too many delicious desserts – the apple crumble with vanilla

sauce alone is to die for…

Back to the heritage zone, we highlight one tried-andtested

place for its unique design and where you get

to experience staying in one of those town houses.

Mango Tree Place – Hideaway has just five rooms (one

suite) so it feels very exclusive, each with its differentiating

colour and accessed via secret entrances. Already the cosy


Howie Chang at @CAT

Call your butler, staying at legendary E&O Hotel

G Hotel Gurney

E&O Hotel, Victory Annexe

out-of-the-ordinary living room-style lobby here is quite

something! Interiors with blonde four-poster wood beds feel

Scandinavian.

Depending on where one stays, the call to prayer from

the minarets can cause an early wake-up. In contrast, guests

of the legendary E&O Hotel can press the vintage style

‘Butler Call’ button in the room! ‘Breakfast please!’ A visit to

Penang is not complete without at least having afternoon

tea at 1885 or drinks in Farquhar’s Bar at this hotel legend.

It’s affordable! Also, this grand dame of heritage hotels has its

own museum where you can learn more about its fascinating

history and legendary guests (whose portraits adorn the

walls). It’s all rather out-of-the-ordinary, elegant and boasting

a huge seafront with pool. E & O also has a recently built Victory

Annexe, where the classic timeless design of the hotel

is reflected.

Immerse yourself in history by going all the way with a stay

there, each suite offering the perfect invitation to step back

into the refined elegance and colonial grandeur of a golden

age, and which continues today as Penang seems to be facing

a golden future.


Also for entrepreneurs Penang’s combination of work and

various leisure options are clearly attractive. So called Digital

nomads now frequent Penang, where downtown’s @CAT

is the main place where one can rent a desk with internet

access 24/7 - and meet peers. Initiated by Invest In Penang

this collaborative co-working space also offer accelerator

programme, including the Founder Institute Programme.

Managing Director Howie Chang explains it was started

with the recognition that start-ups generate a lot of innovations,

as a way to identify potential alternatives to the core

industry here in Penang, plus the fact that potentially everywhere

in the region is focusing on start-ups.

“@CAT exists to be the catalyst to grow the start-up and

technology eco-system in Penang. I believe in the potential in

Penang. We have bright people but a lot of them are leaving

Penang.

So we need to have exciting start-ups here, and @CAT

is trying to make it easy for people to create start-ups, businesses,

but more than that to also attract exciting start-ups

to be based here to provide incentives for bright talents to

stay on.”

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Penang theme: The Häggmark expat family

Family-friendly Penang

Mixed couple Daniel Häggmark (Monitor ERP System SEA MD) and

his wife Yvette share insights into how life is for a family with young

children in Penang.

Photos and text: Joakim Persson

They have settled down, with their two children

Olivia and Brandon in a semi-detached house in

the high-end residential area of Straits Quay, incorporating

the marina and seafront lifestyle mall.

The area they live in is also populated by other

expats, including many retirees.

Daniel and Yvette met in Singapore in late 2009 and

lived together there for three years. Then Monitor got

their first customers in Penang and Daniel suggested to

Yvette to try living there. “I had been to Straits Quay

to look for apartments as I thought it looked so nice to

live here. So we decided: ‘Let’s try to move to Penang.”

remembers Daniel.

“We didn’t know anything about Penang when we moved

here basically. We had been here a couple of times and the

feeling was nice. When we moved here in the beginning of

2013 we were thinking to stay here a year and then move

back to Singapore. But after a while we got to know the

culture, the lifestyle and we liked it very much here so we

decided to stay,” says Yvette.

“Having lived in Singapore for 6 years, I was used to the

fast-paced life and the convenience of everything so when we

first moved here, I was surprised at how laid-back the lifestyle

here was. People seem to be not as stressed as compared to

bigger cities. Penang is best known for its local food and here

you can find great restaurants and hawkers everywhere, with

very good food at a good price. It’s a mix of the old and the

new. You have the charm of Georgetown with its heritage

shop houses but there are also a number of huge shopping

malls carrying popular brands so you get a perfect mix of

everything.”

The selection have also improved: “It’s been a huge differ-


After a while we got to

know the culture, the

lifestyle and we liked it

very much here so we

decided to stay

ence in the last two years when it comes to nice small cafes,

bars, nicer coffee shops etc.,” says Daniel. “Hipster cafes are

booming,” Yvette fills in.

If anything, Daniel would like to see some nicer beachside

venues, beach clubs, in Batu Ferringhi.

And for outdoor activities they find that they have lots of

options, with a number of places for kids to have fun.

”Penang is very family friendly. You have the beach 20

minutes away; you have the Escape adventure play theme

park and Entopia, housing a living outdoor garden and an

indoor discovery center. Also a few outdoor parks and tracks

for the nature lovers and some nice indoor playgrounds and

waterparks are here,” she says.

“Cost of living is affordable and the quality of life is high.

Penang has good healthcare and medical facilities, a clean and

safe living environment and with its tropical climate, it has

become a popular choice for expats and retirees over the

years,” Daniel evaluates.

And education? “Our kids are already in school and play

care. There are a number of reputable international schools

here following British and American curriculums with high

standards. The schools teach a few different languages aside

from English which is the main language, such as Chinese and

German. Malay is mandatory for locals but not for foreigners.

The pricing for international schools are much affordable,”

says Yvette.

She also sees career opportunities for herself on the island:

“The focus as of the moment is to take care of the kids

as they are still young. But having a background in semiconductor

engineering and manufacturing, the job opportunities

here are good.”


Life Style

The new Cube hotel is now featuring prominently in Bussorah

Street with the nice blue canopy.

Sleepy Sam’s gone Cube

Sleepy Sam’s, my favorite hostel in Singapore for many years, has

undergone a major renovation. With new owners and a brand new

concept, the place is now Cube!

Over the entrance it says Cube, but the Singapore Visitor

Center is an important part of the concept.

The owners, Benedict Choa and his wife Sonia Anya, left, with

Yunus, Eve and Cheryl. The success of the Cube will largely

depend on the quality of the people, that Sonia and Benedict

are able to attract. They have done great so far.


Breakfast is included. It

is served buffet style in

the kitchen, but you are

welcome to bring your

plate and coffee out on the

porch where you can sit

and watch locals hurry

by getting ready for their

busy days.

The wall to the left has six cubicles. If a curtain is down a

person is sleeping inside. The strong iron bars are for climbing

up into the upper beds. Below the lower beds you have a

locker for your suitcase or backpack with a lock controlled by

your key card.

Cube is a brand new mini-hotel concept in

Singapore where your bed is a box that you

enter from the foot end of your bed. It has a

long list of advantages compared to the old

traditional hostel, where your bed is separated

from your neighbor’s by a curtain and an aisle. It also has a

some disadvantages.

But let me first introduce you to Sleepy Sam. Her full

name was actually Samantha but everybody called her Sam

and she was the owner of a hostel in Bussorah Street named

Sleepy Sam’s. I was faithful to her and stayed here for over

ten years whenever I was in Singapore. I even kept coming

back for years after she sold it to a Kiwi who renamed it

Sleepy Kiwi - what a genius - because he kept key staff like the

cleaner and the receptionist and we knew each other by first

name. However, the Kiwi never spent money on maintenance

so the last few times I stayed there, I was starting to question

why I kept coming back?

Still, it was a bit of a shock when during my latest Singapore

trip I stood in front of “my” Sleepy Sam’s and the sign

now said Cube Boutique Capsule Hotel and Singapore Visitor

Center. At first I thought I would go somewhere else, but then

I got stubborn: This was my place in Singapore, never mind

what name they would give it! It also helped that the building

had clearly been totally renovated and I was curious to see

what was left of the old place inside.

It was not going to be that easy, though. When I walked in,

Cheryl at the reception apologized, but they were simply not

ready yet. When she learned that I was going to stay for three

nights she suggested, however, that I should find somewhere

else to stay for the first two nights. Then I could come back for

the third night and stay as a pioneer guest - possibly even at

a good price if I wrote an email and explained my emotional

attachment to the place.

So I did.

And what a change!


Inside your cubicle, you

will find up in the far right

corner the ventilation grill

and below that the lock

for your safety cupboard.

In the middle is your table

that can be folded up

when you want to sleep.

The mirror makes your

space seem bigger. Notice

the two power outlets and

the four USB outlets inside!

Next you have a second

small cupboard and down

by the entry to your nest

you have the dimmer for

the main light inside your

cubicle. Above you is the

reading spotlight.

Your bed seen from the entry. When you arrive, you will find a

towel and slippers, a bottle of water and even a toothbrush set

on the bed.

There is absolutely nothing sleepy about Cube. It is smart,

modern, cool and clean and hardly recognizable.

The interior of the building is divided into a number of

rooms with each room carrying the name of one of the surrounding

streets. Inside each room, you will find from 8 to

14 beds each in their own luxury capsule with everything a

traveller needs.

Once inside, it feels like you are in an astronaut seat - all

your controls are within arms reach. The reading light and

smoke detector is right above you, to your side is a safe

with own programmable lock, above it your air ventilation,

next to the safe there is a a fold-down table and inside this

there are two electric outlets - each of them even with

two USB ports! Further down towards your feet there is

another cupboard similar to your safe only without the

lock and finally down by the rabbit hole entrance there is

a curtain for your privacy and a dimmer for the main light

in your capsule.

Your suitcase goes under your bed with a lock on the

cabinet door and your shoes goes in another cupboard by

the entrance to your room. All doors and cupboards are controlled

by the single key card that you get when checking in.

And the main feature - the bed? Oh yes! The bed is soft


Cube is not only for single travelers. Next time I come, my wife

will love this double bed.

and comfortable with a thick duvet and the bedding includes

two pillows. When you arrive, you will find a towel and slippers,

a bottle of water and even a toothbrush set on the bed.

Sam would have loved the toilets which she was constantly

struggling with. The renovated Cube toilets are completely

hauled over! They include hot and cold shower behind

a glass sliding door and the owners have thankfully installed

the missing toilet sprays - something all five star hotels could

learn from.

Breakfast is included. It is served buffet style in the kitchen,

but you are welcome to bring your plate and coffee out on

the porch where you can sit and watch locals hurry by getting

ready for their busy days.

Is it better? Well, go back and read again from “And what

a change”. Of course it is better! There is still a lower and an

upper bed, but when you are sleeping in the lower bed, you

no longer see the bulging underside of the mattress in the

bed above you. And when you are sleeping in the upper bed,

you no longer shake back and forth when the guy below you

turns over. When you are brushing your teeth, you are no

longer competing with the other guy about whose turn it is

to use the sink while the water from the drain is leaking out

on the floor. And when a young couple comes home late,

The Kiwi never spent

money on maintenance so

the last few times I stayed

here, I was starting

to question why I kept

coming back?

you are no longer an involuntary witness to their romantic

encounter.

But...?

Yes, oddly enough, I do actually miss the closeness which

all these inconveniences forced upon us guests. I took the

initiative to talk to a guest this morning over breakfast, and he

was happy I did. He also missed the atmosphere of old style

hostels that fosters guest-to-guest talks.

I mentioned this when I had an opportunity to talk to the

owner, Benedict Choa and his wife Sonia Anya who were

going over the many points on the last minute missing-list

before the opening. They seemed surprised that doing away

with the missing privacy of the old hostel concept could

actually have a negative impact on the cherished interaction

between the guests. And paradoxically, the wonderful cleanliness

of the rooms and toilets could actually contribute to this.

Both Benedict and Sonia are very nice people; dynamic,

charismatic and obviously successful. This Cube Capsule

Boutique Hotel is their second in less than a year and more

are already on the way. Soon the concept will be written

into a franchise model and spread to other capitals of the

region. The first Cube has achieved ISO certification. Money

is seemingly not a problem.

I think the key to the future reputation and repeat visitor

rate of the Cube will be much like the old Sleepy Sam’s - it

will be in the hands of the people, they manage to attract. In

particular the breakfast staff, but not only them. Here are a

few examples:

Yesterday, before he knew that I as going to write this

article, one of the staff, Mr. Sadi, came out to me on the

porch where I was sitting and offered me a bottle of cold

water. He greeted me again this morning. I have mentioned

the kind receptionist Cheryl and I also want to introduce the

marketing manager Mr. Yunus, to you. And last but not least

Eve, who is in charge of the Singapore Visitor Centre. This

concierge service is an integrated part of the Cube business

concept. All of them are clearly excited about being part of

the Cube concept.

Last night Eve helped me finding an Internet cafe - a fast

vanishing commodity in Singapore - and this morning she

recommended me a great Italian restaurant for my business

lunch meeting which was just around the corner.

None of them may remember me on my next visit, but a

relationship is a two way street and I will be back here until

they do.


Style

Chic

The latest from Style & Chic, your guide to top design products and new

releases, this time including some brands and online stores.

If you would like to have your brand/product featured, contact ScandAsia: joakim@scandmedia.com

Michael Kors

Meet spring with

a new Michael

Kors handbag!

The all-American designer

Michael Kors is

known for his luxurious,

jet-setting fashions.

His colourful handbags

have become a

“must” for almost every

woman.

M. Kors compete

mainly with labels like Marc Jacobs and Ralph Laurent. His

handbags are genuine, made in leather and in several designs

and colours. The collection available all over the world and at

Airport shops as well. The prices are reasonable.

Find stores via: www.michaelkors.com

uncommongoods.com

Looking for fun

and special

drink glasses?

If you need to

increase your collection

of drinking

glasses, there are

many opportunities.

Recommended is the

online shop ‘uncommongoods’.

Here

you will find the latest

arrival of all kind of drinking glasses e.g. the special designed

red wine glasses or the colourful water or Whiskey

glasses. These are only two of the many new arrivals. Can be

shipped to almost everywhere. Prices are average.

www.uncommongoods.com

MUJI Aluminium Hard

Carry Suitcase

Japanese home and travel goods

brand MUJI has upped its offerings

for its affordable luggage

range by introducing an aluminium

suitcase. The new models add

sturdy and lightweight aluminium

construction to the original Naoto

Fukusawa design, and travellers

can choose between a carry-on

34-liter version or a larger 60-liter

version. Featuring side and top

handles, a four-wheel system and

dual TSA locks.

www.muji.com.hk

Jimmy Choo shoes

Malaysian fashion designer Jimmy Choo has become

a legendary brand for shoe lovers. The range of designs

and colours is huge. These shoes are like, what

a glove is to your hand, they fit every foot perfect and even

the high heel shoes are

comfortable. The leather

is soft and the fancy décor

on several shoes is fun.

This spring brings, among

much more, tassels. This

brand is not inexpensive,

but the quality excellent

and they last long. Jimmy

Choo you will find almost

everywhere in big cities.

Shop online via: row.

jimmychoo.com/en/home


MØ: Danish pop artist

visited Singapore

By Eva Eriksen

Looking back on 2017, Danish Singer MØ (Karen

Marie Aagaard Ørsted Andersen) has had a chance

to dig deeper into the artistry of music. She has

been on the move for a long time and on November

26th she also stopped by Singapore to do her

first ever concert there. The singer is amazed how pop music

today embraces so many different cultures.

She is one of the biggest artists on the Danish music

scene right now and has also made it big internationally. MØ

debuted with her album “No Mythologies to Follow” in 2013.

Though 2017 also has included lots of touring and traveling,

it has been a year for new projects: “I’ve started to come

more in to my own creative world again. Having been the

‘talk of the town’ obviously you get sucked in to that, which

is great but this year it has been nice to go back to the roots

and back to the artistry of music,” the singer said.

MØ just released the EP “When I was young” with six

new songs, written over the last four years and to MØ the

EP has been a necessary transition, moving in to her second

studio album.

“It is about how I felt during that process of time. But also

in terms of moving forward because now I have my second

album almost ready and I felt like I had to put something out

where I reflect on what has been going on. It is a very heart

filled EP and the whole story is just built from a place that

feels good.”

The title “When I was young” reveals nostalgia – something

that recurs in all the singer-songwriter’s songs, she

explains.

“I think daydreaming and longing are emotions that are

always in my songs in general. And the EP is again just really

zoomed in on that feeling, so I think it’s just natural to my

song writing.”

“It’s a super strong drive for me that search for whatever

it is, and I am happy I have it even though it can be annoying

sometimes because you’re never really satisfied.”

In 2015, MØ won the European Border Breaker Award. The

EBBA is given annually to ten emerging artists or groups

who have reached audiences outside their own countries,

and this is something that is significant to the singer:

“The wider you can reach, the wider you can connect with

people. And when I can connect with people I’ve never met

on the other side of the planet, it gives me a super strong

feeling of meaning – and that is priceless.”

Comparing audiences around the world, MØ finds there

are more similarities than differences. In that way, doing a

concert is a universal experience. The differences she notices

are usually smaller things like for how long an audience clap

after each song or how much people use their phones during

the concert.

However, it is not only during a concert people unify.

MØ thinks in general that mainstream pop music

has become more acceptant of different cultures: “If

you listen to pop songs nowadays there are elements from

all over the world mixed together into a new form of mainstream

pop music.”

Her own single collaboration with Major Lazer “Lean On”

is one example. The video for the song was shot in India. At

the time, Major Lazer was touring in India so it made sense

to shoot the video there.

“It is one of those happy beautiful coincidences that in

a way reflect on the lifestyle, where we are both travelling

the world, and then you meet in one place and do the

video because this is where we are,” the singer explained. “I

think we live in a world where it is all getting so connected

and especially in this creative industry where you see how

everybody gets inspired and feels inspired from everywhere

and mix it all together to make it a bit their own. It is all

melting butter.”


Human resources

The future is here:

Digital recruitment

improvements

Recruitment is evolving where improvements could certainly be

beneficial to both those hiring and those seeking a job match. This

is already happening, as new tools are now available, thanks to

some creative start-ups.

By Joakim Persson

What better place to look for those driving

the change than at one of the region’s

leading start-up summits, Techsauce! In

‘Future of Work and Death of Recruitment:

How Machine Learning, Artificial

Intelligence (AI) and Robotics will disrupt Human Resources’

a panel of start-ups presented their services and thoughts:

Alexander Kerbo, Executive Director at WorkVenture; Polpat

Songthamjitt, Co-founder & Chief Marketing Officer of

GetLinks; and Devan Singaram, Founder at Tribehired.com.

Work Venture

Alexander presented Thailand-based Work Venture as a

career marketplace. They have a vision is to become the link

between educational institutions and starting students fulfilling

careers.

“We spent two years developing and AI algorithm, using

data science and big data, creating a more seamless experience

around it both for candidates and employers.”

“What we did, was to create the fastest job search website

and brought the Google aspect into job searching. So the


From left: Devan Singaram,Tribehired.com; Polpat Songthamjitt, GetLinks; Alexander Kerbo, Work Venture; Uptin Saiidi, moderator,

CNBC International

most relevant jobs based on your profile will be suggested to

you. It also works for employers. Within 48 hours you’ve got

the most relevant 15 CV’s, apart from the applications you

will get naturally.”

“Why would you search the database today when the

technology can do it for you? Like going to the library and

going through archives to find a certain article, when there’s

no need.”

“There’s always a human aspect to recruitment. But technology

helps us make it more effective and saves tons of time

and money for all organisations.”

“The paradigm that is going to happen in Thailand is that

Human resources will simply spend less time hiring and more

time retaining and developing talent, which is not happening

supposedly where it should be right now at organisations of

sizes.”

“The biggest culprit is turnover. A McKinsey & Company

survey found that 60 per cent of candidates reported they

hadn’t found the right job. At the same time 76 per cent

of companies think they have wrong candidates coming in,

which is quite ironic; how can the problem be so two-sided

at the same time! So, there is a lack of information; transparency

what it’s like to work in an organisation. That brings

us to employer branding. Work Venture is one of the first

companies to pioneer that into Thailand. And once you get

the right people into the right companies with that culture fit,

with the same mind-set and values; then you’re really doing a

good job for the economy as a whole.”

“There’s no information that compares the companies.

Job seekers have no idea what is the difference. There is no

way to peak inside and read up about it; reviews, salary data

etc. A survey showed that Thailand was the second highest

employee turnover in the world – which is ridiculous.”

GetLinks

GetLinks–so far on the markets in Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam,

Hong Kong, India and Korea–is a quality-curated techhiring

marketplace for Asia aiming at helping the tech talents

(developers, designers etc.) in Asia to break into their dream

jobs in top innovative companies and start-ups and to help

those companies to find the right people to grow their business.

It is also relevant for organisations’ digital transformation

strategy needs.

“It’s about advanced creation. One third of your time is

spent working, so we believe it has been matched randomly

in the past. But now with all the technology, and algorithms

we developed, we can shorten those times in the creation

process. And from the perspective of the employers, for

executives and recruiters, it shows them only the relevant

candidates. For us the first sector we try to tackle is the

technology talent, which we believe are the people that will

build the new world.”

“So it is not about recruiting but about connecting people.

I believe people with no purpose will be matched to all the

tools where it is chosen for you. But the meaningful thing

for me is that you are going to choose yourself; you’ve got

to make sure you acquire those skills you want to learn,” he

anticipated the future.

Commenting on the role of AI and machine learning Polpat

said: “In face one all these fancy tools will be supporting


Hr: My current assignment

in terms of optimising recruitment, so it will clean up from

bottom to the top. All the admin and documentary work will

be wiped out. Two: all the fresh grads and lower tiers hiring,

including operational admin, will be taken care of by the system,

because AI is already smarter than humans. On top of

the pyramid there will be lots of astute professionals. That is

where, in terms of talent in Asia and around the world you

are going to have to position yourself; to have a skill where a

robot or AI cannot replace you.”

TribeHired

TribeHired is an online social recruitment platform that helps

users find jobs within companies in Malaysia and Singapore.

The hiring process is made painless, cheaper and without the

spam that is typically mixed together with genuine applications.

“Good talent is very hard to come by and requires lots

of time and effort. TribeHired tries to remove the friction

between the company and great talent by offering 20 top

new talents on the system every week.”

This talent has gone through rigorous filtering process

to be pre-packaged for organisations that can quickly see

whether they fit requirements and company culture. So this

happens prior to any interview.

“We flip the recruitment model; out of a thousand signing

up and we approve about 5 per cent of them on to this

exclusive marketplace. We get employers to compete in that

way,” said Devan Singaram.

“Typically, organisations hire within one week, while previously

they were hiring in 3-6 months.”

“Would it not be very cool if within 30 seconds you were

to open a URL and book an interview with a programmer

who could turn up in your office next week!? And no need

to post a job as an employer. You click update button and it

will show you the graphic designers, you will view their video

so you know they will fit you culturally well, you can see their

technical test, you click a button and set a date and they will

turn up in your office,” he exemplifies.

For all those who are rejected TribeHired use AI tools to

recommend them workshops in their neighbourhood they

should attend to improve their skills.

“In many ways it is economically cheaper and a lot more

efficient than what people can do so, eventually, if you can

build a model and create an algorithm around it then you can

replace people, businesses will do it – because it is cheaper,”

Devan comments on AI.

Stefan

Lembring

Previous position: COO for Krusell (Thailand) Co.,

Ltd. (13 years)

New position: Operations Manager for Latitude

1 Maritime Co. Ltd, that offers worldwide turnkey

electrical and mechanical solutions for the cruise ship

industry.

The new position is covering the operations in the

company. That include finance, HR, purchasing, marketing,

warehouse operation and to implement a new ERP

computer system that cover our worldwide operation.

What is/will be most challenging with your new

position?

The challenge will be to make the company grow and

establish itself as one of the major maritime contracting

companies in the industry. I believe the key to do

that is to take the advantage of our strategic location

in Asia, skilled technicians and our long experience in

the industry. The challenges we have is the cooperation

between or offices/warehouses with both the

12 hours’ time difference between Asia and US, and

different working cultures.

Who should contact you in your new position?

Anyone that would like to know more about how we

could cooperate in projects in the maritime business,

in Asia and the rest of the world.

How is working in Asia different from back

home in your profession?

I have been living and working in Thailand for more

than 20 years, so it’s very hard for me to answer that

question.


Planning your future for you and

your loved ones. Together.

At Private Banking within SEB, we acknowledge that everyone has a unique set of

challenges. We concentrate on developing meaningful, long-lasting financial

relationships and make the effort to really understand you and your requirements.

Your own private banker, client assistant and experts are dedicated to help you achieve

your goals. Together we take a holistic approach, aiming at a well-planned future for you

and your loved ones.

To find out what we can do for your personal wealth,

contact us in Singapore on +65 63 57 08 95

or via singapore@sebprivatebanking.com.sg

sebgroup.lu/privatebanking



ScandAsia February 2018

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