16-01_adb_feb_mar16

february/march 2016 www.adb.org.sg

event

Sander Dekker inspired by Singapore ... page 2

business

column

Singapore sisterhood of networking ... page 14

Improving productivity by team coaching ... page 17

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° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° °

Board Members

Joep Ottervanger President Attorney at Law and Partner Loyens & Loeff

° ° ° ° New Year’s ° ° ° ° Resolutions Dear Members, As this is the first issue of 2016, I would like to share with you some thoughts, plans and perhaps New Years’ resolutions for the

Tom Smeenk Honorary Treasurer Business Development Manager LNG Asia Royal Vopak

Aleid Schoenmaeckers-de Savornin Lohman Member Senior Legal Counsel AdventBalance

Peter Bloemsma Member Relocation Advisor Executive Homes

year to come. But before doing so, I would like to take a moment to look back.

2015 was a special year in which we celebrated our 25th anniversary with some spectacular events but it was also a year of change.

• We introduced our new ADB logo and look & feel • The offices moved to the premises of the Dutch Embassy • The Magazine was revamped and printed in full color • We launched the new Website: www.adb.org.sg • The ADB organization changed with a leaner Board and several dedicated Committees Within the Board there have been some changes. Some of our Board members unfortunately have recently rotated out (Nynke Kinderman, Pleun Brevet and Ay Wen Lie) but luckily

Pleun Brevet Chief Editor Freelance technical writer

others (Aleid Schoenmaeckers-de Savornin Lohman, Peter Paul Bloemsma and Thomas van Dusseldorp) have joined with great enthusiasm.

So what about 2016? What do we have in store for you? First

Reinder Peek Member General Manager Salvage (Asia) SMIT Singapore Pte Ltd

and foremost, plenty of good old-fashioned fun events that are interesting and inspiring. Last year we organized the first “ADB Golf tournament” which is something we are sure to repeat. The Event Committee is bursting with ideas so I am confident that we will have plenty of interesting and fun events for everyone!

Secretariat

Wenneke Vrugt-Repko Communication & Graphic Design Founder of Triple You Design

We will continue to seek efficiencies, amongst others by working together with the other Dutch organizations. We will strive to improve the communication with our members through this magazine, as well as through the many different on-line channels available to us, such as the website.

We are open and keen to receive suggestions and ideas from our members; so please make yourself heard if you have a great idea or if you think we can do better.

I am very much looking forward to another great ADB year!

°°°

The ADB connects Dutch Professionals in Singapore.

°°°

... Joep Ottervanger ...

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°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

In this issue 1 Prologue

2 A hint of Singapore spirit in the Dutch educational landscape?

4 ADB Christmas drinks 6

New Year’s reception at the Residency

8

Priority onboarding for new employees

11 Robert Dompeling 13 Spouses in Singapore: Sanne Poot 14 The Singapore sisterhood of networking 17 Improving productivity through team coaching 18

G.r.a.t.i.s. in Singapore

19

Apps for Sports

20 From the Dutch Embassy:

Robbin Mulder 21 Personal Finance: Health Insurance in Singapore 22 ADB News – Announcements, member info and more 24 Column – Kristel Zweers

Photo: Herman Verhoeven

Chinatown

Cover photo: Herman Verhoeven

The Chinese New Year was celebrated on February 8 this year and we have now entered the Year of the Monkey. As always Chinatown is covered in decorations: until March 8 you will find a display of 2,668 handcrafted lanterns in the shape of monkeys, peaches, spring blossoms and gold zodiac coins.

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The high quality and development of education in Singapore has not gone unnoticed in the Netherlands. Although the Dutch and Singaporean culture differ significantly, both countries are considered very ambitious and adaptable to changes and challenges on an international level.

To find out what drives the Singaporean excellence in education, Sander Dekker, State Secretary for Education, Culture and Science, visited Singapore with a delegation of policy makers and teachers.

During his four day visit, he met up with the Singaporean Ministry of Education, the National Institute for Education (NIE), Academy of Singapore Teachers (AST) and the Singapore Teacher Union (STU) to discuss curriculum development, teacher quality and career path for teachers.

A hint of Singapore spirit in the Dutch educational landscape?

Visit of Sander Dekker, State Secretary for Education, Culture and Science ... By Astrid Seegers ...

Photo: Vie Blonk

On the final evening, ADB organised a “Politiek Café” for an interactive and informal discussion on his findings, the Dutch educational system and policy making. The audience consisted of a diverse mix of ADB members, Hollandse School teachers and students from the University of Twente. Moderated by Ambassador Jacques Werner, the event offered a platform for the participants to interact with Sander Dekker and ask their burning questions.

Sander Dekker explained that he feels the Dutch government needs to invest in the quality of education and learn from best practises. In the Netherlands a focus group (Platform 2032) is working on redesigning the curriculum and establishing a more holistic approach to skills and personal development. The Ministry of Education in Singapore already redesigned the curriculum in a similar way and shared their approach and the obstacles they faced and still face during implementation. Sander Dekker considers Singapore a great example, also in terms of teacher quality. In contrast to the Netherlands, where teacher training is decentralized, Singaporean primary and secondary teachers are directly employed by the

Ministry of Education and trained by the National Institute for Education (NIE). This reinforces the teaching and educational philosophy and emphasises the importance of a shared vision. The Ministry of Education in Singapore has designed teacher career paths to challenge teachers to improve themselves and grow their careers.

Sander Dekker stated: “The magic word in Singapore is alignment. It is incredible to see what can be done if people at all levels in education work towards the same goal. I cherish the diverse educational landscape in the Netherlands, but a hint of that Singapore spirit could work wonders for us too.”

As a thank you, ADB presented a NCA Charity cheque and in doing so, donated money to Good Shepherd, a shelter for abused and battered women and their children, who are the innocent victims. The money ADB donated goes toward making these children feel safe and happy in their new environment.

Sander Dekker shared his findings in a video that is posted on the Embassy Facebook.

•

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ADB Christmas drinks ... By Pleun Brevet ...

Although the holidays are already far behind us, some of us celebrated the festive season at the ADB Christmas drinks on December 17, 2015, sponsored by United Dutch Breweries.

And despite what you may think, the beers went down surprisingly well.

President Joep Ottervanger held a very interactive speech and made us shake hands with our neighbours and hug them; all in the spirit of Christmas. He also announced some changes in the ADB board: Nynke Kinderman and Pleun Brevet are leaving the board and Peter Bloemsma is joining as events coordinator. He was already fulfilling that position in the background, but now it’s been made official.

We all wish him well, because that means we can expect some very cool events in the coming year. Peter announced that there would be a questionnaire for all the members to fill in, to figure out what events are most appreciated and to make everyone’s ADB experience as optimal as possible.

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New Year’s reception at the Residency ... By Pleun Brevet ... ... Photos by DutchCham/Richard Tee ...

The New Year’s reception on January 14 was the first event of 2016 by ADB together with DutchCham, and held at the Residency of the Dutch Ambassador in Singapore Mr. Jacques Werner and his wife Soraya.

More than 200 people raised their glass to the New Year as they wished each other happiness, health and prosperity.

The event was sponsored by Heineken, Vopak, Unit 4, Tata Consultancy Services and Boskalis.

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Priority for new ... By Lisette Davis . Photo by Appical ...

When new employees sign up for a new job at your company, you provide them with a mobile app that helps them understand your company, connect with their colleagues and provide necessary information about the new role.

It sounds like a scenario from the future but it’s real and called Appical.

Gerrit Brouwer is one of the founders of Appical, a mobile app that helps employees to get up and running much faster than the standard initial period. Born in Sneek (Friesland), Gerrit started in the Marine Corps after his education. This experience laid the foundation for Appical: ‘There is no better MBA than military training!’

After market researching the initial idea in 2011, Appical was founded in 2012. The goal of the app is to help employers reduce costs by getting new employees to be productive faster in their new role. One of the additional perks is that the app also boosts employee engagement because of its interactive nature.

Gerrit: ‘We know from our research that it takes approximately 8 – 14 months for a new employee to be fully productive. If we could reduce this time, we save costs for employers.

With the app, employees can start learning from day 1 and employers are able to save costs.’ During his marine stretch Gerrit noticed that hands-on learning is the best way to get a person productive: ‘After the marine I worked for several big multinational companies and my experience with education of employees confirms this. Appical is built on the principle of hands-on learning.’

onboarding employees questions or activities the new employee is motivated to get to know the organisation, not only from a work perspective but also socially. For example an assignment could be to invite your colleague or manager for a coffee and a chat.

The last part is the possibility to provide feedback in a more sophisticated and ‘cool’ way than the traditional yearly employee survey. Employees are asked questions about what is going well and what not in the organisation. The feedback can be monitored in real time. Managers can act on potential issues quickly, before it’s too late.’

Appical has already built up an impressive portfolio of well-known Dutch and international companies, such as KLM, VU Medical Centre, Rabobank and Cisco. ‘Research (confirmed by our customers) reveals that companies, especially those with high employee turnover spend a lot of money on recruitment and training. In SME roles these costs can incur up to 75% of the annual salary. If the employee decides to leave early these on boarding costs won’t be recouped. So, the goal is to prevent key talent from leaving. Employees respond very positively to the app which means they learn faster and their loyalty towards the company increases. This results in a lower outflow of employees and thus lower costs. Besides that, the content of the app is easy to manage and speeds up the orientation process so a new employee can be fully productive in a shorter timeframe than the standard 8-14 months.’

Gerrit discovered that productivity of new employees can be accelerated.

The next step for Appical is Singapore. The work ethics here are different than in Europe. How do you intend on bridging the cultural difference with the app?

The app engages new employees before they start working.

From the moment their contract is sealed they can start using the app. The app offers roughly three different sections: content, interactive assignments and feedback.

First is content: via text, pictures and videos the new employee is informed about the organisation, its vision and mission, strategy and the specifics of his new role and department. All content is offered in small chunks to make it easy to use the app during short breaks or even while travelling to work. Via interactive assignments like

‘Almost a year before we founded our Singaporean business, we started contacting several Singaporean companies. We noticed that it takes time to build a relationship and gain trust. We also know that the employee turnover is high in Singapore. This makes it more important to cut costs. Our experience is that Asian employees are tech-savvy and the adoption ratio here is higher than in Europe. Currently we’re negotiating with the most amazing hotel in Singapore.

If this contract works out it will be a huge step for Appical towards growth in Singapore.

•

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Robert Dompeling ... By Katrijn de Ronde . Photo by PEC ...

Robert Dompeling has experienced many crucial events that shaped Singapore’s oil & gas industry – first through his work for tank terminal operator, Vopak and now as Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Singapore-listed PEC Ltd., an engineering specialist in the engineering, procurement, construction (EPC) and maintenance service provider in the oil & gas, petrochemical, terminals and pharmaceuticals industries.

Having lived in Singapore for 25 years, we thought it time to get him to share some of his valuable insights.

Robert Dompeling arrived in Singapore in 1991 and joined Van Ommeren, later renamed as Vopak through a merger with Pakhoed. He quickly rose through the ranks from operations manager to terminal manager to general manager and in 2007 decided to take the leap to PEC (Plant Engineering Construction). PEC is a Singaporean engineering and construction company, with strong roots in the local maritime industry. A trusted partner of numerous multinational corporations, it prides itself on the fact that its client base has been with them since the beginning in 1982.

distributed to eligible employees. This way, employees will have a sense of ownership in the company and align individual performance to the company’s performance.”

“Our company is spread out geographically and our work is project-based, which makes it difficult to have a consistent program in place,” according to Dompeling. This is why he is working on enhancing the performance rating system that takes into account the group’s performance as well as individual performance. “In the end, it always comes down to team effort”, he says.

Incidents

PEC has offices all over Asia and in the Middle East, employs close to 7,000 people and owns some 2,000 pieces of equipment. As an EPC-contractor and go-to maintenance company, PEC has been involved in many of the high profile projects in the region, but also seen a few hair-raising incidents, like a fire in one of the refineries. How are these kinds of incidents possible in an industry that prides itself on its safety measures? “During the low oil prices of the late eighties and early nineties, young people weren’t interested in working in the oil & gas industry, which created a gap between the old generation and the new one, which has just come on board,” according to Dompeling, “Now that the old, experienced people are retiring, knowledge is leaking out of the industry. The new, young people just don’t have the experience yet.”

Innovative PEC has a reputation for use of innovative software and technology. “Many construction firms still do their costing and project management on the back of an envelope,” according to Dompeling. “But the projects we are involved in are so big that making one wrong move can lead to a disastrous outcome. That is why PEC uses state-of-the-art project control software as well as 3D modeling software. Gone are the days when you discovered you had put a supporting pole through a tank wall,” he laughs.

Human Resource Management

PEC however is a Singapore company with Singapore headquarters. “Singapore will always function as a hub”, says Dompeling. “We try to grow internationally, but we are based in Singapore.”

It is not surprising then, that one of Dompeling’s main focus points in his current role is to set up a good talent management program. “If the company meets its profit targets, shares are

Future vision Like many others, Dompeling is looking to ASEAN and the Middle East for future growth. Singapore has its strong hub function, but more and more of the work is moving to other countries.

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A Truly International Family Club The Hollandse Club has members from more than 40 different nationalities and is located just minutes away from town in lush green surroundings. Our relaxed resort style club is family oriented and provides a home away from home for many expatriates from all corners of the globe. The Hollandse Club organizes various events each month for the whole family, offers excellent Sports facilities, International and Asian cuisine as well as 13 Hotel Rooms, Banqueting and Catering Services and various venues for private or corporate functions.

We now offer FLEXIBLE MEMBERSHIP OPTIONS! Single or Family memberships from 1 year to lifetime and an all-in membership fee option that allows you to pay for your membership of choice in 12 or 24 months.

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Come down to 22 Camden Park (off Adam Road) for a club tour and experience for yourself why we have been around since 1908!

22 Camden Park, Singapore 299814 T: 6464 5225 | www.hollandseclub.org.sg E: membership@hollandseclub.org.sg 12

° ° ° ° Spouses in Singapore ° ° ° °

Sanne Poot ... By Claire Mutsaerts ...

Sanne (25) moved to Singapore in December 2014 when her partner Sven was asked by his company to work here. “I grew up in Wassenaar and moved to Amsterdam when I turned 17 to study Marketing and Communication. I started my first full time job at a fairly young age, when I was 21. I have worked for two Dutch fashion labels: Anecdote and Scotch and Soda.” For the latter company Sanne was an international sales manager for their new brand Love Stories, that sells lingerie products.

Experience of Singapore

I was excited to come here but quickly realized how difficult it was going to be to find a job. I was looking in the creative and fashion industry which is especially difficult because it is not very present in Singapore. I thought about continuing to work for Love Stories by expanding the brand to Singapore, but it did not seem the right match with the Singapore market at this point in time.

Five months after I arrived, I decided to start my own business. The idea, that I have now turned into “The Pillow Room”, arose from travelling through other countries in Asia, like Bali and Thailand, where I saw the most beautiful interior designs. On the other hand I was busy styling my own new home and found it hard to find nice decorative pillows for a reasonable price. There is no company in Singapore (or Europe for that matter) that deals solely in high quality decoration pillows combined with an affordable price.

What is The Pillow Room?

The Pillow Room is a brand that offers decorative pillows in basic and surprising seasonal styles. The first collection is heavily inspired on botanical, and we will have a new collection every six months. I was lucky to have already found two women to work for me from

the Netherlands; Jantien is in charge of sales for the Netherlands and Mary is helping me with the whole production process. We went to India last November to visit five factories and find the best suppliers.

I put an emphasis on seeing the work environment with my own eyes; one factory did not want to show us the work floor which obviously makes you very suspicious of how the employees are treated. The difficult part with the suppliers in India is that they don’t take you seriously unless you demand large volumes. Another struggle is timing: I have learned to add three weeks to the initial delivery date as there is always something that ends up needing to be adjusted.

For now I am focussing on B2B which means shops have a login to the website and can place a direct order. In the future I would love to work with a hotel or restaurant to design and deliver a complete customized pillow-line. The collections will be available in boutiques and multi-brand stores in Singapore, the Netherlands and in our online store after our first delivery in June 2016.

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More information: the-pillowroom.com/

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The Singapore sisterhood of networking

... By Katrijn de Ronde ...

It can be tough, arriving in a new town, trying to find like-minded people, while starting a new job or even your own business. Luckily, newbies in Singapore can join these women-only groups and work spaces to quickly make connections and settle into the local working life.

Each organisation has its own focus and mission; PrimeTime is both professional and social, whereas The Athena Network is

The Athena Network

The Athena Network does what it says in its

much more business oriented. Both Worklor and Woolf Works

name: it provides a network for female entrepreneurs and

often host events as well (which sometimes are open to men

executives. The group focuses on the business side, and its main

too), so between these five you’ll often run into friends and

offerings are Capuccino Connections Coffee Mornings at the

fellow professionals.

Mandarin Hotel, Executive Connections Social Evenings and the coveted Executive Lunch Club Meetings, all of which are to PrimeTime

mingle with female movers ‘n shakers in Singapore. In addition,

PrimeTime is Singapore’s premier

the Athena Network has an experts’ directory and works

woman’s networking group. Members are working women in

together with the Executive Lifestyle brand to provide exposure

Singapore, but membership is also open to women who are

for its members.

looking for work in Singapore or fledgling business owners.

The group offers professional networking and personal power

Women only co-working spaces

lunches as well as a book group, a professional mothers’ group

Author Virginia Woolf famously wrote the essay “A room of

and community outreach events. The membership is varied

one’s own” about the need for women to have their own space

and includes women from all backgrounds, professions and

within what was then still a strongly male-dominated world.

nationalities, not just expats.

Although that has changed since the Victorian era, the need for

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a room of one’s own definitely has not disappeared! Indeed, men too are now claiming “man caves” to do their “manly things”.

For women working from home, either through working remotely from headquarters or because they are running their own business, Singapore has several female-only co-working spaces.

These are office spaces where you can rent a desk for anything from a day to full-time.

Front-runner is the aptly named Woolf Works in Joo Chiat on the East Coast. This pleasant, airy and uncluttered office comes with freeflow coffee, tea, wi-fi and an upstairs conference space which can be rented out for events.

Located in the Central Business District near Telok Ayer MRT is Worklor, a colourful office for female creators. It too has free-flow coffee, tea and wifi, and a dedicated phone booth for uninterrupted business calls.

New on the block is Trehaus. Situated on Orchard Road it is the only place that also offers child care and learning facilities.

More information PrimeTime www.primetime.org.sg Membership: $80 per year.

The Athena Network www.theathenanetwork.com.sg Membership: $399 per year for a business networking package.

Woolf Works www.woolfworks.sg A desk for a day is $50, a full-time dedicated workspace is $600 per month.

Worklor www.worklor.com A desk for a day is $29, a dedicated office is $380 per month.

Trehaus www.trehauscowork.com/ A desk for a day is $50, unlimited access $650 per month.

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The Executive Homes Black and White tour 16th March 2016

E

xecutive Homes, the leading expat real estate agency in Singapore, organises and fully sponsors this tour for its third year. The tour will take us this year, amongst others, to the beautiful black and white mansions in Mount Pleasant, Adam Park, Tanglin Park and Goodwood Park. The tour will be conducted by Diana Chua, a knowledgable black and white expert. Tickets can be bought directly from the Netherlands Charity Association, via nca.org.sg/black-white-tour. Tickets for NCA members are S$75.00 and non members, S$90.00.

All proceeds from the ticket sales will be donated by Executive Homes to the Netherlands Charity Association (NCA).

t: +65 9011 8055

e: hestercalkhoven@ehc.com.sg w: www.ehc.com.sg

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WE TRAIN GUIDE COACH MENTOR EMPOWER FACILITATE ENCOURAGE YOU TO SUCCEED IN MASTERING THE ART OF WORK Interested, contact us:

Singapore: +65 62205120 or frank.kuijsters@digneconsult.com Netherlands: +31 35 5318288 or bouke.bouma@digneconsult.com 16 more information: www.digneconsult.com Or for

Improving productivity through team coaching ... By Frank Kuijsters ...

When people work together in a team, they get the most done when they work together effectively. As a team leader, you need to be proactive about improving team performance, no matter whether the team is unhealthy because of conflicting goals or expectations or whether it functions fully, because even then there often is room for improvement.

Team coaching is an effective method for showing teams how to reduce conflict and improve their working relationships. The team can then focus on its real work, and achieve its objectives.

Team coaching focuses on interpersonal skills and interactions, instead of individual development (as you tend to do with individually-focused coaching). The way people act with their teammates and the way they communicate with one another are important drivers of effective team performance.

style. This step has two functions: it allows each participant time to think about their style and set personal goals for the team workshop; and it enables the facilitator to identify team challenges and customize the team workshop in order to address the current and real issues.

Preparation for team coaching Understand the dynamics of the team. This is the process of figuring out how the team members relate to one another.

Personality and behaviour assessments are great tools to a team’s understanding of its own dynamics and why they react

Team Workshops. There are two team coaching sessions which again allows time for the team to digest and truly own the material and the results. The first session helps the team to recognize their accomplishments and challenges, and introduces the team to the differing working styles, relating what this means for their dynamics and productivity. The second session is spent addressing the specific team challenges.

to their colleagues in certain ways.

Develop a clear set of expectations, behaviours and communication. This builds empathy and understanding and ensures selfish individualism is not given more importance than team objectives. You can use a charter or “contract”, where you outline a set of behavioural rules that everyone has to adhere to.

Set personal goals related to team goals. When team members have personal goals that do not match team goals, this can lead to surreptitious behaviour that is not beneficial for the team. As a team leader, your role is to match individual goals to the overall team goal.

Steps in team coaching Appoint a team facilitator (this could be you as the team leader) who is responsible for guiding the team through the team coaching three-step-process. This involves:

Personal Development Time. Spend time with each person on the team, discussing their work and communication

Follow up. This last session is a follow up session and should be held within three months after the last team coaching session to ensure accountability and follow-through of each member’s specific challenges.

Transforming a team is not just a simple change in behaviour; simple changes in behaviour are only temporary.

Transformation is a fundamental shift or reorientation of who you are, what you see and how you approach life. The essential distinction that team coaching provides is a shift of how team members view themselves and each other. In this way, a team member can better effect lasting change in behaviour.

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Frank Kuijsters, has more than 30 years of experience the last 10 years in Asia - in training, team coaching and one-to-one coaching. Based on his experience he writes articles and blogs. You can reach him on +65 92338072

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G.r.a.t.i.s. in Singapore We all want to give something back, and many people in Singapore need it as much as anywhere else. Don’t be blinded by all the bling-bling at Orchard Road or Marina Bay Sands, there are many people living in poverty here. NCA raises money within the expat community and then distributes it to carefully selected Singaporean charities. This enables them to do what they do best: find and help the people who need it most.

Here is a list with a few of the volunteer jobs as supplied by NCA. And the best thing about it: it is free to participate and this type of giving actually keeps giving back. Indeed, a win-win situation for everyone.

Photo: Sasja van Vechgel

Photo: Pleun Brevet

Photo: NCA

SILRA

Willing Hearts

NCA

SILRA stands for Singapore Leprosy Relief Association, but don’t be scared: the people living here are ex-patients who got the disease in the previous century, before a cure was readily available. The good news is, you cannot ‘catch’ leprosy by hanging out with ex-patients. There are many different activities you can do to help out, such as befriending the residents, gardening, assisting in outings, cleaning the premises, recreational activities, organising games and entertainment, and accompanying residents to hospitals. If you would like to drop in with SILRA on a regular basis, then email NCA at info@nca.org.sg

This soup kitchen supplies around 4,500 meals per day to people who cannot afford to buy their own food.

Let that number sink in a little… You understand they can use all the help you can give to cut/peel/slice the vegetables, and/or to help cook and/or to deliver the meals. Whatever you feel comfortable doing. If you’d like to help out (either in a group or by yourself) simply register on their website and follow their instructions.

NCA stands for Netherlands Charity Association and mainly raises funds in the expat community to donate to Singaporean charities such as: SILRA, Breadline Group, HOME and Good Shepherd. The way funds are raised is by participating at expat fairs, holding garage sales and organizing the annual NCA Charity Christmas Fair in November. For all these activities NCA is looking for volunteers to help out. If you have some time to spare on a regular basis, and you’d like to help raise money for the underprivileged in Singapore, then mail them at info@nca.org.sg.

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www.willinghearts.org.sg/volunteer/

Apps for Sports ... By Claire Mutsaerts ...

Apps can be very beneficial as far as getting the most out of your workout routine. They can help you find the sport that fits you best, or help you decide where to go, to plan ahead and measure your fitness. For the runners amongst us: there are a lot of running events coming up in Singapore, such as the Safari Zoo run (27th of February) and last-ever Green Corridor Run (6th of March). Can’t stand the Singaporean heat? The other apps can help you with a work-out at home or to find a convenient indoor sport facility near you.

ACTIVESG

This app will make planning your next exercise much easier. You can check sport facilities nearby your home or office, view the location and check the amenities. Fill in your interest so the app can recommend the best possible venue for you. Whether you want to book a tennis court or sign up for your next yoga class, ActiveSG shows you the availabilities and even lets you pay for the booking. If you chose the same event a next time it will only take a few clicks as it remembers your past bookings. For gym and swim facilities you can quickly check in and out with the QR code on your phone.

There are many apps that track your distance and pace when running, but this app has a lot of additional features.

You can select a virtual coach to comment on your running for some extra motivation, or add a proper music playlist.

The app also provides the ultimate safety measure: by enabling “live tracking” other people will be able to check where you are. You can even “add gear” which will inform you that your pair of Nike Free 5.0 0’14 can take you another 400 kilometers before you need to replace them.

MAP MY RUN

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com. iapps.ssc

https://itunes.apple.com/sg/app/map-my-run-gpsrunning-workout/id291890420?mt=8 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com. mapmyrun.android2&hl=en

UNDER ARMOUR

LEN 10 WORKOUT APP

The perfect app for people who do not want to leave their home at all to get some exercise. The app provides 30 workouts, in 4 different levels, from “Basic” to “X-treme”.

The first 30 basic work-outs are free, the other exercises cost USD$ 5.98 per month. The explanatory videos by a professional kite surfer will show you exactly how the work-out is done. You can save your achievements and keep track of your progress.

US sports clothing giant Under Amour has multiple shops in Singapore as well as an online store that sells everything you never knew you needed, like mini headbands and sunblock-shirts. Their app enables you to track any kind of workout, but also analyses the 4 major aspects of how you feel: sleep, fitness, activity and nutrition. You can share your fitness routine with friends and follow professional athletes’ trainings.

https://itunes.apple.com/sg/app/len10-workout-appride-hard/id969087952?mt=8 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com. pstegger.len10.app

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com. ua.record&hl=en https://itunes.apple.com/sg/app/record-by-underarmour-exercise/id895425891?mt=8

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from the dutch embassy

Robbin Mulder

In the context of modernisation of Dutch diplomacy in 2015, five regional business developers were appointed by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Africa, South America, Northern Europe, the Middle East and ASEAN to support the Dutch private sector and knowlegde institutes doing business.

In August 2015 Robbin Mulder was posted in Singapore, a logical place, being the hub for the ASEAN region.

To help Dutch entrepreneurs to further develop their business, Robbin uses economic diplomacy with embassies and ministries in

C

the region, as well as the Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland (RvO). He will focus on cross-border initiatives, Dutch solutions for smart city concepts and financial engineering.

First initiatives Robbin is working on are: regional healthcare, agro logistics, Asian Development Bank’s development of country programs and a smart city concept: Food for the city.

Robbin’s main goal is to help strengthen the Dutch export- and investment position by joining public and private forces. If you would like to contact him please do so by mailing him at: Robbin.Mulder@Minbuza.nl

inderella employment agency

Searching for a full time maid/ helper?

We have many great candidates who are experienced, trustworthy, with strong reference from previous employer and a proven track record. All our candidates are available for a personal interview

Cinderella, a Maid Agency managed and owned by Dutch expats who immigrated to Singapore and Singaporeans who lived overseas.

Registration No. : 13C6750 │EA Lic. No. : R1332619 │545 Orchard Rd │ #03‐36 │238882│Singapore

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Phone Website Email FB

: +65 94502950 : www.cinderella.com.sg : contact@cinderella.com.sg : www.facebook.com.sg/cinderella.sgp

personal finance

Insurance in ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° Health Singapore ... By Véronique Ruys-Sliepen ...

In my last column I focused on Medishield Life for PR’s. In this column I will tell you about private health insurance.

Health insurance is a type of insurance coverage that covers the cost of an insured individual’s medical and surgical expenses.

The majority of people that come to Singapore will have a certain level of group-health insurance through the company they work for. Most of the group plans however will be based on local health insurance which is quite different from the type of coverage we are used to back in the Netherlands. In some cases the group plan does not cover the cost of outpatient treatment (GP / Specialist), most of the times maternity, dental and optical are not included in the cover and occasionally only the employee is covered and the family members will have to arrange their own insurance plan.

What should you take note of when taking up additional health insurance?

Always check whether you are already covered under another policy before you buy a new one. The total benefit of an insurance policy is limited to your actual expenses. Taking up extra policies does not provide you with extra benefits, only extra costs. If your current group plan does not offer enough cover, you can opt for a private add-on plan with a high deductible to get yourself properly insured while minimizing duplicate cover.

Health insurance products usually do not cover any illness or disability you already have at the time you sign up. So, before you switch from one provider to another that promises better benefits or a lower premium, consider your current health status. Be aware that the new policy may not provide you with the same coverage if there was a change in your health status since you bought your current policy. Also do bear in mind that the definition of ‘pre-existing condition’ can vary from product to product. If you already have a medical condition, the insurer will decide whether to exclude this condition from the cover or to load your premium.

What is the difference between local and international health insurance?

International health insurance is specifically designed for Expats. It has a high level of flexibility and provides cover worldwide. It offers you full in-patient treatment in private hospitals. Another upside to taking out an international medical policy is its lifelong renewability option, meaning that your policy will never expire as long as you continue to renew, so you’ll have no worries about pre-existing conditions not being covered. You choose your level of outpatient treatment and have the option to add on maternity benefits (waiting periods apply).

Local health insurance is aimed at locals but there are plans available for foreigners as well that are worth considering, especially as a top up for a group plan. Private local plans usually only cover inpatient treatment and are limited in the amount you can insure yourself for compared to international plans.

Local policies will only cover treatment in Singapore while you are residing in Singapore, so they are not globally portable but most policies do offer emergency treatment worldwide. Pre-existing conditions will always be excluded and options like maternity, dental or optical are not available. The upside: the local plans are very competitive in price.

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Véronique Ruys-Sliepen is a certified financial consultant with over 12 years of experience in banking and financial planning. She provides tailored financial advice and wealth management solutions covering everything from health insurance until retirement planning. Contact her at 81600652 or vsliepen@globaleye.sg.

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New members introduce themselves Abel van Staveren

Margreet Compagner

We are back in Singapore after spending five years in Europe, mainly freelancing from our sailboat as well as stints in Zurich and Luxembourg. I have a location independent portfolio career running an investment fund and holding a number of non-executive board positions. Singapore is our base because my wife, Adrienne Kouwenhoven, is building a regional Forensic accounting advisory business here. Looking forward to being part of the ADB again; meeting new friends and re-connecting with old ones.

Edward van Geuns After visiting Singapore regularly, I have recently moved here together with my wife Karen Houtman and our twins Jacob and Otto. I have moved to Singapore in order to take over from Dieter Wolff as Resident Partner of the De Brauw Singapore office. Having attended the ADB Lustrum Seminar last May, it was absolutely clear to me that I should become a member. I look forward to meeting everybody, exchanging thoughts about Singapore and having fun while doing so.

Omar Salah I moved to Singapore in July 2015 for my work together with my girlfriend, Nathalie Bruijn, who is also working here. I am a corporate and finance lawyer at De Brauw Singapore (and a visiting professor in Islamic finance at IE Business School). Singapore has been great so far: the people, the weather and the food are absolutely amazing. My first meeting with the ADB was at its Lustrum Party on Sentosa beach – after that a membership was inevitable.

After starting our Asia adventure in Indonesia in 2014, we relocated to Singapore in November 2015. In Jakarta I worked as Manager HR South East Asia for Tebodin.

Since we are expecting our first daughter in January this year I’m currently enjoying my maternity leave, after which I’m looking forward to starting a new challenge in Singapore!

I expect that joining the ADB will help to create both professional and social opportunities with and for each other.

All new ADB members Abel van Staveren Annemiek van Leeuwen-Kuijsten Chris Stevenaar Edward van Geuns

Ivo Delfgaauw Maarten Diepenmaat Margreet Compagner Omar Salah

Rob Lamers Rob Puts Terrance Charles

Fairway Managment Services Pte Ltd NTS Group De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, Singapore Pte Ltd Grow Great People Statler Tebodin De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, Singapore Pte Ltd JCS Group Singapore Oce Technologies Asia Pte Ltd Allied World

EDITORIAL COMMITTEE

DESIGN & PrePress

Pleun Brevet, Chief Editor Claire Mutsaerts Jacinta Noonan Lisette Davis Katrijn de Ronde

Jennifer Phua

Email

© ADB (UEN: S90SS0097D).

The contents of this magazine are partly based on information received from third parties and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of ADB. The Committee does not take responsibility for the correctness of the articles.

MCI (P) 148/05/2015

magazine@adb.org.sg

Rob Puts Being “not so new in Singapore anymore” (together with my lovely wife Kim, my daughters Lotte & Linde, I moved 16 months ago to Singapore; our son Hidde has just been born!), I’m looking forward to joining ADB. Besides warm recommendations to join, I feel that sharing experiences with people of different backgrounds and interests can be very inspiring. As Managing Director of Oce Technologies Asia, I’m very keen on this potential of cross learning from different industries and other business models.

SECRETARIAT ADB

Wenneke Vrugt-Repko ADB Singapore c/o 541 Orchard Road, #13-01 Liat Towers, Singapore 238881 adb@adb.org.sg www.adb.org.sg

PRINT production

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Basic Design

Edenspiekermann Pte Ltd

To arrange a personal meeting please contact:

Freddy Meindertsma, MBA Senior Financial Consultant

Mobile: +65 9101 2605 | Direct Line: +65 6372 5745 Email: freddy.meindertsma@proinvest.com.sg

LIFESTYLE TAKES PLANNING • Business and Personal Insurances • Corporate and private Pension solutions

• Employee Benefit Schemes • Investment Advisory Services

SETTING THE PROFESSIONAL STANDARD FOR FINANCIAL ADVICE IN SINGAPORE 6 Shenton Way OUE Downtown 2 #09-08 Singapore 068809 | www.proinvest.com.sg 22

Upcoming events Women’s event

Fashion event

Thursday 10 March 2016

Thursday 10 March 2016

6pm – 7:30pm, followed by drinks

7pm – 9pm

Workshop: Personal Branding

Dress for Success

In today’s highly competitive market, personal branding

What does Business Casual, Smart Casual, Lounge Suit,

has become an important way to stand out from the crowd.

Business Standard mean in Singapore? What do you wear

It is not enough to just develop personally: you must also

in the various industries like Banking, Insurance, FMCG,

develop a brand (within your company and outside) Come

Consulting etc? Find out during the interactive workshop

to the workshop - given by Digne Consult and sponsored by

organized by Suitsupply for ADB members only. And

ABN AMRO, and leave with inspiration to create your own

there is not just going to be talk, there will also be models

personal brand!

showing the latest trends in this trendy city.

AGM Thursday 24 March 2016

ADB’s Annual General Meeting This year’s AGM, where the board will present the annual report and accounts over 2015. Following this, we would like to informally discuss the strategic goals for the next two years.

And, as is tradition, zuurkool and worst will be served to all participants.

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°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

Invasion

... By Kristel Zweers ...

I just came back from Phuket, one of my few trips to Russia. Other parts of Russia I’ve seen are Kuta – Bali and Mui Né -Vietman. Amazing to see how Russians don’t just go on a holiday but simply take over the whole area they’re staying in. They’re some kind of part-time colonists. They have their own restaurants, aisles in the supermarkets, dive shops and Russian translations of almost everything.

They haven’t been around for that long, yet as tourists they have already made it to the top of the ‘most annoying tourist charts’. They are louder than the Americans, out-drink the Australians and overrule the Chinese in uncivilized behavior. Being top of this list doesn’t seem to bother them in any way though. Nor does it really please them. Hard to tell what they feel. They’re a poker face nation. In their culture, a smile is seen as a sign of weakness. Maybe that’s why they collectively visit The Land of Smiles, to enhance their sense of superiority.

I can’t think of any other reason. They don’t show any interest in culture and ignore any kind of local etiquette. They’re mainly interested in themselves. Showing off their bodies in a little G-string, both men and women that is! I thought Putin was vain but that’s really a national pride.

No surprise they accelerate in another things as well: Russian women take more pictures of themselves than any other nationality. Where Singaporean men are reduced to being a purse-holder, Russian men are walking selfie-sticks to their counterparts. Taking the time and space to pose, you can’t miss that they are actually capable of a facial expression; they switch to a duckface in a click. A thing I doubted was possible considering the amount of Botox most of these ladies seem to consume.

They’re so full of plastic that I’m surprised they can stay out in the sun as long as they do without melting.

I realize this is turning into a pretty racist column and it’s weird to know it probably won’t hurt anyone’s feelings. In Europe there are more and more hotels and restaurants taking a stand against the “watch-howRussians-eat-your-food-and-pack-the-rest-for-lunch” experience at allinclusive resorts. The Russians might as well just put their chairs right at the buffet.

You can’t really blame them though. It hasn’t been that long since Russians had to queue for 5 hours to get a loaf of bread. So to see a whole room full of food, to them it must feel like they’ve won the jackpot.

As a result, hotels and restaurants now advertise with ‘Russian–free’ stays. As if they were gluten or MSG. You wouldn’t be able to do this to any other nation without having anti-racism activists screaming at you, but in this case nobody is showing any kind of protest. Not even the Russians themselves. They are too busy eating buffets in Phuket.

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… Amazing to see how Russians don’t just go on a holiday but simply take over the whole area they’re staying in. …

Small world, here I come

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