ScandAsia Southeast Asia - October 2010

OCT 2010

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Finnish Compassion in Red Cross ScandAsia.dk

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Nordcham Christmas Party Date: FRI 3 December 2010 Nordic Chamber of Commerce in Ho Chi Minh City (Nordcham) invites you to join the best Christmas party in town on December 3rd! Don’t miss out on the annual Christmas Party where you can enjoy a traditional Scandinavian Christmas Party and meet up Scandinavian residents in Ho Chi Minh City. Bring your friends and colleagues for a fun and memorable evening!

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HIWC Annual Charity Bazaar 2010 Location: The Park Outside My Dinh Stadium Date: SUN 28 November 2010 On November 28th the Hanoi International Women Club (HIWC) will arrange the annual Charity Bazaar in the park outside My Dinh Stadium. Each year more than 30 embassies, 20 charitable organizations and 30 local businesses participate in this truly international event. For more information about the bazaar please please email Ellie YangDiep at Bazaar@hanoi-iwc.com.

The Bazaar is a fun and festive day for the whole family.

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Scandinavian Society Malaysia Family Christmas Party 2010

Scandinavian Golf Club Philippines President’s Cup

Date: SAT 11 December 2010

Location: Calatagan Golf Club Date: 6 - 7 (SAT - SUN) November 2010

To all the Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish and Danish families here in Malaysia, please bring your friends to this year’s Christmas Party on Saturday 11th December 2010. Please come and join for some local buffet lunch, singing and dancing around the Christmas tree, plenty of Christmas spirit and entertainment, goodie bags for the children. Even Santa Claus might show up if all the children have been good. Stay tuned at www. scandinaviansocietymalaysia.com.

Please remember to book your schedule at 6 - 7 November for the traditional President’s Cup in Calatagan ! Tee-Off Time is 09.00 AM. Please email Theresa at Coral Beach for reservations at admin@ coralbeach.ph.

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12:36:45 October 2010 • ScandAsia.South08/03/10 East Asia 5

Crayfish Party in Manila

I

n the Nordic countries, in the late summer from August to September, crayfish parties are generally celebrated with much fun and enjoyment. Called “Kråftskiva”, it is almost like a ritual where the freshly harvested crayfish is eaten and almost prayed over then watered down with large volumes of well chilled snaps (aquavit or vodka), beer and wine.

Scandinavian Society Philippines (SSP) has over 150 members and they have been celebrating this age old practice in Manila since 1997, just like in many parts of the world where Scandinavians find domicile. This year, more than 200 distinguished guests of varied nationalities, including the Swedish general consul of the Philippines, joined the SSP to experience and celebrate this intriguing food and drink degustation.

Member flags from Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, and the Philippines; funny hats, colorful bibs, smiling moon shaped lanterns, decorate the ballroom of the Marriott Hotel on 25 September 2020. Singing drinking Nordic songs whilst feasting on the Crayfish and smörgåsbord spread of Baked Oysters, Dill Marinated Salmon (Gravlax), Herring, cold cuts, assorted cheeses, Baked Ham, Assorted Quiche, Swedish Meatballs, Wiener sausages, Janssons Temptation and sumptuous desserts ... was the main feature for the night.

Following the karaoke-like prompt from the Scandinavian side, many of the other guests of different nationalities came forward to share their popular drinking songs from their homeland. Guests from Mexico, Ireland, Italy, France, Canada, Wales, the UK and the US, sang to the audience delight. Then followed some fun games and raffle draw of close to 400,000 pesos worth of prizes and dancing all night.

Generous sponsors included El Nido, Wayfair Tours, Werdenberg Int’l (I’m Angus Steakhouse, Chesa Bianca, Carpaccio), Marriott Manila, The Farm, Magallanes Square Hotel, The Manila Club, David’s Salon, Jeepney Tours, Coral Beach Club, Valhalla Bistro, Boracay Strand, Sheridan Resorts, Tara Event Management, Gastro Chef, Picasso Serviced Apartments, Asian Tigers Lane Moving and Storage, Tower Club, Ayala Land, Brasserie Boheme, Apo Reef Club, Howzat, Microtel Hotels, Chef Laudico Bistro Filipino, Union Jack Tavern, Action Asia, Retail Software Associates, Big Apple Dive Resort, Nirvana Hotel Boracay, Pevonia, Scandinavia Trend, Via Travel Marine Inc., Asia Spa, l’entrecote, Handlebar Bar and Grill, Sun Cruises, HanCa Designs, Sun Cruises, Flushing Meadows and Commercial Freight Forwarders.

Many look forward to next year’s Crayfish Party with enthusiasm. Also, after the highly supported raffle of the Crayfish party, a charitable organization will now stand to benefit from the proceeds of the raffle. Meantime, the SSP will start planning for the Scandinavian Christmas Party on December 4 where traditional Scandinavian Holiday fare shall once again be served, the Lucia Fest will be celebrated and Julenisse will come to visit and distribute gifts to the SSP kids.

Then next year, SSP will celebrate “Kråftskiva” again when the crayfish is harvested!

Till then, “Skål” to everyone for a very well attended and successful Crayfish Party 2010!

For more information about Scandinavian Society Philippines, please check out: www.ssp.org.ph

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1) From left to right, Lea Stroem, Magnus Gall, Nila Layug, Tet Osmena.

2) SSP friends and members 3) From left to right, Chito Limcaoco, Swedish General Consul of the Phil. Carla Limcaoco, Jenny and Harald Frydenlund, Elin Kuehner, Vina Matanagas and Apple Lina from El Nido.

6 ScandAsia.South East Asia • October 2010

4) From left to right, SSP Executive Committee: Rey Trias, Janne Zibell, Bo Lundquist, Elin Kuehner, Magnus Gall, Paulette Javier, Karin Restorp, Marites Pastorfide, Orjan Pettersson, Lea Stroem

SWEA Kuala Lumpur Crayfish Party

T

he New Ambassador to Sweden, Per Arne Hjelmborn and his wife Annette recently moved to Kuala Lumpur from Beijing. Generously they opened their home to The Swedish Women’s Educational Association (SWEA) for their annual crayfish party. This year it was held on the 4th of September. Members arrived for a cocktail from 7 to 8 followed by dinner and dancing finishing by 1am.

All the guests enjoyed the crayfish, the snaps the delicious apple cake.

The crayfish were sponsored by Asian Tigers and Emborg provided cheese for all the tables! Spirits were high and guests even took the opportunity to practice som Snaps visor!

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1) Swea Member Lee Eng and her friends were enjoyed crayfish.

2) Helen Hurtig 3) Maria Norstedt och Elisbeth Sjöblom 4) Per Arne Hjelmborn and Annette Hjelmborn 5) Crayfish

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MNBC Waterhole Networking Session

T

he Malaysia Norway Business Council organized the Waterhole Networking Session at Norwegian Ambassador’s Residence on September 23rd. 100 guests joined this event.

“I was amazed by how many people attended, we were about 100 guests who joined the Waterhole Networking session.” said Benedicte Slaatta, the Executive Director of MNBC.» “Special thanks Mr. N. Rajasegaran, a former Chairman of the Industrial Court of Malaysia, who spoke about Expatriate Contract of Employment in Malaysia.” She added.

1) Mr. N. Rajasegaran who was the guest speaker.

2) Mr. Oyvind Bjorkhaug, Chairman of MNBC had welcome speech.

3) Ms. Marianne Bones (middle), Mr. Richard Boggon (right) and friend.

4) Bjarte Olsen (middle) accompanied by business acquaintances.

5) Mr. Oyvind Bjorkhaug (left) received the guest, Mr. Suffian Sulaiman, and Mr. Mohd Syazlie Mohd Ghazali.

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October 2010 • ScandAsia.South East Asia

7

Finnish Compassion in Since his first experience with the Red Cross in 1985, Heikki Väätämöinen’s involvement with the organization has turned into a life long passion.

25 years later, he is still amazed at how powerful the Red Cross really is, and knowing he is able to make a difference is what keeps him going.

By Katrine Sigvardt

A

t first glance, Heikki Väätämöinen looks like an ordinary man with an ordinary job, but when a disaster hits anywhere in the South East Asia region and governments find themselves and their capacities overwhelmed, he kicks into super gear and comes to the rescue.

Heikki Väätämöinen is the Red Cross’ International Operations Coordinator at the Head Quarters in Malaysia. He coordinates international responses for large scale natural disasters. And he loves it.

Getting involved It all began in 1985, when Heikki attended Red Cross camp in Finland.

Shortly after, he was invited to a youth group meeting where pictures from the trip would be shown.

Heikki decided to go – unaware that that meeting would change his life forever.

That night, he got more than just a slide show. He learned the recovery position and how to perform CPR and, being a boy scout with an interest in such things, he was hooked.

8 ScandAsia.South East Asia • October 2010

“It just escalated from there and I became a Red Cross volunteer,” Heikki says.

In 1991-92, during his first Red Cross professional overseas experience in Romania, he started considering working with the organization more permanently.

The job there made it clear to him that this would be his future line of work, however, the road from young volunteer to professional International Disaster Response Coordinator was a long one and it brought him around the world where natural disasters had struck and left civilizations in ruins and thousands of people without homes.

In September 2008, he was hired permanently with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent societies in Malaysia.

Discipline and tional skills

organiza-

The Red Cross is known worldwide as a humanitarian organization and to some the fact that many of the people employed there have a military background may come as a surprise. That is however the case and

according to Heikki Väätämöinen there is a good reason for that: “We coordinate large scale disaster response operations and define the needs in the affected area in the form of money, relief items, blankets, water containers or a combination of all those things. Our rescue missions have to be carried out in an organized, almost military, manner.”

Heikki himself is no exception.

In 2004, he graduated from military college in Finland and he is actually a trained officer for armed tank crews, which he believes makes him more qualified for his daily work with the Red Cross.

No need for volunteers Because of the very organized manner in which operations are carried out, Heikki often has to turn down especially expats when they offer to help out at the scene of the emergency.

“The expats who volunteer mean well, but I need to explain to them that coming with us would probably make it more difficult for the trained professionals to do their job.”

Red Cross Asia Pacific He uses the cyclone that hit the Philippines in September last year to illustrate his point. The capacity of the local community and the Philippine Red Cross was overwhelmed, which was why Red Cross Asia Pacific had to step in.

“The cyclone happened on a Saturday. Nobody was able to move because of the floods and the scale of the destruction, and we could not get access to the thousands of people who had been displaced for days. When we did get in, though, we were able to distribute aid materials within 20 hours. On Monday afternoon at 1 p.m., a plane carrying 100 tons of relief items took off from Malaysia. It landed in the Philippines at 5 p.m. The next afternoon at 3, water, sanitation kits, mosquito nets, blankets and so on were distributed.”

It made a huge difference that the crew was trained and professional. According to Heikki, well meaning volunteers might end up slowing down the aid process because they are not familiar with the organized way in which the Red Cross operates.

He encourages the people who really want to help out to collect money instead.

“We welcome any assistance we can get, and if people want to help out, then collecting money really is the best way to go. The extra funds will make our job easier in the long run and we will be able to distribute it where and when it is needed.”

However, people also have the option of contributing through their own country’s national society.

“They welcome people as members and that is probably the easiest way to participate and support. During big disasters, they usually initiate collections for funds. One can participate in that,” he says.

“You can’t save everyone” The biggest strength of the Red Cross is according to Heikki, that it is able to react fast and efficiently, and he still thinks it is amazing that aid to a large number of people can arrive only a few days after the disaster has struck.

“The Red Cross is a big organization and because of our size we can respond and come to the rescue in this way. I don’t know of any other organization that can do that,” he says and adds:

“The worst thing is when you know you can’t do anything. That happened to me in Myanmar. I used to work there and in 2004, I watched from a distance as I knew the tsunami was coming but couldn’t save everyone. The people in areas I once worked were going to die and that was hard,” says Heikki Väätämöinen.

“That is why I work here,” he says. “When people really need help, we can make the difference.”

There is however a downside to disaster relief related work. Seeing the results of disasters on a daily basis can take its toll and therefore it is necessary to keep a professional distance and deal with one victim at a time.

“The worst thing is when you know you can’t do anything. That happened to me in Myanmar. I used to work there and in 2004, I watched from a distance as I knew the tsunami was coming but couldn’t save everyone. The people in areas I once worked were going to die and that was hard,” he says but explains that it is the good experiences where he has made a difference to an individual that are the most memorable. One little boy in particular has left a big impression on him.

The Iranian boy In 2003, Heikki Väätämöinen was sent to Iran as a Technical Delegate.

It was just after Christmas and a massive earthquake had hit the Bam

region. Heikki worked with radio transmission, and one day, the office received a radio request for urgent assistance in a delivery room where a little boy had been born prematurely. The boy would die if he was not immediately placed in an incubator, but because of the circumstances, none was available.

Heikki and his technical colleague had to improvise – fast. They quickly constructed a plywood box in which they installed heat bulbs. It was a close call but they made it, and a few days later, the boy and his mother were released from the hospital – both in good shape.

“Those are the moments to remember,” he says. “It is all about that personal connection. My job normally consists of large numbers and masses of people. I can’t look at them as individuals.”

“But I helped that one little boy to a good start in life. I hope he is well.”

and get into the field and witness the results of some of the most horrific natural disasters.

But he does it without complaining, and he says that the biggest reward is seeing the faces of the families when they receive the aid packets and knowing he has made a difference for them.

He concludes: “You could say that this is my passion. My job is not just a profession. I love what I do and I do it because I care. That’s it.”

A passion Heikki Väätämöinen is on call 24 hours a day. When something happens, he has to be ready to leave October 2010 • ScandAsia.South East Asia

9

Right Man for the Job After two and a half years based in Geneva, Switzerland, Ole Hamre is back in Singapore meaning to take SEB’s private banking operation to a new level in Asia.

By Thomas Lykke Pedersen

A

t the 36th floor of the Singapore Land Tower the Head of SEB Private Banking in Asia, Mr. Ole Hamre, is sitting in the big conference room.

Already in a comfortable leather chair he puts his one leg up and slowly slides back in his seat.

Observing Ole Hamre and hearing about his life, one instantly get the feeling that the tall Norwegian has found the perfect balance between being a successful businessman and a laid back family father. And how does he do it? It is all about the commitment.

Asian focus Ole Hamre returning to Singapore is part of a bigger plan to put SEB into a new Asian era and the 41year-old Scandinavian is just the man to do it.

“I was asked if I would take on this challenge making the private banking operation evolve into the next level. Of course it’s a big compliment being brought back like that,” he says. And the General Manager is not only proud to be back in Singapore, he is also very happy. Both professionally and personally.

“We are so privileged being able to experience the Asian culture and way of life. Singapore is a great place for both business and pleasure. It’s so structured and streamlined and the country is almost run company-like. I tend to call it Disneyland with death

penalty. But it’s a positive place full of opportunities,” says Ole Hamre.

The job description is basically the same this time around, but the SEB team is different from when Ole Hamre left two and a half years ago.

The boss has great confidence in the new constellation, though.

“I really believe in the guys here and the Bank’s regional potential.

And at the same time we receive full support from the top management making everybody willing to go that extra mile,” says Ole Hamre with an almost eager voice.

As more and more Scandinavian businesses and private investors has put an increasing focus on the fastgrowing Asian market, SEB has done the same.

“Our Nordic home market clients have become increasingly international in mind set and behaviour. Therefore we need to adapt our offering, competence and approach on the global and domestic arena,” says the Oslo-born Ole Hamre.

Singapore Agreement After eight years in Singapore, Ole Hamre was in 2008 made head of SEB in Switzerland. Thus the family pulled up their Singapore stakes and moved to the European birthplace of international private banking, Geneva.

A change in location that suited everybody. Ole’s wife, Severine, is French so once again Switzerland did what it does best and served as neutral grounds, this time giving easy access

10 ScandAsia.South East Asia • October 2010

to the family’s two home countries.

“It was a welcomed chance to return to Europe, and had I not accepted back then, there would have been big protests at home,” Ole Hamre laughs out.

And he does not make a secret of his surprise when he only two years later was contacted by SEB senior management proposing him to return to the small Asian city state.

“At first we were relatively happy about the new Singapore offer, let’s put it that way,” he says with a smile.

Ole Hamre and his family were really thriving in Switzerland and that very concern was the biggest of issues.

“You see a lot of “corporate gypsies” following their company around staying a few years here and a few years there. They never have a real chance to settle and that’s very tough on the families,” he states.

But as an eventual return to Singapore was considered, it became clear that the opportunity was to great not to be accepted, besides their regional network was still strong making the second transition more smooth.

“Having an integrated family is paramount and I’m blessed with a wife that has a fantastic ability to quickly adapt. As for my two sixyear-old twins, they just embraced the opportunity to swim all year round,” says Ole Hamre emphasizing that going back to Singapore was a completely joint decision.

The commitment Through a tight collaboration with their branches back in the Nordic home market as well as various new initiatives, setting up asset management operations being one, SEB in Singapore is right now working extremely hard to obviate the increasing client demand for Asian competencies and investments.

“The key to our business will always be our origin. So only when working closely together with our colleagues in Scandinavia can we truly match our different concepts to the different client profiles,” says Ole Hamre.

“We are not the biggest in the class but we are big enough as an organization to offer a global platform of competencies and investment opportunities. Yet we are small enough to be really close our costumers, which is one of our biggest strengths,” he adds.

Right now the duration of Ole Hamre’s contract in Singapore is five years, after which the plan is to return to Switzerland. But nothing is certain in the world of banking as the intentional two-year stay in Singapore some ten years ago became eight instead.

“There are no guarantees in life, what you make of it is up to you. The most important thing is to always feel and stay committed. And that’s exactly what I do both personally and professionally,” Ole Hamre says in a tone of voice that leaves no doubt.

“Private Banking makes life easier.”

The only Nordic Private Bank in Asia Pacific. www.sebgroup.com/privatebanking Tel: +65 63570895 E-mail: singapore@sebprivatebanking.com.sg 50 Raffles Place #36-01, Singapore Land Tower, Singapore 048623 210x148.5_2010-04-01.indd 1

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Ambulances to Laos and Hm Lars Heiselberg, 35, lost his heart to the Laotian people during a backpacker trip to Laos almost ten years ago.

Since then he has helped the poor country with many different things from ambulances and training in first aid to selling of Laotian toy elephants in Denmark.

By Bjarne Wildau

L

ars Heiselberg was working as a paramedic at Falck in Aarhus in Denmark, when he came to Laos on his first trip to Asia as a backpacker. The poverty, that he saw, made a deep impression on him and he decided to do something to help alleviate it.

“I knew that Falck in my hometown had some old ambulances, but they were still ten or twenty times better than the ambulances I saw in Vientiane in Laos. That’s how my

relationship with Mahosot Hospital in Vientiane in Laos started”, the former paramedic says.

Back in Denmark he talked to his colleagues, and the Falck management.

“They were all positive to the idea and within a short time we founded “Team Laos” consisting mostly of paramedics like my self.

Some retired mechanics from Falck gave the cars an overhaul, but the biggest challenge was to finance the transportation of the two ambu-

lances.”

“I had to find a huge amount and it scared me that the whole project would fall apart if I did not find the money. But when I gave it a try it actually only took me a couple of days to ffindd all the donations, I needed.”

From then on Team Laos started looking for more ways to help to the Mahosot Hospital in Laos. Every time Lars found some second-hand equipment in Denmark it was the same people who made the reno-

vation, the same people who once again managed to ship the stuff to Laos at a considerable cost.

Five years after the first two ambulances went off to Laos the Danish paramedic got the idea to get another ambulance to Laos.

“But this time I would drive the ambulance all way to Laos!”

Lars knew he couldn't do it alone, so he had to find people who wanted to go with him. Then a journalist joined in.

“Step by step it all developed

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mong Elephants to Denmark in to a big happening. Instead of normal ambulances we found two four-wheeler’s. Then I got a sponsor deal with Metro Express. Readers in several countries followed our Team Laos for weeks,” Lars recalls.

But Lars wasn’t satisfied yet. His Laotian colleagues lacked education about their work. Driving the cars was not a problem. But the way the accident victims were handled before they reached the hospital was a huge problem.

“We needed some equipment to support the patient when you take them from the street into the ambulances. Sort of a stretcher.

But it would take to much money to bring them from Denmark. So I went to a technical school in Vientiane, involved the headmaster, the teachers and the students, and finally I managed to make them produce the equipment, we needed.”

“When he started training the ambulance drivers, a few surprise students turned up – they were drivers for the Laotian presidents who were assigned to learn how to take good care of their president if something unfortunate happened”, Lars Heiselberg says, who made a habit of visiting Laos at least once a year.

Back in Denmark Team Laos grew. Lars mentions so many names of people, who over the years have supported the team, that it is impossible to mention everyone.

Among the sponsors is a Danish pharmaceutical company selling everything from cloves to medicine.

When the goods got close to the expiry date they would donate it to his team. And when he had enough

to fill a container, he would call the very same shipping contact that took care of the first two ambulances.

“You can say that rubber gloves are very cheap. But even in Laos three pairs of gloves cost one US dollar. Over the last years we have brought more than 1.3 mio. gloves to Laos, thanks to our sponsors”, says Lars, who does what ever he can to keep the operation moving forward.

In the beginning Lars had to finance his travelling to Laos by him

self by now he is supported by the Danish government organisation Danida through MS - Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke.

“No business class and no five star hotels - I am staying in the same small guesthouse in Vientiane as I have always done,” Lars Heiselberg laughs.

During his latest trip to Laos in December 2009, the Dane got the idea do more for the Laotians,.

“I found some small elephants done by Hmong women. They are extremingly cute. And if I could sell the small toys with a feel good feeling, a kind of lucky charm, it would give people more than just the opportunity to give some money but something sustainable. I would sell the charms for 200 DKK, and the profit would go to poor Laotian peoples operations and treatment.

So that’s what he did. Ordered several hundreds of the elephants, and after he returned to Denmark waiting for the elephants to arrive, he convinced a small bank in Denmark to provide the elephants to their costumers.

When you read this, the first donation raised by these elephants has already landed in Laos.

October 2010 • ScandAsia.South East Asia

13

One With Nature Human Body and Soul Becoming One with Nature – Core Theme for Artist Richard Winkler

By Joakim Persson

ing places for artists – Ubud and Yogyakarta, of which his wife suggested they should opt for Bali, as the more happening place of the two. They moved there and set up business based on Richard’s artistic talent combined with his wife’s marketing and communications skills.

Found new inspiration An art director by profession, Richard has been sketching and drawing ever since he was a child. On Bali he started studying the traditional art in Ubud and doing sketching.

“That started influencing my paintings too; I found something common with the way in which I paint, from dark to light etc. All traditional paintings here work that way.”

“I had found a Balinese postcard with a painting and I thought that if I could recreate it but with my own way of painting, it would open up a whole new world for me.”

W

hen you see the paintings and sculptures of the Swedish artist Richard Winkler it seems his new life in Southeast Asia was pre-destined.

Here you have a Swedish man who married his Indonesian pen pal and ends up sharing his artistic life with her on Bali in Indonesia. There is definitely something tropical and Balinese about his striking paintings.

“I didn’t know really where I was moving, I was heading for the tropics. I only knew for sure that I had found the woman in my life, and loved the tropics,” recalls Richard when we sit in his home in Sanur and talk about how it all happened.

Pen-pal correspondence was the norm back in the 1990’s as a way to seek new friends abroad.

That was before we had Facebook and other social webbased media.

And that was how Richard initially met his wife, Regine.

When they eventually met in person it was on Sri Lanka, the first tropical destination that Richard had started visiting. There they fell in love, and, as they say, the rest is history.

For Richard this tropical island was inspiring and he assumed that Indonesia could not be so much different from Sri Lanka.

He had looked at two interest14 ScandAsia.South East Asia • October 2010

By studying this, sketching and trying to transform all figures into his own forms, making it less detailed and clearer, he turned it into his own art – which then also consequently changed.

“This is my interpretation, my version of the traditional Balinese art,” explains Richard whose art incorporates the human body as main motif.

“The environment is inspired by Bali for sure; the rice fields, mountains etc. And all the people doing things and labour work, and the women are influences from here that has entered into my paintings.”

For Richard, everything started out from the body. Even before he came to Bali, he had almost entirely focused on painting bodies although in a more abstract way.

Traumatic childhood “Maybe I am so pre-occupied with the human body because I have an

unusual genetic, skeleton disease.

What happened to me as a child was that tumours started growing on my bones near muscles and they would keep doing that until the body is fully grown. To treat this disease, you must undergo operations.

I did nine. This is quite traumatic for a child, so I became very conscious – and fascinated – about the human body,” Richard reveals.

But he has also beautiful memories from his childhood.

“I grew up near an old garden, a wild garden where flowers of various kinds grew. I loved flowers and fruits, so I played there and I was happy there and forgot all the problems I had with my body.”

‘When analyzing I can relate to these events in my childhood and somehow I try to find the balance there where the human body and the soul becomes one, one with nature.”

“I was very aware as a child that

I had a body and that my soul was separate, something else. I almost had to, since I had a body suffering from pain.”

Going back to abstracts “Before moving to Bali I was very much into abstract bodies and figurines. After coming here, all of a sudden they had faces, hands, and they started doing things, there were animals etc. Now, in recent times I have started going back to the abstract bodies, playing around more with the forms; which is also what I started with sculptures.”

As for sculptures this is a natural continuation of his idea of getting his three-dimensional figures translated into a three-dimensional form that could be touched.

“It has been a process where I started carving in stones. Then I tried with clay and finally tried with plaster and that works well.”

“I sometimes still mix but focus on the body and trying to de-feature it. I wish that also my sculptures could become more abstract, complicated; playing more with the forms. So that is more my direction lately, but I still have my style that I think will follow me for a long time.”

So far he has enjoyed great success, only producing art at his own pace – spending up to a month on one large painting. Thus the price tag is then also high.

October 2010 • ScandAsia.South East Asia

15

Expanding Environmental Consultant The Danish-owned IEN Consultants works with energy-saving buildings in Kuala Lumpur. The company has now also established itself in Singapore and Indonesia is the next target.

By Morten Scheelsbeck

P

oul Erik Kristensen is the owner of IEN Consultants, a consulting firm which advises construction companies in Malaysia and since January this year also in Singapore on how to create buildings that are more energy efficient. Savings of up to 50 percent on electricity bills is not unheard of.

"Despite the financial crisis and general downturn in the construction market it has been going forward for IEN Consultants," the Danish owner says.

“Things are going quite well and I must say that we’re doing pretty good,” Poul Erik Kristensen says.

Great opportunities in Malaysia Poul Erik Kristensen graduated as an engineer in 1977 from Aalborg in Denmark. He first came to Malaysia in 2000 as part of a work he had started with his Danish company and immediately saw great opportunities in the country.

In January 2001 he moved to Malaysia permanently and realized his life long dream: "I have always been very interested in energy savings. First it was about solar power, and in the 70s we all thought that the sun would save the world. But during the 80s more and more acknowledged that there was an incredible amount of energy to be saved in buildings," explains the director Back in Denmark, he has worked as a research assistant at the Technical University of

Denmark for five years and then in 15 years as head of Energy R&D in the Copenhagen branch of Esbensen Consulting Engineers from Sønderborg Denmark.

Companies want a green profile IEN Consultants stands for Independent Energy Networker. The plan with the company was at first to work with small, interesting projects. But when IEN won a large government project in Kuala Lumpur he decided to move the company to Malaysia.

Initially IEN only advised on how buildings could save on electricity bills, but since 2001 it has gone forward for the company, which gets more and more work to do.

“The company is currently involved in ecolabelling of buildings in addition to consultancy on energy efficiency in buildings. Large companies wants today to have their buildings certified as green and energy saving. A recent example is Shell, which even had it as a requirement for their new office in Kuala Lumpur that it had to achieve the LEED Gold environmental certificate from the US Green Building Council," says Poul Erik Kristensen.

"The trend is now that the big firms come to us to get environment-saving buildings and offices.

It helps to give companies a green profile and a good image, and it also ensures that the energy costs are kept in a low level for many years to come," says Poul Erik Kristensen.

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16 ScandAsia.South East Asia • October 2010

ST Diamond Building in Putrajaya, Malaysia, which is under construction right now. The architect behind the building is Professor Soontom from Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur NR Architects, the developer is Putrajaya Perdana Behad Malaysia, and IEN Consultants has been responsible for the environmental advice.

Future in Indonesia

Singapore office

The company is currently working on a project in Indonesia together with Danish Energy Management. The project is funded by DANIDA, the Danish International Development Assistance.

The overall goal of the project is to promote energy efficiency in buildings in Indonesia, and the task of IEN Consultants is to demonstrate the technical and economical feasibility of energy efficient buildings in Indonesia by designing two full scale demonstration projects.

At first, IEN Consultants is responsible for an energy retrofit conversion of one floor of a government building owned by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources in Jakarta. It is simple renovation to show that energy consumption in existing buildings can be reduced by at least 50%.

Subsequently, IEN Consultants will head the energy design of a new office building to demonstrate energy efficiency in new buildings in Indonesia.

"Demonstration buildings are alpha-omega in this part of the world. They want to see energy efficiency in buildings in practice before they believe it is working. That is how it is here, but it is also excellent for us. We learn from it ourselves," says Poul Erik Kristensen, who believes that they can transfer their experience from Malaysia to Indonesia. It is the same climate, about the same price and same way of working: "Therefore, we have a natural advantage, I think. If it goes according to plan, we may look into opening a permanent office in Indonesia."

In Singapore, IEN Consultants opened a permanent office in January 2010.

"We will have two jobs down there, so we must employ at least one more in the company.

Additionally, one from the Kuala Lumpur department will be attached the new office on parttime basis," says the Danish director, and explains about the Singaporean market: "Singapore is an interesting market for us, because the Singaporean government is now requiring all new buildings to be certified as environmentally friendly. We have plenty to do here in Kuala Lumpur, but we may have even more to do in Singapore. The ambition is that we will bite us into both the Singaporean and Indonesian markets."

Good times through crisis The big question is how the situation surrounding the markets regarding the financial crisis has had an impact on businesses wanting to pay extra for environmentally friendly buildings. Poul Erik Kristensen says that he has felt some close-fistedness on the market, but IEN Consultants has still gone up this year: "The crisis has obviously affected the property market, but investors and developers interest in green building has remained fairly stable. They would still like to assert themselves and be among the first to invest in eco-efficient buildings," he explains, and continues: "The boom in eco-efficient buildings had come

under all circumstances, because corporate customers now have that demand. The crisis may have delayed some plans, but they begin to come back now."

Not an ideological crusade The construction sector contributes with 30 percent of the world's CO2 emissions, so it is an area where you can really see the changes. But is it business or idealism, which is the motive power behind the eco-fixated company?

"It is both money and idealism. I will not become rich by selling myself or my employees on an hourly basis, but it is very interesting to me," the Dane says.

And especially in Malaysia the figures can be moved. In Denmark we are talking about making incremental improvements on energy efficiency in buildings, because so much have already been done over the last three decades. However in Malaysia and in SE Asia at large, we can achieve 50 – 70% savings: "It makes it of course even more interesting when you can make major differences," Poul Erik Kristensen says, and finishes: "We are not engaged in an ideological crusade, but our attitude is that it is an important place to do something good for the environment, while it is an interesting job because you can really make a difference. Of course, we also need to earn a living, but when you also feel good about what you're doing, so it is extra good."

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