Christmas in our Gandmothers Castle

Christmas in Maastricht

Kerst in Leiden

Vertrek naar NL

regards, koert

Sent from my samsung omnia.

Student Questions and Answers

Balance after 2.5 yr in Singapore: we have become them

Now we have become Singapore Permanent Residents we also come to realize that we have changed drastically in our world view. Some of the symptoms:

1. We have started to think and talk in Singlish. We add ‘lah’ to sentences and leave subjects out of sentences.
2. We avoid beaches and sun, we rather go shopping in an air-conditioned malls
3. In elevators we don’t greet people. Silence is golden.
4. We think everything should be “topped up” otherwise we become outcast.
5. Ants and geckos have become part of our interior and we accept it
6. We crave for Xiao Long Bao after being back in Amsterdam for 2 days.
7. We are surprised to see construction sites that are not in operation during the wee hours. Standard practice is 24x7.
8. We think that $80 for a bottle of wine that costs $15 at home is a bargain.
9. We can distinguish peoples faces and names even if they are called Boon, Chenguan, Soo Kee, Li Yu, Lay Lim, Seng Kong, Xiao Xiao, Miao Miao, Ker Ling.
10. We get annoyed when we have to wait more than 5 min for a taxi or when it is not clear from the signs what is the average travelling time to a certain destination
11. We wait for instructions from people in authority before doing anything. Always.
12. We think that corn and beans are dessert foods.

* Some items are stolen from Richard Soemita who writes for ADB Magazine

Wandelingetje door Bukit Batok

Singtel - month 1

Singtel, the largest listed company in Singapore and has over 249 million customers in 8 markets. That  is something different from our Dutch pride, KPN. Like KPN the brand is very present is the daily lives of people living in the Red Dot. Streets, newspapers, commercials are all filled with Singtel’s promotions on mobile, broadband and TV services. Telecommunication in Singapore is a fierce market. Singtel is also proud sponsor of the Formula 1 in Singapore, so I hope to be getting good seats in September 2010 J

I am part of the Singtel strategy team. It is my responsibility to drive change within Singtel towards enhanced customer experience and customer centricity. It’s the way we listen to our customers, shape our value propositions, streamline our product portfolio and processes, reduce waste (all that is not contributing to customer value) and offer relevant and valuable customer experience throughout all touchpoints: marketing, sales channels (shop, call center, web), operations, network, customer service). In that capacity I have started to recruit a team to support me. The change needs to come from within, so my team and I will work very closely with all Customer Facing Units, both business and consumer.

For the first time in my career I have my own desk. With name-sign, fixed computer infrastructure, phone, whiteboard, drawers that can be locked and places to put/hang photo’s. And I have an assistant, Sharipah, that owns my agenda, organizes meetings, creates handouts for large meetings. For most people this kind of luxury is like commodity, but coming from management consultancy background that is a leap change. My desk is situated on what they call the CEO floor, between the Singapore CEO and the Group CEO. Of course such a floor is located high in the sky, looking over Orchard road and the rest of Singapore, further equipped with a private gym and a pantry lady, Helen. She serves coffee. On day one she pointed out to me that I was drinking coffee from the group CEO’s mug, something not a lot of people dare to do. Good start…

My colleagues are bright, dedicated and great to work with. Next step is to establish my favorite, the Friday afternoon beer. The first time I invited them over I was quite left on my own, even though I offered to pay the first round. I will not give on on this.

Monkeys on our Monkey Trail

The learning is in the doing

Als ze me iets geven dan volg ik deze strategie om erachter te komen wat het precies is:

1. Ik aanschouw het materiaal eerst en stel de kleur vast alvorens het aan te pakken.
2. Dan voel ik snel of iets te warm of te koud is. Als gevaarlijk dan snel loslaten.
3. Als OK dan test ik de ruwheid en adhesie door met mijn handen het oppervlak te bewerken.
4. Vervolgens test ik de elasticiteit, treksterkte en hardheid door er enthousist aan te trekken en te vouwen om materiaal moeiheid op te sporen.
5. Dan wil ik weten wat de traagheid en luchtweerstand coefficient is. Ik gooi het voorwerp zo ver mogelijk weg.
6. Als ze het dan weer terug geven dan test ik het op smaak en geur, door er intensief op te sabbelen.

Eens wat anders dan m'n verjaardag vieren bij de haard