Star Bamboo Singapore

So now I continue part 2 of the Norway report (part 1 can be found here).

There’re more leisure photos here. Enjoy!

The trade show was also a time to learn and absorb new ideas. The above series of booths is a fantastic marketing concept by a flooring company.

It tells the story of a man who bore a deep hatred against his boss. One night, he killed him in a violent struggle. Can you see the knife on the bed with the red blood stains?

So what has this got to do with flooring, you might ask?

According to the eloquent sales manager, the flooring they sell is hardy and could withstand the impact of the struggle. It is also easy to maintain, and stains (including blood stains) wipe off easily.

Desperate to conceal his crime, the murderer dug a hole beneath the wooden floor.

This engineered wood flooring comes with a click system, which makes it easy for quick assembly and removal. Just what you need when you have a corpse to bury.

It’s controversial and got many tongues wagging at the show. Success!

The organisers also organised a few mini concerts to whip up interest in the general public. This one is by a highly popular contestant at the recent Norway Idol show.

She didn’t win but you can see why she is so popular.

Here’s a view from my hotel room. The row of black buildings in front has 3 restaurants, we tried them all. Food is expensive but quality is uniformly excellent.

This is reindeer steak. Tastes like beef and literally melts in your mouth.

A quick shot in front of the convention centre. You can see the houses dotting the hillside, such a lovely sight and worlds apart from the urban jungle that is Singapore.

A jaunt to the marina where a gorgeous rainbow awaits us.

Captain of his ship, charting the course to higher profits.

Well, that’s all for now. It’s been a wonderful experience, with new friends and contacts made. We’ll certainly be devoting much more time to the Europe market from now on.

Till next time!

This is my post for Blog Action Day.

If you’re reading this blog, you’re probably concerned about the environment and the adverse impact human activities have on it.

You are careful not to waste resources such as:

• water – you turn off the tap when you’re brushing your teeth, and take showers instead of baths.
• electricity – you switch off the lights when you’re leaving a room.
• petrol – you switch off the car engine when waiting for more than a minute

etc.

So how did you come to care about the environment?

When I was young, we’ve had all sorts of campaigns to encourage people to conserve resources. There were colourful posters saying how if everyone saved just one drop of water a day, we’d save millions of litres of water every year in Singapore.

But there was always doubt in my mind, how much impact would I have when people around me don’t seem to care?

Water and electricity are priceless resources, which out of necessity, are affordable. The trouble comes when we judge the value of a good by its price. Water is so cheap, what’s the harm in wasting a few litres every day? After all I can afford it.

One day I realised that it’s about doing the right thing. It just feels wrong to be wasting a precious resource such as petrol or clean water. The fact that some people do so is not a reason for me to follow suit.

I guess the message from the endless campaigns did filter into my consciousness in the end.

For the past few years, the campaigning focused largely on cutting CO2 emissions. It must have struck a significant chord with people because Al Gore just won a Nobel Peace Prize for his energetic advocacy against global warming.

Of course, fighting global warming isn’t just about CO2 emissions but a simple message is much more memorable.

So my message to you is simple as well: Buy eco-friendly products whenever possible.

The Green Label scheme is a good place to start (our bamboo flooring is listed under “Recycled/Renewable Materials”).

Global warming is the flavour of the month, just like famines in Africa back in the 1980s.

I hope we will all continue to care for the environment after the hype and hoopla die down.

Al Gore is the former-VP of USA-turned activist behind the hit documentary An Inconvenient Truth.

Now riding the wave of momentum is another film preaching the perils of global climate change: The 11th Hour.

It’s the latest film from the-actor-turned-activist, Leonardo Di Caprio.

The SEC is organising a charity gala première screening to raise awareness, and funds for its volunteer arm. I’ll be there as I think it’s a good cause to support.

Besides, it got a pretty respectable rating of 6.6/10 on IMDb. Should be pretty entertaining.

If you see me, do pop over to say hi!

More information below:

The Singapore Environment Council and Warner Bros. Pictures cordially invite you to attend

THE 11TH HOUR CHARITY GALA PREMIERE TO HELP REDUCE CARBON EMISSIONS

The 11th Hour

Date : 23 October 2007 (Tuesday)
Time : 7:30pm (Running time: 93 minutes)
Venue : Shaw Lido, Level 5 Shaw House, 350 Orchard Road
Tickets: Priced at S$30 or S$50

Proceeds of the premiere will go to the Green Volunteers Network (GVN), the volunteer arm of SEC.
SYNPOSIS

The 11th Hour describes the last moment when change is possible. The film explores how humanity has arrived at this moment – how we live, how we impact the earth’s ecosystems, and what we can do to change our course.

The film features dialogues with experts from all over the world, including former Soviet Prime Minister Mikhail Gorbachev, renowned scientist Stephen Hawking, former head of the CIA R. James Woolsey and sustainable design experts William McDonough and Bruce Mau in addition to over 50 leading scientists, thinkers and leaders who present the facts and discuss the most important issues that face our planet.

Narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio, The 11th Hour is produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, Leila Conners Petersen, Chuck Castleberry and Brian Gerber, written and directed by Leila Conners Petersen and Nadia Conners.

Website: www.11thhourfilm.com

IMPORTANT

For Charity Gala Premiere bookings, kindly RSVP to:

Joe Lim
Singapore Environment Council
T: +65 6337 6062
DID: +65 6468 7681
joe@sec.org.sg

The SEC is a non-government, non-profit environmental organisation, as well as a registered charity and Institution of Public Character. Help support SEC’s work to protect, preserve and conserve our fragile Earth today. Make a donation at www.sec.org.sg/support. Thank you.

Part 1

Yes I know I’ve been tardy with the photos from our trade show in Norway, but things have been really hectic the past week.

It feels like people in many countries have simultaneously woken up to the wonderful properties of our eco-friendly bamboo flooring.

Anyway, I’ve managed to figure out what “Bygg Reis Deg” really means (No, it’s not “Big Rise Day”).

• Bygg - Building
• Reis - To construct
• Deg - You

So it loosely means “building and construction for you”, an apt name for the largest building materials fair in Norway.

OK, on to the photos!

When I say that Bygg Reis Deg 2007 is the largest show of its kind in Norway, I wasn’t kidding.

Just check out the crowds above at one of the two entrances.

The numbers increased every day, and the grand total at the end of 6 days was well over 60,000.

This is an astonishing figure because the fee is 120NOK (or S$32) for 1-day entry pass. Many trade shows I’ve attended before would struggle to meet this figure even if entry was free. This speaks volume of their passion for building and renovation.

This is our lovely booth, with bamboo flooring installed, of course.

“Stjerne Gulv” literally means “Star Floors” in Norwegian, which is a direct translation from Star Bamboo.

“Bambusgulv” = “Bamboo flooring”. Not too hard to guess, but hard to pronounce.

Our regular visitors and customers would probably recognise the cover photo from our web site and brochure.

Norwegians are very hands-on people – even the bamboo flooring was a DIY job and the standard was comparable to many flooring professionals here in Singapore.

The per capita spending on renovation and construction in Norway is among the highest in the world. Despite a small population of 4.5 million (Singapore’s latest figures show 4.68 million residents), they spend a staggering amount on flooring.

The best is that they are willing to pay for high quality products. This is great because that fits perfectly with our ideals at Star Bamboo.

Sometimes it could be disheartening losing a sale because a higher quality product costs more to manufacture, but I see it as a case of getting the right customer.

One size can’t possibly fit all. We cannot compromise quality to lower costs. So it’s a matter of finding customers who appreciate our quality.

This is Sigmund, the Managing Director of our Norwegian partner company, hard at work. Our bamboo flooring has certainly intrigued many visitors.

He’s a natural salesman, it was an eye-opener to see how he put people at ease before he gave them the pitch.

This is Sigmund, taking a break (thankfully there weren’t many visitors around at the time).

Norwegians are friendly people. They are at ease making eye contact and smiling, even to strangers at a business event such as this. It was such a contrast with Singaporeans, and left a deep impression on me.

It was a casual and relaxed atmosphere. You could see that our attire was plain jeans and shirts. Many of the builders even turned up in their overalls.

This is Petter, our marketing expert. We had a lucky draw during the trade show, and what else could the prize be but bamboo flooring, of course.

Here, Petter is busy sorting the eligible entries and the winner out of more than 150 participants was later announced over the PA system.

He also single-handedly dismantled the booth and flooring after the show ended. I feel small when I stand next to him and Sigmund.

OK, that concludes part 1 of my Norway report. Part 2 and more photos coming your way soon!

I got an email about Blog Action Day back in August, and it’s been sitting in my inbox ever since. Now that October has arrived, I thought it’s time I do something about it.

On 15 Oct, thousands of people will blog about the same issue. Obviously it has got to be a topic that enough people care about. So no prizes for guessing that it’s about the environment.

Every day when I flip through the papers at breakfast, there are inevitably a couple of articles about climate change, or how we are hastening the planet’s demise by refusing to recycle our refuse.

Global warming is obviously a hot topic.

This is great for us because we have been fielding more enquiries than ever before for our bamboo flooring, not just from Singapore, but from Europe, Asia, and beyond.

So I think I might just cheat a little, by posting an article that I was going to write anyway and then changing the timestamp to 15 oct.

Click here to find out more about how you can participate!