Our Pioneer in Singapore: Maud Meijboom-van Wel

Every week we ask a member of the Dutch Creative Community living abroad to send back personal messages in a bottle about where they are currently living. What should we absolutely know of? What can we learn from life there? What is it about the experience abroad that is creatively truly inspirational and different? This week we head to Singapore to find our Pioneer, Maud Meijboom-van Wel, Brand Director for Heineken.

Why are you in Singapore and how did you end up there? What drove you?

As the oldest child in a family with three daughters, my parents always told us that we need to be able to make it on our own, to be independent. That women can do anything men can do (or even better). A large part of my childhood I spent in Indonesia and we travelled a lot as a family. We learned to adapt and to be creative and open to new things everywhere we went. The older I got, the clearer it became to me that I wanted to have an international life as well, a life that would keep triggering my senses, tickling my curiosity for new views and people.

After finishing my Masters in Economics, it was clear to me an international company was where I’d like to work, one where you could make a difference, where entrepreneurship was a key value. In the end, Heineken was the company that ticked these boxes, and quickly. One of my first assignments was in Suriname, I was sent there after being in the business for only 6 months and from there it went upwards and onwards. The company has taken me to New Zealand, Malaysia and Singapore, where I am now responsible for the Heineken brand in Asia Pacific with 24 markets, from Australia to Taiwan, from India to Vietnam.

What makes you feel at home?

Of course, my family, but if I’m talking about material things, it may sound very old fashioned, but it’s my photo albums. My mother made it her life’s work to make each child a photo album of every year of their lives, capturing all the travelling we did. I now do the same for our family (if anyone has a tip on how to quickly reduce 20,000 photos per year to a manageable amount, call me)!

The second thing is our art collection – my husband and I have collected from all over the world – photography, authentic furniture, paintings and antiques, such as a pinhole camera piece by Bethany de Forest and a piece by Kuala Lumpur graffiti artist Kenji Chai. It is such a joy to walk every day past all the memories and be able to remember the fabulous things we have experienced. Once the art is unpacked and in place in a new house, it feels like home.

What stands out the most there (professionally)?

What makes my post so special is that I work with people from 24 countries all over Asia Pacific. I love going to my ‘markets’, to go out into the trade with the team, experience the local customs, food, pride and joy of the people. In every city I visit, I make it a habit to at least go for one long run and see the sites. And even better, if you go somewhere with locals, they show you places you’d never get to see as a tourist. This way I went to a men’s only place in Chandni Chowk in Delhi, ate stinky tofu in tiny places in Taipei and went gambling for marbles in Minato Akasaka, Tokyo.

The second thing that makes it so exciting is how fast Asia is developing – digital technology is very advanced, especially with regard to progress and innovation. It’s a great experience to be here in these times.

Images below:

1. Chandni Chowk in Delhi

2. Gambling in Tokyo

What inspires you?

When brands or companies dare to take risks, to stand for something they believe in, do things that others might have believed to be impossible. When I was in New Zealand, there was a famous quote on the door from the founding father of DB Breweries, Morton Coutts: ‘The impossible is that which we have not yet learnt to do.’ When we wanted to bring our purpose to life in the DB Export beer brand (innovativeness, clever wit, philanthropy) in New Zealand, we launched the Brewtroleum campaign alongside Colenso BBDO. This was a dream come true – taking risks, doing something you believe in and making it happen.

Whilst at first sight Singapore seems to be more business focused, there are some great artists you can find here too, like Sam Lo or Social Creatives who create murals in government HDB estate public spaces.

What’s the most radical piece of work over there?

There are some stunning sculptures all over Singapore. For example, the bronze statues made by Lim Leong Seng that are scattered throughout the city. They reflect Singapore’s past in such a beautiful way. Or the interactive spheres made by Baet Yeok Kuan that act as an audio time capsule, capturing the sounds of Singapore. But I also love street art, one of the best street artists here is ANTZ (Anthony Chong), who mixes elements of Chinese culture and mythology into his work and Zul Othman (Zero), who portrays aspects of Malay culture in a very colourful and vibrant way.

Images below:

1. Bronze statues by Lim Leong Seng

2. Interactive spheres by Baet Yeok Kuan

3. Street art by Zul Othman

What ‘souvenir’ would/will you bring home?

I wish I could bring with me all the great food Singapore has to offer. Food is a way to connect here. The first question people tend to ask is: ‘have you eaten yet’? It is the way to bond. There is so much to taste – you can experience the cultural melting pot that makes Singapore so diverse. For example: street food (or Hawker food) is legendary here. There are even some hawker chefs that have a Michelin star, like Hawker Chan Hon Meng, who is famous for his chicken rice. When you are, for example, eating Peranakan food at Candlenut by chef Malcolm Lee, it takes you on a little journey to Nyonya times when Malaysia and Singapore were still one country.

Secondly, I will definitely buy a piece of art that will remind me of Singapore forever. I’ve already bought a great piece here, made by Nemo Jantzen (Punk’d 2018). I spent three years eyeing his work and finally bought one of his pieces last year. This piece of work is a photo composition made with resin spheres on wood. The resin spheres depict many famous album covers – I’m so happy I finally bought some of his work!

Images below:

1. Chan Hon Meng's chicken rice

2. Candlenut

3. Punk’d by Nemo Jantzen