By Blue Rose on Saturday, 5 of March , 2011 at 6:00 am
In Numbeo’s survey (http://www.numbeo.com/), New York is used as the base city for the index and scores 100 points, with all cities compared against New York and currency movements measured against the US Dollar and EURO. Sydney (Australia) scored 113.14 points, making it nearly three times as costly as La Paz (Bolivia) with an index score of 39.00.
At the beginning of 2011, the most expensive cities (excluding rent) are:
- Oslo, Norway (CPI 149.26)
- Stavanger, Norway (145.65)
- Zurich, Switzerland (143.93)
- Geneva, Switzerland (143.71)
- Bergen, Norway (142.46)
- Basel, Switzerland (141.12)
- Lausanne, Switzerland (136.41)
- Lucerne, Switzerland (133.04)
- Perth, Australia (130.15)
- Copenhagen, Denmark (123.87)
The least expensive cities in 2011 are Indian cities: Coimbatore, Pune, Chennai, Mumbai and Hyderabad, followed by Islamabad and Karachi in Pakistan.
Rent is the most expensive in New York, followed by San Francisco (USA), Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) and Lucerne (Switzerland).
Cities with the lowest rent are Changchun (China) and Karachi (Pakistan).
On the country level, the most expensive countries in 2011 are Norway, Switzerland, Denmark, Belgium, Australia, Ireland and the Netherlands.
The least expensive countries in 2011 are India, Pakistan, Bolivia, Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand and Macedonia.
By Blue Rose on Friday, 4 of March , 2011 at 6:00 am
On the invitation of Philippine Ambassador to Sweden Maria Zeneida Angara Collinson, the Swedish Minister for Integration Erik Ullenhag recently met with Filipino community representatives.
Present during the meeting were Fr. Gabriel Baldostamon (Saint Nicolai Parish in Linköping), Mr. Noli Buhay (Ugnayang Pilipino), Ms. Lendsy Theodorsson (Bayanihan), Ms. Hanna Stenbacka (Filipino-Swedish Youth), Ms. Karol Jennel and Ms. Vangie Jorquia (ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau correspondent).
Also present during the meeting were Ambassadors from the Association from Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and some members of the ASEAN community in Stockholm.
An initiative of Ambassador Collinson, the meeting was aimed at raising the profile of the growing Filipino community in Sweden by focusing on their successes in assimilating to Swedish life and culture.
Filipino community members actively engaged Minister Ullenhag on their proposals to strengthen the Swedish Government’s language program for immigrants, particularly in terms of enabling quicker employment.
They also asked the Minister on the administration’s response to the seemingly anti-immigrant sentiment, following the terrorist bomb attacks in Stockholm December of last year and the influence of the right-wing Sweden Democrats in the Swedish Parliament.
Minister Ullenhag enthusiastically received the ideas of the Filipino community representatives and acknowledged the important role the 13,000 strong Filipino community has played in contributing to the progress of Sweden.
He assured that his office would remain open to the Filipino community and to the community’s suggestions for a more effective policy for integration.
The Minister also reaffirmed the Swedish Government’s commitment to safeguard and promote the country’s open and tolerant views.
He was especially pleased to know that Filipinos in Sweden were peaceful and productive members of society.
Minister Ullenhag assumed his ministerial portfolio in October 2010 under the second mandate period of Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt’s government.
He has the responsibility to ensure the speedier integration of newly arrived immigrants into Sweden’s working and social life.
ScandAsia.com
By My Blue Heart on Wednesday, 8 of December , 2010 at 3:54 pm
Filipino sailor Jesus Sumook was honoured as a hero in a ceremony at Lynnterm, Port of Vancouver in North Vancouver, B.C., October 5, 2010. In 2006 Sumook was helping to unload a ship full of B.C. wood pellets at a Swedish port when he saved the life of a worker who had fallen unconscious in the hold.
The ceremony took place aboard the Saga Tucano, which is now in the port of Vancouver. Sumook is working aboard the vessel, and the presentation was arranged after the foundation finally tracked him down.
Sumook, a father of two, said he refused to give up on the dockworker as long as he had a pulse.
He began to administer CPR.
“Then he began to gasp,” Sumook said, smiling as he recalled the moment back in November 2006 in the port of Helsingborg.
Asked Tuesday if he felt like a hero, Sumook laughed, shaking his head.
“But I am proud,” he said, adding that his daughters — aged 10 and 6 — have both told him they are proud of him too.
“That makes me very happy.”
Present to congratulate Sumook Tuesday were representatives of local labour groups, including the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, which represents dockworkers like the man that Sumook saved.
The Carnegie Hero awards were established worldwide in the early 1900s as a way of recognizing civilian acts of bravery.
It took the Swedish organization more than two years to find Sumook as the sailor moved from port to port on his global schedule. Many of the ports had no Swedish representative, complicating the effort.
Tuesday, he received an inscribed gold watch, a certificate and a cheque. A lunch was also organized as part of the celebration.
“It is for heroism,” said Anders Neumuller, Sweden’s consul in Vancouver.
“It is a story that really needs to come out so that more people see what they can do in a situation like that.”
Capt. Clifford Faleiro, operations manager for Saga, added:“That he risked his own life to save someone else’s speaks volumes about what he did, and I think he rightly deserves all the praise and recognition he is getting.”
By Blue Rose on Friday, 6 of August , 2010 at 2:41 pm
A Filipina friend in the party told us that there will be a live concert in Liseberg by monday evening. So we decided to join them. It’s my first time to attend a live concert like this, but I always see it on tv. Sweden is very much fond of doing free concert like this, it’s the way they expose the singers and do some extra games.
Sharon, was there since 3pm, so she could reserve a seat for all of us, she’s very patient, but we are so greatful to her because we seated close to the stage, nice job Sha!
We went there at 6pm, but the show will start at 8pm, so we have to wait, it’s ok because if we came late our seat will be taken by others.
Lotta is a famous singer here in Sweden, she also host some events like Bingo and Lotto. She’s beautiful and simple, can I say like me…hehehe, just kidding…
The people started to feel alive when Lotta comes out and the show started, including the excitement that we are live on television, both Sweden and Norway. For all who doesn’t know, Liseberg is a big gaming park in Goteborg, Sweden.
There are 3 special guests, they are Anna, Jill, and Rico. They are great singers.
We all have fun, dancing and singing with them, it’s really great to be part of live concert. The camera was just passing through our seats, my friend always tries to wave to be seen and focused by the lens, but no luck, hehehe, the camera doesn’t like us. Allthough we were not seen on tv, we are still greatful.
They played Bingo and so many prizes at stake, again no luck for our friends. The show went on for 2 hours, we are all very happy when it ends.
I hope I can watch a concert again.If you want to see my videos of the concert, just visit my facebook,http://www.facebook.com/#!/marj.cabana
By Blue Rose on Thursday, 5 of August , 2010 at 2:50 pm
August 1, it was a very nice day, the sun comes up and the weather is nice, it’s good to do a party.
It’s my friends birthday party, she lives in Goteborg, Sweden. She turned 29. We met in Nordstan, she’s the first Filipina I met here in Sweden and same as her. We became friends.
I was very busy also that day, preparing and cooking the food I will bring to the party,I cooked Beef Steak Tagalog, because she said most of the food are Filipino dishes.
When we arrived the guest are there, Filipina’s with thier Swedish husbands, it’s the first time I meet all of them,because most of the time Guia(the celebrant) just tell me about them. All of them are Peter’s(Guia’s husband)co-workers in a Hospital.
The celebrant made a short Swedish speech and then we eat. There’s alot of food, adobo, pansit, grilled and fried chicken,grilled pork, my beef steak, spring rolls, cakes, cookies and pastries, and alot of drinks.
Eating, chatting, and drinking, we had fun. Then we started to drink, we opened the Heavy Water Vodka, it’s very smooth to drink, you will not feel anything when you drink it. The fun and laughter started, heat up by Heavy Water Vodka, the celebrant started to dance in the music from my cellphone. She’s so funny, she always shout, “shot, shot the Water, hapy birthday to me”.
It was great party, we are the last to go home, because we help them clean up the mess,hehehe,she was so thankful and happy, it’s her first time to celebrate birthday in a foreign country.
We all had a great time!
http://heavywater.no
By Blue Rose on Wednesday, 21 of July , 2010 at 4:21 pm
All newly arrived immigrants should undergo courses in core societal values and be taught about how Swedish society works with municipalities obliged to offer 60 hours of teaching, a government inquiry has proposed
“Without knowledge of fundamental societal values an important prerequisite to be able to live and work in Sweden is lacking,” writes Erik Amnå, who led the government inquiry, in a debate article in the Dagens Nyheter daily.
Amnå, whose proposal has been presented to the integration minister Nyamko Sabuni, suggests that the courses should be divided into three key areas – values (the constitutional foundations), the welfare state (public institutions), and everyday life (practical applied knowledge of how the welfare state works).
Erik Amnå proposes that municipalities be instructed to offer 60 hours of schooling to each new immigrant and advises against dividing up new arrivals according to traditional categories such as ethnicity or religious identity.
“How shall we begin the story of Sweden for the 40,000 refugees, relatives, labor market immigrants and other adult arrivals who move to Sweden every year?” asks Erik Amnå, who is a Swedish professor in political science at Örebro University.
Amnå argues that his proposal is based on a concern to ensure that all members of society have an equal chance of “on the one hand to take part in collective decisions about societal development, and on the other be able to form their lives independently and to live in freedom”.
The professor draws on the thinking of German philosopher Jürgen Habermas to argue that multiculturalism can be affirmed and social cohesion clarified by “deepening the long-term constitutional solidarity” referring to the importance of acquiring knowledge of ethical norms prevalent in the Swedish constitution.
The proposal suggests that 60 hours of teaching will be offered in the native tongues of the around 30,000 who come to Sweden to live and who are issued with residence permits extending beyond 12 months.
The courses would not be obligatory and thus if half accept the opportunity the cost would run to 90 million kronor ($12 million) per annum, Amnå estimates.
Erik Amnå underlines the importance of showing respect to the individual adults and recognizes that “individuals with different backgrounds require scope for individually-adapted reflection and dialogue” and argues that teachers would need support from universities to develop the required expertise.
