SevenUp Bottling Company PLC at Apapa, Nigeria was a client of Bank of America Nigeria ltd. Faysal El Khalil was the CEO.
Transcription
A.D. Dirkzwager
Keizersgracht 702,
1017 EV Amsterdam.
Faysal El Khalil
Beirut
Amsterdam, 2 april 2018.
Dear Faysal and May,
as you know it is spring!
Easter was far too cold and wet. We feel for the 700,000 tourists, who had planned an Easter holiday in the Netherlands. When you plan a visit to Holland, you take a risk on foul wheather.
At Easter, believers celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, three days after his death on the cross. We mere mortals must wait for Judgment Day to have a chance at resurrection after death.The claim of the resurrection is the fundamental principle of the Christian religion. It offers the prospect that there is hope for life after death. 'Hope,' however, is an irrational emotion. How often are we disappointed by merely hoping? So much for my thoughts on Easter.
A few additional remarks.
Every year, we enjoy attending a performance of J.S. Bach’s (1686–1750) "St Matthew Passion." Sublime music.
Yesterday, Vera and I were invited to lunch in Noordwijk (40 km southwest of Amsterdam) at the home of Reinoud, our youngest son. We took along our two granddaughters (aged 9 and 11) who live in Amsterdam, to give their mother, Else Marie—who was running a high fever—a break. Afterward, they stayed overnight with us. Their father, Floris, came to pick them up in the afternoon. As you can see, there is never a dull moment in our lives. Tomorrow, I will continue working on this handwritten letter on the computer.
Van: A.D. Dirkzwager <[email protected]<
Onderwerp: Love from Amsterdam
Datum: 3 april 2018 om 15:54:31 CEST
Aan: "El Khalil Faysal
As I promised in writing—by hand—yesterday, dear Faysal and May, I will continue to share my thoughts with you via the computer. Incidentally, I couldn't type before I turned 55, because up until then I had enjoyed the luxury of having a secretary at my disposal. Right at the beginning of my banking career, I was told by my superiors that I was too expensive to sit behind a typewriter.
In 1981, I moved from Bank of America NT&SA to Lloyds Bank plc, because I was offered the position of manager of the Rotterdam branch there. I didn't really regard Rotterdam as a full-fledged branch, but merely as a department of Amsterdam—or rather, the Lloyds Bank headquarters in the Netherlands. Having an office in Rotterdam is essential, if you want to be involved in the Rotterdam business community. We recognized that there is a difference in mentality (and rivalry) between Amsterdam and Rotterdam, even though they are only 100 km apart. To illustrate this difference: if you buy a new shirt in Rotterdam, the sleeves are already rolled up in the shop.
Our Rotterdam office had a staff of just 15, and our activities focused primarily on facilitating international trade—such as shipments of crude oil, soybeans, and grain. With approval from the London headquarters regarding country risk for Iran, we confirmed trade payments due from Iran—amounting to $300 million annually during the war with Iraq.
The London headquarters wanted to be kept informed of the Rotterdam branch's contribution to the Dutch organization's profit. When London noticed that Rotterdam was far more profitable than Amsterdam (which had 62 employees), Amsterdam charged such absurd costs to Rotterdam that the Rotterdam branch ceased to be profitable. Rotterdam was required to shoulder one-third of the costs of Amsterdam’s foreign currency department and one-third of Amsterdam’s maintenance costs (and so on).The Dutch organization underwent restructuring. The Rotterdam office was closed, and I landed my first job at a Dutch bank—ING Bank.
On my first day at the office, I asked where I could find the secretary. "Only board members have a secretary," I was told, "and the computer screen at the end of my empty desk was at my disposal." That came as quite a shock. I had no choice but to teach myself how to use the keyboard. So much for the introduction.
3 April 2018
After a good night sleep we woke up to a new dawn. The weather has been improved since yesterday. We are in the Netherlands subjected to a sea climate and the weather is capricious and it determines the mood of the day.
Let me address the topics in your last mail. Firstly my medical
bulletin: I'm getting better. I have reduced my 8 pills at breakfast to 5 pills. That is a reduction of 37,5 %. Coming monday I have another appointment with the cardiologist and will attempt to negotiate a further reduction in swallowing pills. At my age it is not abnormal that your health derails caused by one or another malfunctioning of a part of the body.
Last Friday Vera an I attended a funeral service of a good friend of us, who switched his earthly life for a life in the memories of his friends. He died at the age of 78. The average age for males in the Netherlands is 81. Coming August I will be 78 years of age. Unconsciously is my attention drawn to the obituaries in the papers:
I get up each morning dust off my wits.
Pick up the paper and read the "orbits.
If my name is missing, I know I'm not dead.
So I eat a good breakfast and go back to bed.
The job description of a manager is managing. The verb "to manage" implies changing. The world around us is not a static one. When you change for the worse, you are the wrong man on the board. When you make excellent decisions, you will be praised as someone with vision. Time will tell. As I recall, Faysal, that you wished to get rid of all sort of petty and costly government rulings imposed on public companies, I can imagine that it is a sensible decision to make a public offer for the shares of the company.
Just having arrived at this stage in formulating my thoughts, what then? Believe it or not: A power cut of lasting five hours.The power cut didn't stop the progress of time.
Now it is the 4th April and today I am the playmate of our three year old granddaughter. She is the boss. We have to stand to attention the whole day. Around six o'clock the father Reinoud (our nr 2 son) arrives for dinner. After dinner father and daughter are leaving for home and we are worn out.
Prompted by the content of your 2018 Harvard course, I am sharing with you the uncertain consequences of the digital revolution. Will it prove to be a threat or a blessing? The banking sector is at the forefront of automation; banks have closed branches and parted ways with a large number of employees.
When I started working at the bank, all the equipment—such as typewriters, adding machines, calculators, and so on—was mechanical. Gradually, the old machines were replaced by computers. Automated teller machines took the place of all the staff behind the counters. To facilitate routine buying and selling transactions between individuals, banks in the EU introduced the guaranteed Eurocheque, with a maximum limit of €300.
When you handed in a Eurocheque at the bank, the bank still had to credit the amount to your account. A Eurocheque was a payment instrument used to instruct the bank to deposit the cheque's value into your account. I still remember a vast hall, filled with rows of women working at computers, with stacks of Eurocheques on their desks. All day long, they were busy crediting the amounts to customers' accounts. Electronic banking has caused these women to disappear. The Eurocheque is a thing of the past. Bank customers now have direct access to their accounts within the bank's computer system; that is what we call electronic banking.
http://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/01/technology/retailer-stores-automation-amazon.html
The outlook is worrying for the large segment of the less skilled middle class, as their jobs are being taken over by automation and robotization. Companies are also at risk in this scenario, given that their survival depends on the purchasing power of the middle class. Que sera, sera. The future remains unseen: Que sera, sera!
5th of april 2018.
The other worrisome aspect of the digital revolution is the application of algorithms to disclose our behaviour to Big Data, I share with you two, in my opinion, very interesting TED talks.
Ad 1) Kevin Slain speaks about the general ideas of algorithms.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENWVRcMGDoU
2.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fawD7Nj74NA
Ad 2) Is about financial trading with the speed of light. It left me amazed. It reminds me of Goethe’s ballad about the sorcerer’s apprentice, who, in the sorcerer’s absence, borrowed his staff and, unwisely, unleashed forces he could not control. Floris, our eldest son, has invested all his savings in developing his own computer programs for online trading. The current state of affairs? The programs are being tested. Once again: *Que sera, sera*.
Allow me not to delve further into the many divergent political views across the globe that are causing worldwide instability. Who is to blame?Of course: 'Bugger the bankers and politicians !!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSIUf2hD6Io
quip
"If you put the Federal Government in charge of the Sahara Desert,
in 5 years there'd be a shortage of sand." Milton Friedman (1912-2006).
Sport unites! The Beirut Marathon highlights May's efforts to bring together people from all walks of life. Sport has also brought North and South Korea closer together.
Oysters are hermaphroditic animals that live in shells. They begin life as males and—provided conditions are favorable—transform into females after four or five years. July and August are the spawning season for oysters; they require other oysters for fertilization.
Oysters are unavailable from April to September because, figuratively speaking, they lack sufficient 'meat on their bones' during that time.
That is all for today regarding our written exchange, though we must add that we would love to reciprocate your hospitality by hosting you in the Netherlands. Let’s not wait another 39 years to see each other. Much love to you both, Vera & Aadje.
