Arrived at Singapore airport today and was greeted by a smiling local official. Checking our passports he noticed we were from Sweden. ‘Aaah, Sweden!’ he said. ‘Abba and Celine Dion!’ He then proceeded to serenade us with ‘Chicatita tell me wass wron’. Welcome to Singapore!
Category: Culture
Wilkommen, bienvenue, welcome – to Sweden….
Last night I went to a performance of ‘Cabaret’ at Stockholm’s ‘Stadsteatern’. Starring popular singer, Sarah Dawn Finer, the story never felt more relevant. Set in and around the decadent Kit Kat Club, the familiar story depicts the slow and insidious growth of Nazism in pre-war Germany. As Hitler’s politics start to become more accepted, life initially goes on as usual inside the nightclub. But slowly, even the performers cannot ignore the hardening attitudes, the anti-semitism and what is necessary to survive. As the Nazis rise to power, and ‘Germanness’ falls into focus, the characters have to make a choice: stay or go.
One of the main characters is an American author based in Berlin. As he is confronted by the rise of Nazism he stands up against it saying ‘if you don’t stand against it, you stand with it’. Somewhat remniscent of a US President in a speech against terrorism, this hit a raw nerve. Just because we are not actively and vocally against something, does it really mean that we are for it? Is it that black and white?
As right-wing politics yet again take hold in Europe, what can we learn from the past? If we stand by and say nothing, do nothing, are we in effect accepting it? Are we saying it’s ok? And if we don’t stand up for others, who will stand up for us when we need it?
In the musical Cabaret, we see the nightclub as a metaphor of Berlin, slowly falling more and more under the influence of dark powers. We see the characters numb themselves in alcohol and we see one main character bend to the norms of society by demonstratively removing his makeup – stripped of his uniqueness and his humanity.
Never has it felt more relevant than today. ‘You are not German’ is today expressed as ‘You are not European‘ or ‘You are not Swedish’. And as I was consumed in the musical, I thought to myself, can we do it differently this time? Can we beat the negative forces in society and come out of it victorious? Or are condemned to repeat the mistakes of the past?
Sweden’s forest cemetery
Today I visited a peaceful, magical place in Stockholm – Skogskyrkogården – the Forest Cemetery.
Built between 1919 and 1940, this location combines a burial ground with a chapel of rest and a coniferous forest.
Listed since 1994 as a World Heritage Site, the Forest Cemetery is a wonderfully serene place to say goodbye, to remember or just to visit.
‘Paradise Sweden is just a myth’
I’m fortunate enough to have a country house in the south of Sweden. The rural area, known as Österlen, is as beautiful as it is deserted – long stretches of sandy beaches, rolling open fields, wind-torn buildings and wind-bent trees. Being there has always been a retreat for me, but it hasn’t always only been relaxing.
Nagging away at the back of my mind has been a slight feeling of discomfort, like a distant memory that you just can’t recall. I sometimes feel ill at ease walking out to the barn, in case there’s something lurking in there. Or when I suddenly realise I’m alone on a stretch of beach, just the lapping of the sea to keep me company. Or when I’ve gone for a long walk and find myself surrounded by high fields of corn and approaching a bend in the road. Or when darkness descends. Or the fog rolls in.
This feeling of discomfort I have one man to thank for – author Henning Mankell. This popular Swedish writer, who died yesterday age 67, is responsible for the internationally acclaimed series of books and films about Inspector Wallander. The stories he wrote are full of violence, strangeness and critical social commentary. He set his narratives in the town of Ystad, and the surrounding countryside of Österlen, where I have my holiday home. Quoted as saying ‘ that Sweden is supposed to be a paradise is just a myth’, he populated his stories with rampaging murderers, gangs and psychopaths.
Henning Mankell passed away after some years of fighting cancer. He left a massive legacy of books and storíes behind him and will be remembered as the author whose international success opened the door for other Swedish detective novelists.
And as he rests in peace, he leaves us with the unwelcome insight that peace is in fact just an illusion.
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Was Spock Swedish?
According to the World Values Survey, Sweden is one of the most rational non-secular countries in the world: decisions tend to be made on logical rather than on emotional or hypothetical grounds.
One area in which this manifests itself in Sweden is in the separation of church and state. Policies and legislation spring out of political, and not religious, ideologies. Unlike other countries where religion has a strong influence on how the country is run, Swedish politicians base their arguments on statistical and factual information. God is never mentioned in political debate, not even by the far-right Christian Democrat Party. If they mentioned God, it would probably send them swiftly packing out of the Parliament building.
This is why what is currently happening in the USA is so fascinating. In the USA there is a strong connection between God and rhetoric. In the USA you simply don’t become President unless you mention God several times in your speeches. With this background, it’s not surprising that extremist Christians can arise, such as marriage registrar Kim Davis in Kentucky. The delightful Ms Davis abuses her position of authority and refuses to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples as it collides with her Christian views. In doing this, she denies these couples their legal rights and interprets the law to suit her own religious agenda. This has caused outrage in the USA and she has been ordered to back down, but continues to righteously defy the courts. And is allowed to do so. Prison is next in line, but she cannot be dismissed as her position is one for which she has been publically elected.
This is a simple, but insidious, example of how religion, law and social legislation do often not make for a happy marriage. What would happen if we all decided to interpret the law according to our own religious convictions? Chaos. Religious dogma. Moralising power mongers. In Sweden, Ms Davis would have been stripped of her official duties long ago.
One secular quote reflects Swedish society in a nutshell. And it’s from Star Trek’s Spock in 1982:
‘The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.’
It’s logical. May Swedish society live long and prosper.
Swedish revolution
Whoever thought of Swedes as a pacifistic, neutral people needs to think again. After a racist advertising campaign was put up in the underground system by Sweden’s right wing nationalistic party, people decided they’d had enough. Crowds appeared at the station in question and demonstratively tore down the offending advertising.
Swedes are taking a stand against the rising racism and xenophobia in society. Recent polls show that the party representing these attitudes has become the largest opposition party to the government.
I feel at times that the open and tolerant Sweden I love is something of the past. But these reactions and these pictures show that the majority of Swedes will not take this sitting down. They will take to the streets and they will act to defend the rights of all people living in this particular spot on the planet.
10 Swedish ways to describe this summer
So far, this is one of the rainiest and coldest Swedish summers on record. Scanning Facebook and other media, I’ve come up with the top 10 Swedish ways to describe this usually happy season:
1) Pissväder ( pissy weather)
2) Sommar-ångest (Summer anxiety)
3) Höstlikt (similar to autumn)
4) Sommar?? (Is this really summer??)
5) Trött på detta (sick of this)
6) Äntligen sol! (Finally – sun!)
7) Vafaan!? (What the hell!?)
8) Regn, regn, regn (rain, rain, rain)
9) Sjuktkallt (extremely cold)
10) Semesterbubbel (holiday bubbly)
Swedish Dads
60 days or lose them. That’s the deal in Sweden when it comes to dads taking out parental leave.
Sweden has one of the world’s most generous parental leave systems in the world – 480 days per child, with a paid allowance from the state. These days can be divided between the parents however they like, apart from 60 days that must be taken by the father (presuming heterosexual partners). If he doesn’t do this, the days are simply lost.
This is an effort by the government to promote gender equality around child nurturing – and a more equal sharing of child benefit and leave.
Photographer Johan Bävman found this so interesting that he has documented various fathers during their paternity leave. The exhibition called ‘Swedish Dads’ has raised interest around the world as it challenges traditional stereotypes about gender roles in the family. Johan himself says that he wants to show pictures of role models so that more dads take the opportunity to be home with their newborns. 
Photo: Johan Bävman
It’s no surprise that this initiative comes out of Sweden. According to one piece of cultural research, Sweden is extreme when compared to other countries in the area of gender overlap (men doing historically ‘traditionally female’ things and women doing historically ‘traditionally male’ things). This system and also this photo series seem to just reinforce the findings in this research.
Can it be that Swedish men are the best dads in the world? Or is it just that the system allows them the freedom and approval to develop their relationships early on with their children?
To see the pictures go to http://www.johanbavman.se
Ullared – Mecca in Swedish
Deep in the woods of rural Sweden lies what can only be described as a Swedish Mecca. To this location, people travel from all over the country. The journey might take several hours, but it’s well worth it for them.
The place is a village called Ullared. And in Ullared is a massive low-price shopping centre called Gekås.
Surrounding the airline hanger that is Gekås are a variety of outlet stores, restaurants, a camp site, a hotel – all making the journey more attractive to the pilgrimaging bargain hunter. When I went to Ullared this week for the first time, I felt like I experienced another level of Swedish culture.
The car park itself was my first surprise, rows upon rows of vehicles that would put any Disneyland to shame. After parking the car, you walk towards the shopping centre like a trail of lemmings. On the way, you pick up a trolley large enough to house a small family. Each trolley is colour-coded and numbered so that it’s easy to locate should you step away from it inside the building. We walked straight into the store, but I’ve heard that it’s not unusual to wait a long time in a queue – sometimes due to the sheer volume of people, they adopt a one-out, one-in policy. Once inside, you are overwhelmed by the giganticness of the place, the thousands of customers, they yellow and blue blinding interior and the aisle upon aisle upon aisle of bargains. But the initial shock abates quickly. Within 10 seconds, I had purchased a frying pan and was trying to persuade a friend that they should buy individual hamburger thermometers.
All in all, I ended up with towels, sheets, underwear, freezer bags and a variety of other things. I left the place feeling satisfied with a job well done, even though I am an amateur when compared to many of the other shoppers there. Some seriously disturbed people even spend a week there, camping at the camp site and shopping every day.
It is hard to explain how legendary Ullared is in Sweden. Everyone has an opinion about it, it seems. At Gekås they turn over multibillions per annum. Employees and regular customers have become TV celebrities thanks to a reality show that follows life in this shopping Mecca and is broadcasted weekly on national television. At the local museum in Varberg, there is even a small exhibition about Ullared, which reflects its place in popular culture. It was there I learned that the average customer is a single mother of three, aged 42, who visits Ullared twice a year and spends 3600 sek each time.
So if you ever visit Sweden, and want to experience something outside of the usual red cottages, forests, lakes and beautiful cities, take a trip to Ullared. You never know what you might find there.
Sweden’s ‘best coast’
The town of Gothenburg is located on Sweden’s west coast, or the ‘best coast’ as the locals competitively call it in an attempted poke at Stockholm which is on the east coast. Spending a day here, it’s easy to feel the constant presence of the sea. Many of the streets have sea-related or harbour-related names and on the menus around town are a plethora of fish and seafood specialities: hand-peeled shrimp, freshly caught cod and classic fish gratin amongst them. At the top of the main restaurant stretch, known as Avenyn, is a statue. This statue is the grand figure of Poseidon, created by Swedish sculpter Carl Milles. There Poseidon stands in all his naked glory, willy dangling, fish in one hand, guarding the city of the sea.
The city is currently packed with thousands of tourists, mostly in football gear. This week sees the annual event of the Gothia cup, a football competition for youths that attracts teams from all over the world.
Gothenburg strikes me as a proud place. Proud of its unique position, proud of its role as Sweden’s second city and, not least, proud of its strong nautical heritage.
Watching the Swedes 