A remarkable bureaucratic absurdity in Switzerland

At the Handelsregisteramt in Zurich, I am told, Swiss official documents such as Ausländerauswiese are not accepted as a valid means of establishing one's identity!

They requre you to ptroduce a foreign document (e.g. in my friend's case, his BRITISH Passport)

So official documents from foreign countries now have greater weight in Switzerland than official documents from Switzerland itself?

Switzerland becoming more bureaucratically ridiculous?

I had thought that Swiss rules were becoming more relaxed and open.

But it appears that they are also becoming more ridiculous.

A young Swiss woman brought from her home the US to her home in Switzerland an old wedding-dress.

She did not imagine that this was an item that needed to be declared to Customs. 

On her luggage being checked, and this item being "discovered" by Customs, they imposed a fine of roughly 800 US dollars!

Naturally, she appealed this fine.

The response that came back was that the decision was "correct".

Well, the decision may have been "correct" according to some interpretation of some idiotic regulation, but this kind of "correctness" is what makes the law into an ass in the eyes of ordinary citizens, and eventually causes contempt for the law and so leads to the breakdown of the rule of law.

The new part of Zurich Airport

Extraordinary but the other day, when I was leaving from Zurich Airport, I found myself being directed to a new part of the Airport which had just opened - but the signs indicating the flights were not working!

Very strange for a Swiss company to open a facility before everything is working 100%.

And, at an airport, one did wonder what else was not working....

Fortunately, no problems at take-off...nor indeed at the landing on the return flight.

Rising number of mistakes now being committed by Swiss administrators

It is heart-rending but quite fascinating to see a culture in decline.

Following the rejection of God and the Bible by the Swiss public, there is now a general run-down in Switzerland.

For example, someone I know is involved in running a company, and complained recently of increasing number of mistakes in the functioning of the Betreibungsamt: instead of a Betreibung being issued on behalf of his company (let us call it X) to another Company (let us call it Y), the Betreibung was issued by the Betreibungsamt against his own company (X)!  And this was the 2nd time that this has happened in some three months!!!

Another person I know involved in running a small company, complains that Swiss accountants can no longer be trusted to do an accurate job.

Yet another person complains that Swiss Treuhänder no longer give reliable advice.

There is now rubbish thrown on the streets in small towns such as the one I live in, and even on remote rural pathways - this has started happening noticeably in "my" area only from this year.

Zurich has of course for the last few years grown increasingly hospitable to graffiti.

People in Geneva complain of daylight robbery even in shopping centres.

Is this only due to an increasing number of foreigners, as some Swiss think?  Or is this because Switzerland's own culture is breaking down?

It is true that, in the big cities, the increasing number of foreigners may contribute to this phenomenon.  But in smaller towns like "mine" where there are hardly any foreigners anyway, that can't be the reason.

Which is why I say that I am watching a whole culture break down - and the tragic thing is that the Swiss don't want to even notice it.

I had always thought that when the Bible talks about people being "blinded" by their sins, it is speaking about "spiritual blindness".  I now realise that the blindness relates not only to spiritual phenomena, it is relates even to the physical world around us. 

That is why Italians (who never had a Biblical culture anyway) put up with the physical mess in which so much of the country lives. 

That is why my own people (in India) see neither the physical mess which is much worse than in Italy, nor indeed are alarmed by large-scale corruption. 

So I guess that what will come, after physical signs of decay and disorganisation have become prevalent in Switzerland, will be large-scale corruption. 

And the consequence of that is always widespread poverty. 

I wonder how long that will take to get here. 

Unless of course the Swiss public turns to God and the Bible again, and rebuilds its culture in a way that is fit for the twenty-first century.

Is Switzerland now worse than Pakistan?

Worth noting that Pakistan has succeeded in extracting an apology from the US a couple of days ago after a struggle on the issue lasting several months.

On the other hand, Switzerland does not seem to have the backbone to resist even illegal demands from the US.

New CEO for King's Kurry AG

Torsten Danielsson, the Danish restaurant entrepreneur, has been unanimously appointed as CEO of King’s Kurry Group, by the Board of Directors, starting from the 1st of July 2012.  He has worked with the King’s Kurry Group since 2009, successfully launching the Group Purchasing and Expansion initiatives, including the Rickshaw and Little India projects.

He will be responsible for the wide range of activities of King’s Kurry Group, concentrating on further expansion with partners such as MIGROS (e.g. Anna’s Best INDIA ready meals range) and fine dining establishments, such as the recent co-operation with Badrutt’s Palace ***** Hotel in St. Moritz.

Ranjeet Guptara, Founder and Director of King’s Kurry says, “As I leave operations to get married and take the opportunity to study in Cambridge, I am grateful that King’s Kurry can benefit from Torsten’s international experience, in the heritage of his Viking trading ancestors.  Denmark and India have been trading partners for more than 500 years, so I am glad to have found a leader who understands both European and Indian cuisine, culture and commerce. Torsten Danielsson has already brought a level of expertise and positive change to King’s Kurry in the last three years that is transformative.”

Torsten Danielsson, the designated CEO, says “I am excited about taking this next step forward in the King’s Kurry Group. The challenges in general in Gastronomy will not become smaller in the coming years and King’s Kurry wants to not only sustain existing restaurants and product sales but  also to become the leading Indian brand in Europe. I look forward to  taking on this challenge together with the competent and vibrant team in the King’s Kurry Group.”

About Torsten Danielsson:

Torsten Danielsson, born in 1964 in Denmark, studied Economics at Aarhus University before leading multi-site restaurants across Denmark.  He has also worked as an entrepreneur in the construction and diamond tool industries.    He has a daughter, has lived in Zurich since 2002, and represents Switzerland internationally in Carambole Billiards.

Problem with visas for conference participants coming to CH

For a conference, at which I was invited to speak, there were supposed to be 90 participants, all carefully selected from among people nominated to attend it (the conference is not advertised).

However, some 30 of them were denied visas, including one speaker!

Are the criteria for granting visas now too strict?  Or did all 30 of them make mistakes in their applications (and if so is it now too easy to make some mistake or the other in the application form)? 

Sadly, it is not easy to find out, as the entire procedure and criteria for granting visas to the Schengen area has apparently become so secretive.