The Holland Times July 2012

controlled circulation | postbus 531 | 2150 AM Nieuw-Vennep

July 2012

The Dutch go to London In the wake of a disastrous Euro 2012, Dutch athletes get ready for the Olympics p23

RELUCTANT REGISTRARS CAUSE TROUBLE p4

SMART PHONES USED TO SAVE LIVES p6

AUSTERITY MEASURES MAY HAVE LITTLE IMPACT p9

JULY 2012 | 3

EDITORIAL

CONTENTS

So, Euro 2012 didn’t go the way we were expecting. A disappointing, some would say shocking, performance led the Dutch team home with their tails between their legs and not a single victory clutched between their teeth.

NATIONAL P4-7 Ecological footprint rising p6

But all is not lost! The Olympics are coming up at the end of this month, giving Dutch athletes another chance to claim sporting glory for the Netherlands. Forget the fact that the amount of Dutch sportsmen and women attending London 2012 is lower than expected, it’s the fault of football and other team sports again.

What we really need to know is how the ones that are competing are getting their minds in the zone (p 23).

ECONOMICS P9 More than cutbacks needed

It’s an old lesson, however, that bread and circuses are used to keep the masses distracted, and in the midst of an economic crisis, two extremely expensive sports events back to back seem to have done just that. But continuing our historical lessons, is there anything we can learn about how to undo some of the damage of recent years (p 9)? Or is the planet and not just the banks going to pay the price of our hubris (p 6)?

FLASH FICTION P17 Chapter 5: Behind the smile

FEATURE P14-15 Dutch on the Ganges

ARTS & CULTURE P19 Prisoner play on tour

Lastly, we say goodbye to an old friend and colleague this month, as public broadcaster Radio Netherlands Worldwide tips its hat and suspends its English language service; muttering about cutbacks and strolling away into the fog shrouded night, leaving the rest of us to carry on (p 5).

REVIEWS P21 Food, Film, Book and Music ratings

Have something to say to the editor? Email: editorial@thehollandtimes.nl

SPORT P23 Psychology of the Olympics Cover image: London 2012 All images: Creative Commons

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NATIONAL

4 | JULY 2012

Rutte promises new deal

THE HAGUE | Outgoing prime minister, Mark Rutte (VVD) has promised to reconsider elements of the planned austerity measures if the VVD is in power after September’s election. Speaking at a party conference in The Hague on 23 June, Rutte referred to changes that had yet to be made public in the party’s election manifesto. “The agreements we have made to get the budget in order have also affected the hard working Dutchman,” de Volkskrant quotes.

Measures such as the raise in VAT and changes to childcare are among those hinted at during the speech.

Refusing registrars get reprieve

New trade union formed

AMSTERDAM | Sixteen of the 19 FNV unions signed up to the New Trade Union Agreement (Overeenkomst Nieuwe Vakbeweging) at a meeting on 23 June, according to a report on the organisation’s website. Under the new agreement, the FNV will change its name to the Union Movement (de VakBeweging) as part of a campaign of renewal that is intended to create a more representative union federation.

Former PvdA MP, Ton Heerts has been chosen as the interim chairman of the new organisation.

D66 warn of fingerprint risk

THE HAGUE | The privacy of biometric data stored on Dutch passports has been called into question by political party D66, reports Radio Netherlands Worldwide. Fingerprints are recorded on Dutch travel documents produced by the firm Morpho BV, a subsidiary of the Safran Group, which operates within the US. D66 MP Gerard Schouw has raised concerns that US agencies may be able to access data on Dutch citizens through this connection. Talks are under way with Morpho to assess whether it is possible to ensure the privacy of Dutch citizens’ biometric data from American government agencies.

Photo: Kevin Dooley

Pakistan aid cut off

ISLAMABAD | The Dutch ambassador

to Pakistan, Gajus Scheltema, has announced that the Netherlands will cut short its development operations in the country, reports the Pakistan Observer.

The ambassador claims that the change is only partly due to economic concerns resulting from the ongoing financial crisis. Corruption, religious hostility, political uncertainty and bureaucratic red tape are among the reasons listed by the ambassador as to why operations are being curtailed. In 2010, the Netherlands gave 25 million euro worth of aid to Pakistan, mostly as humanitarian aid in the wake of devastating flooding.

Photo: Torbakhopper

The legality of same-sex marriage is enshrined in Dutch law, but some registrars refuse to perform the ceremony. ALICE BURKE looks into the issue and asks what is to be done with these reticent registrars.

Having been the first country in the world to legalise same-sex marriage in April 2001, the Netherlands has faced a barrier to full availability of this right with registrars in many local councils refusing to marry same-sex couples.

The issue has been ongoing, but reared its head in parliament again this month with continuing discussions on whether registrars who refuse should be forced to carry out same-sex ceremonies.

It has been widely reported that the majority of MPs have called for definitive action on the subject, but the cabinet has now decided to postpone the debate until after September’s election.

Following the announcement that any clear decision was being postponed, outgoing Minister of the Interior, Liesbeth Spies (CDA) was reported as saying that it was the responsibility of individual councils to ensure that gay couples had access to a willing registrar. Ms Spies has previously maintained a strong stance against banning registrars from the option of refusing same-sex couples.

Registrars can currently refuse to carry out same-sex ceremonies on grounds of principle. A 2011 report by Dutch gay rights group COC showed that a total of

102 registrars had refused to carry out same-sex weddings.

Henk Krol, editor-in-chief of Gay Krant and member of the Noord Brabant provincial council, is confident that the ability to refuse same-sex ceremonies will be removed from registrars in the very near future.

“On one hand the government says we have to stop discrimination, while on the other hand they allow their own personnel to say no to gay couples, it’s the wrong message to send,” said Mr Krol, adding that he believes the advent of a new government will ensure “this problem will be over for once and for all.”

In an interview with international rights group Humanity in Action, Henk van Rhee, director of the Christian Union, claimed that the issue was being blown out of proportion and stated that, “everybody the law allows to marry can still do so wherever and whenever. The Christian Union wants to keep it that way. There are not enough civil servants to pose a threat to the possibility of getting married. Instead of forcing people to act against their beliefs, our practical, a-dogmatic approach avoids any coercion.”

In August 2011 a refusing registrar in

Groningen received a letter from her employer telling her that her contract would not be extended if she continued to refuse to marry same-sex couples.

Finy Wobbes has worked as a registrar for 18 years and her contract is due for renewal in 2014. In an interview with Radio Netherlands Worldwide, she explained her reasoning for continuing to refuse.

“The Bible says that marriage is a bond between man and wife. It’s been like that for ages, that makes it hard for me,” Ms Wobbes says, adding 17 out of 20 of her colleagues are all willing to marry same-sex couples so, “why should I have to do it?”

COC chairperson Vera Bergkamp expressed her hope that refusing registrars would be found suitable alternative employment but insisted that, “in times like these you can’t keep refusing.”

Caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte (VVD) gave a guarantee in November of 2011 that same-sex couples would be able to get married in all areas of the Netherlands, but admitted that the issue of refusing registrars was extremely complicated.

Media reports at the time linked Mr Rutte’s comments to the recent dismissal of a registrar in The Hague.

Wim Pijl, a former Christian Union councillor, was fired after publicly announcing his objections to same-sex marriages in an interview with de Trouw.

Following his dismissal, Mr Pijl told the newspaper that he was extremely saddened at the loss of his job and was confused that he was not allowed to discriminate against gay couples, “but am myself discriminated against.”

In a statement issued at the time, the city of The Hague took a stand against the option of registrars’ ability to refuse samesex marriages, a stance clearly backed up by their dismissal of Mr Pijl.

It is an issue not only confined to the Netherlands.

A high profile case in the UK in 2009 concerning a British registrar, Lillian Ladele, who refused to conduct civil partnerships, resulted in a controversial decision by the UK’s Equality and Human Rights Commission to support Ms Ladele in the name of “reasonable accommodation” for religion or belief.

For the Netherlands, the possibility of a solution has yet again been relegated and it will now be up to the next government to take the reins on this heated and divisive issue.

NATIONAL

JULY 2012 | 5

RNW suspends English service

Slaughter ban rejected

THE HAGUE | The Senate has rejected proposals put forward by the proanimal Partij voor de Dieren (PvdD) to impose a ban on the ritual slaughter of animals practiced by Jewish and Muslim groups within the Netherlands. This is the second time the ban has been rejected, with the senate claiming that the ban would limit religious freedoms.

Party leader Marianne Thieme’s major concern is that animals slaughtered in ritual ways are aware of their fate and not given anaesthetics which are available. A covenant was previously agreed on in which ritual slaughter is allowed, provided the animal dies within 40 seconds.

Health minister criticised

THE HAGUE | ”The government has violated the trust of the citizens,” is the harsh criticism levelled at Minister for Health Edith Schippers (VVD) by the National Ombudsman, Alex Brenninkmeijer. A statement released in June claims that the effects of the Q-fever outbreak from 2007–2009 are still being felt and that the government’s response has been insufficient. “She had insufficient recognition of the practical implications for these Q-fever patients,” Brenninkmeijer states. Apologies and compensation for those affected are among the measures recommended by the National Ombudsman.

Elder abuse on the rise

Photo: Kevin Steinhardt

As the Dutch public broadcaster suspends its English service in the wake of budget cuts and editorial tensions, DECLAN AYLWARD looks at why this happened and what it means for expat news junkies.

The English speaking voice of the Netherlands has gotten a little quieter this month, as the English language service of Radio Netherlands Worldwide (RNW) has suspended operation.

The last radio show transmitted in English by the Dutch public broadcaster took place on 29 June, and served as a look back at the history of RNW from its beginnings in the 1920s right through to broadcasts put out this year.

Meanwhile, 1 July saw the end of the English language press review issued by the RNW website and coverage of news stories in English.

The closure is the result of steep budget cuts imposed by the government due to the ongoing financial crisis. New plans require RNW to cut 70 percent of its budget for 2013, a staggering amount for any organisation, that was sure to necessitate some extreme changes.

The decision was made to refocus RNW from providing outsiders with an accurate image of the Netherlands to promoting freedom of speech in countries where it is not yet the norm.

“The government decided that... we will exclusively focus on free speech in countries with a lack of freedom of press,”

Marjolein Klaassen-Hulst, spokesperson for RNW explains, “For example: Africa, the Arabic world, but also China, Cuba, Mexico and Venezuela.” This new brief will continue to be pursued by RNW and online articles will be made available related to this field.

This focus on promoting free speech follows in the footsteps of RNW’s recent Vote Compass initiative.

The Vote Compass is a politically neutral project that aims to offer information on political parties to voters in newly emerging democracies via a questionnaire that matches a voter’s opinions on relevant topics to the positions taken by political parties in that country. In elections that can have dozens of new parties all competing votes, the Vote Compass can help people make the decision that is right for them. This initiative is guaranteed to continue as part of RNW’s new focus.

While the broadcaster’s reorganisation may seem at first glance to be fairly straightforward, underneath the surface there has been tension brewing for a while.

Earlier this year, RNW’s editor-in-chief, Rik Rensen, announced plans to leave the

organisation as it transitions into its new, slimmed down form. Deputy editor April Bouwers followed suit, in a move that indicated more than simple budget cuts were causing trouble.

At the time, Rensen and Bouwers released a statement detailing their concerns about the new direction RNW was taking, citing a “lack of vision and urgency” in the broadcaster’s transformation.

One of the chief concerns addressed in the Rensen-Bouwers statement was the absence of guarantees of journalistic integrity in the new RNW; a sentiment that was shared by the editors of every department within RNW, as expressed in a letter to the board of commissioners.

“We believe journalistic independence is no longer sufficiently guaranteed neither in the new RNW, nor in the steering group which has to shape the new company, the editorial council announced on the broadcaster’s website.

Ms. Klaassen-Hulst, however, says that these tensions have been left behind as RNW transitions into its new form.

“These tensions were due to significant doubts on direction of the new organisation from 2013,” she explains, “By adding extra editors to the steering group, these

tensions are reduced to a minimum.”

But, tensions or no, the RNW that we as English speakers have known for so long is now officially gone.

What does that mean for English speakers in the Netherlands?

The media market for English language news has always been relatively small in the Netherlands, with only a handful of national services available.

Local outlets such as The Hague Online deal with their own cities, while Expatica and other expat lifestyle sites offer news with quite an international focus.

For national Dutch news given in English, Holland’s media market now has just two main players; DutchNews.nl and The Holland Times.

Both outlets provide news online and, of course, The Holland Times also has the print edition you are reading now but it is fair to say that editors and readers alike have the same feeling as we bid farewell to one of our longstanding peers, Radio Netherlands Worldwide’s English language service.

To quote the Immortal Bard and thousands of Internet memes, “Good-night, sweet prince; And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.”

AMSTERDAM | Reports of abuse of elderly people are becoming more common. The National Platform for Combating Elder Abuse has seen an increase of 16 percent in reports between 2010 and 2011. Women are much more often victims of elder abuse than men, with 71 percent of reports involving abuse of elderly women.

Two-thirds of the inquiries related to deliberate (intentional) maltreatment in which a third party derailed care, while only three percent of reports involved mistreatment by a professional.

Photo: Horia Varlan

Fruit smuggler arrested

APELDOORN | A fruit trader from the

district of Apeldoorn has been arrested and charged with money laundering following the discovery of cocaine hidden inside multiple pineapple shipments, according to ANP. In 2011, 500 kilos of the drug were found in hollowed out pineapples, while in January of this year, 190 kilos were discovered in another consignment. Police had been unable to link the trader to the smuggling operation, but an investigation of his finances revealed suspicious practices that proved sufficient to charge him.

NATIONAL

6 | JULY 2012

More police ineffective

APELDOORN | Putting more police

boots on the ground is not the best way to combat crime, according to police expert in crime control and investigation, Dr. Nicolien Kop. Speaking at a public lecture on 21 June, Dr. Kop said that cooperation between citizens, government and the police is the best way to prevent crime taking place. She stressed that detection after the fact can often be quite difficult, especially in the case of modern cyber-crimes, and that, as in most things, prevention is better than cure. More cameras and the alertness of citizens are reportedly the best ways to prevent crime.

No guards for Dutch ships

THE HAGUE | A proposal to allow Dutch ships passing through dangerous waters to hire private armed security has been rejected by parliament. Shipping firms operating routes that pass through the pirate infested territory off the coast of Africa had requested to be allowed private guards to protect their cargoes and crew. Defence Minister Hans Hillen (CDA) says that marines are already provided, but ship owners claim there are not enough. Many companies may begin to operate their ships under the flags of countries that do allow the hiring of private guards.

Photo: UK Home Office

Cocaine family gang jailed

SOUTH HAMPTON | A Dutch father and

son drug smuggling operation has been foiled by British border patrol, reports the BBC. Klaas L. (63), Robert L. (33) and their co-conspirator, Mohamed Z. (45) were found guilty at trial of attempting to smuggle one tonne of 90 percent pure cocaine through Britain and into the Netherlands. The drugs were reportedly heading for Waalwijk, where the pure cocaine was to be bulked out. Another suspect and family member, Arjan L. (35) was acquitted of the charges.

Forest boy revealed

BERLIN | A young man who wandered

into Berlin last September and claimed to have been living in the forest for years has been revealed as 20-yearold Dutch national, Robin van Helsum who went missing from Hengelo. He originally claimed his name was Ray and that he was 17 years old. Photos published in de Telegraaf led to his recognition by former housemates.

German authorities are annoyed by the hoax and want Van Helsum to repay the 30,000 euro it cost to house him for the last nine months. According to de Telegraaf, Van Helsum was already in debt before leaving the Netherlands.

Photo: Youtube

Assault officer not charged ROTTERDAM | A female police officer

filmed assaulting a drunken man in Rotterdam is to face no criminal charges, reports de Volkskrant. An investigation by the public prosecutor (Openbaar Ministerie, OM) has decided that she did not commit an offence during the arrest. The OM’s investigation revealed that the man in question had behaved aggressively to the officers and that the arrest complied with current violence protocols. The incident became national news when video footage went viral on the internet showing the female police officer kicking the man in the groin as onlookers shouted to stop.

Dutch ecological footprint on the rise According to the recently published Living Planet Report of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the Netherlands has the ninth largest ecological footprint of all nations worldwide. The ecological footprint expresses the population’s demand on the biosphere by comparing the renewable resources that are consumed against the Earth’s regenerative capacity, or biocapacity. That is, the area of land that is actually available to produce renewable resources and absorb CO2 emissions.

While an average Dutch person has an ecological footprint of 6.31 global hectare (gha), the WWF’s report states that the Earth’s total biocapacity is 1.8 gha per person. A global hectare represents a biologically productive area. In other words, if everyone would consume as much as an average Dutch person, the world would have to be about 3.5 times larger to sustain this consumption. On a global scale, the average ecological footprint is 2.7 gha per person, or 1.5 times larger than the Earth’s available biocapacity.

“We are living as if we have an extra planet at our disposal,” says Jim Leape, the WWF’s international director general.

“We are using 50 percent more resources than the Earth can sustainably produce and unless we change course, that number will grow fast; by 2030 even two planets will not be enough.”

The WWF’s Living Planet Report lists several high-impact consequences of humanity’s unsustainable demands. Since 1970, the Earth’s biodiversity, a measure of the number and range of species, has globally decreased by 30 percent; and by 60 percent in tropical regions. “The past few decades have been warmer than any other comparable period for at least the last 400 years and possibly for the last 1,000 years or longer,” the U.S. National Research Council warned in 2010. In order to avoid an increase of 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels in average annual temperature by 2040, emission of greenhouse gases must be reduced to at least 80 percent less than their peak levels, taken as those of 1990.

In both cause and consequences of these effects a large, global disparity between high-income and low-income countries is reported. While biodiversity actually increased by seven percent in high-income countries since 1970, a fact that is explained by their ability to purchase and import resources from poorer countries, the biodiversity in lowincome countries declined by 60 percent in the same period; an indication that these countries subsidise the lifestyle of wealthier countries. At the same time, high-income countries have on average an ecological footprint five times that of lower income-countries.

Fuel-rich Qatar, the world’s richest country according to Forbes, owns the largest ecological footprint followed by fellow wealthy, oil-producing countries Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.

The Netherlands has the ninth largest eco- logical footprint of all countries and the third largest in Europe after Denmark and neighbouring Belgium.

The Netherlands’ high ranking is largely attributed to the country’s high carbon emission levels, caused by frequent car and plane travel, which accounts for nearly 50 percent of the surface area needed to support its ecological footprint. The country is also among the top ten in the two sub-categories of meat and dairy product consumption, as well as the cropland needed to support the usage of human and animal feed. In total, the footprint of the Netherlands is six times larger than its available biocapacity.

The WWF’s report also includes several suggestions to decrease the global as well as individual footprint, summarised in their One Planet Perspective. “Solutions lie in such areas as reducing waste, which now claims much of the food we grow; using better seeds and better cultivation techniques; bringing degraded lands back into production; and changing diets particularly by lowering meat consumption in high income countries,” Jim Leape explains. “We can meet all of our

Photo: Jon Smith

The Netherlands may be getting too big for its ecological boots. ALEXANDER RIEMER investigates the problem with sustainability and what can be done to reverse the trend.

energy needs from sources like wind and sunlight that are clean and abundant. The first imperative is to get much more out of the energy we use, increasing the efficiency of our buildings, cars and factories can cut our total energy use in half.”

Dutch astronaut Andre Kuipers, in cooperation with the European Space Agency, first launched this year’s Living

Planet Report while aboard the International Space Station.

From the space station, Kuipers shared his passion for conservation: “Seeing Earth from space provides a unique perspective.

“Our planet is a beautiful and fragile place, protected only by a very thin layer of atmosphere essential for life on

our planet. And seemingly large forests turned out to be small and passed by very quickly. It was this perspective, and realisation, that lie behind my motivation to become a WWF ambassador.”

The Living Planet Report was published just ahead of June’s Rio+20 meeting, the fourth major summit on sustainable development since 1972.

NATIONAL

JULY 2012 | 7

Social network technology saves lives

Police checkpoints stopped THE HAGUE | Police forces have ended the policy of setting up checkpoints to ensure that cyclists are using bicycle lights and hands-free phones, according to de Trouw. The action stems from a report by the Foundation for Road Safety Research (Stichting Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek Verkeersveiligheid, SWOV), which found no proof that cycling without lights or on the phone is more dangerous. Checkpoints may increase in 2013, however, to cut down on the amount of people cycling under the influence of soft or hard drugs.

Termination made easier

THE HAGUE | Changes proposed as part of the new austerity measures will make it far simpler for employers to let go of employees with permanent contracts, reports de Volkskrant. Under current laws, employers must apply to the state benefits agency of the courts for permission to fire permanent employees. Proposed new rules would mean that employers can let workers go by informing them in writing of the reasons for their dismissal. Employees can then appeal the dismissal. If accepted, the changes will come into effect in 2014.

Photo: Keith Ramsey

Doctors to save on drugs

THE HAGUE | Medical practitioners in the Netherlands are to help out with austerity measures by prescribing cheaper, generic medicines to patients instead of expensive, branded products, reports Radio Netherlands Worldwide. The deal, struck between Health Minister Edith Schippers (VVD) and the National Association of General Practitioners, will also see doctors limit the number of patients they refer to specialists, make more use of e-health initiatives and alter opening hours. In return, the government has agreed to a 2.5 percent increase in the budget for general practitioners.

Rembrandt found in attic

SCOTLAND | A Scottish man has found a

Photo: Yutaka Tsutano

Smart phones and social networking can be used to do more than just catch up with friends. MAGGIE HOLMAN looks at the way one Dutch organisation is using the technology to help heart attack victims.

Every year 15,000 people in the Netherlands suffer a sudden cardiac arrest, relying on the support of the people around them at the time and on the emergency services.

While this figure is viewed as average for the population, and ambulance response times are also viewed as acceptable, any initiatives to further improve the chances of a cardiac arrest victim can only be welcomed by health care professionals.

“Everyone in the Netherlands can and should use an AED in an emergency.”

This is the message of Burger Harthulp, a charity that is working to create a network of volunteers who can be available to help at a cardiac arrest incident. An AED is an automatic external defibrillator, used to restart a victim’s heart in the event of arrest.

The charity’s emergency support is conducted in close collaboration with Ambulance Amsterdam’s head office, and with participating municipalities in Amstelland, Amsterdam, Zaandam, Waterland and with other regions across the Netherlands.

“Burger Harthulp is an internet platform where volunteers and AEDs can be

registered,” says Peter van den Nouland, who is the Project Leader of the organisation. “My goal is to motivate people to volunteer with Burger Harthulp. With a lot of volunteers we can reach more cardiac arrest victims. The chances for a patient to survive will grow.”

The charity evolved from the principle that there is a strong likelihood of a local volunteer getting to a cardiac arrest victim before the ambulance arrives, giving that person a greater chance of recovery.

Volunteers are trained both to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and to operate an AED. A large number of AEDs are now available and clearly visible in public places such as shopping centres and railway stations. Burger Harthulp gives its volunteers information about where to find an AED in their immediate area, when one is needed.

The organisation also encourages individuals and private organisations, such as businesses and banks, to register their AEDs and make them available to these volunteers.

The Burger Harthulp network of volunteers is available 24 hours a day, seven

days a week. The alarm message procedure began in January of this year, and uses social networking systems to alert a volunteer to a cardiac arrest incident after someone has called 112 (the national emergency number in the Netherlands).

When the call is connected to the control room of the ambulance service, the control room then alerts a volunteer who is available in the area of the call. The emergency message is sent to the volunteer via a pager, an SMS message or an app on a smart phone.

Hartveilig Wonen is also a charity which operates a volunteer system to support cardiac arrests victims.

“The difference between our organisation and Hartveilig Wonen is that we manage our volunteers,” Peter van den Nouland explains.

“This management is organised locally. Hartveilig Wonen does not have this function, and runs a website where volunteers are responsible for their own training. However, we do work together with Hartveilig Wonen, and they have a particular app for alerting volunteers, which we use at Burger Harthulp.”

Burger Harthulp is not yet operational

nationwide, but its system is increasingly being established in regions across the Netherlands. Visitors to the Burger Harthulp website can discover whether the network is available in their area, and if it isn’t, they can register an interest in volunteering, ahead of a time when it will eventually be in place.

The police and the fire service now carry AEDs and are CPR/AED trained, which is one reason why some areas do not have this volunteer system yet.

“The Dutch government is interested in this project,” says Peter van den Nouland, “but there are no further plans made to make the project national.”

Given that the alarm messaging system only began in January, there are already a large number of participating regions using Burger Harthulp’s procedure.

This growth is in line with Peter van den Nouland’s vision for the organisation.

“I’d like to see the number of volunteers grow,” he says. “The network of volunteers is going to be bigger, so that the chances of patients who recover will grow.

There is a dedicated webpage on our website www.burgerharthulp.nl where people can sign in to become a volunteer.”

lost Rembrandt drawing in his dusty attic cupboard, reports Radio Netherlands Worldwide. The anonymous finder sent photos of the drawing to Christie’s auction house in London, where it was identified as an original Rembrandt. The drawing is very similar to one in Berlin’s Museum of Prints and Drawings, which is now thought to be a copy. The man’s cupboard also contained sketches by many of Rembrant’s students, including Ferdinand Bol. The sketches will be auctioned on 3 July and the Rembrandt alone is expected to go for up to 100,000 euro.

Photo: Stephen Pierzchala

Plumbers weather crisis

TILBURG | Despite the financial crisis, the average wage earned by plumbers has remained unchanged, according to a new report by Werkspot.nl. This stable rate of earning is in stark contrast to the experience of craftsmen in other areas, such as painting and decorating.

One reason for this disparity may be the vital nature of plumbers’ work, claims Werkspot.nl. The report also examined the difference in rates by region.

Zeeland is the most expensive area to perform renovations in, with an average hourly rate of 34.80 euro, while Zuid Holland is the cheapest at 30.47 euro.

economics

JULY 2012 | 9

Austere measures may not be enough

Amsterdam port privatised

AMSTERDAM | The port of Amsterdam is soon to become a private “government company” according to local councillor Freek Ossel (PvdA), reports DutchNews. nl. The privatisation was originally intended to be put into motion this year, but further investigation has meant that the plans will not take effect until 2013.

Ossel claims that a privatised port will be more competitive in international markets. The city of Amsterdam is to be the sole owner of the private port, but the sale of parts to other interested parties, such as other districts or private interests, will be possible.

Consumer confidence low

AMSTERDAM | Dutch consumer confidence is at an all-time low, reports de Volkskrant quoting figures released by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).

The measure of confidence fell 2 points to -40, bringing it back to the historically low level not seen since July 2003.

Consumers are seen to be particularly pessimistic about the economic climate for the coming year and are deciding en masse that the time is not right for major purchases, as shown by a sharp drop in car sales. However, consumer willingness to purchase on smaller scales remains unaffected.

Photo: Ken Teegardin

Tight budgets and cutbacks are the name of the game in the Netherlands and Europe at the moment. ROBERT ZBORAY asks whether this approach is the correct one, or an alternative should be sought.

Dark clouds still hang over the future of the eurozone, as economic depression deepens and the fundamental weakness in larger economies such as Spain and Italy can no longer be obscured.

The policy enacted to deal with the crisis, a trickle of bailouts tied to austerity measures insisted upon by the stronger economies, has so far failed to address the real problems of lacking growth in productivity, falling real incomes and enormous unfunded future obligations in pensions and health care for Europe’s aging population.

Moreover, the rhetoric surrounding austerity measures makes it difficult to enact more productive solutions. Such solutions would inevitably entail investments, and with consumers, business and financial institutions unable or unwilling to do so, governments are the only ones who can jump-start the economy again.

While such action lies outside the realm of possibilities for the troubled Eurozone countries, the stronger nations in these troubled times could.

Government investment may be the only way to restart the economy into growth, as rising costs of living, increasing levels of unemployment and—taking inflation in account—falling wages makes consumers unable to do so.

Businesses are fundamentally dependent on those consumers, and lacking customers they are not investing either.

The banks, whose societal role is to provide credit to business and consumer and stimulate productivity do so to neither.

As Boele Staal, chairman of the Dutch Banking Association, stated recently, “Dutch business is too dependent on banks, and should in the future try to find money elsewhere.” Most people who tried to obtain a mortgage or other loan will have found it difficult to get one. Staal explains that new regulations on the banks, regarding their capital position are the root cause of this problem.

The regulations he mentions, such as the Basel III and Solvency agreements, are put in place as a response to the economic crisis. Considered one of the root causes of the credit crisis, banks are allowed to lend out a multiple of the capital they control. This capital consists of people’s savings and other assets such as real estate.

The new regulations put stronger reserve requirements in place, in order to create greater buffers in the banks to absorb losses and reduce the probability of a catastrophic cascade in the worldwide financial system. In these regulations investment in business is valued less than

investments in government bonds, forcing weak banks—which may well be all of them—to shift money into government bonds.

With few governments considered secure however, and the austerity measures insisted upon as conditions for the various bailouts manifestly having failed to restore troubled economies to health, investors seek to store their money with those few nations still believed to be safe, like Germany and the Netherlands. As a result, when the Dutch or German government borrows money the interest they would have to pay has fallen below inflation targets (two percent), or is even negative, effectively meaning they are being paid to borrow money and so keep it safe for fearfull investors.

The moment a nation is paid to borrow money would seem an excellent time to invest in those sectors such as infrastructure, education and even entirely new ventures that create not only temporary jobs, but lasting value for the future.

For developed nations such projects, however funded, are the drivers of growth.

Investing wisely may even reduce future government expenses. For example future health care expenses, which the Central Bureau of Statistics estimates to be 90 billion euro per year and are estimated to

double in the coming years, are currently completely unfunded. In effect, just to keep Dutch health care at its current level, the Netherlands would have to pay the equivalent of a Greek Bailout every year.

There is a strong case to be made that investing in research and starting companies targeted to keep such costs down is the prudent thing to do, even if previous governments sold off their bussinesses such as telecom, railways, airways and energy companies. There is after all no fundamental reason to continue doing so if the policy does not make sense in the current economic climate. But is that likely?

“The current focus is on being seen to reduce expenses,” explains Joost Jonker, professor of economic history at both the University of Utrecht and University of Amsterdam, “Investments, even if they make financial sense, run counter to that focus. In the current political paradigm cutbacks are king. As such it is insignificant if such efforts to reduce expenses are likely to fail, for example because of spiraling costs in healthcare, unemployment and old age benefits.”

Pressed on the seeming absurdity of that line of reasoning Jonker gloomily responds: “That hardly matters, history provides few examples of governments planning ahead.”

Photo: Alix Guillard

Financial guarantees rise

THE HAGUE | The Court of Audits (Algemene Rekenkamer) has issued a report warning that the total value of Dutch financial guarantees has risen from 42 percent to 77 percent of GDP in the last five years. The value of guaranteed loans to countries, including those members of the EU in severe economic difficulty such as Greece and Ireland, support for banks and guarantees of mortgages is reported to have risen to 465 billion euro. The report also claims that MPs are not being kept sufficiently informed as to the risks associated with financial guarantees.

Charities experience boom

AMSTERDAM | Charities in the Netherlands have seen an increase in successful fundraising, despite the gloomy economic forecast. Analysis released by the trade association of charities, VFI, shows that income from fundraising increased by 5.3 percent in 2011, amounting to almost 30 million euro. This increase is not sector wide, and donation of inheritance forms a large part of the change.

Despite this increase in fundraising, the total revenue received by charities did in fact drop by 8.7 percent, meaning they have less money overall to achieve their goals.

Stad Amsterdam in London

MUSTAFA TANRIVERDI is director of foreign investment for Amsterdam Inbusiness and guest editor for the Holland Times economics column.

As athletes get ready to leave Dutch soil once again to compete with their international counterparts in the London Olympics 2012, the business world uses the time to celebrate international cooperation.

The clipper ship, Stad Amsterdam is a vessel with a special history and purpose.

Built from an initiative of Randstad and the city of Amsterdam, the idea for the Stad Amsterdam arose during Amsterdam Sail 1995, with so many ships from around the world visiting the port of Amsterdam. The ship was constructed over five years and unveiled at Amsterdam Sail 2000.

The keel was laid in the city’s Damen shipyard and the ship was completed in the Maritime Museum using original methods. The construction itself involved a lot of young unemployed and school

leavers, so it was helping to educate people even before completion.

While it is not a copy of an existing ship, the new Stad Amsterdam is based on the design of the origninal, built in 1854. The new ship combines elements of the classic design with the requirements of modern shipping.

And this is much the same as its use today. In the past, Dutch merchant navies would travel the world bringing home exotic goods and stories of far-flung locales.

This year, the Stad Amsterdam will travel the world to bring tales of the Netherlands and economic cooperation to our established trading partners.

During the 2012 Olympic Games to be held in London, the Stad Amsterdam will be seen in the West India Dock, Canary Wharf, where the Dutch can meet during the games.

The ship will not only provide a focal point for Dutch fans, but will serve as a reminder of our long history of international trade and cultural exchange.

Continuing this trend, the Stad Amsterdam will head to Istandbul in October to celebrate 400 years of trade relations between the Netherlands and Turkey.

During this visit, the clipper and its crew will meet with Istanbul’s finest, business figures and government officials, cementing relationships important to the continuing economic cooperation between our two countries.

So when the time for competition comes, cheer for our boys and girls, wave the flags and sing the songs, but keep in mind the message of one wooden ship: competition is great, but cooperation is essential. www.amsterdaminbusiness.com

Photo: Stephen Pierzchala

Recession figures revised

AMSTERDAM | The recession in the Netherlands may not be as bad as previously believed, according to new figures released by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). The economy shrank by 0.8 percent in the first quarter of this year, performing 0.3 percent better than previously estimated. Quarterly growth has also been revised upwards from a 0.2 percent contraction to 0.3 percent growth. There is still bad news, however, and the average wage in the first quarter of 2012 was measured as 0.6 percent higher than in the same quarter of 2011; this is below the collectively agreed wage increase of 1.3 percent.

BUSINESS

JULY 2012 | 11

Kazakhstan ripe for Dutch investment

Photo: Ken & Nyetta

While economies throughout Europe are floundering, Kazakhstan offers attractive investment opportunities for Dutch firms. Mikołaj Malinowski looks at the benefits of Kazakhian-Dutch cooperation.

“Some people say that God created the world but the Dutch created Netherlands; we want to learn from the Dutch experience.”

With those words, Mrs. Mainura Murzamadiyeva, ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the Kingdom of the Netherlands invites Dutch investors to engage their capital in the booming Kazakhian economy.

A recent meeting in The Hague between Kazakhian officials and Dutch business figures is part of an ongoing campaign to bring Kazakhstan and the Netherlands closer together.

The connection between the countries is already very strong. Kazakhstan is not only the birth place of the tulip, which through Turkey and the Mediterranean found its way to the Low Countries, but is already home to many Dutch firms engaged.

The volume of trade between the two countries accounts for nearly 17 billion euro. For this reason, Mrs. Murzamadiyeva calls the Dutch, “The investor number one.”

This economic cooperation is going to tighten even further as Royal Dutch Shell has recently joined a consortium planning to invest 779 million euro into the search and extraction of oil from Kazakhstan.

After the fall of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, where the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic played the role of a resource basin of the country, the independent state had to find its place on the global markets.

In order to raise capital for investment and finance the budget of a country used to welfare and strong government, Kazakhstan kept on doing what it does best; selling its national resources.

Up to this day 43 percent of the Kazakh economy is based solely on industrial activities related to oil, with an additional 29 percent related to the mining sector.

Thanks to the natural resources and high prices, Kazakhstan’s economy has had one of the highest growth numbers in the world during recent years, despite the crisis.

But there are also other reasons for the Dutch to invest in Kazakhstan. For example, its location close to Russia, India and China, which together with Brazil form the famous BRIC group of growing economies.

In addition, thanks to the recent economic union with Belarus and Russia, Kazakhstan is a doorway to a great economic zone accounting for a fair share of the world, not to mention that Kazakhstan itself is roughly the size of Western Europe.

But geographical benefits of the country, both understood in terms of natural riches and access to growing markets, are only half of the story.

The Kazakhian government is trying to merge water with fire by creating special free economic zones as a part of macroeconomic centralised planning.

Investors wishing to engage their capital in Kazakhstan may be tempted with low or sometimes nonexistent taxes, support with building infrastructure, or see an influx of money from special government funds.

It may sound like a dream come true, especially to those economists that believe that a country should specialise in what it does best in order to compete successfully in the global market.

There is, however, an opposite point of view that speaks of “paradox of plenty” or a phenomenon known as “Dutch disease” after the situation that occurred in the Netherlands in 1959 when gas resources were discovered next to Groningen.

When a country specialises in production of natural resources, it may in fact have a negative impact on its economy.

Such states tend to focus on the easy influx of money coming from selling resource endowments on the international markets.

As a result they neglect development of the other branches of the economy. In addition, influx of foreign currency into the country influences exchange rates, making export of domestically manufactured products relatively more expensive, hampering homegrown industry even further. This creates inequalities in a society due to promoting only those who have access to the resources sector. The budget of such a country is also highly dependent on the prices of just a handful of selected goods on the international markets and

any drop in prices may result in a dramatic fall in revenue.

If Kazakhstan really wants to learn from the Dutch experience it needs to balance the short term gains from extraction of its natural resources with the long term consequences.

According to Mr. Serik Nugerbekov, the head of a special Kazakhian delegation to the Netherlands, the government is trying to do the right thing and diversify its economy. It wishes to attract high-tech industries and is investing heavily in the human capital of the Kazakhian youth.

Moreover, it wishes to increase the share of small and medium companies from 27 to 40 percent of the economy, which is exactly the kind of thinking that may help Kazakhstan keep its high growth figures.

And lastly, according to the CIA Factbook, Kazakhstan’s Gini coefficient, which measures inequality within a country, dropped between 2003 and 2009 from 31.5 to 26.7, which is around the level of Scandinavian countries. This fact alone, even aside from the country’s other advances, seems to suggest that the people of Kazakhstan are so far quite successful in merging economic growth with social wellbeing.

Mr. Serik N. Nugerbekov, Head of the Division of Socio-economic Monitoring of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and Mr. Sjaak van der Werf, Director of Information and Advice for The Hague Chamber of Commerce.

Photo: Dan...

feature

14 | JULY 2012

Orange on the Ganges The Dutch have always been an internationally-minded people. ERIN RUSSELL finds out just how much when a visit to one of the most sacred Indian rituals turns up more than a few western participants.

Photos by Erin Russell I sat myself down at the very front of the bridged platform over the Ganges river at Rishikesh feeling very pleased that I had secured such a good view of the Aarti ceremony about to take place on the stairs at the bank opposite.

As I was trying to arrange my legs Indian style upon the blue carpeted cement in such a way as to be comfortable but not take up too much legroom, the woman on my right turned to me and said, “You’re Dutch” with some finality.

I blinked, then quickly scanned my bag, clothes, and footwear to determine what had given me away. I’d been living in Amsterdam for the last three years – did it somehow show?

The woman smiled broadly and explained that she herself lived in Rotterdam, but was of Indian-Indonesian descent. She and her husband made the pilgrimage each year to this world famous community of Parmarth Niketan, nestled the lap of the Indian Himalayas.

And so this modern day pilgrim and I proceeded to chat in Dutch — hers flawless, mine less so. As we spoke, I wondered vaguely at her bright eyes and what it was about this place that brought on her obvious devotion.

Ceremony and contemplation Our conversation faded as preparations on the stairway-cum-stage across the water seemed to be nearing their completion. At the bottom of the stairs, set just up from the fast running waters of the Ganges sweeping over the first two steps, there stood a large rectangular pit, fenced in by sternly white painted stones.

A small group of worshippers in brightly coloured clothes was burning incense and praying over the smoke and flames. Their concentration was intense, almost ecstatic, while other men and women ran importantly about them handing over offerings for the fire.

Further up the stairs, in a pocket that would prove to be the main stage for the evening’s ceremony, a space was being made, presumably for the guru himself.

Boys in saffron coloured robes moved busily about carrying up to this space gleaming bronze water bearers. Some of these were simply long handles with moulded pots at the end, functional bearers of the water of Mother Ganges, but most were many-tiered with pots unfolding from vertices of branch after branch of handles catching the reflection of firelight and the setting sun.

Math trees from high school made sublime.

My eye was soon caught by a very pale woman with very blonde hair swept back under a white veil. Her robes were equally white – not a sharp white, but a soft, sinewy colour.

She held her hands folded in front of her and bore a look of such serene contemplation that I was reminded of softly lit painted cards of Mary Magdalene produced in the 1950s. She held herself with the kind of serenity you’d imagine finding in those who’ve given their lives over to pure adoration.

I took a few clicks.

My neighbour leaned over to me and whispered knowingly, “She’s Dutch, too.”

She wasn’t, I found out later. But then again, neither am I. The smell of incense from the pit, and from every other corner possible, was growing stronger. I felt heady.

I tucked in for the start of the ceremony.

It was a bit of a baffling affair in the end, with the audience chanting mantras in what I assumed was Sanskrit. Everyone seemed to know the words and it felt for a

while like an old time gospel meeting in a foreign language.

Doing research for this trip, I had read that the Aarti is often a rather inaccessible affair for non-Hindus. And it did feel removed for me. I caught a few of the repeated phrases and tried to sing along, but mostly I sat and observed.

My mind wandered as I watch the men and women gathered here, pressed close together, many holding out flaming incense bearers. I reflected on the power that Hinduism — and the worshippers in this quiet garden — affords Ganga Ma, Mother Ganges, a female deity.

A visit with the guru After the ceremony was over, and I had lowered my own banana leaf cup of red, yellow and orange marigolds into the fast flowing current, I was invited into the back part of the ashram for an audience with the guru himself.

I soon realised that I was part of a select group, my office having called the previous day to confirm that I could meet with someone important there to conduct an interview for a journalistic piece on yoga East/West.

I pulled out my notebook and was led to the periphery of a bamboo lean-to off a small secluded garden at the back of the ashram. A dozen or so pilgrims were arranging themselves in a crescent around the bushy haired guru H.H. Pujya Swamiji. A serene looking Western woman with a red dot on her forehead and long brown hair falling down over orange robes sat cross-legged next to him holding a microphone.

We all sat like this on the ground— cross-legged, barefoot on bamboo reeds over grass, with the sound of a trickling fountain and birdsong as backdrop.

I put away my notebook.

I soon spotted my Rotterdam neighbour. She and her husband had been granted entrance and, as they bowed low before the guru, he reached out and blessed them, touching the top of their heads.

feature

JULY 2012 | 15

The brown haired Western woman spoke into the microphone, inviting the next couple to come forward.

A mother and daughter approached and bowed low. After Swamiji lay his hands on them for a few lingering moments, the two looked up at him. The younger woman was in tears as she asked a private question of the man. I fancied I caught the words “marriage” and “decision”.

The guru spoke quietly with the pair, playing with his fingers as he talked. After a few minutes they thanked him and withdrew.

There was a pause and in the silence that followed, the guru wiped his face and began to wiggle on his sitting bones. Soon

there was complete silence. A young man was meditating, I noticed, on the grass behind us.

The woman with the microphone cleared her throat and reminded the group that dinner was now being served and the kitchen would soon close.

One of the young men who had ushered me into this garden came up gently behind me. He whispered, “it is your time, now.” It took me a moment to realise that he was telling my time in the lean-to was up.

I would later be able to find a yoga expert — the western woman with long brown hair — and finish the required research for the article. But for the moment, I was wrapped in meditative silence.

As I walked out of the garden, I recalled the people I had seen along the fast flowing Ganga Ma that day — simple and grand, all believing that a dip in the current would bring about spiritual cleansing: families carrying wailing newlyshorn babies into the river for their first dip; barefoot beggars along the stones holding out gnarled hands; mothers engaged in the banal act of washing travel wear; children spreading out vast fivefoot-long saris to dry bright in the wind.

Writing this now, I look at my small brass pot souvenir welded shut with water from the Ganges secured within. I pause and try to still myself.

Ganga Ma, my prayer, such as it is, remains with these.

FLASH FICTION

JULY 2012 | 17

The New World The Holland Times presents its second Flash Fiction series. With an experimental approach, each month a new writer will pick up their pen and contribute a chapter to our ongoing and highly unpredictable tale. The story continues with Grant Walker’s Chapter 5: Behind the smile

Image: Dean McCoy

The ancient Maya were right. Not about the end of the world, but about the dawn of new way of life.

In the year 1, electricity is a thing of the past and anarchy reigns. Struggling to survive and build a safe future, the fate of civilisation is left in the hands of a remaining few.

“Bebé!” she exclaimed with more enthusiasm than she had managed to muster up in her short life. It was such a relief to see someone she knew that she lost all inhibition and ran towards him, wrapping her skinny little limbs around the giant tree trunks that were his legs.

“I never thought I’d see you again!” She briefly thought about what she’d just said: she barely knew Bebé, but his familiarity did not go amiss.

Taken aback by this sudden rush of affection, Bebé looked down and mussed her hair up. “Well, it’s good to see you too, kid,” he said, grinning sheepishly and returning the child’s affectionate embrace. “But what happened to you? We checked on you shortly after we put you to bed and you had disappeared.”

Patience took a step back from Bebé and exhaled deeply. “I don’t know. I woke up on top of the hill in complete darkness. I don’t know how I got there.

Where are the others?”

Bebé hesitated for a moment before he spoke. “They’re setting up a camp so that we all have a place to sleep. You said you woke up on the hill? Were you sleepwalking?” Patience saw his eyelids flicker as he shot a glance in Aaron’s direction.

“All I know is that I woke up on the hill. How I got there is a complete mystery to me. Bebé, how long have we been here for?”

“You fainted when we got here this morning and ran quite the fever. When we came into town, Aaron here helped us find you a bed. You were shouting out in your sleep, for your mother, telling her you were sorry. You were struggling to stay still, I thought we were going to lose you. The state you were in,

I’m not surprised you don’t remember.”

Patience began to well up at the mention of her mother. Now an orphan in a strange land surrounded by strange people, she could not believe she had lost nearly 12 hours of her life. What happened? How did she find herself on the hill? And how did she not remember anything? It was a mystery to her, but there were more burning questions on her mind.

“Well I’m fine now, but what I really want to know is what is going on with this place? What is it you’re using to power this city? You mentioned electrochemical reactions, synapses, potatoes.

How are you managing to run power to an entire town with just a bunch of copper wire?”

Aaron threw his head back in a rage of laughter. “Why child, we’re getting right down to brass tacks, aren’t we? Why, I would love to tell you everything that goes on here in our little town. You have many questions, I’m sure, but won’t you sit down and have some soup? It has only been recently prepared and you’ve built up quite a hunger, I’m sure.”

The sound of scraping metal filled the room as Aaron moved chunks of wire and several electrical devices aside and placed a chipped porcelain bowl full of steaming soup in front of Patience at the head of the rickety old table. As she inhaled, there was a lingering smell of onions and carrots, among other unidentifiable smells, strong gamey smells that made her uneasy. She twirled a spoon around in the hot liquid, spying chunks of tuber and slivers of meat and marrow.

“Now, Patience, do you remember when I explained to you about the pota-

to and the clock? And how every living thing is powered by a series of electrochemical reactions? As I said, it is these reactions that keep us ticking and it is this method which we have used, but on a grander scale. We have used this very idea to power this little town of ours.”

“When I asked you if you used potatoes to power the town, you said that you were using things much bigger than potatoes.” Patience felt that Aaron was dodging her questions, unwilling or perhaps unable to answer her directly.

“Well, child...” he looked around the room nervously, his eyes darting to the corners of the old kitchen, as if seeking an answer amongst the shadows and cobwebs. Placing a bony hand on her small shoulders, and with that yellowtoothed grin, he looked Patience in the eye and said, “Well, Patience, perhaps it’s best if I just show you what we do here.”

A light rain was falling as they stepped out into the town. The house from which they just came gave off an eerie feeling as the only source of light in the cul-de-sac. They followed the same route which they took to the house, past the old flaking barn with that distinct whirr of a generator and past the inquiring eyes of the locals as they peered out from their ramshackle bungalows.

Bebé had been mostly silent since he showed up at the house, but for some reason his presence soothed Patience’s nervousness. It was Aaron’s tone which she was unsure about. Much bigger things than potatoes, he said.

What could it possibly be? Pumpkin?

Squash? Giant beets?

They followed a narrow dirt path which led to a street parallel to the one

they had just been walking down. There was no sign of the others. Their absence made Patience uncomfortable, but she tried to put it out of her mind. They came upon a barn much like the one which the whirring sound of electricity was coming from earlier, but on a much larger scale.

Bebé and Aaron were walking ahead of Patience and had not spoken during the short journey. Why the mystery? Patience looked past the two men leading her and took in the giant framed structure of the barn. There were swinging doors large enough for a tractor, but they entered through a smaller door next to that. The smell of grease and engine oil invaded her nostrils as they entered the barn. Rusted tools and farming equipment hung from the walls.

That unmistakable whirring sound filled the room, produced from the giant generators that crowded the dirt floors.

Thick cables tied in bunches led from each generator, of which there were 30 at least, followed a snaking route along the dirt floor, through a gap in the wall leading to the back of the barn. Patience looked up at Bebé, and over at Aaron who was smiling that creepy yellow grin. “In the back, child, we must go to the back.” He beckoned the girl to follow him through to the back of the barn where there was another door leading to a separate room. Bebé stood aside to let them pass and followed up at the rear.

“Now, Patience, what you will see might offend your yet innocent sensibilities. Your friends too were surprised when they saw what we do here, but please just try to keep in mind that if it were not for this sacrifice, we would not be able to run electricity through to our

town and would not be living the way we are. This sacrifice was necessary for the greater good, which you will soon come to realise.” His use of language bothered Patience. Offend? Greater good? Sacrifice? What sacrifice?

Aaron opened the door and teetered down the rickety old staircase, flicking on a switch at the bottom. Patience stood at the top of the staircase as the light slowly came into being. She adjusted her eyes to this sudden wreath of light. It was a room that was grand in scale. A room as large as a factory floor that had no place in the town in which she grew up but was very fitting in the great expanse of this South African town.

They were lined up like machines.

There were dozens of them, each bound to the other with thick rope. They were connected by copper wiring to the cables Patience saw running from the generators in the previous room. They wore looks of terror on their faces. Patience tried to take in her surroundings, but could not believe what she saw. She saw Gloria and Rhuma, but they did not see her. They were suspended in a comatose state which they would not come out of, no longer human beings, now mere batteries to power a ‘greater good’.

Patience turned to run but found an obstacle in her way: Bebé filled the doorway. “Patience,” he pleaded to her, saying her name for the first time, “why don’t you just stay right there?” The disgust that would have been apparent in her eyes could not entail the horrific scene which she had just witnessed.

It was humans they were using to power the city. Humans were the sacrifice.

ARTS & CULTURE

JULY 2012 | 19

Vast mixes theatre and reintegration

Photos: Saris & den Engelsman

Exploration of prejudice is nothing new in theatre, but one Dutch group is bringing an often ignored issue to our attention. MARIA ROSARIA DI LECCE looks at a play that attempts to shine a light on the plight of former prisoners in the Netherlands.

The Polish sculptor Magdalena Abakanowicz once said, “Art does not solve problems but makes us aware of their existence.”

This is really the case with Vast, a play that takes one of the most important problems in our society and turns it into a theatrical performance that is currently touring the nation.

But where did it all begin?

In 2011, Dutch theatre director Letizia Rompelberg decided to start a national project called Zware Deuren (Heavy Doors), which aims to create a dialog between former prisoners and the society into which they must reintegrate.

Financed by Skan fonds, VSB fonds, Prins Bernhard Cultuur Fonds and the municipality of ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Zware Deuren brought together Hertog Zout and Exodus.

Hertog Zout is the theatre group founded by Ms. Rompelberg in 2009, and has as its goal a type of art that everyone can relate to and that can be connected to society.

Exodus is a non-profit, Christian-oriented organisation, started 30 years ago, which takes care of former prisoners by giving them the chance to follow a reintegration program after they have served their sentence.

The play, Vast (Fixed), tells the story of Maikel, a young man who made a mistake, went to jail and entered Exodus upon release. Maikel himself tells the story of his life and feelings to the audience.

Rompelberg met him during the making of her previous play Sluitertijd (Shut-

ter, 2010), based on stories of former prisoners, narrating their lives in jail. She was struck by his story and his positive approach to life. This inspiration led the Zware Deuren project to begin work on Vast.

Marloes Berings, from the communication division of Exodus, says that through this project, “ex-prisoners get a sense of their neighbours and the neighbours get a sense of the ex-prisoners.

They can understand each other and understand how things are on both sides, meaning society and jail.”

Rompelberg chose Exodus because she realised that that they had the same goal; “My most important motivation to create theatre or drama is to connect people. I want to establish a strong connection with my audience, just like the characters I create in my work are seeking for connection.” In the case of Vast’s Maikel, he is seeking reconnection to the environment he once belonged in.

The young director also wants to point out a specific aspect of our of society: prejudice. But in this case prejudice has “a two-way structure.”

In Rompelberg’s vision, the former prisoner has his prejudices about society (they will never except me, they will think I am evil) and society exhibits similar feelings towards him (he must be evil, he doesn’t want to be in society, he will probably steal from me, I can’t trust him).

“I wanted to show this construction,” Rompelberg says, “It is quite complicated, because it is understandable that people have prejudices, but it is a negative thing

and doesn’t create anything.”

Exodus sees Vast as an opportunity for former prisoners to be heard and has opened its doors to the play.

Each performance takes place in or near an Exodus-house (there are in total 11 of these in the Netherlands), and this gives a very broad audience the chance to discover more about the organisation and about the way former prisoners conduct their lives and follow the reintegration program after leaving jail.

Vast is performed by Maikel himself, supported by Lies-Lott Kok, playing several female characters who are part of Maikel’s life, and Leon van Egmond, who takes care of live music/effects and voices on stage, creating an enchanting extra musical dimension to the play and its story.

Whether your level of Dutch is high or very basic, the performance is such that not many words are needed to understand the moving story that is being told on stage. Vast is a must-see to experience and understand this sad reality that can be changed only through defeating ignorance.

The play premiered in May in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, and has since played in Herleen and Leiden.

The next performances will take place on 8–11 August at the Theaterfestival Boulevard in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, while in October and November Vast arrives in The Hague, Alkmaar and Utrecht.

More information about the play and the upcoming dates can be found at www. hertogzout.nl/zware-deuren-vast-2012.

REVIEWS

JULY 2012 | 21

FOOD

film

Borscht and the universe

Sleeping Beauty

Photo: Michelle Morgan We did our best to raise vegetarians, but every time we would load up the table with linguini carcioffo or home-made hummus or potato pierogi from the Polish store on the Van Woustraat, Number One Son would give us this look: “No meat?” We always had pets and visited farms, we never mocked the Partij van de Dieren, we told them about factory farming and the daily holocaust of all of those sinless souls and read Charlotte’s Web to them, and even then Number Two Son started in: “Where’s my meat?”

Unlike Isaac Bashevis Singer, I’m worried neither about my health nor the health of the

chickens. My only problem with meat is the cost, especially since She Good Woman banned the cheap chickens I was buying at the local Turkish butcher. After she caught me sneaking one into the soup, it was free range or else, and at those prices, it was or else. And since meat substitutes, including tofu, are out of the question – what we talk about when we talk about meat is a combination of taste and texture that is impossible to fake – I’ve found that full disclosure and a hard line is the best option, in other words, acting like an oldfashioned parent; this is dinner, it is delicious, and there is no other dinner.

So: Falafel Un Po’Diverso. Buy a bag of dried chick peas, soak half of them overnight and boil them for an hour, or until soft. Add plenty of tahina, some lemon juice and olive oil, two eggs, minced garlic, two onions, fresh coriander, perhaps some cumin and paprika and salt and pepper.

Then mash or blend it until almost fine (the version they serve at ‘t Achterommetje in The Hague includes pompoen and sesame, which is delicious and ingenious). Shape the mixture into hamburger-sized patties. If it’s too wet, add some flour. If it’s too dry, add another egg, or it’ll turn into a happy accident that we’ll call Garbanzo Hash a la Bob Ross. Fry them in an oil with a high heating point, which is to say, not olive oil, until dark gold. We get our pitas from Leeman and make an Israeli salad and yogurt (strictly 10 percent fat is good, 15 percent is better) with mint.

(IL PACIFICO)

not ask any questions. In the morning, she awakes without any notion of what happens while she sleeps.

Director and script writer Julia Leigh drew inspiration for Sleeping Beauty from the identically named 315 year-old fairytale by Charles Perrault, and two novellas about older men contemplating their lives as they spend the night with a drugged young beauty. The result is a dark, eerie fairytale about youth, old age, and unsatisfiable desires.

The pretty, young Lucy whom the old gentlemen nourish themselves on, divides her time between her mind-numbing side jobs, a bar where blunt career hunters drown their sorrow and look for sex, and visits to her only friend, an alcoholic recluse called Birdmann. Lucy and Birdmann share their rejection of ordinary, civil life, where everyone tells one another that things are fine, good; no, superb.

As a viewer, one is thrust into the slightly uneasy position of a voyeur who sees what Lucy herself is prohibited from knowing about the nightly hours she spends as a sleeping beauty. At first, Lucy is indifferent towards it. Slowly but surely though, the question of what happens when she sleeps for a fee, creeps up on her. One day she finds out. But unlike the fairy tale from 1697, she is not woken by a prince’s kiss. (PHILIP HOLMAN)

Lucy, a beautiful, detached student who juggles several annoying part-time jobs, has trouble paying the rent. That changes when she responds to a newspaper ad and goes for an interview in a luxurious country house.

She is hired as a waitress at private dinner parties for rich, elderly men. One snag: she has to wear revealing lingerie during her serving duties, just as the other women on the waiting staff. The greybeards lust after her, the reward is majestic.

Lucy is so well liked by her new employer, that she Director: Julia Leigh is soon asked to come and stay over for the odd Starring: Emily Browning, Rachael Blake, night. Naked. The rules: take a soporific and do Ewen Leslie

music

book

North Sea Jazz Festival looking good

Toni Morrison: Home

Photo: Julio Enriquez

sic offering enough to almost rival Lowlands. And this year I think they’ve done it.

At 189 euro for three days of non-stop performance and variety, it’s time to start weighing the benefits.

Benefit 1: You don’t have to camp. The comfort of a bed and civilization over a bedroll and mud forest goes a long way. The NSJF is at Rotterdam’s well-known music hub, Ahoy. Perfect for music lovers that are just plain over tent pitching and trekking to the middle of nowhere in the Netherlands.

Benefit 2: The line up is great. Forget dishing the extra dough for admission into the “plus concerts,” unless you’re stuck in the Tony Bennet 1950s or gush over covers by Lenny Kravitz. Flock to Bela Fleck, run to Rodrigo y Gabriella, turn to Taj Mahaj and gun it for Van Morrison—the roster for this year’s programme covers all the bases in great and genuine music. From soul to blues rock to pop, it’s incredibly worth it.

Benefit 3: The crowd is still cool; which is one of the highlights of a festival like Lowlands. But music acts bring the fans, and if the acts are young, fun and energetic, the crowd will mirror it.

Never listened to Macy Gray beyond her singles? Do you know Amos Lee is great but never gave him a chance?

Splurge on the North Sea Jazz Festival, they deserve it this time.

(AUDREY SYKES)

Like the books you never read and the cult classics you never saw, there are just some albums you’ll never hear. There are just some musicians you’ll never like, even though your friends go gaga over their hits.

And that’s what summer concert festivals are for — making up for lost time that should have been devoted to new sounds and second chances.

In Holland, Lowlands is prime meat for the latest carnivores chewing hard in independent music; it always has been.

But if you were among the many that missed out on the two minutes available to buy a 185 euro Lowlands ticket, there’s a close second worth considering I’d never recommend until now: the North Sea Jazz Festival (NSJF) 6 to 8 July.

The past years have seen NSJF expand their line up, their time schedule, and their overall mu- Read more at www.MokumGroupie.com

Garden Fresh Guacamole Recipe by Adelina Krupski

Summer is barbeque time, at least in theory. The reality is that, on the few days a year that the weather cooperates enough to allow us to cook outdoors, we all pile into the nearest park or friend’s garden and immediately start grilling anything we can lay our hands on.

Meat, of course, is the mainstay of the summer barbeque, but for those underrepresented vegetarians, or even just someone who wants a break from the constant protein parade, something fresh, something, in fact, summery must be found.

Guacamole is one of those elusive dishes that almost everyone knows how to do, but few can do right. You need only try the pre-packaged versions available in shops to see how badly it can go wrong.

The right avocado is the best place to start. Forget Albert Heijn’s rock hard and plastic wrapped offerings, useful for cracking walnuts but little else. If it’s too hard you will end up with an avocado salad that is also delicious, but much harder to balance on a tortilla chip. Head to an outdoor market and make sure that the one you choose is soft enough to squeeze but not about to burst in your hand.

Photo: Cliff1066™

rescue his little sister, Cee, who has fallen into the hands of an evil white eugenicist back in Georgia.

It doesn’t sound like promising material, but this is not, despite Stanley Crouch’s now-canonical critique, Morrison indulging in black pathologising, what Zora Neale Hurston called “the sobbing school of Negrohood.”

What makes Morrison a writer for the ages, in addition to her magical, mystical way with the African-American vernacular, is that she works not from a merely racial paradigm, but from a broader agenda. In that sense, her most important influence is not so much Hurston as Henry Roth, who also stared straight into the abysmal, terrifying, cruel details of the family romance using the lens of ethnic particularity.

This is not a perfect book in the manner of Call It Sleep or Their Eyes Were Watching God. The fact is, Morrison seems to have become lazy with her language, indulging in flights of upbeat, pseudo-therapeutic language – ”They took responsibility for their lives,” Morrison limply writes of the group of women who heal Cee – that are more Dr. Phil than Oprah. Talent corrupts, it seems, but an absolute talent like that of Morrison doesn’t corrupt quite absolutely.

Would that we still had James Baldwin, who warned Richard Wright and every black writer about the dangers of aestheticising the politics of race, to keep her sharp.

(JONATHAN GILL)

Is Toni Morrison our greatest novelist? If so, she might want to quit while she’s ahead. We return again and again to the classics and masterpieces because they make the timely and the particular timeless and universal. But Morrison’s latest work, which clocks in at a mere 145 pages, returns to themes that are troublesome — racism, sexual abuse, mental illness — not so much because they are so familiar, but because Morrison seems to have less and less to say about them, albeit in a language that is often no less stunning than ever.

In Home, Frank Money, a newly-minted Korean War veteran, comes home to a conflict that he’d grown up fighting: the battle that African-Americans have always and everywhere had to fight against racism. The two struggles have left him “a tilted man,” living off alcohol and a girlfriend in Seattle who’s glad to see him set off on a quest to Available at the American Book Center

Most important is the hot sauce, to give a bit of bite. We use a particularly venomous brew from St. Kitts, but as long as it turns your face a darker shade of red you are on the right track.

The ingredients: 2 ripe avocados 1 small red onion, diced 1 clove garlic, minced 1 ripe tomato, diced 1 lime, juiced 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro 4 drops hot sauce salt and pepper to taste Peel and pit the avocados and mash together with the lime juice and hot sauce in a medium serving bowl. Stir in onion, garlic, tomato and cilantro. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Chill for half an hour to allow the flavours to blend, or serve immediately if you have as little patience as our regular customers.

A simple platter of unflavoured tortilla chips makes a great delivery vehicle, but a bowl of chillied beef, or even a hotdog or burger from the barbeque can really benefit from a little spicy green help.

Photo: Stu Spivack

SPORTS

JULY 2012 | 23

Good enough for gold?

Van Bommell retires

ZEIST | Dutch international football cap-

tain, Mark van Bommel, has announced his plans to retire from international play. The announcement comes in the wake of a disastrous performance by the Dutch team at the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship in Poland and Ukraine. “I don’t want to retire,” Van Bommel said in a statement released by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) , “ Maybe there will be a moment that the coach needs me in the future and then I will be available, but for now it is time for talented young players.”

Women offer UEFA hope

SWEDEN | Dutch hopes for victory may have been dashed at Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine, but a second chance for glory may be on the horizon in the form of the UEFA Women’s Euro 2013 competition to be held in Sweden.

A recent 4-0 victory over Serbia has left the Dutch women’s team in an excellent position to qualify for the competition, which is to take place from 10–28 July 2013. The next round of playoffs takes place in mid-September with the draw to be held in November. Teams in the competition that may give the Dutch side pause include Denmark and Germany.

Photo: London 2012

Team sports diminished

LONDON | The amount of Dutch ath-

letes participating in the 2012 London Olympic Games will be less than seen in previous competitions, reports het Parool. The drop in numbers has to do with the failure of Dutch athletes to qualify for as many team sports as in the past. This is partly attributable to the facts that softball and baseball are no longer Olympic events and the Netherlands is not taking part in the Olympic football this year. The squad is approximately 175 Dutch athletes will compete in London 2012, compared to 239 in Beijing.

Triple champion chosen

LONDON | Anky van Grunsven, three

Photo: London 2012

Last month may not have been good for Dutch sports, but with the Olympic Games on the horizon there is a chance to regain some glory. JOEP DERKSEN looks at the factors that might make Dutch athletes choke or rise to the top.

Higher! Faster! Stronger! These three words are what the Olympic Games are all about. Forget the old slogan: “Participation is more important than winning.”

That attitude is a thing of the past.

Nowadays, athletes can only participate when they have met the required standards imposed by the Dutch Olympic Committee (Nederlands Olympisch Comité, NOC).

By now, it is clear which Dutch athletes are allowed to join the Olympic Games in London, but will they fail or succeed? Only the best will win a gold medal and Olympic champions must be in top shape, both physically and mentally.

The Dutch athletes have been prepared by psychologists, so as not to crack at the decisive moment. But how do the experts prevent athletes from “choking” at the all important moment?

Two sport psychologists give an insight in the minds of the athletes: “A lot of times, the focus is not good enough, when it comes to performing at the right moment,” explains Edith Rozendaal, a sport psychologist for Sportgek, which provides mental training for athletes.

Everything an athlete does in the

months before the Olympic Games final should be related to their sport.

The minor problems of daily life should not interfere with preparation; an athlete should eat, drink, sleep and solely focus on upcoming achievements.

“Like Maarten van der Weijden did in 2008 with his oxygen tent,” Rozendaal elaborates, “And for some, it is important to also focus on other domains of life, like Kim Clijsters does when she spends time with her daughter during a tournament.”

Athletes also suffer from negative emotions such as a fear of losing or anger and frustration because of an injury. Most athletes think that these emotions should be avoided as much as possible.

“However, that is impossible,” Rozendaal comments, “I train athletes to accept these emotions and nevertheless perform in the best way possible.”

The latest development in psychology is the use of eastern and Buddhist influences, such as meditation, yoga and mindfulness.

Is it still possible for an athlete to go for gold without mental training?

Rozendaal explains that it does happen, but not so much anymore. Hardly

any taboo exists about using a psychologist. “Coping with your fears and emotions has nothing to do with fighting a mental illness; it is all about performing in the best way possible,” says Rozendaal, “To achieve that, you have to be better concentrated and motivated than your competitors.”

Psychologist Rico Schuijers has been helping Dutch athletes to prepare for the Olympic Games over the past months. He sees it from a somewhat different point of view.

“Of course athletes can win without psychological assistance.” Schuijers considers that athletes can actively influence their state of mind. “A successful top athlete is able to do the right thing, in the right way, at the right moment,” he claims, “But it is true that most successful top athletes have had mental training at some point in their career.”

There is, however, one major pitfall that athletes can be confronted with. “We call that the future thinking or result thinking,” Schuijers explains, “Athletes then put too much pressure on themselves to achieve a certain result. During the mental training we teach them to focus their attention on their techniques

and tactics.”

He explains that the athlete must focus on “me and my task.”

The important things are what the athlete must focus on (the opponents or the ball, for instance), the decisions that must be made and executing movements.

Failure is the result of poorly executing one or more of these basics.

By eliminating all distractions, the psychologist assists in improving the motivation and concentration of the athlete.

In addition the self confidence of the athlete and their ability to deal with tension increases.

From 27 July, we will all be able to see how well our athletes will perform at the Olympic Games.

Who will choke under pressure, just as Jana Novotna did in her 1993 Wimbledon final? She was leading 4–1 and 40–15 against Steffi Graf in the decisive set and still lost; no athlete wants to be remembered for such a feat.

It is now up to our Olympic athletes as they journey to London and we all hope that they will do much better than, for the sake of comparison, the Dutch soccer team at the European Championships in Poland and Ukraine.

time Olympic gold medal winner is to represent the Netherlands at London 2012. A statement on the dressage champion’s official website informs that team coach Sjef Janssen announced the first three members of the Olympic squad on 24 June. As well as van Grunsven on her horse Salinero and Edward Gal riding Glock’s Undercover, Adelinde Cornelissen with Jerich Parzival will be on the team pending an observation test to prove the horses’s level of fitness.

Photo: E. Dronkert

Sponsorship deal renewed WOERDEN | Banking giant Rabobank

has agreed to extend its sponsorship of the Dutch Cycling Federation (Koninklijke Nederlandsche Wielren Unie, KNWU) for a further four years, reports Sports Pro Media. Support for the Rabobank team had already been promised until 2016, but this latest deal brings the support of the KNWU in line with that of its most recognisable team.

Rabobank will reportedly give support amounting to 1 million euro per year to the KNWU but is not expected to insist on being the only logo shown on the front of the Dutch national cycing team’s jerseys.