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'VVD and D66 behave like colonised people'

29 November 2008 - VVD and D66 in Oud-Zuid have offended district council member Laurent Chambon (PvdA) by calling on the district to provide information in English on its website. "Why not speak Polish with those who build our houses?"

Chambon, himself of French origin, says he sympathised with the initiative to provide information in English on the district's website, until he read that the liberal parties describe English as 'the' global language. He says this betrays an inferiority complex vis-à-vis the Anglo-Saxon world and an attitude of colonised people.

"On the other hand, it has been said that non-Anglo-Saxon immigrants should integrate on the double and learn Dutch. If you want to show hospitality, why not speak the language of the other immigrants, those who have not been parachuted by the large corporations? Why not [speak] Polish with those who build our houses, Portuguese with those who clean them, French with those who take care of our children?"

On a more practical note, Chambon proposes that the district uses simple Dutch without administrative jargon, as well as clear icons ('a long and splendid Dutch tradition').

Photo: Martin Aas

 

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