Most of today’s papers carry predictably jubilant headlines on last night’s telethon for the victims of the Haiti earthquake: “Thank you Netherlands” and “Dutch give generously for Haiti”. The collective efforts of no less than 360 national celebrities resulted in a whopping 41,274,126 euros donated to the good cause. Development Cooperation Minister Bert Koenders, as promised, has doubled that amount to 83,448,251 euros. And, yes, even Queen Beatrix has made a donation – the exact amount of which has not been disclosed – to the 555 Giro bank account of the joint aid organisations.

None of the major daily newspapers were able to resist the temptation to include a tear-jerking photograph of one or more of the Haitian orphans carried in the arms of air hostesses or male aid workers. The arrival of 106 Haitian orphans at the Eindhoven airport on Thursday was the result of a government decision to speed up adoption procedures that had already been started up before the quake hit.

The free daily newspaper De Pers, the only one which does not carry a report on the Haiti telethon, has a front page article on Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) which has decided to halt its fund-raising ads campaign in Dutch newspapers. A spokesperson for the organisation says: “Worldwide response has been good, we want to prevent exceeding an amount which we can no longer account for.” During the 2004 tsunami disaster, MSF raised more money than it could spend on emergency aid for the region, and had to call all donors to ask their permission to spend the money on other crisis. The organisation wants to prevent this happening again.

Crisis ‘gnawing at highstreets’
Trouw reports that the economic crisis has caused the “strongest increase in vacated shops in 10 years” which is primarily affecting so-called B and C locations. In other words, anyone in the habit of going shopping in Amsterdam’s P C Hooftstraat need not worry.

However, those of us who frequent less exclusive areas in smaller towns are apparently facing an increasing number of empty shops, or, in the words of Trouw, “whole city centres are being burdened by the signs of the time”. Now, if that isn’t journalistic poetry in motion, I don’t know what is. However, regardless of the literary merits of the protestant daily, the number of empty shops has risen by 9 percent in the past year.

In the centre of Schiedam, near Rotterdam, one in five shops in the town centre is now vacant. Shopping via the internet has also contributed to the problem. The crisis has most strongly affected shops selling furniture, kitchens and bathrooms. Clothing and fashion retailers are also suffering, as well as financial services firms.

Heads must roll...
De Volkskrant reports that Rotterdam mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb has suspended the second-in-command of the port city’s police force. Deputy police chief Henk de Jong failed to inform the mayor of an incident on Saturday in the city centre involving a group of about 80 hooligans.

The hooligans held a so-called ‘New Year’s reception’, which included smashing a toilet bowl at a local bar and spraying foam all over its walls with a fire extinguisher. The owners of two other bars were reportedly hit over the head with a paving stone (seven stitches) and punched in the face (tooth through lip).

Not a major incident by any standards, but after the Hook of Holland beach riot*, in which a massive failure of communication in higher police echelons left the mayor uninformed and eventually with huge quantities of political egg on his face, he swore that “This will never happen to me again”. Makes you wonder what possessed Mr de Jong not to inform the mayor, who, predictably, blew a fuse when he learned about the incident on Tuesday. “De Jong’s failure to inform me is outrageous,” he said. “We are still discussing whether he should be sacked”.

*A failure to take adequate measures after information was received that hooligans intended to cause havoc at a free dance festival in Hook of Holland last summer led to an inadequate police presence. During the festival, a small group of police officers were besieged by dozens of hooligans. Police fired dozens of warning shots and one hooligan was shot dead. A small group of police on horseback were eventually able to relieve their colleagues.

…and behinds must be washed
Both de Volkskrant and Trouw have a report on the professional association of nurses and carers, saying Muslim nurses who have objections to washing the backsides of male patients “should ask themselves if they are really suited for the job”.

The association has issued guidelines on how to deal with conscientious objections. The organisation says few Muslims work as nurses or carers, presumably because Muslim women object to physical contact with patients which is a normal part of the job. However, the organisation says that exempting Muslim nurses from certain duties such as washing male patients would lead to unacceptable situations in the work place.

Are the Dutch losing their minds?
To some this may appear to be a rhetorical question while others may take some comfort regarding their own sanity from a report in today’s AD, which tells us that a recent survey shows that “Many Dutch people have a personal or even emotional bond with their cars”.

Apparently, twelve percent of all female motorists in this country regularly hold what surely must be very one-sided conversations with their vehicles, compared to only 6 percent of male drivers. Five percent of all motorists even give their cars nicknames, including such gems as The Flea, Old Boy, The Green Monster, The Mini Disco and My Midlife Chrysler. The survey also showed that the Dutch are very careful about their cars and don’t easily trust others to drive in them. The only other person allowed to drive in the old jalopy is usually the owner’s partner.