Bon Siman   27 October 2025   As I’ve explained before, we might be the only people who wish each other a good week every Monday — Bon siman . It’s a beautiful habit, really. It also serves a purpose: a kind of reset. It signals that a new cycle begins, full of new chances. I wish others a good week because I also wish it for myself.   After a weekend, it’s hard to recall all that happened the week before — the whirlwind surrounding taxes: assessments, objections, arrangemen

The Bridge Still Stands   26 October 2025   On Friday, October 24, 2025, the bridge was suddenly closed. I first noticed it when people who are never late showed up late. They explained they had to take a detour because the bridge was shut down without warning. A press release soon followed: “Closed for inspection until further notice.” Yet, before lunchtime, it was reopened.   Later it turned out that the immediate problem wasn’t the bridge itself but cracks in the road abov

The Crisis We Looked Away From   24 October 2025   While the geopolitical storm gathers strength and Curaçao faces another round of political turbulence, a quieter but equally destructive crisis unfolds every day: our health crisis. It’s not just about the rising costs of hospital care and medication, or about public health funds drying up. The deeper problem lies in the neglect of prevention—the lack of serious attention to lifestyle, diet, and especially obesity.   How many

The Harsh Reality of Whistleblowing   24 October 2025   I noted the opposition's recent initiative in Parliament to introduce legislation protecting whistleblowers. It’s a timely move—especially now that revelations about tax-related misconduct are surfacing. In principle, it’s a good thing that the opposition is taking legislative initiative, particularly in the area of integrity. We could certainly use more of that.   It reminded me of a program I once watched in the Nether

The Extracting Elite and Its Consequences   23 October 2025   I have neither the time nor the appetite to get into this, but it’s too important not to record. Anyone who looks closely at the conflict between the (former) Minister of Finance and the Receiver of Taxes 9Landsontvanger) can see how our economic and administrative elite operates—and what their true priorities are. It all revolves around money and power.   While the non-elite struggles to bear or survive the crushi

Poverty Is the Norm in Curaçao   23 October 2025   I recently came across the Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten’s (CBCS) study on how inflation hits lower-income groups the hardest (Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten, 2025). Every study is welcome—there are far too few—but this one left me uneasy. Not because the findings are surprising—they’re common sense—but because the study doesn’t tell us how many people are actually struggling.   I looked at the Central Bu

Welcome Home   22 October 2025   Yesterday I returned from therapy, a stay abroad. These days, doctors increasingly prescribe vacations, especially those spent in nature. I do it preventively, so I leave the island at least once every two years for health reasons. It’s a bitter necessity to escape the bruá , the noise, the heat, the constant pressure of our little paradise.   You don’t do it for fun. Europe, especially its cities, is no picnic. There are many reasons why, but

How artificial intelligence will make our brains slower   20 October 2025   After my post on how AI may destroy intelligence, my friend — the CEO of Blue Nap, an international data center focused on AI — responded thoughtfully on LinkedIn. I fear he, too, is trying to grasp my argument, which tells me I need to explain it better.   Our brain is “wired” by everything it processes. Learning and thinking are literally the act of building new neural connections. The more the brai

Mother of All Crises   21 October 2025   While we worry about political crises, governance failures, an aging population, and poverty, we ignore the mother of all crises — the climate crisis.   Now, as dark clouds hang over the island and torrential rains pour down, overwhelming our fragile infrastructure, we are forced to face it. Yet we still deny it in our narrative. The story remains simply that “it’s raining a lot,” not that we are in crisis.   For years, we have held co

Happy Weekend   18 October 2025   “ Felis wikènt, biba biba djasabra !” That’s what we used to shout. Saturday was the ultimate celebration day. Of course, we partied whenever we could — but Saturday was serious business. There was shopping to do, haircuts, and preparations to make. It was a ritual, a way to celebrate surviving another week.   That tradition has faded. Around 2020, with COVID, that lifestyle practically disappeared. Yet the association remains — Saturday stil

Thank God It’s Friday   17 October 2025   The day has barely started, and it dawns on me — thank God it’s Friday. First, I think of Uncle Emile’s reaction to my piece about Thursday: “Beautifully written, but those who try too hard to predict the future give negative energy a chance. It can make us depressed. Leave everything in God’s merciful hands and trust that He is still in control.”   Uncle Emile, of course, holds the wisdom of the ages. And this isn’t cynicism or sarca

It’s Only Thursday   16 October 2025   It’s only Thursday. I’m exhausted, and Friday still feels far away. Not from late nights or early mornings. Not even from the disappointment of the match against Trinidad in the qualification race to the World Cup.   The tension runs deeper. Gaza remains fragile—will the peace agreement hold? Closer to home, President Trump has reportedly approved CIA operations in Venezuela. In the Netherlands, elections are approaching while anxiety am

From a Knowledge Economy to a “Knowing People” Economy   16 October 2025   I said it years ago: we are not a knowledge economy but a knowing-people economy. And yet, things have gotten even worse.   In the past, you at least needed some knowledge and many connections. Today, it seems you need no knowledge at all. This decline is masked by buzzwords like 'talent' and 'skills'. Education and experience have lost much of their value.   Several factors play into this. Our small-s

Curaçao vs. Trinidad: A Lesson in Focus and Humility   15 October 2025   All praise to the national team. It’s no small feat to get back on the field just four days after such a grueling match like the 2 – 0 win over Jamaica. And they did — taking a 1–0 lead before conceding the equalizer forced by Trinidad & Tobago. The result wasn’t what many expected, but Suriname’s draw against Panama softened it, for me. The difference is that Suriname still tops their group, while we’ve

Tuesday: The Undefined Day   14 October 2025   Tuesday is often the most ambiguous day of the week — neither the start nor the end, just the long stretch in between. Some call it the second Monday. This Tuesday was expected to revolve around one thing: Curaçao’s national football team facing Trinidad & Tobago. With World Cup qualification within reach, attention seemed naturally fixed on the pitch.   But the island’s focus shifted unexpectedly. Instead of sports headlines, po

Good Week   13 October 2025   “ Bon siman  — have a good week.” That’s what we say here. As far as I know, we’re the only people in the world who wish each other a good week every Monday. We live from week to week. Monday night means Maandagavond with Jurgen Arvelo; Wednesday marks the week’s midpoint; Thursday is “little Friday”; and then comes Friday — Thank God it’s Friday!  — leading into Biba biba djasabra!  And finally, Sunday, for many, the Lord’s Day, a time to go to

The Day After the Victory   11 October 2025   It’s the day after Curaçao’s national team defeated Jamaica — and we’re now leading our...

From “Nothing Really Matters” to “Imagine”   12 October 2025   This Sunday, I woke up with the lyric “Nothing really matters.” Freddie...

Today Feels Like a Roller Coaster   10 October 2025   Fifteen years after 10-10-10, I’m still trying to make sense of where we’ve landed....

Change in the Air?   11 October 2025   At the end of a long and exhausting day, I read that in Madagascar, Gen Z has had enough. They’ve...