Press Day 1 September 2026 It is already well into lunchtime when I realize that today is Press Day. Internationally, World Press Freedom Day is observed on 3 May. This day is about a free press as an important condition for good gov-ernance, and particularly for democracy. I have mixed feelings. In any case, it is not really something to cel-ebrate, but rather something to reflect on. A word of encouragement to all those who are doing their best in the media. The press is no

Our Youth: Little League Champions of the World August 31, 2026 Yesterday, the kids from Curaçao convincingly defeated the American team in the final. It is only the second time in history, and this is anything but normal. An island with a population of just 150,000 has defeated countries such as Japan, Korea, Nicaragua, and the United States. Countries not only with populations in the millions, but also with extraordinary sports facilities and investments. Once again, it con

AI LLM 26 August 2026 I was going to write about LLMs today. Now I have to, because Patrick commented that he was curious. So, what is an LLM? A Large Language Model (LLM) is a form of artificial intelligence designed to understand and process human language and generate human-like text. It is trained on enormous datasets containing billions of words from books, articles, and websites. These deep-learning models extract the structural patterns of language from that material.

De obsessie met hoogbouw 25 augustus 2026 Ik worstel met twee onderwerpen. Hoogbouw voor volkshuisvesting en het oprukken van AI in de vorm van LLM. Maar ik focus me nu even op de hoogbouw. Als ik afga op wat er in de media speelt, wordt de hoogbouw van woningen in Tera Kora nu voortvarend doorgezet. Er wordt niet gereageerd op vragen vanuit de samenleving, waaronder ook die van deskundige burgers. Het is niet duidelijk op basis van welke studie hiertoe is besloten. Hoogbouw

Ostrich 22 August 2026 Our biggest problem at the moment may well be the complacency of the government, the ministers, the governing party, and the Members of Parliament. In their perception, things are going exceptionally well, thanks to their exceptionally good governance. Around them, an applause machine constantly reinforces that image. But the opposition, the media, the trade unions, the organized business community, social media, and protests also seem unable to break t

Tula warda – People Involvement 17 August 2026 Today I opened Facebook and saw Dick and Martin discussing the demonstration against the unbalanced development of the island. Then I opened the Antilliaans Dagblad and saw that its lead story was asking essentially the same question: The island is for sale; protest against colossal construction projects in Curaçao. The small demonstration that I also briefly attended yesterday apparently had a greater impact than I could have im

This Is Not a Market 16 August 2026 You often hear people shout, “This is not a market,” when they want to disapprove of the behaviour of a group. Markets do not have a particularly positive image. For days now, a discussion about the renovation and reopening of the market has been hanging over the market. The market has never been held in particularly high regard, and unfortunately, neither have the people who earn their living there or the customers who shop there. They are

It’s a Gamble 14 August 2026 For years, I have been watching and listening to the debate about e-gaming in Curaçao. Until recently, the island was said to account for an estimated 85% of the global market, yet the government and society as a whole earned hardly anything from it. That is why a new law was introduced, accompanied by promises of enormous economic benefits. The great river of gold from online gambling was finally supposed to start flowing into Curaçao. There was

Even the RvA Does Not Understand Poverty 13 August 2026 Even the Raad van Advies (RvA) by definition understands little about poverty. That may sound harsh, but it is precisely the problem Tim ’S Jongers describes in his book Armoede uitgelegd aan mensen met geld. The people who formulate, advise on, and assess policy generally do not belong to the group that lives in poverty every day. Even people who grew up in poverty themselves and later moved up socially do not automatic

AI Makes You Dumb August 14, 2026 If you don’t use it, you lose it. This applies to almost everything, especially your physical fitness and your muscles. We all know it: if you stop cycling for a month and then get back on your bike, you notice it immediately. But the same applies to our brains. We are becoming increasingly aware of this. Anthony sent me a reel listing ten skills that are on the verge of disappearing: Remembering phone numbers; they are all stored in our phon

Data 13 August 2026 We are very quick to claim that there is no data to substantiate our assertions. Nothing could be further from the truth. We are losing sight of reality in an abundance of data. While there used to be constant criticism of the amount of data produced by the CBS, my criticism now is that we are producing an overwhelming amount of it. In a short period of time, three reports have been published: the Enkuesta Social, the Labour Force Survey, and the Business

Shocks 11 August 2026 Yesterday, we were literally shaken by a powerful earthquake in Colombia. Only a few weeks ago, there was a major earthquake in Venezuela. It reminds us that we live in a region where the ground beneath our feet can literally move. But at the same time, here in Curaçao we are dealing with other shocks: man-made shocks. The wave of burglaries and other forms of crime has now reached a point where it needs to be documented. A few days ago, specialized equi

The YDK as an Entrepreneur 11 August 2026 There is an appealing narrative circulating on the internet. The YDK should become more entrepreneurial, and entrepreneurship should receive more attention in education. Entrepreneurship is an economic instrument, but also an instrument of emancipation. It is a nice narrative, but the CBS statistics tell a different story: only about half of those who are employed are wage earners. In recent years, many people have been forced by nece

Bon Nochi and Empathy August 10, 2026 Nowadays, people say Felis anochi (happy evening). The traditional expression is Bon nochi (good evening). I don’t know when or why it became Felis. So be it. But here is the thing. Almost all news anchors open with: Felis anochi. And then they proceed to report the most horrific news. Today, for example, an earthquake in Colombia measuring 7.4 on the Richter scale. What follows is a whole portion of misery, along with a few successful at

Gratitude: The Simple Things in Life 9 August 2026 Sunday evening, almost half past seven. The weekend, and Sunday in particular, has flown by once again. I got up relatively late. My wife called to say that she was on her way home with her 89-year-old aunt. She suggested that we cook together. I made a counterproposal: to drive to Westpunt for lunch. Shortly afterwards, just after noon, we set off for Westpunt. It was already over thirty degrees. Traffic was light. Despite t

My Role Is Now Played Out August 8, 2026 By now, everyone knows that tourism in Curaçao is overdeveloped. I do not need to keep going on about it. So, something completely different. A few weeks ago, an intern from 28 years ago contacted me. He was coming to Curaçao with his family, as a tourist, to introduce his adult children to the island and to the place where he met their mother, who was also an intern at the time. It is a phenomenon I have observed more often. I know ma