Amsterdam was the venue of our BIS team meeting – the last before I left the university to return to Singapore, almost eight years ago. All other previous meetings were held at various cities outside Liverpool, but in the UK. It was a drama to get there – I took a chartered flight from Tripoli, Libya to London and continued a 5 hours drive from Heathrow to Liverpool the same morning, before appearing at Speke Airport at about 6 am to join my BIS team to catch the first EasyJet flight to Amsterdam.
Much to our disappointment, the EasyJet flight was delayed for 3 hours and we did not get into Amsterdam until about 11 am. So instead of the planned sit-down meeting, we decided to do it as we stroll along the canals, lunch at an Italian café, and enjoyed afternoon tea against the scenic backdrop of tram, bicycles, boat cruises, painters, tulip sellers and diamond traders.
The Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) on Interfaith Dialogue brought me back to this beautiful city, although my (envious) colleagues nicknamed it – City of Sin. Admittedly, this city does not attempt to conceal its red-light district or Rossebuurt and sex-related tourist attractions and “Good girls go to Heaven, Bad girls go to Amsterdam” captioned T-shirts. But the city offers more than just X-rated stuff !
Amsterdam is a fascinating city offering art, culture and history in a unique location. There are some 738, 000 inhabitants with 600,000 bikes. There are 165 canals and over 1,200 bridges. On the canals are some 2,500 houses on water (and these boat houses cost a staggering Euro 500,000 each).
Apart from the interesting and unique physical landscape, it has a long and rich tradition of all sorts. The story of the East India Company are told along roads named after spices, Quays, warehouses, dockyards from "Schreierstoren" to the "Nederlands Scheepvaart Museum" via the flee market of Waterlooplein. It is the European city with the largest number of museum, so the Dutch claimed. They are very proud of their Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Anne Frank, Stedelijk and Historic Jewish Museum.
This city also prides itself of the many influences that had shaped its self-image. The Reformation, and the Alteration of 1578 caused a changed of religious architecture of the city, the Synod of Dordt, the Remonstrant Pamphlet circa 1619 stimulated debate on theological ideas, the German-Jews who came to Amsterdam in the early 18th century, the policy of forbearance that allowed Catholics to practice inside at Onze-Lieve-Heer-Op-Zolder (Our Dear Lord in the Attic) and not in public.
Enlightened Protestanism dominated Dutch life for much of 19th Century after the Freedom of Religion law was passed in 1796. However strong reactions from Catholics, Orthodox Protestants and freethinkers put an end to its domination.
Netherlands is a now country of religious minorities. The influx of new religious communities and institutions, such as the Taibah Mosque and 38 other mosques in Amsterdam (17% Muslims, in the city), and the Kandelaar Multi Church building that house 17 different Christian congregations, 15 Buddist temples and 11 Mandirs, to add the existing Protestant, Roman Catholic churches and Jewish synagogues. There is no single major religion in the country.
And the Dutch society is changing again. They are re-evaluating and debating the meaning and practice of tolerance, freedom and the ideal society.
Today I experienced that change at De Duif (The Dove) a Catholic church built in 1858. The church was the venue for this morning's lecture and lunch. I did not realise the oddity until a young diplomat from Lithuana, Aiste Marozaite pointed out to me that "it is a strange thing to have meals in the church". We later found out that the church is also used for fashion shows. But that's not all. Later, in the same Catholic church, over dinner hosted by the Thai Minister of Foreign Affairs, we were entertained by Thai dancers who performed dances potraying goddesses and demons and mythologies.
Against the movements of the dance and the music, I was wondering what might the statues of Jesus, Mary and other saints whose image formed the centrestage of the church, be thinking of.
My own thought? .. hmm
Amsterdam - Religiously Psychedelic !
Much to our disappointment, the EasyJet flight was delayed for 3 hours and we did not get into Amsterdam until about 11 am. So instead of the planned sit-down meeting, we decided to do it as we stroll along the canals, lunch at an Italian café, and enjoyed afternoon tea against the scenic backdrop of tram, bicycles, boat cruises, painters, tulip sellers and diamond traders.
The Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) on Interfaith Dialogue brought me back to this beautiful city, although my (envious) colleagues nicknamed it – City of Sin. Admittedly, this city does not attempt to conceal its red-light district or Rossebuurt and sex-related tourist attractions and “Good girls go to Heaven, Bad girls go to Amsterdam” captioned T-shirts. But the city offers more than just X-rated stuff !
Amsterdam is a fascinating city offering art, culture and history in a unique location. There are some 738, 000 inhabitants with 600,000 bikes. There are 165 canals and over 1,200 bridges. On the canals are some 2,500 houses on water (and these boat houses cost a staggering Euro 500,000 each).
Apart from the interesting and unique physical landscape, it has a long and rich tradition of all sorts. The story of the East India Company are told along roads named after spices, Quays, warehouses, dockyards from "Schreierstoren" to the "Nederlands Scheepvaart Museum" via the flee market of Waterlooplein. It is the European city with the largest number of museum, so the Dutch claimed. They are very proud of their Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Anne Frank, Stedelijk and Historic Jewish Museum.
This city also prides itself of the many influences that had shaped its self-image. The Reformation, and the Alteration of 1578 caused a changed of religious architecture of the city, the Synod of Dordt, the Remonstrant Pamphlet circa 1619 stimulated debate on theological ideas, the German-Jews who came to Amsterdam in the early 18th century, the policy of forbearance that allowed Catholics to practice inside at Onze-Lieve-Heer-Op-Zolder (Our Dear Lord in the Attic) and not in public.
Enlightened Protestanism dominated Dutch life for much of 19th Century after the Freedom of Religion law was passed in 1796. However strong reactions from Catholics, Orthodox Protestants and freethinkers put an end to its domination.
Netherlands is a now country of religious minorities. The influx of new religious communities and institutions, such as the Taibah Mosque and 38 other mosques in Amsterdam (17% Muslims, in the city), and the Kandelaar Multi Church building that house 17 different Christian congregations, 15 Buddist temples and 11 Mandirs, to add the existing Protestant, Roman Catholic churches and Jewish synagogues. There is no single major religion in the country.
And the Dutch society is changing again. They are re-evaluating and debating the meaning and practice of tolerance, freedom and the ideal society.
Today I experienced that change at De Duif (The Dove) a Catholic church built in 1858. The church was the venue for this morning's lecture and lunch. I did not realise the oddity until a young diplomat from Lithuana, Aiste Marozaite pointed out to me that "it is a strange thing to have meals in the church". We later found out that the church is also used for fashion shows. But that's not all. Later, in the same Catholic church, over dinner hosted by the Thai Minister of Foreign Affairs, we were entertained by Thai dancers who performed dances potraying goddesses and demons and mythologies.
Against the movements of the dance and the music, I was wondering what might the statues of Jesus, Mary and other saints whose image formed the centrestage of the church, be thinking of.
My own thought? .. hmm
Amsterdam - Religiously Psychedelic !
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