THE HAGUE, Netherlands

Travelog date: Sunday Feb 8, 2009

The Hague, Netherlands



The Binnenhof (literally means inner court), a place for
meetings for Dutch Parliament since 1446.
Its located next to the little lake called
Hofvijver or Court Pond



One of the cities that I have been dreaming of visiting in the world was The Hague  or known as Den Haag by the locals. The trip to the Netherlands would be incomplete without visiting the famous city

The image of TV3 correspondence Haliza Hashim standing infront of the International Court everytime when there is a high profile cases involving Malaysia was plastered in my mind.

Why was the court built there and what was so special about the city that it was selected to be the location for such prominent symbol of justice?

Stats and figures

The Haque, according to the brochures that was given to us, is the third largest city in the Netherlands after Amsterdam and Rotterdam with population of 475,904 (as Jan 2008). Located in the west of the country, The Hague also becomes the location of the government of the Dutch Republic.

In order for the administration to maintain control over city matters, The Hague never received official city status.

Although Amsterdam remained the capital of the Netherlands, The Hague is where the government is situated.

There are many diplomat residentials in the city, as all foreign embassies and government ministries are located in the city. It also home for  Senate, House of Representatives and The Supreme Court.

Close relations to Indonesia

It is interesting to note that the former Dutch colony of Netherlands East Indies (now Indonesia) has left its mark on the city. Many streets are named after places in the Netherlands East Indies or Indonesia (as well as other former Dutch colonies such as Surinam) and surprising there are quite a number of Indo (i.e. mixed Dutch-Indonesian) people living there.

Since the loss of these Dutch possessions in December 1949,  the Indo people often refer to The Hague as "the Widow of the Indies".

Walking down the streets, one will notice familiar names in Bahasa Indonesia used as road names, restaurants and shops.

View of the Binnenhof
with the office of the
Dutch Prime Minister (het torentje)

The older parts of the town have many characteristically wide and long streets. Compare to Amsterdam, the houses here, are generally low-rise (not more than three floors). They definitely have more land space here than in Amsterdam of course. The layout of the city itself is more spacious than other Dutch cities.

And unlike in Amsterdam, there are only a few canals in The Hague - most of them were drained in the late 1800s.

Peace and Justice



Vredespaleis - The Peace Palace

 

Peace Palace: The name should express
its importance in maintaining
world peace and solving disputes.



The city contributes substantially to international politics.

It says that The Hague is home to over 150 international (legal) organisations. These include the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the International Court of Justive (ICJ) and the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The foundation of The Hague as an international city of peace and justice, was laid in 1899, when the first Peace Conference took place in The Hague on Tobias Asser’s. A direct result of these meetings was the establishment of the world's first organisation for the settlement of international disputes: the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA). Shortly thereafter the Scottish-American millionaire Andrew Carnegie made the necessary funds available to build the Peace Palace ("Vredespaleis") to house the PCA. After the establishment of the League of Nations.

The Hague became the seat of the Permanent Court of International Justice, which Permanent Court of International Justice, which was replaced by the UN's International Court of Justice after the WWII.Currently the city authority is seeking to establish an image of the city as the "legal capital of the world" and "international city of peace and justice.

 However visiting the Peace Palace is not just a matter of popping and quiueing up for the ticket. One needs to make and appointment in advance in order to line up for the permission to enter. Since we did not make the pre-arrangement prior to arriving there, we were not able to enter the premise.

 

 I was so proud to see
Malaysia’s name to
be included in the plague.

From outside the fence, we could only manage to see the palace and touch the Flame of Peace, which was put up outside to keep the eternal peace.

The World Peace Flame was created in July 1999 when seven living flames lit by prominent peacemakers on five continents of the world were flown across the oceans by military air forces and commercial airlines and united into one eternal Flame. Hundreds of previously unconnected individuals joined to bring this visionary dream into a living symbol of hope for all of humanity. 

This extraordinary show of goodwill and cooperation produced the World Peace Flame, which “lives” permanently in North Wales.The African Flame was lit by Dr. Mansukh Patel where he was born and raised by his loving parents. The American Flame was lit by Lalita Doerstel on top of Pike’s Peak in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The Indian Flame was lit from Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial flame, Delhi. The European Flame was lit by Irene van Lippe Biesterfeld, Princess of the Netherlands, and carried to the UK by the Royal Dutch Air Force.The Canadian Flame was lit by Northern Sitting Wolf, the Ojibwa Chief famous for his pioneering efforts to heal the traumas his people have suffered for centuries.The Australian Flame was lit by Aboriginal Elder, Pearl Wyamara, along with a representative from the Sydney Olympic Committee, Joseph Bulgaria. The Middle Eastern Flame was lit in Bahrain

On April 18, 2002, the first monument with an eternally-burning World Peace Flame was installed in front of the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands. 

photos by SALINA KHALID