Last night there was a telethon on Dutch TV to raise money for the relief of victims of the tsunami-disaster in Asia. There is a central account where the major aid organisations collect their funds, and the total stood at € 67 million at the beginning of the evening, and by midnight the total was € 112 million. It’s amazing to see how this disaster has captured all the attention, while there are still other, huge disasters are crying out for money too…
In a way I am pleased that we managed to donate so much money in this country (it works out to about € 6.50 per dutchman, woman and child) – we are so much better off in this part of the world – but I am a little weary of the people and organisations that are giving money on the keeping-up-with-the-joneses principle. But it’s all in a good cause, they say.