Photojournalism | Mark Rutte | From Amsterdam To Kuala Lumpur
© 2014 Wazari Wazir | Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte (R) shakes hands with his Malaysian counterpart Najib Razak as he receives him at the Parliament building in The Hague, the Netherlands, on July 31, 2014.
© 2014 Wazari Wazir | Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte (L) and Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak walk during an official visit to discuss the downing of Malaysia Airlines MH17 in Putrajaya, Malaysia on November 5, 2014.
Just wanted to share with you guys some of the photographs taken at Netherlands Parliament building in The Hague during Malaysia Prime Minister official visit to Netherlands on july 31st and recent picture taken during Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte official visit to Malaysia on 5 November 2014. Different environment, different set up, but my intention here is to show about the environment, hence I chose to use wide angle image here.
I just wanted to share with you a little bit experince during my assignment at the parliament in The Hague, actually a lot of tourist visiting the parliament, they are coming from the left side and the right side of the building, even though the official ceremony are taking place here, they (the security) clear the area just a few minutes before our Prime Minister najib Razak arrived, actually the tourist still can see the ceremony but from the right side of the picture (not in the photograph). Otherwise they are busy walking here and there where the official car sat on the tarmac.
© 2014 Wazari Wazir | The Hague, Netherlands, A woman cycles with two children on a carrier tricycle past the place where Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak will arrive to meet with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on July 31, 2014. Razak is in the Netherlands on a two-day working visit over the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 crash in Ukraine.
The Hague Parliament building also known as The Binnenhof is a complex of buildings in the city centre of The Hague, next to the Hofvijver lake. It houses the meeting place of both houses of the States General of the Netherlands, as well as the Ministry of General Affairs and the office of the Prime Minister of the Netherlands. Built primarily in the 13th century, the Gothic castle originally functioned as residence of the counts of Holland and became the political centre of the Dutch Republic in 1584. It is counted among the Top 100 Dutch heritage sites. The Binnenhof is the eldest Houses of Parliament on the world and that’s still in use.
When Holland had become part of the Burgundian Empire in 1432, the Binnenhof lost its purpose and was abandoned. Part of the complex was later made into the residence of the stadtholder of Holland, who governed the county in absence of its ruler. After Philip II was deposed as Count of Holland and the Dutch Republic was proclaimed in 1581, the Ridderzaal was initially a public space, often used by traders, stallholders and book sellers. In 1584, stadtholder Maurice moved into the stadtholder’s quarter, and in the same year, the Ridderzaal became the meeting place of the newly formed States General of the Dutch Republic. The expansions of the Binnenhof by Maurice were the beginning of a gradually advancing reconstruction of the castle that ended after the construction of the southern wing under stadtholder William V, in the late 18th century.
Between 1806 and 1810, under French rule, the administrative centre of the Netherlands was moved to Amsterdam, and the Binnenhof became useless and it was considered for demolition. When the Netherlands gained independence from France, however, the government moved back to the Binnenhof. The existence of the building was in danger a second time in 1848, when a new constitution instituted a system of parliamentary democracy and the States General wished to symbolically demolish the old government buildings and build a new complex. The local residents, however, cared more for the historic value of the building, and successfully protested against demolition. (WikiPedia)
After getting some information from the internet about The Hague Parliament building, from Wikipedia and some other source, now I do understand why it became one of tourist attraction in Netherlands. I’ve to say it is really a great building.
© 2014 Wazari Wazir | Malaysian Media Team waiting for the arrival of our Prime Minister Najib Razak at the Parliament building in The Hague, Netherlands on July 31, 2014.
