Belgians Boo Beauty Queen Who Can’t Speak Flemish

Belgium has a bit of a problem. The French-speaking part of the country, 4.5 million souls, and the Flemish-speaking part, 6 million, aren’t getting along. In fact, the language issue has prevented a government from forming after the last elections, and they were in June. Saturday night, some of the audience at the Miss Belgium beauty pageant booed the winner when they discovered she doesn’t speak Flemish, the local version of Dutch.

Alizee Poulicek is a 20-year-old blonde whose father is Czech and whose mother is a Belgian of the French-speaking sort. She has spent half her life in the Czech Republic, where Flemish is less than useful. She speaks Czech, French and English. Six years ago, she moved to Belgium and lives in the French-speaking town of Huy.

When the program’s presenter asked her about her plans for the future in Flemish, she replied, “I didn't understand, can you repeat?’ That’s when it got a bit unpleasant. She was booed by some of the crowd. On Monday, Flemish paper Het Laatste Nieuws ran a headline that said, “Miss Belgium does not speak Flemish.” It added that the “community crisis ... has insinuated itself into even the lightest sector.”

To her credit, Ms. Poulicek has vowed to brush up on her Flemish, and she told the local press, in Flemish, “I have to try, learn more. She continued in French, "I spoke almost no Flemish when I started this adventure.”

The organizer of the contest, Darlene Davos, was rather philosophical about it all. “It is the least painful thing,” she said. “I would consider it different if they had said: ‘Miss Belgium is an ugly girl’.” A rational response in a country where there hasn't been a government for six months.

© Copyright 2007 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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