Chester Francis-Jackson, Contributor

And so it was, that amidst the hustle and bustle of Diplomatic Week with all the official appearances and receptions hosted in honour of the visiting envoys, Kingston was one hotbed of social activities two weeks ago.

From the opening party thrown by Paul and Oriente Issa at their Golden Triangle residence, to welcome Portugal's non-resident ambassador to Jamaica, Joao Caetano Da Silva, to the smasheroni of a shindig that Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Kenneth and Vilma Baugh hosted, to the swelleganza of a do hosted by dean of the Consular Corps, Honorary Consul of Slovakia Chris Issa, and his wife, Kimberly Mais Issa, it was all fab.

Throes of diplomacy

Kingston was definitely in the throes of diplomacy, literally and figuratively as a host of non-resident ambassadors came acalling and they also took time out to break bread and make merry with the very many consular officers who represent them here in their absence.

Now, among the many nations not having a resident envoy here is the Netherlands, as following the departure of Erik and Cynthia Klipp some years ago, there was a downsizing of the mission to that of chargé d'affaires and then a further re-alignment that saw the embassy closing, with responsibilities for Jamaica being assigned to the Netherlands Embassy in Havana, Cuba, and the ambassador stationed there!

No shock

The development was no shock when it was announced, but came as a huge disappointment for political and diplomatic observers. The prevailing feeling at the time was, had there been some direct government intervention, the move could have been possibly forestalled, as the departure created a social and political void as the Dutch for years not only maintained amicable relations with Jamaica, but have been one of the more interactive missions for decades, their annual Queen birthday celebration, staple on the social calendar.

During the week, Ambassador Ronald Muyzert and his wife, the very charming Dr Etty Villanueva, jetted in. After a week of diplomatic events, on Friday, January 30, the secretary to the Netherlands Consulate here, the charming Pauline Edie, opened up her fab Long Mountain residence and hosted the visiting envoy and his wife, that was so fine, it went way beyond the prescribed hours!

It was done under the theme 'Thank God It's Friday', and was made that much more so, as attendance was reserved for a shortlist of friends and acquaintances of the visiting couple. Looking her usual fab self and sporting a fab slinky little black dress that served to highlight her lithe frame, Edie graciously welcomed guests to her home - a simply fabulously exciting condominium infused with a life of its own through a rich use of colour, fabric art and objects, that is refreshingly style perfect!

Welcomes exchanged, guests were then ushered out on to a darling little deck, that sits tantalisingly on the edge of the mount itself, giving way to the city of Kingston, alive and aglow, resplendent in a haze of night and making for the picture-perfect backdrop, as the bustling city merged with its outlying satellites as far away as Portmore and the plains of Clarendon, or appear to do so, with shimmering lights.

We are talking haute style and the purr-fect mode for cocktails and thus the perfect antidote for the busy week.

Faultless company

The couple proved faultless company; he, the urbane diplomat with some 30-plus years of service to his country who has served with distinction in a number of foreign postings, but is equally revered in his home state, made evident by his appointment as ambassador for international organisations in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Netherlands in 2006, after it became clear to that country that their policy started in the 1990s to attract international organisations to the country, was in danger after a 2005 survey showed its members were less than enamoured by many aspects of their living conditions in the Netherlands.

The Dutch Government realised it had neglected to support a welcoming environment once the organisations were established and that the reputation of their country as an international hub was at stake. The cabinet thus designed an overarching policy to make the Netherlands an attractive and welcoming host, with Ambassador Muyzert appointed to head up this organisation. That there are currently 32 such organisations still in the Netherlands speaks to the success of the transformational process headed by him.

A linguist, who is fluent in Dutch, English, French, German, Italian and Spanish, his wife, a general practitioner, is no less of a linguist, as she too is very much at home in as many tongues as her husband, plus a number of dialects from her homeland of Indonesia, which has served them both very well in their more than 30 years of marriage.

Warm evening

It was quite a warm do, with cocktails flowing; the almost dying art of conversation taking its rightful place. The only regret was that they reside in Havana and Kingston is the poorer for their absence!

Among those in attendance were Honorary Consul of the Netherlands Robert Cartade; Peter and Bonnie Morais; Norman Williams; Andreas and Pat Oberli; Cedric Evans; the lovely Novelette Gordon; Nicholas Stephenson and his betrothed the fabulous Alicia Fredericks; Ted Samuels; Peta-Ann Morris; and the lovely Tara Chang.