A Dutchman has obtained an official ID card showing him disguised as a clown. The man, who works in the security industry, opted for comic make-up and a funny hat after reading the regulations for the new “secure” ID cards, which include a digitally scanned photo. “The rules were so vague that I burst out laughing,” he told Dutch radio. In fact, the requirements for ID photos are quite strict, but they permit exceptions for clothing dictated by religious or philosophical convictions. So he told his local town hall that he felt philosophically obliged to dress up like the Joker in the Batman movies. Officialdom bowed to this deeply held belief. Asked by a journalist for his conclusions, the man replied “I conclude that I’m walking around with an ID card that doesn’t look anything like me. Mind you, my driving licence doesn’t either.”

Unamused by the avalanche of publicity, a shamefaced not to say clown-faced town hall has now officially demanded that he bring his card back. But the Joker affair has come at an awkward time for the Dutch government. Showing ID on demand became compulsory in the Netherlands on 1 January 2005. An interim review of the working of this law was supposed to be ready at the end of last December. It has failed to appear. A full review is required by January 2008, under the terms of the legislation. But the justice minister reportedly wrote to Dutch MPs this month, asking that the review be postponed until 2009. In protest, MPs have tabled a motion insisting on the original deadline. In the two years up to last December, 107,133 fines were handed out for failure to show ID. That is the official figure. Dutch anti-ID campaigners say the real one is much higher. About half of those fined have not paid, and will be taken to court.

The Joker’s ID can be verified in all its glory at http://www.nos.nl/nosjournaal/artikelen/2007/1/25/240107_joker.html

This entry was posted by charles on Friday, January 26th, 2007 at 14:48 and is filed under Foreign Articles, General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.