In the foreword of Lintjesregen, Ruud Lubbers wrote: “Before you is a beautiful book. It’s about decorations. For everyone who receives it, it is unique and personal. This book is about personal experiences – a bouquet, because there could not be more for this book – stories about their emotions, their decoration. That is fascinating.

When one listens carefully during such a ‘Lintjesregen,’ it becomes clear how many facets of engagement twinkle together in our society. That makes the Netherlands rich. If you read the reports of the Central Planning Bureau and the Central Bureau of Statistics, which continuously measure and record the Netherlands, you won’t find the decorations. But when we wonder what is the heart, the soul of our nation, then the mosaic of decorations is the connective tissue of our nation.”