Belgium's Permanent Commission for Linguistic Control upheld a complaint against train conductor Ilyass Alba for using the French word bonjour alongside the Dutch goeiedag in a bilingual greeting on a train in Dutch-speaking Flanders, violating the country's stringent language laws. The incident occurred in 2024 as the train approached Vilvoorde, near Brussels, when a passenger objected to Alba's use of French. In response, the commission ruled that conductors should only use Dutch in Flanders unless a passenger initiates French conversation, but they should use both Dutch and French in bilingual Brussels. Alba received no formal sanction from his employer and has garnered public support; he is now selling mugs with the phrase "Goeiedag, Bonjour," while calling for more flexibility in Belgium's 1966 language regulations.
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