Golden youth...

For more than three decades, His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo traveled to every part and every corner of our country to meet the children of Bhutan. And everywhere our king went, from community schools to Sherbutse, our nation’s “peak of learning”, He commanded: “The future of our country lies in the hands of our youth.”

To honour and to celebrate our fourth king’s boundless love for and confidence in our youth, the Youth Development Fund started the Golden Youth Award a few years ago. This annual award essentially recognizes children who excel at school – in both, the classroom and playground – and the community.

The day before yesterday, in Phuentsholing, Her Majesty Ashi Tshering Pem Wangchuck, recognized our first batch of “golden youth”. They are:

Tshering Dhendup, Class VI, Samdrup Jonkhar MSS
Meghna Upreti, Class VI, Khuruthanng MSS
Phub Dorji, Class VIII, Yangchenphug HSS
Tsheyang Choden, Class VIII, Shari HSS
Tshewang Gyeltshen, Class X, Yangchenphug HSS
Nikey Subba, Class X, Khuruthang MSS
Dawa Gyeltshen, Class XII, Samtse HSS
Ugyen Lhamo, Class XII, Yangchenphug HSS

I congratulate each and every one of them for being “golden youth”, and for making their classmates, their schools, their parents, and, most importantly, their kings, proud of them.

Well done. Keep it up. Tashi Delek!

Nazhoen Pelri, Phuntsholing...

Yesterday I had the good fortune of attending the opening ceremony of Nazhoen Pelri, YDF’s youth hostel in Phuntsholing. The hostel was inaugurated by the YDF President, Her Majesty Ashi Tshering Pem Wangchuck. I am pleased the post Her Majesty’s address to YDF supporters, the Phuntsholing community and the youth of Bhutan.

Almost four years have passed since the Youth Development Fund initiated our plan of making a hostel in Phuntsholing, a hostel which will be useful for providing the youth with low cost housing. Today, our plans have finally become a reality and we now have Nazhoen Pelri Youth hostel. When I look around, my heart is filled with pride and happiness as I see a place of hope and a place of great potential.

For this we have to thank the Jaypee Group and in particular their Joint Managing Director, Mr Pankaj Gaur. They have not only funded the building of the hostel but have generously offered us 20 scholarships, 10 every year at the under graduate level in some of the best IT colleges in India, and 10 at the certificate technical level, for 10 years starting from 2005. We truly value the genuine friendship between the YDF and the Jaypee Group and look forward to many years of friendship and cooperation. Through their endless generosity and support, the Jaypee Group has helped shaped many aspects of Bhutan thus re-enforcing the friendship between India and Bhutan, and for this reason alone, they will always be a friend not only to the YDF but to Bhutan as well.

The Youth Development Fund, with the assistance of the Jaypee Group of India has offered this valuable gift to the youth of Bhutan. In turn, I would like to make a personal request to the Phuntsholing community: Let us join hands in making this center a worthwhile and meaningful place for the youth. This can only be achieved if the facility is well utilized and is a safe haven free from drugs, alcohol and violence. An Advisory Committee comprising of community leaders will steer the management of this center. Hence, I would like to encourage the community to make this establishment a fine example of a well run center that promotes community unity and social development.

As Bhutan’s leading youth organization, the Youth Development Fund is “committed to ensure that all youth have equal access to education, meaningful employment and opportunities to develop their potential. Our programs build leadership skills, encourage teamwork and promote the value of service among youth. Through advocacy work and strategic partnerships, we work to encourage youth participation, raise awareness of youth issues and promote youth oriented policy.” In pursuance of this mission, we are building youth facilities because we believe in the importance of developing competencies other than academic and vocational training such as personal and social skills. We hope that the youth hostel in Phuntsholing will be a role model in using the center for self development and undertaking outreach work in social services.

Today, it not only gives me much pleasure to be attending the consecration of our youth hostel but it also makes me very happy to have the chance to meet you, the youth in Phuentsholing. I would like to take this opportunity to talk to you about youth related problems. I am particularly concerned about the increasing abuse of drugs and alcohol by our youth and young adults. As we all know, Phuntsholing is a gateway for narcotics into Bhutan. Therefore, you have a great responsibility to bear. There are many institutions and programmes to address the problem. Nonetheless, it is you who can play a vital role in helping others or yourself by being responsible and preventing the trafficking of narcotics, youth crime, gang violence, vandalism, teenage pregnancy, drug abuse and even HIV/AIDS. The challenges ahead may seem daunting but you have to strive forward and push yourself to overcome them to achieve your dreams. You must never forget that you are precious not only for the country but also for your family and community and together we have to help protect our beloved kingdom.

I wish the community of youth and the people of Phuntsholing all the best in their effort to lead the country in establishing a model community center.

Tashi Delek!

Portrait of Her Majesty from the YDF website

Our Punakha party...

Yesterday, our secretary general Sonam Jatso and I visited Punakha. The PDP Dzongkhag office there had invited us to attend their general meeting. About 100 party members including members, workers and supporters had gathered to discuss strategies to further strengthen our dzongkhag office.

I was delighted. We lost both the Punakha constituencies last year. And our president, Lyonpo Sangay Ngedup, who hails from Punakha, resigned to take moral responsibility for the poor election results. Yet, not a single party worker or supporter has left the party. Instead, they are closer and more focused than ever. And they are determined to work hard to revitalize our party.

Now we must do our bit …

JSW mountain range...

This morning, at about 8:00 AM, while traveling to Punakha, Dochula honored me with the visual treat that is the Jigme Singye Wangchuck Mountain Range. Our northern range looked simply grand. My photo, which I had snapped very quickly, shows only part of the range, and does absolutely no justice to the real majesty of the Jigme Singye Wangchuck Mountain Range.

But I’ve already asked a friend to loan me a real picture of our mountains. I’ll post that soon.

PDP Secretary General...

Last week, in a quiet ceremony, Lam Kezang Chhoephel, PDP’s secretary general, formally handed over the party’s files to the incoming secretary general, Sonam Jatso.

Lam Kezang joined PDP in July 2007 and served as the party’s first secretary general. He successfully registered PDP as Bhutan’s first political party on 1st September 2007, and was instrumental in establishing and developing PDP’s party offices throughout the country.

Lam Kezang leaves the PDP to join a private company. I thank him from the bottom of my heart. And I wish him success.

Good karma...

Coffee, many say, is the most popular beverage on earth after water. Yet good coffee is hard to come by in most places. But it is available in Thimphu, at Karma’s Coffee, located in the Zhamling Building somewhere above Hotel Phuntsho Pelri.

Karma’s is owned and run by Karma Tenzin, Bhutan’s first barista, who spent about two years in Australia training to make good coffee. And he made a lot of it: about four to five hundred cups a day!

Back home the pace is much slower. He makes only 40 to 50 cups of coffee a day. This, he claims, allows him to pull the perfect shot of espresso each and every time, This also allows him to offer his customers a much wider choice of espresso-based drinks, from cappuccino to a range of lattes all brewed from the choicest Arabica beans.

Karma’s is open everyday, from 11 AM to 9 PM, and serves milk shakes, freshly squeezed fruit juices, tea, iced coffee, cakes, sandwiches, and great coffee, all in a cozy setting offering comfortable seats, cool music, and free wifi, where no one will bother you as if you fiddle your laptop or bury your head in a book.

Karma Tenzin is courageous. And he is a professional. I’m impressed.

Political Instability Index...

The Economist Intelligence Unit has predicted that the likelihood of political unrest has increased for most countries since 2007. A total of 95 countries are rated as being at “very high risk” or “high risk”, and Zimbabwe is considered to be the most vulnerable of all the 165 countries surveyed. Only 17 countries, led by Norway, are deemed to have “low risk” of political turmoil. See EIU’s Political Instability Index.

With seven of the ten most vulnerable countries coming from Africa, that continent continues to be the most politically instable region in the world.

But South Asia doesn’t fare much better. Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka are all among the 27 countries rated to have “very high risk” of political and social turmoil. Bhutan and India, both rated to be at “moderate risk”, are the least vulnerable to political strife among South Asian countries.

EIU’s Political Instability Index was prepared by rating each country for its “economic distress” and “underlying vulnerability to unrest.”

Improving public services...

Many businessmen and women would have been delighted to hear our government’s assurances to start the one-stop service centre during BCCI’s annual general meeting last Friday. And they would have been pleased to know that our government is already acting on these assurances. Because, yesterday, according to BBS, our prime minister met with government secretaries to consider ways of reducing the administrative burden.

Our government’s assurances and their immediate follow up came as especially good news to Dragyel Tenzin Dorjee. You see, Dragyel spent a year, running from pillar to post, to get permission to establish the Bhutan Institute of Media, a private institute offering courses in photography, journalism, graphics and design. He has his license now, but says that he wouldn’t wish his experience on any other person trying to start a business.

Connectivity for ICT businesses...

In my last entry I celebrated the government’s promise to make Bhutan an attractive destination for ICT businesses. I am truly excited at the prospects of using ICT to strengthen our economy, create much needed jobs and generated revenue, all while safeguarding our brand-image as a country that’s serious about gross national happiness.

But yesterday I was reminded that our government will need to do a lot of work if ICT is to become a viable business in Bhutan. This is especially so if we want to attract foreign investment to spearhead the development of ICT businesses.

What happened yesterday? I couldn’t go online. And I’m still having trouble accessing international websites, including this blog.

So I called up Bhutan Telecom’s customer service (at 1700-1700) and learnt that, on the night of 3rd April, strong winds forced a tree on a BPC tower in Bunakha damaging both electrical and fibre optic cables. The electrical cables have already been restored, but it appears that it might take longer (3 to 4 days, I was told) to repair the fibre optic cables.

Though the storm at Bunakha has affected international uplinks to Hong Kong and London, Bhutan Telecom continues to provide about 10 Mbps link to Phuentsholing using their microwave link. But 10 Mbps is not enough to do the smallest of ICT businesses. In fact, even the 116 Mbps that Bhutan Telecom provides at full capacity will not be enough to develop an industry around ICT.

So our government should upgrade existing links and build alternate international links to make connectivity sufficiently reliable in our country. This should not be too difficult if the Universal Service Fund, which consists of license fees amounting to Nu 777 million each from Tashi Cell and B-Mobile, is used to finance these critical investments. The Fund, after all, was established to do just this sort of work.

Only after improving our connectivity infrastructure will investors – national and foreign – take our government’s promise to make Bhutan an attractive location to do ICT businesses seriously.

Otherwise get ready for more disruptions. See “Stayin online” for an earlier entry about unreliable internet services.

Attending to BCCI...

The Bhutan Chamber of Commerce and Industry has just concluded its 24th Annual General Meeting. The gathering attracted some much needed attention for the private sector in general and the BCCI in particular.

The minister of economic affairs addressed the AGM during its opening ceremony on Thursday, and encouraged the private sector to come up with new business ideas.

On Friday, our prime minister also attended the meeting. And he spoke at length – for more than two hours, some say – to the business community about what the private sector can expect from our government. He reiterated our government’s promise to make Bhutan a preferred destination for ICT businesses. Yes! It’s about time that we started harvesting the enormous business and employment potential of ICT.

And he promised a one-stop service centre to make doing business easier. Yes! Our business community has heard this promise over and over again, first from previous governments and then, very compellingly, during the campaigning that preceded last year’s elections. And still no one-stop service centre. But now I’m very hopeful.

Kuensel’s article on the AGM is available here.