Bhutan’s address

Posted inInternational
Foreign Secretary Daw Penjor delivered Bhutan’s statement to the 64th session of the UN General Assembly yesterday. He called on the UN members to collectively fight poverty, climate change and terrorism, and supported the ongoing discussions to reform the United Nations. He also spoke about Bhutan’s successful transition to a democratic constitutional monarchy, and about the recent natural calamities. The General Debates conclude today.

Be Somebody!

Posted inEconomy, Youth9 Comments
The National Graduate Orientation Programme is over. And 1,300 graduates have now entered the workforce. I didn’t get to congratulate them. So I’ve decided to write about what I would have talked about had I been given the opportunity to meet them. First, I would have talked about employment. Then I would have talked about the role of the opposition. ……………………………………………………………………………………..........................................................................................………. Be somebody! Sound familiar? Be somebody! Remember this hand signal? Clenched fist, thumb upright? Yes, of course you do. It’s from the career counseling tour in 2002, seven years ago. Yes, seven years ago – I can’t believe…

Big Picture – 7

Posted inGeneral
This week’s big picture is a recording of life in Bhutan. Listen to it. And guess what’s making the sounds. The first one to answer correctly wins something relevant to the big picture.

Another disaster!

Posted inNature
Today, on True Bap – the blessed rainy day – I join the nation in offering my prayers and support for the victims of the deadly earthquake that struck our eastern dzongkhags yesterday afternoon. BBS and Kuensel have reported loss of lives and extensive damage. The international media has also expressed concern. Government officials are already at work, contacting the gewogs and accessing the damage. The full extent of the earthquake’s destruction will not be known for sometime. But there’s one important sign of hope: since yesterday evening, no more deaths have been reported. I am in Dehi, en…

Graduating students

Posted inEducation, Youth9 Comments
About 1,300 graduates are currently attending this year’s National Graduate Orientation Programme. And, like last year, the opposition party has not been included in the programme. So today, when I heard that the graduates were hosting a cultural show for the public, I rushed to the Nazhoen Pelri. I’m glad I went. Our graduates are obviously talented. And they put on quite a show. From boedra and rigsar to Bhutanese rock and hip hop, the graduates entertained us with a range of performances. Not bad, considering that they’ve been together for barely ten days. The chief counselor, Namgyal Dorji,…

Taxing cars

Posted inGovernment, Towns29 Comments
So our government is thinking about increasing the taxes, duties and other fees levied on vehicles. I suppose that that, in some ways, is inevitable. The number of vehicles plying on our city roads has increased drastically. And it’s already difficult to find proper parking spaces. So, unless something serious is done about it, we would have to deal with many traffic problems, including regular traffic jams. But I wonder if our government has thought about the most obvious way to control traffic congestion: scrap the import quota system. Import quotas, which are given only to public servants, are…

Promoting democracy

Posted inDemocracy
The panel discussion may have been too short. Politicians may have dominated the discussions. And the exchange of views and ideas may have been less than thorough. Still the interactive session, between students and MPs, that was organized by BBS to mark the International Day of Democracy was useful. At the very least, our students understood that it was okay to express their concerns, and question their representatives. Better still, politicians and young citizens could have, together, learnt that democracy is, ultimately, about accountability to the public. It’s been 18 months since our first general elections. That’s 18 months…

Lost and (not) found

Posted inTowns, Villages
“Whoa…sho, sho, sho… Jamu-ya, sho, sho, sho! Whoa…sho, sho, sho…Tsheri-ya, sho, sho, sho,” Tshitem Dorji calls out shaking a feedbag of maize kernels. Jamu, an obedient mare, and Tsheri, a black mule, quickly respond to my cousin’s gentle entreaties. They emerge from the thick rhododendron forests to enjoy their morning meal before being saddled for the day. It’s a clear, crisp spring morning in the mountains. And Tshochuyala, where we have camped, is beautiful. The rhododendron – several varieties of them – are in full bloom. And much of the meadows are literally carpeted with purple primulas. Giant magnolias…

Born again

Posted inReligion, Women
Our last poll says that almost half of us go to our villages at least once a year. And that 83% of us go to our villages a minimum of once every five years. That is good. As increasingly more of us abandon our villages in favour of city life, it becomes that much more important to stay in touch with our roots. And to support our relatives back home. Our next poll is a continuation of the previous one that asked if women face discrimination. Think about it carefully.

Better party

Posted inDemocracy, Political parties
That a group of people in Thimphu are forming a political party comes as very good news. Our two existing parties – one ruling, the other in opposition – cannot offer sufficient choice for democracy to take hold in our country. So we should be excited about the prospects of a third party. And we should encourage them. But we may need even more people to step forward and form political parties. After all, both the existing parties – DPT and the PDP – have huge loans, and may not be around to participate in the 2013 elections. The…

Chhimi visits PM’s visits

Posted inGovernment
Chhimi Dorji gets upset every time our prime minister travels abroad. It’s not that he’s against the head of the government visiting other countries. What bothers him is the number of people who see off and receive our PM. This photograph in Kuensel prompted Chhimi to send me this article.

Parliament endorses LG bill

Posted inLegislature, Local Government
All 67 MPs present at the extraordinary sitting of the Parliament voted “yes” to unanimously pass the Local Government Bill.  The Bill had been narrowly rejected by the Parliament during its third session about six weeks ago. The extraordinary sitting of the Parliament was commanded by His Majesty the King as a special case to reconsider the Local Government Bill, the enactment of which was necessary to hold local government elections and to properly implement the Tenth Five Year Plan. In my statement, after the Parliament cleared the Local Government Bill , I requested the government to render full…

Questioning change

Posted inGovernment, Local Government
So the Cabinet has directed the Ministry of Agriculture to take over the Centenary Farmers’ Market. Apparently the Cabinet had decided that the Thimphu City Corporation was not managing the farmers’ market properly. The government’s intention is good. They want to ensure that the farmers’ market is well managed; that it is hygienic; and that it benefits our farmers. But the implications are not good. The government risks undermining local government. Accepted, the Thimphu City Corporation may not have done a good enough job managing the farmers’ market. But that is precisely why they need to be supported. And…

Traditional fertility treatment

Posted inHealth, Religion
I read, with interest, Kuensel’s story about Tibetan traditional infertility treatment that is said to be effective in treating 70% of women who are unable to conceive. The same article quotes the National Institute for Traditional Medicine as confirming that serkhaps (golden needle acupuncture) and traditional medicine can successfully treat infertility. But, in addition to traditional medicine, we, in Bhutan, also seek fertility from a wide range of local deities, monasteries, and festivals. Chimi Lhakhang, for example, has granted offspring to countless struggling couples, including international tourists. There are many interesting stories about Chime Lhakhang. If you know any,…

To lyonpo or not

Posted inCulture
Almost six months ago, in March, Ngawang left an unrelated comment on “PDP general convention” asking me if the opposition leader should be called a lyonpo. More recently, another reader – I can’t seem to locate the comment – also asked me the same question. Here’s my answer: it depends. If the title lyonpo refers to the rank of the orange kabney awarded by His Majesty the King, it’s all right to call the opposition leader lyonpo. But if the title lyonpo refers to the position of a cabinet minister, the head of a ministry, then it’s not correct…