GNH vs GPH...

Really growing happiness

Yeshey Dorji, a prolific blogger (and an excellent photographer), weighed in on minister Khaw Boon Wan’s controversial comments by concurring with the view that since we want to emulate Singapore, for us Singapore could well be the Shangri-la.

But regardless of where Shangri-la may lie, Au Yeshey admits to finding GNH confusing, and raises the alarming prospect that GNH may actually undermine personal happiness. This is what he writes:

“GNH, GNH. GNH – Oh God, it is so confusing. This GNH has me totally baffled. The more I think about it, the more I am convinced that the principles of GNH are the antithesis to GPH – Gross Personal Happiness.

“At one point soon, we must all calmly sit down and debate on the issue: Can GNH contribute to GPH; if not, what is the point? Can GNH be achieved without usurping GPH? Is GNH more important than GPH?”

Au Yeshey Dorji is not alone. GNH has indeed become complicated. This simple, straightforward idea, which has quietly guided our country’s development till now, seems to have suddenly become an animated metaphysical commentary on how to make the whole world a happier place.

So let’s go back to the basics, and relearn GNH.

This is how His Majesty the King explains GNH:

“Today, GNH has come to mean so many things to so many people but to me it signifies simply – Development with Values.”

This is how Simpleshow describes it.

And this is how Mieko Nishimizu sees it:

“A philosophy that sets the mandate of government as removing obstacles of public nature to enable individual citizen’s pursuit of happiness.”

But what about Au Yeshey’s important question: “Can GNH contribute to GPH?”

Dr Nishimizu would answer “Yes!” In fact, just last week, she delivered a lecture at RIM telling us how Ina Foods, a  business company in rural Japan, has embraced GNH principles to make their employees happier, and how, in the process, the company itself has become more sustainable and very profitable.

Happy people, making money, in a sustainable way – perhaps Shangri-la is in Ina!

Food for thought...

Shangri-la's?

Khaw Boon Wan, a Singaporean minister, recently declared that “Bhutan is not the Shangri-la on earth”, and that the Bhutanese are an “unhappy people” for who “Singapore could well be the Shangri-la!”

Mr Khaw’s remarks, which were made in Singapore’s parliament, have upset a lot of people in our country. That is natural. He has attacked our image. He has challenged GNH. And he has insulted our people. So, many of us are angry.

Even so, we should listen to him. And if what he has said carries even a grain of truth, we should listen carefully. We should, for instance, listen very carefully when he says that we are a tiny nation sandwiched between giants and that, as such, self-determination and self-reliance are difficult to achieve, especially when we can barely eke out an economy for ourselves.

And we should listen very, very carefully when he points out that our people are “toiling in the field, worried about the next harvest and whether there would be buyers for their products.”

We’ve become used to lapping up international praise, and without even pausing to consider whether or not we deserve that adulation. But on the other hand, we are quick to condemn the occasional criticism. We shouldn’t. If critical remarks are insightful and constructive, we should, as Business Bhutan put it, receive them as valuable “food for thought.”

Investigating Gyelpozhing...

Last Saturday, more than two months after Business Bhutan broke their story about alleged land grabbing in Gyelpozhing by senior public servants, the Anticorruption Commission announced that they:

“… are in the process of studying laws related to land, policy issues, analysing and re- viewing the complaints they received with regards to Gyalpoizhing land case.”

The Gyelpozhing land case has raised serious questions about alleged corruption involving our senior-most public servants when land was acquired and redistributed in Gyelpozhing. This is a big case. And it is an important one. So the ACC is correct in studying the case carefully before they launch an all-out investigation.

But the questions remains: Is ACC taking too much time to start investigating the Gyelpozhing land case?

Please share your views here. And please take the poll that asks the same question.

Good governance...

The Thimphu Thrompon recently ignored the “attic rule” by allowing the attics on 31 buildings to be replaced by an additional floor each. The government, which had earlier not responded to the Thrompon’s proposal to nullify the rule, reacted by quickly approving the proposal last Friday.

On Monday, members of Dagana’s Dzongkhag Tshogdu, led by their Chairman, reported to the Home Ministry to complain that their dzongkhag didn’t have a fulltime dzongdag, a dzongrab and several sector heads. They had traveled to Thimphu to request the government to appoint fulltime staff to these important positions.

What’s the connection between these two seemingly unrelated events? They show that our local governments have come of age. What’s obvious is that the newly elected local governments are taking their responsibilities seriously. But what’s not so obvious, and yet is very significant, is that they won’t hesitate to demand that the central government also fulfill their responsibilities.

Now that’s good for our democracy. And very good for our people.

Good ideas...

Reports by BBS have confirmed recent rumours that Dasho Penjor Dorji and Dr Tandin Dorji are each starting a political party. That is good news. The next parliamentary elections will take place in 2013, in less than two years. So if we are to have more than two political parties by then – if we are to have a primary round of elections the next time around – it’s time to start openly working to establish new parties.

The reports about new political parties in the offing should also be received as very good news, as new parties will offer that much more political choice to our voters. Our country still has only two parties – DPT and PDP – and, so far, both of them have refused, and failed, to set themselves apart ideologically. The entry of new political parties will, hopefully, provide clearer and more substantive ideological alternatives to our voters, alternatives that are essential for our fledgling democracy.

Dasho Penjor and Dr Tandin have both been politically active. Dasho Penjor had tried to start the Bhutan National Party in 2007. He also played a key role in the merger of BNP, BPUP and APP to form the current ruling party, DPT.

Dr Tandin was PDP’s candidate in the 2008 elections representing Lingmukha-Toewang constituency. After the elections, he co-authored “Drukyul Decides”, a book in which he chronicles the events of the 2008 elections.

I wish them, and their new parties, success.

Thank you...

The Royal Wedding celebrations moved to Paro yesterday. The festivities, which took place on the historic grounds of the Ugyen Pelri Palace, marked the end of the week-long official celebrations and were hosted by Their Majesties the King and Queen especially for the people who had worked to ensure the success of the Royal Wedding.

The Royal Wedding and the accompanying celebrations were indeed a resounding success. And we, the people of Bhutan, owe our gratitude to the hundreds of people who worked round the clock to make them so.

First and foremost, we must thank the Prime Minister, the working committee and the cabinet ministers for a job well done. They were the ones who successfully planned, coordinated and oversaw the once-in-a-lifetime celebrations.

Second, we are extremely grateful to HH the Je Khenpo and the Dratsang for offering prayers throughout the country. They secured the benedictions of the Triple Gem and invoked our Guardian Deities to protect and bless the Royal Couple and the people of Bhutan.

Third, we must acknowledge the important contributions of our civil servants, most of who worked long hours through the many weeks leading up to the celebrations. And during the actual celebrations, instead of joining the festivities, they continued to work, with even director- and secretary-level officers guiding the public and chaperoning guests and dignitaries.

Fourth, we thank our students and their teachers. They organised a wide range of events throughout the country, so that our people, in every district, could take part in the celebrations. And through their innocence, they conveyed the love and affection of the entire country to the Royal Couple.

Fifth, we owe our gratitude to our security forces. The Army, Police and Body Guards worked together to assure law and order, and to maintain the security of our country.

Sixth, we thank the media for spreading the celebrations and keeping our people informed. In particular, we applaud the BBS for taking the sacred ceremonies and colorful festivals in Punakha and Thimphu to every Bhutanese home through their excellent live TV and radio coverage of the celebrations.

Seventh, we are grateful to the many private businesses and corporate agencies who organized activities and released a range of souvenirs and mementos.

And most importantly, we, the people, are deeply grateful to His Majesty the King for giving us a Queen, and for dedicating the Royal Wedding to the people of Bhutan. The celebrations bought the entire nation even closer together and, during the past week, every one of us felt like we belonged to the same big, happy family.

Your Majesties – on behalf of the people of Bhutan: thank you, and tashidelek!

The best possible shed...

Impressive

I’m in Shaba, a small village in Sombaykha. The recent earthquake damaged all 12 of its houses. Luckily, no one was injured. And thankfully, most of the houses have suffered only minor damages.

But one house was hit hard. It has been damaged beyond repair. It’s still standing. But barely so. And it is no longer safe. That house belongs to Ap Zhep, aged 70, and his family.

Fearing aftershocks, every family scrambled to erect temporary shelters for themselves immediately after the earthquake.

And because Ap Zhep was practically homeless, the entire village got together to build him a shed. They pooled their resources–they contributed tarpaulin, CGI sheets, timber and labour–to build his family the best possible temporary shelter.

I was pleasantly surprised when I visited Ap Zhep’s temporary home. It boasts a spacious room with proper floorboards and a full sized traditional stove. Plus it has a store room and a covered verandah. He claims that the only reason he doesn’t have electricity in his shed is because it’s not safe to climb on the roof of his damaged house to remove the solar panels.

But it’s not just in Shaba that the community joined hands to help one of their own. In Shebji, a neighboring village, the residents got together to build a shed for Aum Sonam and Dorji Wangchuk. And I already know that I’ll hear similar heartwarming stories across other villages in Sombaykha.

Yes we can!...

Our youth can

The Eighth Asian Youth Congress concluded in Thimphu last Thursday. The congress, made up of youth leaders from the Asia and Pacific regions, aims to build a global network to fight drug abuse.

About 130 youth participants from 14 countries attended this year’s congress. 100 of them were from Bhutan.

At the end of the 4-day congress, two participants were jointly awarded the International Youth Award. The winners were Azmeel Mohamed from the Maldives; and our own Yangchen Dolkar.

Yangchen is a student at Dr Tobgyel School and, at 14 years, was one of the youngest participants. Still, the congress, which included several international university students, decided that the feisty Yangchen Dolkar showed enough communication, decision-making and leadership skills to merit winning the gathering’s highest honour. Well done.

But it was not just Yangchen Dolkar who did well at the congress. All our youth reportedly performed well, and impressed their international fellow-participants with their warmth and friendliness, and their readiness to participate in all the activities. In fact, that’s why the first runner also went to a Bhutanese – Jigme Choeda of Gedu HSS. Good job.

This year’s theme was “Together we can!” So I asked Yangchen Dolkar, who happens to be my niece, “Are you sure you can?”

“Yes we can!” came her immediate answer, “… together we can make this world a better place.”

Truly shocking!...

Bhutan Today’s headline this morning was shocking. “People living in miserable conditions: OL” it screamed.

Shocking! But not quite true.

The recent earthquake destroyed many houses. According to government reports more than 4000 houses have been damaged. So many people are unhappy. And they are frightened. And they are impatient. They want the authorities to finalize their insurance claims, so that they can start dismantling and rebuilding their homes before aftershocks inflict further damage to them.

In the meantime, people whose houses have been destroyed beyond repair or are no longer safe, are living in makeshift tents, in temporary huts, or in cowsheds. And many of them have moved in with their neighbours.

Naturally, their living conditions are difficult. But the indomitable spirit of our people, combined with their ability and willingness to come together in times of crises, have ensured that the earthquake victims do not have to live in “miserable conditions”. So to say that they are would be a gross exaggeration. And Bhutan Today should not sensationalize an already painful situation, especially when the OL cautioned them against doing just that.

That is what’s truly shocking!