Time To Hit The RESET & RESTORE Button!

Like everybody else, I would have loved to attend the recently concluded Bhutan Innovation Forum (BIF) held at the plush Doongkar Dzong, in Pangbesa, Paro. Regardless, thanks to a number of friends around the world who were also tuned-in into the upcoming event that had the promise of being singularly unique, upon being directed to meet me, I had the opportunity to interact with three of the movers and shakers who came to participate in the Forum.

It was amazing! The list of speakers and participants to the event read like the world’s Who’s Who. It was truly a star-spangled event. I cannot imagine what, and how long, it would have taken to put together a congregation at this level and scale.

In genuine wonderment, I sought the view of one of the participants: what do you think is the reason behind why a galaxy of luminaries came thronging to miniscule Bhutan? He responded by saying that given his limited exposure to Bhutan, he can think of only two reasons:

• Relentless hard work, personal charm and charisma of the King; and
• Brand Bhutan

HIS MAJESTY THE KING

No one is in any doubt that His Majesty has done, and continues to do, what is His penultimate responsibility – to secure and safeguard the Kingdom of Bhutan. As the country’s sovereign, He knows that He is the absolute last stop and that giving up is not in His job description – even if He has to walk the journey alone and without help from those around Him.

We have all seen that in the recent past, His Majesty has been running from pillar to post – drumming up support for the country as a whole and GMC in particular. It is my belief that the recent congregation of world luminaries at the BIF in Paro is, to a very large extent, the result of His Majesty’s relentless hard work and personal interactions with the very best around the world.

BRAND BHUTAN

The mysteriously alluring concept of Gross National Happiness (GNH) came to be identified as THE Brand Bhutan since the late 1970s. The intrigue and appeal of the concept of GNH – a catchphrase that mystified and enamored world leaders for the past many decades was supposedly propagated for the first time by His Majesty the IVth Druk Gyalpo in Bombay, India - on his way back from the 6th Non-Aligned Meeting held in Havana, Cuba during September of 1979. Since then, Bhutan began to draw attention, and sympathy, and support - as a nation that gifted the human society a mindful developmental paradigm to aspire for. The Brand Bhutan was so powerful that when I halted in New York on my return journey from attending a conference in Mexico in 1983, I was introduced to a high ranking official of the US government. I asked him if he knew Bhutan - he said YES! When asked where it was located, his answer: in the Bahamas. He was clueless about Bhutan and yet, he had heard of us!

The second boost to Brand Bhutan came when Prime Minister H E Tshering Tobgay, during a TED Talk in Vancouver, Canada in April of 2016,  declared:

“…. Actually, that is not quite accurate ---- Bhutan is not carbon neutral – Bhutan is carbon negative”.

That declaration caught the fancy of the global community and we came to be known as the world’s only carbon negative country - further pushing Brand Bhutan one notch up the popularity ladder!

https://www.google.com/search?q=bhutan+prime+minister+in+ted+talk+in+vancouver&oq=Bhutan+Prime+Minister+in+TED+Talk+in+Vancuu&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqCQgBECEYChigATIGCAAQRRg5MgkIARAhGAoYoAEyCQgCECEYChigATIJCAMQIRgKGKAB0gEKMTczNjFqMGoxNagCCLACAQ&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:8452ea23,vid:7Lc_dlVrg5M,st:0

Thinkers and leaders around the world believe that we have a powerful BRAND BHUTAN. They think, as I do, that we do not need to reinvent Brand Bhutan.

All that we need to do is ensure that we do nothing to jeopardize it – we need to make sure that it remains resounding for all times to come – we must do all we can to protect it from being vandalized through mindless policies and destructive undertakings. We need to ensure that we are mindful about the environment … and that human happiness is at the core of whatever we do. 

Pray, tell me, how difficult can it be – to stoke the fire that is already ablaze?

Sadly, we may be losing it already.

It is an indication of waning morality, if any were needed, when we are told that it has been possible for guides and drivers and policemen and DeSuups - to steal hundreds of millions from abodes of Gods …. when we are told that tourists have been robbed and cheated … when tour operators did not receive their just dues … when tour guides are underpaid and ill-treated and denied human dignity …. when the government is deprived of taxes .... when our foreign exchange reserve is not improving because, as mandated by the new rules, only the SDF is required to be deposited with the government.

No one may deny that these immoral behaviors are new to our long-established BRAND BHUTAN. We have hardly ever heard of incidences of such immorality before.

Perhaps it is still not too late to RESET and RESTORE - please consider it.

The Home Fires Are Still Burning

It is so heartwarming to see our Monarch in Australia – among his subjects who have gone to great lengths to demonstrate to Him that despite the distance - they were never really detached from Him.

Their Royal Majesties among the Bhutanese diaspora in Canberra, Australia

Photo credit: Kuensel 13/10/2024

I would like to think that I am perhaps the happiest among other few hundred thousand Bhutanese – that His Majesty made the journey to Australia. For, on Sunday the 7th of August, 2022, I wrote as follows:

“Does the Bhutanese Ambassador Sonam Tobgay in Australia have the wherewithal to provide quality leadership to inspire and instill a sense of continued nationalism in the minds of the Bhutanese lot in Australia? Are there other Bhutanese capable of keeping the brood herded and on track - and the home fires burning in the minds and hearts of their fellow Bhutanese?

Recently I chatted a senior and respected person who too seems to have landed herself in Australia – I encouraged her to provide leadership and guidance - every opportunity she got, for the sake of the nation.

It is about time that the Royal Government of Bhutan sends someone to Australia – a person who is respected, a person with charisma and proven capability – to remind the Bhutanese there that WE NEED THEM BACK IN THE COUNTRY, when their stint there is done.

The late Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Kwan Yew declared that should there be a demographic imbalance in Singapore, he would import Chinese from China to make up the numbers. Unfortunately such an option is NOT open to us. Thus we have to hang on to what little we have”.

https://yesheydorji.blogspot.com/2022/08/continue-to-keep-in-straight-and-narrow.html

The reception that the Bhutanese diaspora gave to their Majesties upon arrival in Australia is proof that the home fire that I spoke of is still burning in the hearts and minds of the Bhutanese in Australia. Kadrinche to all of you Bhutanese down under!

I believe that in a long while His Majesty would have felt truly at home.

Looking At Nu.1 Billion With Unabashed Skepticism

Tell me, how often does it happen that our government finds itself in an inviable situation of plentiful? From all accounts, our PDP government seems to have whole lot of dough that they hope to pass around – except that dispensing them does not seem to be as smooth sailing as they would like.

Take for instance the Nu.1 Billion that they supposedly earmarked for sending “deserving” students to study abroad. To their disappointment, it would appear that the announcement has been received with anything but unabashed skepticism.

Not impressed for all the right reasons!

I agree with Kuenga Gyeltshen – the general perception is that the program will end up supporting the influential and the well-connected – few, if any, believe that it will serve the intended purpose.

I have a suggestion, if I may: keep it simple and straightforward - allocate the fund to improve our School Feeding Program. It will benefit in three meaningful ways:

• School authorities will finally be able to afford to provide safe, wholesome and nutritious meals to their students;
• It will be a windfall for the struggling rural farmers who run from pillar to post in an effort to sell their farm produce. Injection of Nu.1.00 billion into the school feeding program will go to create a captive market so vast that the farmers will begin to look at farm work with renewed hope – it will be a game changer; and
• In the agriculture sector, the PDP would have done something that no other government has done in our living memory!

In my capacity as the Club Secretary of the Rotary Club of Thimphu – in 2018, I began implementing PHASE-I of the 3-years, $1.00 million Safe Drinking Water to Schools project, funded by the Disaster Aid Australia. That is when I came face to face with the reality of the School Feeding Program implemented by the then SHND of the Ministry of Education.

It became apparent to me that school feeding program could be one huge market for our rural farmers. But everywhere I went I was faced with one perennial grievance: that Bhutanese farm produces were way too expensive for the school authorities to afford.

I started thinking about this weird situation: How can it be that farm produces grown within the country can be said to be more expensive than those that are imported from growers located few thousand KMs away?

It was not long before I realized what the real problem was: It was not that the Bhutanese farm produces where too expensive – the real problem was in the flawed thinking. It was not that our farm produce was unaffordable - but that the government's allocated stipend was pitifully inadequate!

The answer: increase the stipend to a respectable amount and see what happens.

• Our school children will begin to get safe, nutritious and wholesome food;
• A huge in-country market will open up for our rural farmers.

Recently, Sangay Thinley, Deputy Chief Economic Development & Marketing Officer, of the DAMC initiated the formation of an agriculture marketing network that he calls “Network of Farm Produce Aggregators”. As of now, they are active in few select Dzongkhags. It could be expanded to other Dzongkhags across the country.

The Ministry of Education and the school authorities could work with this Network to arrange uninterrupted supply of items of food to schools – home grown farm produces that are freshly harvested, less infested with chemicals, safe, and at prices that are within the bounds of their enhanced stipend. The network of cold storage facilities that was created by the past government can be used to store food - to be supplied during off seasons.

According to a Kuensel report published in January of 2024, numbers are quoted as follows:

• As of end 2023, the number of students receiving free meals stood at 88,784.
• Stipend to each of these students is reported at a miserly Nu.1,500.00 per month per student.

Do your mathematics - redirecting Nu.1.00 billion to supplement school feeding program will more than quadruple the stipend amount to benefit school children. In the process – school authorities will find that Bhutanese farmers’ produces are, after all, AFFORDABLE!

Even better, the PDP will be the first government who would have done something no other past governments have ever done in the agriculture sector – transcend the talk and chose to do something tangible on the ground!

Finally, The Truth Is Out!

The Bhutanese people must offer thanks to Mr. Yoginder Sharma, former Technical Director at the Punatsangchu-I and Punatsangchu-II projects from 2010-2017, for finally having the guts to come out with the truth - that the project consultants to the two projects – Water and Power Consultancy Services (India) Limited (WAPCOS) and Central Water Commission (CWC) - are solely responsible for the disaster that remains an ongoing reality with our two largest failed hydro projects: P-I and P-II.

On Thursday, February 19, 2015 – that is one full decade back - in my article titled “My New Year Wish”, I wrote the following:

“Even if the two governments do not agree to scrap the Punatsangchu projects, they should accept that WAPCOS (consultants to all the hydropower projects in Bhutan) has proven to be anything but competent to undertake any further investigations in the case of these or future hydropower projects in Bhutan. Thus, while we must ensure that WAPCOS is barred from future involvement in our hydro power projects based on their terrible record so far, we should now look at engaging consultants from third countries to investigate if the geological make of the Punatsangchu areas is suitable for large hydro power projects. Through the engagement of better-qualified consultants, we should ascertain whether it is wise to continue with the projects - or scrap it, to prevent further losses”.

https://yesheydorji.blogspot.com/2015/02/my-new-year-wish.html

Two years later, on Thursday, June 22, 2017, I wrote another article on the matter related to WAPCOS resulting from a Seminar co-hosted by the Ugyen Wangchuck Institute for Conservation & Environment (UWICE), Bumthang, in collaboration with the New Delhi based International Rivers, USA.

Having been invited to participate in the said Seminar, I reported the following to the nation, through my blog titled: “Environmental Governance and Science of Hydropower Development in Bhutan and India":

“One of the speakers at the Seminar pointed out that he had seen a number of works done by the principal Consultants to the PHPA I & II – WAPCOS. They were so bad and shoddy that he had recommended that the WAPCOS be banned from undertaking any work in the hydro-power sector”.

https://yesheydorji.blogspot.com/2017/06/environmental-governance-and-science-of.html

Now that the truth is out in the open, is anybody listening?