River potential

Posted inEconomy
National Geographic has rated rafting on the Drangme Chhu – from the Trashigang Bridge to the Royal Manas Park – as one of the 25 Best New Trips for 2010. But it’s not just the Drangme Chhu. Every one of our major river systems provides some of the world’s best rafting experiences. Dave Allardice of Ultimate Descents says that our rivers are: A gigantic staircase rising from the Indian border to the high Himalayas of Tibet, the soaring peaks of Bhutan are an untapped treasure house of whitewater. The rivers are powerful and challenging. And the National Geographic calls…

Stop press!

Posted inMedia
The second Annual Journalism Awards will take place on 3rd May, coinciding with World Press Day. Good. But, like last year, the government is organizing the event. Not good. It is in the media’s interest to decide, without government interference, how to recognize and reward good journalism. And, equally important, who to recognize and reward. So the media should be organizing this important event. When the government is involved, the awards lose credibility. And the whole process – from defining categories to selecting judges to awarding prizes – will be questioned. For the sake of a vibrant media, the…

Druk Stars

Posted inGeneral
We were totally wrong. Our poll predicted that Jangchub Choden would win the Druk Star contest. And that she would be followed by Jamphel Yangzom, Phurba Chencho, Sonam Tobgay and Chencho Norbu in that order. In reality, yesterday, Jamphel Yangzom won the contest. She was crowned Druk Star, was declared the Voice of Drukyul, and drove off in a brand new Maruti Swift. Chencho came in second, followed by Sonam, Phurba and Jangchub. We were completely off. I’m happy for Jamphel Yangzom. And I’m happy for the other contestants who made it to the top 5. They’ve worked hard.…

Counting on gentlemen

Posted inGeneral
Several of you have complained that Druk Star’s voting process is flawed. Yes, you are right. Voters are permitted to cast multiple votes. But, they have to pay good money for each vote. So the candidate with the most money, or with the richest supporters, will, in all likelihood, get the highest number of votes. And win the coveted title. The voting process, however, is purposely flawed. They are a business. Their primary aim is to make money. And what better way to do that than by turning a blind eye at the otherwise glaring fault. But all elections…

Druk Star gazing

Posted inCulture16 Comments
We are divided on the question of Bhutan’s accession to the WTO. 40% of you answered “No” in the poll that asked “Should Bhutan Join the WTO?”, 37% replied “Yes”, and the rest said, “I’m still unsure”. I’ll give my views on this important matter soon. For now, we need to consider another important matter: Druk Star! After four months of music and entertainment, we are down to the final five contestants. One of them will be crowned Druk Star this Sunday. Our poll asks the burning question: who will be the next Druk Star?

Dasho Damcho on LG

Posted inGovernment, Local Government
“Where is Dasho Damcho la …” enquired Sonam_t commenting on my open letter to the Dasho Dzongdags. “Where is honourable Damcho?” echoed Tangba. Dasho Damcho's recent response to their queries follows: Dear Sonam_t and Tangba, Thanks for your concern. I am still sticking around but like to keep a low profile. The issue that Hon’ble OL has raised was discussed with me and was discussed several times in the preceding NA Sessions as well. Unfortunately, most people are not aware of it because of absence of live telecast and the papers were not interested in covering these issues in…

Managing performance

Posted inGovernment
Chapter 12 of the BCSR is dedicated to performance management. It provides a detailed prescription of how civil servants must plan, review and rate their work in order to improve productivity and accountability in the civil service. The general idea is good: it is to cultivate a performance-based culture that rewards meritocracy and professionalism. It is also intended to boost morale in the civil service. So the RCSC’s performance appraisal system should be implemented faithfully. But, we are told, it isn’t. Civil servants say that the appraisal system is not taken seriously, and that it does not work. They…

Anonymous fear

Posted inGovernment, Media
Of the many reasons we may have to comment anonymously, fear of government reprisal is the worst. Here’s how Kuensel introduced a contractor’s remarks recently: An owner of an established construction company, who requested anonymity, fearing possible backlash from the government, said that … The government must dispel such fears. The Constitution, after all, guarantees "...the right to freedom of speech, opinion and expression" as a fundamental right.

420 for McKinsey

Posted inGovernment
Dasho Kinley Dorji to Kuensel, last week, defending the government’s decision to hire McKinsey: I was told that the total amount of money the government spends on consultants in a year is actually more than the amount made public. It’s about what you are getting for what you are paying. We need to define what is too expensive and too cheap. That we hire too many consultants is common knowledge. But that the government spends more for them than we are led believe is not. We should be very concerned if we suspect that the government is misleading the…

War against malnutrition

Posted inHealth
Today is World Health Day. It is a good time to reflect on the health of our people. And to remind ourselves that we still need to wage a war against malnutrition. So I’m reproducing what we discussed last November on this serious problem: Six weeks ago, the Annual Health Bulletin announced that 37% of our children are stunting, that 4.6% of them are wasting, and that 11.1% are underweight. This week, we learnt that the Right to Food Assessment Study concluded that 26.6% of our households are undernourished. That would also roughly mean that about a quarter of…

Talkin’ Takin

Posted inNature
Takin, reindeer, yak calf, takin calf, sheep’s head, donkey, deer, drey daza, goat, sheep, lamb face, blue sheep, foal, cow calf, shaw, black foal, jatsham, mitun, thra –bum. The last Big Picture contest generated a rich variety of answers, including the right one, takin calf. “Karma S.” is our winner. The takin mother and calf was photographed in the Motithang Takin Preserve, a 20-acre sprawling blue-pine forest that was established in the early 1970’s to accommodate a pair of young takins that was gifted to Bhutan during the coronation of the Fourth Druk Gyalpo. The two takin thrived. And…

Potemkin village?

Posted inGovernment
Lobxang’s comment on “Mining our business”: Pardon me, this is not related to mining but rather a bizarre topic. Is the Government panicking over the upcoming SAARC Summit in the Country? From what I read in Kuensel, the government is acting like they are having a cold feet already. First, tour operators were asked to vacate hotel rooms of their guests in Thimphu to Punakha and Paro. Now Kuensel reports that there is this strange rule of allowing traffic on alternating days depending on their odd or even license numbers. From my understanding, Bhutan had a very, very long…

Superman and the carpenter

Posted inMonarchy
Business Bhutan carried an interesting story last week. It was about a young student’s fantastic encounter with His Majesty the King. Here’s another story… When Galek came home from school recently, she excitedly announced that she had met His Majesty the King. She explained that our monarch had visited Thimphu Primary School that day. And, she recounted every detail of the royal visit, from the stories that His Majesty had told them and the soelra that they had received, to the songs that they had sung and the flying kisses that they had exchanged. “Our King told us a…

Open Letter to Dasho Dzongdags

Posted inLocal Government
Dear Dasho: I am writing about a matter of grave importance: the involvement of political parties in local governments. You will recall that, during your recent annual conference, the Prime Minister called for party workers to be involved in the development process at the local levels. And, that he requested for party workers to be invited to observe the sessions of the local governments. Article 22 of the Constitution clearly defines the powers, objectives, structure and functions of local governments. It also ensures that local governments remain nonpartisan. As such, political parties cannot be directly involved in the development…