The best possible shed

Posted inVillages20 Comments
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…

Yes we can!

Posted inYouth30 Comments
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…

Truly shocking!

Posted inMedia9 Comments
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…

Tour of the dragon

Posted inSports10 Comments
This year’s Tour of the Dragon was a grand success. At 2:00 AM on Saturday, 45 riders representing 15 teams took off from the town square in Chamkhar and raced towards Thimphu. 28 of the riders managed to complete the grueling one-day, 268 km mountain bike race from Bumthang to Thimphu. Last year’s fool – the rider who fell off his bike in Trongsa, but stubbornly rode on to complete the race – fared better this time. He didn’t fall. And he clocked a decent 14 hours 16 minutes to complete the race. But this year’s Tour had better…

Earthquake!

Posted inNature26 Comments
As we drove home earlier this evening, my wife noticed that Taba was in total darkness. And she observed that the residents were huddled, in the dark, outside their houses. It was an eerie sight. We were driving, so we hadn’t felt the earth move. A powerful earthquake, measuring 6.9 units, had hit the Himalayas. Its epicenter was reportedly in Sikkim. In Bhutan, thankfully, no major damages have been reported. But posts on Twitter indicate that the tremors were felt throughout our country. I’m concerned about our farm houses, old monasteries and dzongs - they, and their residents, are…

Freeing horses

Posted inCulture11 Comments
Several of you identified the image in the last “Big picture” as a horse. That is correct. Well done. But Passang’s answer was the most accurate. He said that the image was a “Picture of the horse (lungta) on a faded prayer flag.” The big picture is, quite literally, a painting of a horse on an old prayer flag. In fact, the prayer flag, with the lungta (or windhorse) printed in the middle, is clearly visible in the painting. To Karma Wangdi, the artist, that lungta, drawn within a square border, looked confined and trapped. So he set it…

We should (not) be proud

Posted inGovernment47 Comments
I applaud how the prime minister has responded to allegations that he, and other powerful people, were allotted land illegally in Gyelpozhing. He has written to ACC to investigate the allegations, and he has promised that offenders, especially those holding current political authority, will be made fully accountable. The fact that the head of the government demands to be investigated is a very good precedent. We should be proud. But I also condemn how the prime minister has responded to the same allegations. He has questioned the motive for and timing of the media’s reporting on the so-called “Gyelpozhing…

Lottery issues

Posted inGovernment20 Comments
Last year, on 29th September, I wrote that media reports about Bhutan’s role in the Indian lottery scam screamed for answers. On 11th October 2010, I wrote that the government needed to answer certain pressing questions regarding its dealings with Bhutan’s lottery agent in India. On 14th November 2010, I suggested that, instead of pulling out of the lottery business, the government should use lottery proceeds to fund public service broadcasting. On 30th November 2010, during the National Assembly’s question hour, I asked the Finance Minister to explain what the government had done to investigate the alleged violations in…