Stop digging!

Posted inGovernment, Justice11 Comments
Denis Healey, a British politician, once famously said: “When you’re in a hole, stop digging.” Digging. That’s what the government is doing by issuing guidelines to relax the implementation of the controversial Tobacco Control Act. According to the guidelines: Any Bhutanese bringing in tobacco products, more than the permissible quantity for personal consumption through designated port of entry, will not be directly charged for smuggling, but would be levied a 200 percent tax. The excess quantity would be seized, the citizenship identity card number noted, so that the offender would be charged on the second attempt to bring in…

Financial services … for who?

Posted inLegislature11 Comments
A joint sitting of the Parliament passed the Financial Services Bill. 66 members voted for the Bill. Only one member voted against it. That solitary member was me. I voted against the Bill because it is discriminatory – it favors foreign investors over our own people. Section 50 of the Bill specifies that a Bhutanese individual cannot own more than 20% of a financial institution’s shares; and that a Bhutanese company cannot own more than 30% of a financial institution’s shares. But the Bill does not specify the amount of shares a foreign company can own in a financial…

Going out of control

Posted inJustice13 Comments
The Tobacco Control Act is going out of control. The Thimphu district court sentenced Gelong Sonam Tshering, a monk, to 3 years in prison for possessing a mere 48 packets of chewing tobacco. He appealed to the High Court. But the High Court has upheld the 3-years prison sentence. Countless others – I’ve lost count ... really – are in detention or undergoing trail in various parts of the country. We’re told that there are a couple of tobacco smugglers among them. But all the others were caught with small amounts of tobacco, obviously meant for their personal consumption.…

Asking questions

Posted inDemocracy19 Comments
About a month ago, I posted the question on Facebook that asked: “What should the National Assembly discuss during the coming session?” A whopping 1366 of my “friends” voted on the 73 answers they generated themselves. This morning the situation looked like this: The top five answers, as you can see, are the Tobacco Act, corruption, disaster management, jobs and sports. But there are many other suggestions. They include citizenship, social security national security, agriculture, irrigation; health, music, alcohol, FDI, BCSR, PCS and DSA. One enlightened friend suggested that we discuss “How to liberate people from suffering”. And another…

Saving McKinsey

Posted inGovernment23 Comments
McKinsey is costing the government US$ 9.1 million. That works out to about Nu 432 million. That’s a lot of money. The government knows it. And that’s probably why the government makes it a point to tell us that the McKinsey project will bring about “savings” in excess of the US$ 9.1 million being charged by them. About two years ago, when McKinsey’s “accelerating Bhutan’s socio-economic development” project was first announced, we were told that, “The savings the government makes through this project will more than make up for the consultancy cost.” A year later, amid increasing public concern…

3-on-3

Posted inSports2 Comments
Ghandians, Dudly Bros, Usuals, Jachung, Jaguars, Local Z, Pvt Schools and Blue Formers – these are jazzy names of the 3-on-3 basketball teams that will play their quarterfinal matches today. The matches, which will begin at 5:00 PM, will be played on the rather attractive make-shift half-court that has been constructed bang in the middle of the clock tower square. The semifinals will be held tomorrow. And the finals on Wednesday. The Bhutan Basketball Federation, which organized the tournament, is keeping a close eye on all the games – they’ll be recruiting a national team from the participants. Two…

Family ties

Posted inMonarchy8 Comments
"Throughout my reign I will never rule you as a King. I will protect you as a parent, care for you as a brother and serve you as a son …” so pledged His Majesty the King during the coronation two and a half years ago. His Majesty the King has kept his promise. His Majesty has traveled the length and breadth of our country and personally granted land kidu to tens of thousands of farmers. He has walked – sometimes for days on end, in the sun, rain and in the snow – to meet our remotest villagers,…

Where’s equity?

Posted inEducation9 Comments
First, the good news: the government has granted autonomy to the Royal University of Bhutan. This means that the university can now concentrate on improving standards without the usual encumbrances of the bureaucracy. 4icu.org, a tertiary education search engine, places our university at a lowly 7,418 of the 10,000 universities they rank. Hopefully, their ranking is not accurate. Hopefully, the RUB will correct it to more accurately reflect their real ranking. And hopefully, RUB will improve on their real ranking. Naturally, a lot more is now possible – and expected – from our university.  There's a lot of work…

Social media and politics

Posted inCulture6 Comments
Mountain Echoes, a literary festival, starts this Friday. The festival, which has already become Thimphu’s biggest annual literary event, will take place at the Tarayana Centre. Please take part in the festival if you are interested in art, literature and culture. It runs through 24th of May and is open to the public. On Monday, 23rd of May, I join Gopilal Acharya, David Davidar and John Elliot to discuss social media in Bhutan. Please join us if you are interested. I’ll be talking about “social media and politics in Bhutan”. So I’m interested in listening to your views: has…

Control tobacco control

Posted inJustice19 Comments
The International Tobacco Control Bhutan Report has recently established that the majority of the Bhutanese support tobacco control. According to the report, 95% of us disapprove of tobacco consumption due to religious reasons. And 97% of us support strict tobacco control. The report seems to have given the government a renewed sense of confidence in the Tobacco Control Act. And a smug health minister was recently quoted as declaring that “… the members of parliament will think twice to amend the Tobacco Control Act now.” But the ITC Bhutan Report has not revealed anything new. We already know that,…

Zhabdrung’s gifts

Posted inCulture6 Comments
Here’s a story from Sombaykha to commemorate Zhabdrung Kuchoe: Topche was a nyagay – a strongman. About two hundred years ago, he left his village, Nakhikha in Sombaykha, to serve in Zhabdrung Jigme Drakpa’s court. In addition to being famous for his great physical strength, Boed Topche, as he was known, was also an exceptional swordsman. Legend has it that he would fight nonstop against the Zhabdrung’s enemies. And that at the end of each day, he would have to soak his hand in a bowl of hot water to dislodge the sword from his bloodied hand. At the…

Viva la Shoe Vival!

Posted inEconomy4 Comments
I like business startups. These places have an air of excitement about them. They show confidence, enthusiasm and courage. And they give off infectious optimism. But I like new businesses for another reason: they are critical for our economy. They create employment. They help reduce poverty and distribute income. And they contribute to improving and strengthening our economic conditions. That’s why I try not to miss invitations to visit business startups or attend their opening ceremonies. And over the years I’ve had the opportunity to visit a wide range of new businesses ventures from restaurants and bakeries to workshops…

Life in Ngangla

Posted inEducation7 Comments
Four special guests are in Thimphu. They are Sonam Zangmo, Sangay Dorji, Thinely Wangmo and Sangay Wangchuk. The guests, all of whom are more or less 12 years old, are in Class VI in Kagtong Community Primary School in Ngangla gewog, Zhemgang. Kagtong is a village in lower Kheng. The village does not have electricity and is not connected by motor road. The nearest road-head to Kagtong is in Panbang, from where it takes a day to reach the remote village. 25 students from Kagtong CPS recently took part in a two-week photography course. During the training they recorded…

Royal Kasho on LG elections

Posted inDemocracy19 Comments
The Prime Minister, on behalf of the National Council, National Assembly and two political parties, has brought before me the issue of the candidates disqualified from participating in Local Government elections. The 90 disqualified candidates have also jointly submitted an appeal on the same issue. The members of the National Council have submitted their concerns on the relaxation of the one-year mitsi requirement for candidates in Local Government elections. As King, it is my duty at all times, to examine not just the issue at hand, but to also contemplate the long term effect of any decision on the…