Sonam Tshering matters

March 1, 2011Posted inJustice20 Comments
Sonam’s Lawyer generated a lot of questions about why I was so interested in helping Sonam Tshering, the first Bhutanese to be detained under the Tobacco Control Act. “lindawangmo”, who was the first to question my motives, wrote: Ever since Sonam Tshering has been arrested your Blog has been full of support for him and the whole town talks about him. But what disturbed me was ppl hardly talk about the second catch, the driver, no one knows about him, does he have no relatives or friends. Are you backing sonam Tshering because he is a haap, or because…

I’m sorry

February 27, 2011Posted inMiscellaneous
We walked from Sipsoo in Samtse through Sombaykha, and arrived in Dorikha in Haa yesterday. I couldn’t go online during the entire journey, as I couldn’t connect to B-Mobile’s signal. Their cellular signal was generally unavailable and in the few places that I could connect to B-Mobile, their signal was weak, and data transfer impossible. It wasn’t like this last year. Then, when I traveled through the same villages, I’d been able to connect to B-Mobile and go online through most of the journey. And I’d celebrated their coverage in Connecting Bhutan. This time I couldn’t blog or tweet…

Sonam’s lawyer

February 18, 2011Posted inJustice16 Comments
Sonam Tshering now has legal help. Ritu Raj Chhetri, an accomplished lawyer and ex-PDP candidate, has agreed to represent him free of charge. Earlier today, I went to the detention center to meet Sonam, and to introduce him to his legal counsel. I’m hopeful.

Facing the Ban

February 16, 2011Posted inJustice
Kinley Shering, a concerned citizen, has launched "Amend the Tobacco Act", a group on Facebook. The group is closed but, if you have a Facebook account, you can ask to join the group. Cee Dee Jamtsho, another concerned citizen, posted this on Kinley's Facebook group:

Bhutan today

February 16, 2011Posted inJustice
Bhutan Today's editorial, for readers who do not have access to the newspaper. Their website is woefully inadequate!

Calling concerned citizens

February 14, 2011Posted inJustice58 Comments
Sonam Tshering is 23 years old. He is charged with smuggling tobacco. And, if convicted, he could be jailed for 3 to 5 years. If Sonam Tshering did indeed smuggle tobacco, he should be sent to jail. That’s what the Tobacco Control Act sanctions. The laws of the land must prevail. But think about this law. Think about how draconian the Tobacco Control Act really is. Sonam Tshering could go to jail for 3 years for possessing four packs of Baba chewing tobacco. Each pack has a dozen packets. So he had a total of 48 packets of chewing…

No exams?

February 8, 2011Posted inEducation
The education ministry is reportedly considering doing away with written examinations for students of PP to Class III. Please take the poll asking if phasing out exams for PP to Class III is a good idea. And please share your thoughts on this important issue.

Happy Losar

February 3, 2011Posted inCulture
Lopen Tshewang Tenzin, a lharip instructor at the National Institute for Zorig Chusum in Thimphu, tells the story behind the Thuenpa Puenshi: A golden era it was for the kingdom of Varanasi. The king, his prime minister and the people all claimed the credit. In the end, they sought the wisdom of the reclusive hermit. "The golden era has been brought about by the four friends in the forest," said the hermit. The bird, the rabbit, the monkey and the elephant had devoted their lives to propagating good deeds. The king and his entourage went into the forest to…

Devika Darjee

February 1, 2011Posted inPeople, Sports
A winnerAlmost 200 of you took part in the poll to decide who would be our sportsperson of the year. Thank you for voting. And thank you for your many comments. I closed the poll at midnight on the last day of January. The race was close. Ugyen Yoeser (cycling) and Devika Darjee (cricket) ran neck and neck in our informal competition. Eventually Devika won, but by barely a whisker – she secured 55 votes against Ugyen’s 53. Devika Darjee was the only lady among my nominees for the sportsperson of 2010. She beat nine men to the top…

Bhutan by Bhutanese

January 30, 2011Posted inEducation5 Comments
Learning to express"Bhutan by Bhutanese" a photo-exhibition by students of the Bhutan Institute of Media is being hosted by the city of Baar in Switzerland. The exhibition, which will continue for the next three weeks, was innaugurated on the 29th of January. The banner features a photograph by Dorji Yuden, a student at BIM. I've uploaded a few more photos in the Gallery. Excerpts of my speech during the innauguration follow: We are gathered together as friends – friends of Bhutan. Some of you have visited my country. Some of you have worked there. But  all of you – whether you’ve been…

Election lessons

January 24, 2011Posted inDemocracy
Congratulations to the newly elected thrompons of Gelephu, Phuentsholing, Samdrupjongkhar and Thimphu thromdes. Congratulations also to the elected tshogpas of the four thromdes. The elections of the four thromde tshogdes (city councils) represent the first local government elections held under the auspices of the Constitution. So, the elections also underscore Bhutan’s determined journey to a democracy. Congratulations are also in order to the Chief Election Commissioner and his staff. The ECB team conducted another round of efficient elections – methodically and meticulously – notwithstanding the protest on their decision to waive off the rule requiring candidates to be registered…

Great expectations

January 20, 2011Posted inTowns
Tomorrow, registered voters in Thimphu, Gelephu, Samdrupjongkhar and Phuentsholing will elect their respective thromde tshogdes or city councils. As we discussed in my last post, the Thimphu city council – the new mayor in particular – will have to sort out the capital city’s water problems. But the mayor and his council will also have to attend to many other competing priorities. Sewerage, solid waste, public transport, roads, traffic, housing, schools, fire, parks and income generation are some of the issues that should demand the city council’s immediate attention. The thrompons of Gelephu, Samdrupjongkhar and Phuentsholing will find that…

Water pipes

January 20, 2011Posted inTowns1 Comment
Thank you for taking part in “Big picture – 10”. Your responses were varied, and many of them were deliberately funny. Answers ranged from electrical, telephone and TV cables; to branches, roots and stems; to serpents, TMT bars and organizational charts! But most of you knew the answer – yes, the picture showed water pipes, and yes such pipes, carrying water to individual houses, can be seen all over Thimphu. “namgay”, “Tshewang” and “dodo” guessed that the picture of the water pipes was taken in Hejo, Langjuphakha and Taba respectively. The picture was actually taken above the “RICB Colony”.…

Pension benefits

January 19, 2011Posted inGeneral
We talked about pensions two years ago. First, we voiced concern that the NPPF pension scheme was sustainable for only 30 years. Then, we discussed the merits of a defined-contribution plan over the existing defined-benefit plan. And then, we expressed alarm that the government was interfering in how our pension scheme was being run. Let’s keep talking about pensions. There’s good news. And there’s bad news. The good news is that, despite increased competition in the financial sector, NPPF seems to be performing well. In the last year, the membership base has increased by 5.4%, from 40,222 to 42,393…

Big picture – 10

January 16, 2011Posted inGeneral25 Comments
We haven’t done this for a while. The first person to get the big picture wins a copy of “Treasures of the Thunder Dragon: A Portrait of Bhutan”.