Tshering Tobgay

National Zorig Day

May 10, 2009Culture

About eight years ago, representatives from the National Technical Training Authority petitioned His Holiness the Je Khenpo to identify a deity to watch over skilled workers. His Holiness recognized Pel Dueki Khorlo (in Sanskrit, Kalachakra) as the Zorig Deity. His Holiness also declared the 15th day of the 3rd month as Zorig Day, and composed a 12-stanza moenlam to worship Dueki Khorlo and to advance vocational skills in our country. Yesterday, on the 15th day of the 3rd month, Zorig Day was celebrated across the country, especially in our vocational training institutes, but also in some business establishments that…

Cribbing right

May 7, 2009Media

Responding to "Government awards media awards" kikisoso called me a cribber. This is what kikisoso wrote: The easiest job in the world is to crib. The task at hand is to provide beter and viable alternatives. OL, let us hear your alternative plans that are more well thought out than just wishful thinking. media people judging themselves will be a bloody melee …. I think we should learn the lessons of this award and make it more credible next time around - you know, no jury winners (what a balony), better and more broadbased jury selection, awards for ‘body…

Your avatar

May 7, 2009Miscellaneous1 Comment

Okay, our new site is up and running. And you would have noticed that reading your comments is easier and more enjoyable. That’s because all of you are using usernames. And unique usernames make following comments and discussions easy. But most of you have not created avatars. Avatars can be photographs (like Abi and I have used) or caricatures or any other picture you think is appropriate to represent you or your mood. They are not necessary. But, like usernames, they’ll make following your discussions lively. They are also fun. Abi Narayan showed me that easiest way to make…

Featured photos

May 6, 2009People

This website now offers a panel, located immediately above my latest entry, that will feature one photograph every week. I encourage readers to share your photographs, particularly those that tell a story which may be relevant to a particular week. This week’s picture, of the Druk Wangyal Chortens in Dochu-la, was taken by Lhendup, a photographer with Bhutan Observer. The 108 chortens were commissioned by Her Majesty the Queen Mother Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck to commemorate His Majesty the Fouth Druk Gyalpo’s service to the people of Bhutan. In the background, is the Jigme Singye Wangchuck Range.

Our new address

May 5, 2009Miscellaneous

Welcome to your new site! As promised, I’ve added a little bit of colour to this site. And I’ve changed the format slightly to make visiting this blog easier and, hopefully, more meaningful. But the site is not final – it’s work-in-progress. So please let me know what you think of it. And I’ll try to incorporate as many of your views as possible. Actually my friend, Abi Narayan, will. He’s the one who has put in many hours to improve my earlier boring site. And he’s done it all for free. Thank you very much, Abi.

Investigating rewards?

May 4, 2009Media

The First Annual Media Award’s prize for Investigative Report of the Year, the award’s most prestigious category, went to Kuensel’s Phuntsho Choden. This came as no surprise. Phuntsho is good. Well done.But what did come as a surprise was Tenzing Lamsang. I dare say that Tenzing has contributed significantly to the development of a free media in our country since returning to Bhutan after a stint with the Indian Express, one of India’s biggest and most respected newspapers. From politics and government to the civil service and business, he’s covered a lot of ground. And he’s done his share…

Media awarded

May 4, 2009Media

14 different prizes were up for grabs during yesterday’s First Annual Media Awards. Of them, I was especially interested in seeing who would bag the prize for the best editorial of the year. Editorials, after all, are important: they express a newspaper’s stand or opinion on issues. And editorials are powerful: many readers, especially in rural Bhutan, accept, without any questions, the opinions expressed in the editorials as the truth.So who was awarded the prize? The prize was awarded to not one, not two, but three journalists representing the three main newspapers in our country – Kuensel, Bhutan Observer…

Government awards media awards

May 3, 2009Media

Today, on World Press Freedom Day, our government organized the first Annual Media Awards. Yes: the government organized the event. This is good, but could also be dangerous.This is good because our government’s sponsorship of the annual media awards could be seen as support for the media. After all, the government is recognizing and rewarding the best in the media, in spite of the fact that, due to the nature of their jobs, those in the media regularly question, and sometimes even confront the government.This could be dangerous because the media should not allow the government to decide who…

Star gazing

May 3, 2009Miscellaneous

Yesterday, our government organized the 8th Film Festival Awards. Our government’s sponsorship of the celebrations is indicative of their support for the movie industry. This is good.Our movie industry has played an important role in promoting our national language and culture, in generating employment and in providing countless hours of entertainment. I thank them and congratulate them for continuing to take Bhutanese cinema to new heights.Congratulations to the winners of the 8th film festival awards – you are our stars.(Till last year the film festival awards were organized through private sponsorship, mainly by the Zimdra Group.)

Happy Teachers’ Day

May 2, 2009Education, People

Gakiling has only one school, a community primary school. It is in Rangtse, a small, impoverished village located four walking days from the nearest motor road in Haa. Tshering Dorji is its principal.In 2006, after teaching for about three years in remote schools in Samtse, Lopen Tshering volunteered to go to Rangtse to establish a community primary school. There he met enough children to start the school. And he saw a community eager to build their school. So together, they – farmers, children, and teacher – erected a two-room hut that would become Rangtse’s first classrooms.Early the following year,…

Early warning

April 30, 2009Government

Early yesterday morning, the health assistant in Lunana was woken up by loud rumbling sounds from the Gotu-chu. At 3:30 AM he found that the river, a tributary of the Pho- chu, had swollen to thrice its size and dispatched a wireless message to the Early Warning Station in Wanduephodrang warning them of a possible flood downstream along the Pho-chu and Punasang-chu.The rumblings that the health assistant had heard spread panic in Punakha and beyond. And by mid-day, the entire nation was consumed by fear of the impending dangers in Punakha and Wangduephodrang. His Majesty the King was immediately…

Sustaining happiness

April 29, 2009Civil society, Monarchy

I’m in Phuentsholing, on my way back from a special trip to my constituency. I went there to receive Her Majesty the Queen Mother, Ashi Sangay Choden Wangchuck, who visited Sombaykha and Gakiling in my constituency, and then to accompany the royal entourage to Dumtoe and Dorokha in Samtse.Her Majesty trekked for eight straight days, from the freezing Tergo-la in Haa to the hot and humid Yaba-la in Samtse. She undertook this arduous journey – trudging in the cold winds and snow, in the rain among leeches, and in the sun in sweltering heat – to meet the people…

Watching our mountains

April 26, 2009Nature

On the 12th of April, I had promised to post a good picture of the Jigme Singye Wangchuck Range. I’m afraid I haven’t been able to get one. I’m sorry.Dun dun was correct in commenting that I “was indeed in a hurry” and that my picture is “all hazy, washed out and dry!”I will be honest: the real reason I wrote the entry, even though I didn’t have a good picture of the mountains, was to remind myself that our northern range is now called the “Jigme Singye Wangchuck Range”.The picture of the mountain range I’m posting is a…

Saluting the army

April 24, 2009Security

Today, on the 24th of April, we observe Armed Forces Raising Day. On this important day, we commemorate the establishment of our armed forces comprising of the Royal Bhutan Army, the Royal Bhutan Guards, and the Royal Bhutan Police. And, more importantly, we remember and celebrate their valuable services to the tsa-wa-sum.I respectfully offer my gratitude and tashi delek to the Supreme Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces and the Militia, and to all officers and troops of the RBP, RBA and RBG.

Risky business

April 22, 2009Towns

I was horrified to learn that an oil tanker burst into flames in the BOD’s petrol pump in Samdrup Jongkhar. (Read Bhutan Observer article) The fire was quickly contained, but only after two men had been seriously injured. We’re lucky that the fire didn’t spread to and cause unimaginable damage to the residents of Samdrup Jongkhar. The BOD station in Thimphu is a disaster waiting to happen any day. The street literally runs through the middle of the petrol pump. So traffic is heavy. But not just to fuel-up. Every driver uses the BOD station as a thoroughfare. The…