Logged in but signed out, Lights on but no one’s in

BW&Gray - Logged In but Signed Out, lights on but no one's in

We could all give ourselves a pat on the back if spending a good chunk of our life in the virtual world was a positive sign of development, but unfortunately it is not. There couldn’t possibly be more disconnect in action (in these times of high connectivity).

An electronic screen replaces what used to be living, breathing people with emotions participating in and, interacting through emotion-based conversations. No need to rustle for proof here because it’s an infectious trend and the sickness has landed.

It’s a common observation that a great amount of children and parents’ time go into television, playing with smart phones, computer games and social media. While the seniors set aside separate ‘screen time’ which is exclusively their time, the juniors, some of them as small as two or three years remain glued to ‘the screens’ for hours in a day.

Playing computer games, watching TV shows, surfing internet and hogging space and time in social media is most commonly how the youth/adolescents spend time, ‘in front of the screen,’ again. Most times these routines go unmonitored in households and therefore the ills that are impending with them also come rushing through the doorway. The few rules in place in this regard are usually to check if the homework assigned from the schools are being done or not.

Many experts in this field have said that a child should not be exposed to any electronic media until they are safely over two years of age. This is apparently because a child’s brain develops rapidly in these years and it is obvious that they would learn better from another human not an electronic screen or screens. At the same time for others too, the hours they put into television should be kept under check.

For a large portion of the population the country though, the message would serve little use.

In many households, the elders have most often than not just allowed the idiot box as a distraction for the kids, so that they at least remain indoors and away from getting dirty or sick. Also, the seniors themselves have their personal screen time. The television set does fill in as a nanny (although it’s a poor representation of one) as toddlers remain affixed to the idiot box.

Excessive interaction through electronic media which includes mobile phones, internet and social media, it is believed starts to create an artificial reality in the virtual world where much time is spent. The dedicated users then start to be tuned to this falseness of reality. That way when such things as ‘instant gratification’ (a trait strongly induced by excess use of internet, social media and related gadgets) is not possible, in real life, it starts to impact the users very negatively.

Although there is the goodness of meeting people from across worlds and oceans, getting information and knowledge by a mere flick of a switch or a click of a button, there are equally the unwanted aspects to be factored.

People who spend too much time online, especially the younger lot tend to become detached from reality of things – this is backed by many studies.

Anything and everything shared on internet and social media is never actually deleted permanently and most times, second thoughts are too late to undo those actions, which could be something like sharing contents that are personally damaging or could be damaging for others.

Published as Column in Business Bhutan on July 18, 2015 

BW & Gray or Black, White & Gray is a column published in the Business Bhutan and solely tagged with the pieces written by this writer

The ever-present past

BW&Gray

The ever-present past

These are fast times we live in and anything not on the fast-track is old and obsolete; they are basically ‘in the past’ and has minimal weight of relevance. Here’s a food for thought though – without the past or the old, where does the foundation for anything spring from.

In that manner of speaking, the past is more intimately attached than one is willing to admit. The past never passes.

If the legendary Indian saint did not visit this nation in the eight century, fly to a rock face riding a flaming tigress and jumpstart Buddhism, the country would not have the presently existing noble practices.

Jog dial to 1907, when a king was crowned, civil wars came to an end and a long-lasting era of peace and stability came into motion. Minus that bit of detail in the past, it’s easily said, the successive line of kings who contributed every ounce of possible efforts in ensuring the general status quo would not be reality.

By that reason, the country wouldn’t have been hailed to greatness with the legends of a visionary king in the person of the Fourth Druk Gyalpo and the great monarchs before that.

The romance with the past strikes wholesome if we take into account the nation’s even now quite the infant democratic institution and how it is perceived.

The institution is seen as one of the most peacefully transitioning among others in the world, and for starters, the whole process was as oft-repeated ‘gifted’ not born out of struggles as has been the convention for others.

Attempts to bury matters in the past, things that should not actually be silenced; the outcome for such cases in the present is usually a forceful burst of pent-up angst and judgment.

The Gyelpozhing land case that got top officials tangled in legal loops and commanded answers and accountability is not a very distant memory past. Similarly the Lhakhang Karpo is freshly in the past, but for everybody’s general knowledge, this past will always rub elbows with its present, always.

The present is always the collective consequence of the events passed or actions accumulated as is for individuals, like wise for institutions, for nations.

An immortal song playing almost at every trending place in town is on someone’s least favorite list, because it reminds of certain faces he or she is trying to bury forever in the past using time as a chosen device. Yet again, this or that flash of the past always comes around.

Ensuring the presence of a comforting past, is not entirely an obsolete idea after all.

Published as Column in Business Bhutan on July 4, 2015

BW & Gray or Black, White & Gray is a column published in the Business Bhutan and solely tagged with the pieces written by this Author.

Recklessness, thy name is surely not ‘Change’

BW&Gray

Surely, there is so much gained from the glorious process of modern development, but let’s also do an inventory of the losses. Let’s start with the highly alarming cases that has an all too heavy undertone of social malaise made worse by an aggressively urbanizing trend in motion.

A mindless homicidal trend, it seems has exploded in the society with all the pent-up energy of a time bomb. Consider these incidents peaking on the crime graph.

A 32 year old man was stabbed to death by his cousin, a 27 year old in the course of an argument on Tuesday. The suspect is believed to have a history in using illegal substances.

A 50 year old taxi driver was found murdered brutally alongside a stream on the way to RTC in Thimphu, his body riddled with multiple stab patterns. It is potentially confirmed that a wrong turn in a taxi fare negotiation sessions is the reason for the deathly outcome.

Another 50 year old man is dead after he is hit by a Maruti Alto in Paro. The driver who was driving under the influence (of alcohol) was detained by the police.

And there’s the homicidal murder case at Central Plaza where a 29 year old man was killed in cold blood and then thrown off the balcony of the five storey building. The incident was the first to be called a ‘clear case of homicide’ by police. No points awarded in being the first, but it has certainly spiraled things in motion.

The deceased was a child of divorce and generally hopped from one relative’s to another’s, and had no fixed address in life. He was also in the past detained by police in a drug abuse case.

Divorced parents, drug-abusing child, late night partying youths (good lot of them heavily drunk, or intoxicated with this and that substance), reckless drivers flouting road rules, drivers drinking while driving, jobless youth with no productive avenues to invest their excess time and energy – its all a web of events that eventually germinates the social ills in a long line of robberies, gang fights, drug abuse, murder cases, suicides and broken families.

Roads spread from east to west and north to south, automobiles big and small decorate the highways while buildings tall and grand keep growing in numbers. The concrete jungle flourishes with all its tributary elements, but in the middle of all these, people become less and less sensitive to each other; communication becomes more and more disembodied (with gadgets replacing people).

Safely said, everyone needs to perform better, as at the authority and policy level similarly at individual household levels.

Published as column for Business Bhutan on June 27, 2015

BW & Gray or Black, White & Gray is a column published in the Business Bhutan and solely tagged with the pieces written by this Author.

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The basic need to fine-tune

BW & Gray

- The basic need to fine-tune - 

Presentation is very important but it seems living up to words is not. Preaching from atop high horses is grand, but falling off it painfully is not grandly in consideration.


Growing up in the country, every individual does so listening, taking in and also making attempts to practice the high-held religious and cultural values. The story line on this has however and of late turned awry.


Take this not-so-distant incidence for example:


The government’s supposedly ‘never-intended’ plan for slaughter houses was in any case taken as confirmed by the citizenry. Passionate arguments shooting rapid from all corners were a highly appreciable demonstration. National sentiments unanimously pooled in with no apparent need for orchestration/synchronization. Under different situations, for such overwhelming unity, the presence of an individual or institution championing this or that cause is always mandatory.


GNH-values empowered arguments and high-held religious-values-backed reasons at the time took center stage to stop the imminent. Even with such unanimity, the movement was getting diluted even as it was making pace. A chief reason happened to be the hypocrisy of one’s affinity to the very thing under protest.


Plainly put, try recollecting just freshly (with the auspicious month’s end) how meat stalls were crowded with buyers and how stocks got swept clean almost as fast as they could be replenished.


Now, what is that? An enactment to cancel out the previous enactment. It is exactly the swashbuckling knee-jerk reaction we move into without second thoughts soundly cemented.


Same can be said about how Buddists in a Buddhism-practicing country persistently continue to (literally) rob Buddhist values. In just over two years past, 586 sacred structures (565 chortens and 21 lhakhangs) from across the country were vandalized and robbed of their precious nangtens.


Just desserts have followed the acts, but punitive measures aren’t exactly what solves issues. While the law may pick up steam clamping down on matters, it is essentially every respective citizens’ designated role to do their bit.


Educating minds always helps.

Published as column for Business Bhutan on June 20, 2015

BW & Gray or Black, White & Gray is a column published in the Business Bhutan and solely tagged with the pieces written by this Author.

- Mind your heads -

Black, White & Gray   - Mind your heads -

What goes into the head is equally important as what goes into the stomach. Keeping a watch on lifestyle ailments is very important, but on the other hand, protecting the brain is also priority, period.


It is also worth the mention that this write-up is not entirely a protest against up-keeping an efficiently functioning small intestine.


Most of us watch what enters the stomach staying wary of ‘tasting powder.’ dangerously ‘happy hour’ sessions or the ills of smoking, be it first or second hand. So, why not protect the head too?


In these times of fast-evolving professional landscapes and an even faster changing mindscapes (thanks to the in-the-minute and on-the-web deluge of information and technology. What the eye sees and the brain picks up is increasingly breeding the need for segregation into ‘useful’ and ‘useless.’


This little shining forethought is most applicable to all minds; young and old alike.


The cyberspace is vast and limitless; there is no end to answers it can provide or generate, should one be querying on a topic. It also most veritably imposes on every person regardless of their willingness or unwillingness - the effects and after-effects of its contents.

Hence, the need arises for double confirmation.


The result is a population that is ‘information-overloaded’ with at most times very little of it proving useful in the daily attempts to excel at work or simply pushing forward life.


Enter the new age behemoth called the social media. Its introduction has further enhanced exchange and consumption of online information. While it does have added benefits, its development has also been instrumental in creating new layers of complexity for a world already overwhelmed with gadgets, gizmos and their applications.


Filtering what we decide to invite into our heads should receive importance, now more than ever. First and foremost, there is an unavoidable need to protect the young minds from swaying into a domain that never consistently stays comfortingly-familiar.


Secondly the society needs to be shielded too, from the negatives of these new age developments. Some highly damaging instances have already played their part in damaging reputations and spreading ill-will.

The transfer of ‘very personally-shot videos’ behind closed doors using social apps like WeChat on smart phones was an alarming development for a society not previously used to such shockers. Likewise, making enjoyment out of sharing pictures of suicide victims and crime scene horrors also began to raise its ugly head.


The law increased vigil on this, taking measures to deter future incidents and things do seem quiet for now on the front.

However, nothing beats educating the masses, a cue duly taken by the relevant authorities.

Written and Published as a Column in Business Bhutan on June 13, 2015 

Black, White & Gray is a column published in the Business Bhutan and solely tagged with the pieces written by this Author.

The long and short of it

The economic benefits from the tourism industry many say, are only next to the number one contributor - the Hydropower projects that hold the most important place in the heart of policies. Some even go as far to say, the tourism sector is one area which is near-effortless in being what it is for the nation.

This is the fairly supported truth, the whole truth and the absolute truth surrounding the two major national activities.

Well, maybe not exactly in its entirety, if discussions at the National Council are taken as any serious gauge of standards.

While hydropower was presented not entirely in the easily-accorded atmosphere of glitz and glamor that it is accustomed to, the tourism industry was punched full of loopholes that required urgent attention, should it be sustaining as a potential national economic activity.

The lack of a serious and comprehensive policy presented as the Achilles heel is responsible for curtailing details of growth in the sector and therefore it remained a factor that called for attention.

An up-to-date study of policies past and present is soundly recommended by the house of review and is exactly what seems to be the need of the hour under prevailing circumstances.

Complexity in procedures as mentioned by the NC could also do with some generous simplification to complement and encourage more numbers.

At present the details of daily minimum tariff, FIT charges, surcharges and discount coupled with fiscal policy issues on foreign currency and maintenance of dollar account, taxation policy and revenue recording are highlight areas that could cause more of loss than gain in the potential industry, if changes are not suitably made.

The top-foreign exchange grossing industry has also forever rested on the policy shelves to be taken on a cross-benefits tour nationwide.

While government efforts are of course visible in the home-stay or farm stay visits it promotes rurally toward the east, more initiatives does need to come up even for the south side of the nation should they become areas of interests.

And for all that, the actions don’t come into focus unless the dice of policy rolls.

Coming to the hydropower mission, vision and activity, if the chips are down on an activity (where all the chips have been placed), then there is nothing but room for pondering on that.

An NC member was right to point out that when the 10,000MW project has been confirmed to miss its 2020 deadline, it definitely doesn’t sound good as most government plans and projects lay hinged on the success of the giant project.

Apparently there is need to explore alternatives keeping fresh in mind the impact it will have on the nation’s economy.

Significant details of faulty detailed project reports (DPR) presented during the NC session also brings into picture the need to either train in-country officials better in preparing the reports on which an optimum percentage is spent in terms of cost, or hire international experts from such agencies as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.

Published as Editorial for Business Bhutan on May 30, 2015

... smells like L.P.G

There’s a ‘eureka moment’ in every new finding that one makes or stumbles upon. Only, in cases like this, we can only wish that the discovery was made much earlier than later so that the end game does not leave matters so irreparably unsettled in the most unjust manner.


The truth in the LPG con affair (officially established by the RAA findings)staring point-blank at every collective faces is as unacceptable as it has come out to be. The concluding decision is just  one and the only one, every single individual will not (or cannot) get their dues paid. So there it is, 'victims,' all shall remain.


The LPG consumers or customers (let’s just say most of all of the Bhutanese households) availing the service from the three Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) distributors have to silently but grudgingly accept that for years till date, they have willingly assisted in imposing unwarranted costs on themselves in varied situations of daily life.


The perfect rip-off
For days to come to come, it will certainly be hard to live it down. In every passing contemplative frame of mind, when we go connecting the dots, realization will dawn repeatedly that  all of us willingly played a highly cooperative role of literally handing over the prize.

Just-desserts
It appears as of now, the only closure, consumers can draw as justice or a form of consolation in this case is, the trade authorities will be asked to recover these ‘extra’ charges from the three distributors who had collected Nu 29.11 million in the period that is, years 1999 through 2014.


For a ‘process’ that ran smoothly and entirely unchecked for about close to two decades, this recovery process (should it happen) will be… very long.

Kudos to the NC-RAA move
Let’s not also forget to applaud the country’s house of review, the National Council that made public the whole LPG ensemble (let's call it facade, actually) after it asked the audit authority to undertake an assessment of the said industry.



Fringe benefits
It is a fortuitous turn of events for the general population’s benefit that the audit exercise also chanced upon the expired or outdated LPG cylinders. These dangerously outdated gas cylinders were allowed to remain in circulation even after they had passed their usefulness by years.

The risks involved in employing such cylinders were explained by concerned officials on national TV BBS, following the public knowledge of the situation.


Best-case-scenario of a worst-case-situation
If one can call it any consolation, a bright side to this dim state of affairs, it is apparent that the business in question has become transparent. And it will hopefully stay that way.

In this, consumers will from here on, definitely stay reminded to be in the most alert frame of minds and on the lookout.



Reflective Retrospection
The LPG is as common as it gets, predominantly among the more humble households in the country and therefore any convenience ensured in this line of service is as solidly confirming the most relevant help delivered.

Same can be believed the other way round!

Published as Business Bhutan Editorial on May 23, 2015

A ‘Bhutanese standoff’

The nation’s bulk population with an undying penchant for meat and the government’s plans of putting in place slaughter houses is a marriage made in heaven. At the same time, the very same nation ever so hinged on high-held religious values and an ‘enlightened’ development philosophy of GNH (Gross National Happiness) should be, and is in complete opposition of such a blasphemous and unbecoming plan to swing into motion.

Now, this is a classic Mexican standoff situation, only there are no Mexicans in the details.

The government in its way of honoring its duty and promises to do what is seemingly beneficial for the economy sees the outflow of money in connection to meat imports, and so looks all in all the proper and responsible entity.

In 2014, the country saw an import of meat worth Nu 1.37 billion. A figure very worthy for contemplation in the case of a country that not quite distantly grappled with an economy crisis largely due to outflow of Indian Currency. Hence, it is established at least in the logical sense that this government act will ease things on the import substitution front.

However this is also the same religious country where people have opposed out-and-open the forthcoming plans. Looking at the valid points that turn themselves invalid in this is however of much interest. 

People don’t want animal-slaughtering quarters stationed in-house but the same people won’t give up their almost ravenous attraction to meat, continuing to buy them by the kilos and sweep clean meat shops as quickly as they are stocked.

Where in this do they suppose the meat is generated from? Slaughtering, of course, although having to answer the rhetorical is an answer to the whole drama in motion.

Reality does have a good bite on the meat eating lot back home as the non-veg meaty items of delicacy keep making regular appearances at homes, in gatherings be it personal or public and yes, even at congregations where the highly religious are present and partaking.

In this the two sides have enough to go ahead with very clean-slate justifications and put their plans or thoughts in action.

The government can stronghold on its obligatory and mandatory duties of economy restoration and go putting its plan in action. Meanwhile, the opposing quarters also have their GNH value-supported and religious values-empowered trump card to rest on, making a sound argument.

Keeping aside the government and economy factor, perhaps people should meditate on how lowly they are falling from their high horses as they hypocritically oppose something that is in one form already very much existent in-country (for ages).

The government could on the other hand try cushioning the impact with which the punch does fall on the general population. This can probably be in the form of alternate measures, one that strikes gently the collective sentimental chords.

Published as Business Bhutan Editorial on May 16, 2015

A stitch in time…

What takes years to build needs but only seconds to be ruined. Well, such a thing is reputation and so is the image of the country in this case.


A local tour operator and a government official seemingly in cahoots to bring in tourists with forged visa documents were detained by authorities concerned. The incident got its nip in the bud when a group of 28 tourists (being brought in by tour company Bhutan Breez) were honoring their due diligence at the Paro airport. It was discovered that 19 visas were forged.


As per rules, persons involved will be deported to their country of origin while a penalty of Nu 10,000 would be imposed. This really does not paint a good picture for the famed ‘Last Shangri-La,’ as 19 people goes back and tells 19 different tales of duplicity and undue discomfort in strange terrains.


Maybe it’s just another day at the office for countries much advanced in development and fairly acquainted to such happenstances, but not for Bhutan which has only begun to make its baby steps in the industry and yet an incident of this very nature has happened for the third time.


As far as the tour operators are concerned, it seems pretty adjustably convenient for one or two wishing to try such a stunt once in a while, because they can go about acquiring ‘a new license’ ‘under a different name’ when and if licenses are cancelled as penalty or punishment for engaging in such acts.


The tourism industry is the next big grosser of national revenue after the hydro-powers in terms of generating foreign exchange. It is not really a section to be complacently allowed to rest in the blind spot of laws, authority’s watchful gaze or the leniency of policies.


If not for nothing, this is the industry through which the world gets a front row perspective or a bird’s eye view of the country as culture is experienced firsthand and interactions are made up-close-and-personally.


While it has been a good while that brand Bhutan has been floated in the world arena for promotion in the best of manners and senses, the year 2015 is also the Visit Bhutan year, a much marketed and promoted tourist even, if one may say so.


Once again, reminds us and brings us to the topic of image; image that is constantly being painted beautifully and also smeared damagingly on its ends and bends.


In a military way of functions, an individual’s fault gets the rest equally punished for no shortcoming of theirs. This does not apply to daily civilian lives but in this case, selfish acts of one or two untoward minds will definitely get the whole nation tagged and bagged under a common unpleasant or unprofitable label – that of being frauds, that of being liars and that of being pretentious experts trying to teach ‘Happiness’ to the world.


Outlooks can be a generation of panicky catalysts, and yet it can also be said things are what they are as they first spring to mind. These frequently appearing gaps in an otherwise stabilized environment should be fixed promptly and proactively.

Published as Business Bhutan Editorial on May 09, 2015

To follow, or not to follow

There is something in the way rules are implemented or enforced and its definitely not inclining anywhere near ‘consistency.’ Now, many prevailing factors are heavily legit in different cases but still, salient features do remain desirable in most areas where the ‘rules’ are in place but ‘not’ in place.

Respective person (s) can see it as a lucky break while getting away doing the obviously-unruly. However the same person or persons will get caught in the act and it’s definitely not their day… that day.


The point missing in action here, more importantly is that rules of all kinds and different nature should be consistently observed by authorities so that it is uniform and balanced; 'consistently,' as in practiced and appplied every day with the same laser-focused
gaze with the same sound and fury, same intense and watchful routine etc.


First off on the list are the sign boards flashing loud messages against dumping or car-washing in a said location. ‘Defaulters will be penalized,’ is usually and often the seemingly intimidating tagline at the end of the general public notice on the board.


Apparently it is not enough to wake the ire of the concerned authorities, but it is definitely hilarious enough as people simply out of basic disregard for such notifications or just to humor the contrasting picture continue to dump generously and wash their two wheelers and four wheelers at odds and ends of the city.


It’s in good assurance that few ‘participants’ may have been rounded up with much gusto by lawmen with all the sound and fury to be made examples for the rest who may follow. Nevertheless, since consistency is not driving through city limits frequently, the joyous experience continues for those unwilling to let-up and ‘the rule’ becomes a front-row spectator to its own demise.


Similarly, there is huge disruptions in the traffic movement especially in the heavily vehicle-populated zones when the authority decides to surprise everyone by rounding up a series of vehicles for ‘double parking,’ ‘parking in a No Parking,’ or talking without parking that is, while driving (on mobile phones).


Here too, the lucky gets a break when perhaps lazy bites the consistency.


If on a day a dozen driver gets their ‘license and registration’ confiscated in a location like the Sunday Market area for No Parking offence, a week later and from there-on, double the number of vehicles enjoy their time parking in a No Parking.


It wasn’t until recently that the ‘one way’ sign board was removed from near the Changangkha Lhakhang area. Not that drivers were altogether in humble submission of the sign that said ‘no downhill entry,’ but it was rather an interesting picture of the law and lawbreakers in cahoots to stage a ‘flouting the rules’ show as traffic personnel observed the free flow of vehicles in utter disregard of the sign that he ‘technically’ put up.


Meanwhile the ‘No Right Turn’ sign board below the labor ministry was so constantly ignored that it had become invisible for any and every vehicle driving up and seeking the convenience of not having to make the long winding turn about some hundred meters ahead. The sign board has been removed (not that it served a purpose while it stood).


Archery kills, but who’s listening. The national game, a much passionately-pursued sport among many gives rise to playgrounds at the most odd (read highly risky or dangerous) locations.


The only successfully removed archery grounds till date happens to be the one that is right below the base of the Sangagygang (popularly called BBS Tower), otherwise every other archery-favorable ends of a precarious location springs a archery play ground.


While the serious gets a layer of funny, it is temporarily a moment of fresh breathing comic relief, but it is not too far behind that the same circumstances puts a layer of annoying on the frustration that eventually disrupts the harmony.

Published as Business Bhutan Editorial on April 11, 2015

A lesson we are forced to learn, and must learn

The Nepal quake fresh on every mind, collective thoughts now largely loom around the preparedness back home in the event of a catastrophe of such deadly force and destruction on an unprecedented level of lives and things.


First off, let’s take into account the universally accepted and scientifically-backed truth with regards to earthquakes.

It is established by experts and researchers that seismic activities no matter how deeply and comprehensively studied over long months and years, its exact time for hit in a particular location cannot be pinpointed or predicted – disappointingly true and witnessed over many years past.

Secondly, it is without need for any expert or scientifically-proven opinion to see clear as day that earthquake does not kill; it is the falling and breaking structures during an earthquake that cause the loss of lives.

Leaving aside Mother’s unpredictable Nature, for all of humanity put at the mercy of these unstoppable seismic tremors, the only defense against it remains to be one and only one… that of making an educated stand.

It is proven in many instances globally that earthquake-resilient measures adopted in buildings have countered to good extent in reducing otherwise the total destruction that will be caused by earthquakes.

According to GeoHazards, the U.S, New Zealand, Japan, Turkey (particularly Istanbul) and Chile are all high-risk countries where tectonic plates are under strain but they have taken steps to prepare buildings and educate the people in order to mitigate the consequences of a big quake.

Earth quake is not really the novelty event in this country either with the 2009 and 2011 episodes remaining very stark evidences and more than a few to recollect in the past.

However, apart from the 30 second or so public message aired on BBS TV on how to act ‘during’ an actual earthquake, the much urgently needed measures do not seem to be in initiation anywhere. And if there are any activities germinating toward it, perhaps they are not meant to be public knowledge yet, as they definitely would have been the spice of conversation for any and all unavoidably made aware of a huge calamity in a neighboring country.

Elsewhere, countries that are far more technologically advanced have instituted every disaster mechanisms and practices. They range from strict building codes to having regular drills in practice to face disasters such as fire and earthquakes. Back home such practices as emergency drills can be given higher importance and put to practice in schools, offices and big housing colonies.

The trend is rather more disturbing than comforting as buildings as tall as six storeys or more keep sprouting in the urban areas while poorly constructed structures continue to flourish in the rurals. It is of course not an opposition against builders who impressively raised such heights or the authority in effect that has approved the fine details. It is the important element of building by keeping in mind the probability of disaster striking anytime sooner or later.

While house owners are more inclined on saving costs and clearing what loans they have availed, the element of meeting disasters in a better prepared way is completely out of the criteria for consideration as they hastily raise one hazardous storey of probable arsenal for death and destruction after another.

Nonetheless, it cannot also be avoided that, to make existing buildings resistant to earthquakes (seismic retrofitting) is expensive. Owing to this, even countries that suffered loss of lives by the thousands and even millions like the country of Haiti still haven’t effectively instituted such measures.

However and on the flip, the basic understanding remains that where you build and how you build will always go into how things stand the test of nature’s not-so-pleasant displays. Adjusting a few decimal points at the time of estimating costs to include few safety measures will really go a long way in bringing rewards, for what could be more precious than lives saved from disaster.

Experts on the topic also say, buildings that are more basic are actually stronger and would cost lesser, although it is also hinted that engineers building it and people who have to live in it may not be all too fond of the aesthetically-lacking structure that comes out.

It is high time that citizens think beyond the few extra thousand bucks to earn and consider larger life-related interests seriously. A case in point here is the legalization of attics wherein the municipality allowed houses to keep the extra storey under the roof as attics. Following that the Thromde on many occasions has dismantled ‘attics’ yet again being built on top of the extra floor allowed by it.

Here too, truth is screaming loud that most disasters are man-made or let’s say prepped by humans quite effectively for disaster when it strikes. Point is, even before considering the most sophisticated and cost-intensive state-of-the-art measures, the few logical ones can be recalled and exercised. And what better time than now as facts under the headers of ‘Bhutan on a highly seismic zone,’ ‘the probability of a powerful earthquake,’ do the rounds on everyone’s minds and lips.

Published as Business Bhutan Editorial on May 02, 2015

The not-so merry-go–round of road repairs

An unofficial event largely hosted by nature is the monsoon, which is very regular and it never misses its cue. Another thing not so much handed by Mother Nature but largely in a similar cyclic carousel is the perpetual repairs on and across the roads of the country. It too doesn’t miss its mark every changing season and throughout changing years.

It crosses every wandering eyes  and wondering minds as to why there couldn’t come around a more stable solution to this eternal event of repairing roads damaged, washed away or riddled by gaping potholes at every regular and irregular length and breadths of the highway.

Expenditure is incurred naturally in keeping up with the maintenance drill not so much a planned affair as it comes unannounced but, come it surely would every rainy season or a post-snowy week or month.

Some of the roads in remote areas of the country are so prone to damages that men and machine are permanently stationed at these locations to immediately address the road blocks or bridges being washed away.

At many locations it is apparent that sincerity of builders in constructing the respective roads are not in reflection as areas are so favorably laid out for nature to do its deed. At the same time it is also the other way round where roads that are seemingly built in stable locations give way to the slightest shove from natural forces.

For a road to consistently serve its purpose of being a strong surface to ply in for humans and commuters alike, to deliver everyone and everything safely to whatever point they set out from or to, many factors are key in achieving the required.

Drains or the drainage system running alongside the winding roads in this case play the crucial role of directing what water seeps onto the roads or highway through them to the proper meeting points. Likewise, trees planted along roads are meant to stabilize the soil and therefore prevent landslides on the roads.

Authorities have seemingly accepted that repairs as a monsoon event year after year is mandatory, but it also goes without saying that there are discerning minds in operation to curb this sick cyclic carousel of repairs and damages.

Of course, individuals can always do their bit in this by working in the best interests of one and all by being responsible contractors, builders and citizens.

Published as Editorial for Business Bhutan on April 25, 2015

Time for action, Time for words

Being at the receiving end of all things good and pleasant is always nice, but if ‘all things good and pleasant’ continue to remain fluid words exacted only to console an otherwise seemingly insufficient state of affairs, the niceness doesn’t amount to much other than cushioning the fall with a smile.

It can be said, this is exactly the same plethora of industrial adjectives that most in the private sector have grown used to operating under. While at the same time, there have always been those who have wanted to rise to any available occasion to better the status of the much endearingly-addressed yet most-poorly existing private sector.

Times, they have surely been a changing and this once-upon-a-time very insignificant sector is now growing in capabilities, skill levels and confidence, enough to go ‘wanting a share’ from the big pie in the big pie.

Of course, the small guy will take time to earn his place in the sun, but if that opportunity is never presented looking fairly at pace of development it achieves every changing year, then the small will never see that fine day when it can demonstrate with pride its acquired potential. 

Dreaming big easily said will remain a dream.

The irony in this saga thus far for a sector which is ‘the engine of growth,’ ‘the backbone of the nation,’ … pleasantly awarded monikers for the private sector remains that it has only received flamboyantly impressive names and enjoyed good conversations, but never sat at the big table with the big names to do big works.

As is mentioned and too often repeated the public sector (government) needs to create a favorable atmosphere in which the private sector can grow … and succeed.

An argument can be made here that it is high time something on this line is done for a sector that contributes significant percentage to the Bhutanese GDP every year. It is only then that the sector’s potential for economic development will come forth.

First off, many highlighted areas that have served to stand as blockades for the sector’s growth; they have to be addressed. Among the headers are ‘strict government control over private sector business activities,’ ‘lack of access to credit,’ ‘limited entrepreneurial skills.

However and still yet, a most important aspect that has curbed any prospects for growth is the lack of finance for the private sector.

The private sector also faces many other obstacles such as poor infrastructure, severe skills shortages and mismatches between employers’ needs and available workers, trade restrictions, tariff and non-tariff barriers to exports, difficulties in obtaining medium- and long-term finance on affordable terms, and a large informal sector.

The latest BCCI report foresees the requirements of structural changes in public investments patterns giving more attention to agriculture, domestic manufacturing industries, and ancillary industries like manufacturing of construction inputs within construction and manufacturing sector.

It is not only required but most indefinitely a call for proactive actions from the government to contribute in helping the private sector (that is already standing on its own feet and walking)… to run.

Published as Editorial for Business Bhutan on April 18, 2014

A matter of life, death… and ‘other things’

A man died on the spot as a wall collapsed on him this week in Changzamtok. The deceased, a municipality worker was on the job in the vicinity and attending to the structure as well.

Things that come to light in this incident are highly reflective of elements that have little to do with the person’s karmic interpretations but significantly have more to do with general conduct of business as in doing work properly.

It cannot be swept under the rug the fact that the construction of a solid retaining wall positioned in the middle of other public structures, where there is high and continuous movement of people and vehicles, did not entirely receive the strongest and quality finish it deserved. Now that’s a direct shot at the builders or the contractors to whom work was assigned.

The authority in question did not supervise the works in all good earnest. If it did, then it was not effectively done. This doesn’t really draw the most pleasant picture for the process of tendering works that as it is remains mired in controversy more frequently.

The ambulance that supposedly rushed to the scene of calamity was so to say a formality or procedural gesture to be present when called, since unless the driver was himself a trained medical expert, his being there with an ambulance with no other medical professionals was as good as a no show from the medics.

People at the scene say the person could have been saved ‘if’ he received medical treatment ‘on time.’

One might ask why the deceased took troubles to remove the stone that was supposedly supporting the wall. So then, should we blame the city employee for doing his job. If so, then we can also attribute said person’s death to his being 73 year old and not strong enough to survive a wall collapsing on him.

Negligence of work, corruption in carrying out works, accountability are the big and bold headers that immediately come flashing red and loud in matters that are as such.

Incidents vary from one to another in mannerisms of how much it makes one scratch the head, trying to place a finger on that one actual ‘cause and effect’ factor. However, it should all come back to how things were done, properly or improperly; following the rules or bending the rules.

Published as Editorial for Business Bhutan on April 4, 2015

Fire burning, anyone really care?

Perhaps there is an abundance of general belief among everyone that there is an overabundance of natural resources like the forest coverage. This can be reflected in the largely ignorant manner in which people treat the thousands of acres of forest coverage being lost to natural and man-made hazards.

A recent mishap, that of a forest fire burning along the regions of Taksha (Wangduephodrang) and fast spreading toward Tsirang was however a topic of heated discussion, because it involved risks to the lives of people travelling on the highways cutting across these regions.

Giant tree trunks were seen to be blocking roads as they most probably fell down on roads below due to burning fires. Rolling boulders and falling stones became cause for concerns in locations elsewhere due to which vehicles were cautioned against travelling on the respective highways.

Of course, human lives are precious, but an equally sound argument can be made for the burning forests not just specific to the ones being destroyed by the forest fire aforementioned.

In fact, it should now be clear and worrying observation among everyone that the inglorious forest fires are becoming an infamous seasonal event, seemingly wanting to stay.

And with the fire mishaps consistently marked every year (not that they are a need of any hour) with huge forest covers burnt to nothingness, it does seem to have caught on as an annual event. In all this the loss of resources is unavoidably many… and costly. The recent fire has damaged 300 to 400 acres of chirpine forest.

The country is rich in its forest cover, this cannot be denied, but resources are not inexhaustible or everlasting. They are constantly on the decline owing to many factors such as logging, constructions etc. A large portion of the population in the country still is heavily reliant on these resources and they need to be preserved for generations now and after.

It can safely be said that authorities really need to up the ante in nipping this trend in the bud.

It is also not to say that no efforts are being made. It is very much visible that no efforts are being spared by concerned offices and personnel to tackle this issue. This is quite hugely and graciously in practice through different modes of educating masses on the ills of forest fires, training people in relevant fields on fire fighting.

Maybe everyone can start playing a role in this to drive home the sense in this matter. And one can say what better place than home to start with or schools where minds are caught young and fresh to soak in all the learning.

Taking the often cited reasons in forest fires, which is usually a child playing with matches, a fire that was not put off properly after burning waste; it seems that carelessness can be truly be avoided at the roots.

Published as Editorial for Business Bhutan on March 28, 2015

Bhutan’s finest hour in football

Good times are on a roll, as far as Bhutanese football aspirations are in focus. The national team players’ display of their soccer skills to secure a comfortable 2-1 score in the recent matchup against Sri Lanka and a favorable overall 3-1 score in the Pre-World Cup 2018 qualifying round are indeed happy developments.

Needless to say, this is the finest hour for Bhutan as a footballing nation.

Seen as the lowest ranked nation in the FIFA ranking, the nation is time and again instantly reminded and cannot easily forget the 20 to nothing loss it excruciatingly experienced during a matchup against the Kuwaiti team not so many years ago.

As a smallest of the small nation persistently trying to stamp its mark on this world, this development really deserves all the fanfare and glory it is being given. By all counts, considering the magnitude at which this is a breakthrough for Bhutanese football dreams, a chance to make its place in the sun, even.

The positive development also signals a ray of sunshine for local football and its healthy growth.

Up and until this hour of international level achievement, hope remained rather on the dimmer side for any football enthusiastic Bhutanese youth to chart a career in the sport or for that matter in promoting the sport effectively as a local phenomenon.

Although the sport enjoyed popularity among Bhutanese both old and the young as a spectacle, local football clubs have only had more of players dividing their time between a ‘stable’ job and then their sporting object of passion – football.

Getting back to the celebratory national win, it is perhaps general thought among many that probability of a win over the other teams it will face is not hugely on the positive side. But merely piercing the shell to officially gain entry is a big deal for the country.

At the same time, it goes without saying that the Bhutanese team will put in every ounce of grit and determination toward every matchup they plunge into.

Perhaps this time around the sweat, the grind and the toil will bring in real opportunities for football enthusiastic youths. And that would be speaking in terms of seeing better facilities, better salaries for those investing their lives as football players.

So, in essence the first win in the World Cup qualifier is a win for everyone who has ever desired to see positive changes in the football scene. And yes of course, it is a victory for the nation as a whole.

Published as Editorial for Business Bhutan on March 21, 2015