The Prime minister of Bhutan, Lyonchhen Tshering Tobgay met His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince Naruhito during his working visit to Japan. During the audience, Lyonchhen conveyed the warm greetings and a letter from Their Majesties the King and Queen of Bhutan to His Majesty the Emperor of Japan. Besides meeting the Japanese ministers to discuss various areas of cooperation, Lyonchhen also met the President of Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) and executives of various companies to explore trade and investment opportunities between Bhutan and Japan. During the short working visit, he also managed to visit the Nissan Showroom to look at various electric vehicles manufactured by the company.
I see this working visit of the PM to Japan as a very important diplomatic move taken by Bhutan. Japan is a economically, politically and socially well-developed country so it would be a great example for Bhutan to follow. Same case as the South Korea that takes USA as their example, I think Bhutanese government will also be doing great if they learn how the Japanese develop their country successfully and apply it to Bhutan. Actually Malaysia is also doing the same thing right now and in fact, we have started this move since 1982 by the name of Look East Policy. This policy took well-developed Asian countries such as Japan and South Korea instead of the Western countries to be set as an example to develop our own country. Through this policy, Malaysia is sending excellent students to Japanese and Korean top universities, and trainees are being sent to the training institutes there. And that's why I'm here in South Korea. After completing our studies, we are required to serve back to the country. I can see that my country is doing good since the policy started 32 years ago and I'm actually very glad to hear that now Bhutan is following our footsteps.
Source:
"PM Meets Japanese Crown Prince, Officials." Bhutan Observer, 01 July 2014. Web. 07 July 2014.
<URL> http://bhutanobserver-pm_meets_japanese_crown_prince_officials.aspx
Source:
"PM Meets Japanese Crown Prince, Officials." Bhutan Observer, 01 July 2014. Web. 07 July 2014.
<URL> http://bhutanobserver-pm_meets_japanese_crown_prince_officials.aspx
2) Of Disappearing Shamanism
In the rural areas of Zhemgang, shamanism is a vanishing practice since the last shaman in the village of Berty is the one and only 62-year-old Angay Karma. While the young people nowadays are not interested in shamanism, Angay Karma strongly believes that sometimes we have to appease the deities and sometimes interact with the spirit world. The female shaman who began learning the craft since the age of 21 also does astrology and the locals refer her as Pamo. Her ritual service only costs the customer a bottle of banchang (local brew).
Asians have a very strong culture when it comes to shamanism. In fact, before the Western medications came here, we have been relied completely to shamanism when somebody is sick. Shamanism is not only about healing sick people, but it is also commonly used for superstitious stuff such as exorcisms. However, the young people nowadays usually do not believe in superstition thus shamanism is not even a choice anymore when they are sick. In my opinion, despite having everything vanished by the modern world, we should at least preserve these practices as a part of an important cultural heritage.
Source:
Samdrup, Pema. "Of Disappearing Shamanism." BBS - The Bhutanese Express, 30 June 2014. Web. 07 July 2014.
3) Gomphu-Panbang Highway Already Benefiting People
The incomplete 44 km Gomphu-Panbang Highway which is funded by the Government of India has already benefited the people of Lower Kheng despite of all the controversies and debates over it. Besides being an excellent alternative route for the drivers, the highway that was opened to traffic last year seems to offer job opportunities since the people living along the highway start to open small shops. The highway that will also connect Pangbang-Nanglam and Nanglam-Gyalpoizhing was constructed since 2007 and it will be completed entirely by 2015.
This article shows that people will always have prejudice and question the projects done by the government but the things that they see are only the disadvantages of the projects; usually the cost. I think that sometimes we should not close our eyes and ignore the advantages of the efforts done by the government. The construction project of the Gomphu-Panbang Highway is a great example. It is much debated and controversial but it is benefiting lots of people right now. The Bhutanese government did a great job in this matter by cooperating with the Indian Government to conduct this massive project. Yes, a government might make lots of injustice and mistakes but we can't say they are wrong when they are actually doing a right thing. Wrong is always wrong, but right is always right.
Source:
Samdrup, Pema. "Gomphu-Panbang Highway Already Benefiting People." BBS - The Bhutanese Express, 25 June 2014. Web. 07 July 2014.
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