Beginning of a New Year?

Losar issue 

Losar is here again. And it is time for people to enjoy. Have fun. Eat and forget anything that troubles them. Those days Losar was considered the beginning of a New Year and was celebrated thus. But today, it no more feels like one for the educated lot living, working and raising family in towns and cities. They celebrate New Year on January 1.

Of course the joy and celebration have not died down. People still consider it as a time to have fun and enjoy. For many Losar is just another public holiday.

One Lopon at Sherubtse College thinks Bhutan’s Lunar New Year actually falls on the first day of the twelfth month on Bhutanese calendar. His justification is logical. We celebrate the day as the Traditional Day Offering. Some call it Sharchopa Losar.

Stocking up for the dry month

What amuses me though is our preparation for the day. Scores of pigs, bulls, are slaughtered to meet the rising demand. And from the eve of Losar, another holy month (that prohibits the sale of meat in the market) sets in. So, there is a huge rush for meat in all the shops. Some are stocking up their meat supply that would see them through the holy month.  

Sometimes I wonder, of all foods, why meat (beef or pork) is considered a dish that befits Losar. And as a Buddhist nation where compassion becomes the core value this is something that we really need to think of.

It is true that not everyone can turn vegies overnight, but how about removing meat from your meals at least for this auspicious and holy month? 

What's in the color?

(Penstar photo)

Taxi drivers are complaining again. This is nothing new, I think. But this time, I think they are far more rational than their authority. Of course we feel what RSTA is attempting to do by trying to implement a uniform taxi color is in the best interest of society. Well, I hope so. It is for uniformity. No doubt about that. And I think it would look so nice to have uniformly colored taxis plying on Bhutanese road reaching people to their destinations.  But taxi drivers don’t quite see it as simple as that.

Bhutan is a highly superstitious society, meaning our every aspect of our life depends upon our astrological stars. Someone gives birth, astrologer is consulted; someone has to travel far, he consults his astrologer; someone marries, astrological divination is sought; likewise it is understood that even when someone buys a car, his/her kham has to match the color. I can’t explain it clearly here.

So, it is disturbing to see such policies come into force to the dissatisfaction of the taxi drivers. I wish color had anything to do with the safety aspect. We see RSTA carrying out much more important role than to monitor the color of taxis. Since our cabs already have yellow hoods that is uniformity enough. 

For instance, the authority has to ensure there is a fair taxis fares levied to all the commuters. This is not really uniform, but rather left to the whims of the taxi drivers. When gasoline prices go up, taxi fares go proportionately. Yes, that’s completely understandable. But then they remain static even when petrol prices go down. What should we do? Our observation is, just like the prices of the petrol prices, fares should go up and down. We see also RSTA creating an increased awareness in drivers on the hazards of driving and talking on the phone, speeding issue, etc. 

Once I took a taxi from Paro and thank god we reached Thimphu safely. Our driver was engaged in a lively conversation on his mobile phone the entire one-hour journey.

P.S: Purely my personal observation and in no way attempts to pass judgments on any individual or organization

Ignore or Implement it?

Picture: www.australianhimalayanfoundation.org.au

The month of February is here once again. And it is time for children to go back to school. For some it is their first day at school. For others it is like going back to their second home. Some children would have just turned six years old this February. Some may have added a few additional years in their age so that they can attend school and start early. These are the children of some sensible parents, who think ahead of their friends and colleagues for they understand the importance of starting early.

In Bhutan the accepted official enrollment age of children is maintained at six years. While some principals interpret the rule liberally or semi-liberally, there are others who follow the enrollment age policy like a holy scripture. The former category of principals relax the enrollment age a bit so that even a child who is a few months short of school going age is also admitted in the school.

But the latter rejects a child’s admission even if the child is short of a month or two. And now when the child is finally grown enough to be admitted in school, which would obviously be only in the following year, the child would be more than seven or eight months older than his/her classmates. What will happen to the child’s psychology?

When it comes to faking of children’s birth certificate, our parents fall into two categories – literate and illiterate. Illiterate parents can never (my assumption) create a favorable condition, which would allow them to change their children’s age. In fact for them, if their children can go to school at any point in time, they think it is all right. Not their literate counterparts.

And then the school enrollment age policy is not followed strictly in some schools; it is followed strictly only with the children whose parents cannot trick the school authority in believing that their children is ready for school. Some principals felt that we need to lower the age of enrollment to five years, but their requests were simply shot down during some annual conferences.

So, why do parents fake their children’s age? The answer is quite obvious. In places like Thimphu admission pressure is so much that the school authorities literally have nightmares when it is time for new admission. And it is in this context that enrollment age policy comes in handy. But we are told that once the child is admitted, his/her age is dully corrected!

However, I don’t see any connection in remote schools not having enough children and the school authorities strictly interpreting the rule. We have had enough reports in the media that informed us of many schools in the remote areas being downgraded to extended classrooms.

Of course we are told that now the government is coming out with a policy that says if the children upon the completion of class 10 or 12 do not attain a certain age, say 16 or 17, they would not be eligible to for professional courses in the third country. Hopefully, that would reduce the number of parents faking their children’s age. But even with the policy, I see parents bringing down the age of their children once they are admitted. If it is possible to add a few years in a child’s age, then it should be equally possible to subtract a few years!

I consider this enrollment age irrelevant, especially in urban centers where private nursery schools abound. And of course how many parents can afford to send their children to expensive nursery schools? Parents in the urban centers admit their children when they are not more than three years old in nursery schools. And after these children spend a year in the nursery, based on their performance and learning ability in the nursery classes, they are placed in the preprimary (PP) classes the following year. This means by the time the child is four years old, he/she actually gets to start school, which is not in agreement with the enrollment age policy that we so much insist upon. And their remote cousins have to wait until they fully attain six years. Blame it on the absence of nursery schools!

One is made to feel that laws are applied strictly in some cases while they are blatantly overlooked elsewhere.  Implement it or ignore?

That noodle rendered me sick

Dough being kneaded at a restaurant (Penstar)

Yesterday I had to accompany my wife to the hospital to remove her nails. My youngest brother accompanied us too. I don’t know somehow nails always cause problem to my family. Just like mine, my wife’s toenail tended to grow outward and started to enter her flesh. It was giving her an extreme pain.

Anyways, while coming back, we felt like eating something. It was almost lunchtime. So, we stopped at a nearby restaurant. Having some ordered for some noodles, we had our tea.

After that quick lunch, I dutifully returned to the office. One hour passed. Nothing happened. After another half an hour, my head started whirling and nausea feeling overcame me. I had to quickly rush to the bathroom.  And when I told my one of my colleagues about my illness, he suddenly asked me if I have eaten at a restaurant. When I said yes, he wanted to know which restaurant exactly. I named the location for I forgot the exact name of the restaurant. He understood which place I meant. And then he went on to narrate how his entire family got sick having eaten some beef curry from the same place.

I didn’t believe him, but just for curiosity’s sake I called my wife to confirm if she didn’t vomit. She actually vomited too. And I called to see if my brother was feeling okay. He was also down with headache and nausea. 

I realized it was not a rare incident, I decided. And my colleague and I decided to do something – call BAFRA officials so that they would do something.

We called one number. We were told it was a different section and we were given a different number. But the man at the other end was still asking our names and telephone numbers. We simply hung up.

I am happy now that we have reported the incident and hope the concerned authority would do something so that our people do not fall in the same trap.

If you are in Phuentsholing and if you have anything to report against any hotel or restaurant in town, here is a number to note: 05-251718. 

Some Pictures

Here are some pictures I took in the previous year.

Let's stop making fun of our National Language

A screen shot of Kuensel article (27/01/2012)

Private newspapers are complaining once again and rightly so. Please don’t mistake me for being an enemy of our national language. In fact I have always been an ardent supporter of the idea that Dzongkha needs to be promoted, in my own capacity. Newspapers were forcefully made to carry out the burden of bringing out Dzongkha editions. When someone is forced to do something often the outcome is a poorly executed work. Some papers feel that it is financial burden to carry out the noble “responsibility”.

In the first place, these so-called Dzongkha inserts are poorly written; rather poorly translated. They are printed in black and white; thereby rendering them less attractive. Photos are hardly visible. The quality is hardly up to the mark. Just by printing a few pages of poorly translated Dzongkha inserts in English papers would contribute towards the promotion of our national language is a misguided notion. At the most it makes pokes fun at our language. It is a pity that our newspapers are made to do this.

And now that we have Dzongkha papers, we should allow these papers do the honor. We should make every possible effort in providing them support and let's put to practice what is reflected in the policies. If we can render them adequate support then half the work is done. But right now, these Dzongkha papers are fighting in the market for their share of government advertisement money. If we have a policy in place, then slowly more people would be interested to bring out Dzongkha papers in the country. And not under pressure. 

I think the concerned authority should really look into the matter and stop our newspapers from making fun of our national language. If in future these papers are develop the capacity then we should allow them to bring out independent Dzongkha papers. But please please say NO to these step-child like Dzongkha inserts. It is a joke.

And it is a pure betrayal to our national language. Adopt some other practical and workable methods to promote it. 

A Small Giant Resolution?

Press conference: A mock session (Pictire by Penstar)

Welcome to my first post of the year! A very Happy New year to all my readers. I am so sorry I could not wish you in time, but anyways please accept it now. Happy belated New Year! Well, just like other years in the past, I decided not to have any resolutions this year. But I long wished I could stop chewing money. And I really wanted it to be my new year resolution. Too late. I am here in Thimphu and weather is so perfect for doma chewing that I can never throw away my habit so easily. Maybe once I go back, I would try.  

I have attended a two-day training on Media relations and I must tell you there are so many things that I didn't how media in general function. We were also introduced to the world of writing press releases, handling media querries, arranging for press conferences, writing rebuttals to the news articles, etc. Quite an exhaustuive list. 

But more than anything, this training taught me how bad a communicater I am. Given the chance, I would make a horrible public speaker. We were to hold mock press conferences in group on chosen topics. While one group took the stage, others acted as audience. And that was not all - we were being taped by a professional cameramen from BBS. To our embarassment, later the resource person pointed out all our weaknesses, but thank god he also identified the key areas of improvement. It was funny looking at ourselves on the big screen and others laughing at our weaknesses. 

I need to learn public speaking imeediately. Now is it too late to turn it into a resolution for 2012? I hope not!

Happy New Year and wish you all the best!  

A single account for all BOB branches with 2012

What a wonderful way to begin yet another year! Unlike in the past, you can now do all transactions with a single BOB account from any branches in the country. Earlier the bank charged its customers half of TT charges when you deposit or withdraw money from branches where you do not have accounts. (TT charge: Nu. 2.5 for every Nu. 100,000/-, minimum being Nu.20/-)

For example, you have an account in BOB Lhuentse Branch. But you are here in Thimphu and you need some money. So, you go to BOB Thimphu Branch to withdraw some money from your account maintained at Lhuentse Branch. Until now you are liable to pay some charge. But come January 2012, the bank plans to do away with the charges. This is wonderful thing for the customers and would truly benefit Bhutanese who maintain accounts in the country’s biggest and oldest financial institution - Bank of Bhutan!

There would be a substantial income loss with the doing away of the charge, but it is definitely for the good and benefit of the general public. And therefore, with the wider and better branch network and with its constant effort to be in sync with the modern technologies, Bank of Bhutan hopes it would continue to hold onto a major portion of Bhutanese financial market share.

But seriously, it is a befitting New Year gift to all BOB customers! Congratulations!

Design by Kuensel Corporation

For Quicker Financial Services

Photo: Penstar Collection

Another development in 2011 that we can be proud of is in the field of delivering financial services to the public.  Now if you have one ATM card, you can withdraw cash from any Automatic Teller Machines (ATM) of any banks in the country. This means you need not at all have to bear the burden and hassle of carrying cash in your hemchu. Thanks to Bhutan Financial Switch (BFS), which RMA installed in December 2011. 

This would go a long way in promoting a cashless society and at the same time, Bhutanese now have the financial convenience, which was limited in the past. And with the introduction of ATMs customers no more had to wait in line in the crowded branch offices to withdraw money.  

But when more and more people possessed ATM cards, more and more people came in flocks and slowly, lines started to form around ATMs. People started to complain. But now if many customers are lined up to do the transaction, then you can move on to another ATM in the vicinity and save your time.  And all these you can do it free of cost – withdraw your own money with no cost at all! So, now you just need an ATM card (of course you need to replenish your bank accounts more often now) and travel trouble free.

Hey by the way, BOB has started issuing VISA domestic debit cards, which can be used in India, Nepal and Bhutan and Druk PNB is in the process of issuing Maestro debit cards – meaning we need not worry about carrying cash in our pockets while traveling abroad. You can also use your ATM/debit cards to make payments through Point of Sale terminals in shops and petrol/gas stations or Bhutan Telecom counters. 

Parental Preaching

With so much pride

Being parent has been one fulfilling experience and I am sure all parents agree with me.

But sometimes I don’t understand how parents become so irresponsible that they neglect their children. And I have also often heard men talk of leaving everything related to kids to their wives. 

That's not right. As parents, I feel both the husband and wife are equally responsible to their children, well, that’s if we love our children. 

Do you need this preaching?

Love our children, we all do. Right? Children are often born out of love and affection. And I could control my anger and resentment when I saw the poster that portrayed most men as unfeeling creatures. Those men helping their wives are laughed at.

It is a shame that fathers need such moral preaching.