Rice Cooker Disease?

Before electric rice cooker was introduced in our kitchen cooking rice was an art. Not many could boast about knowing the art. Even pro mothers could land up with bad pots once in a while. I remember how my mother would be on her toes once the rinsed rice was poured into the boiling water. She would keep stirring it and from time to time she would spoon out few grains and feel them between her fingers.

Once she got the right feel, which was when the grain was soften all around except a tiny bit in the centre, she would remove the pot from the oven and drain out the thick rice soup that was half the content of the pot. Then the pot was put back on the oven with low heat. I always wondered how my mother knew how much longer to wait after that because I mostly landed up with either uncooked or burnt rice.

That short story on the art of cooking rice can be a history lesson for young Bhutanese born after 90s. Because after electric rice cooker came cooking rice literally became a child's play. All you have to do is rinse the rice, along with some water pour it in the cooker. Put your index finger to see if the water level is at the first line of your finger above the level of the rice. Close the cooker. Pull the light down to 'cook' and go to sleep till mother comes home to prepare the curry. Of course some can't even do that much.

Besides the art and history of cooking rice there also seems to be solid science involved in it, which is gradually surfacing in the form of a disease. The deadly disease is called diabetes. It's sugary but not at all a sweet disease it mess with. We understand that it is to do with excessive sugar in our blood that our pancreas can't handle. But how did this happen?

Bhutan didn't have this disease before, perhaps there were some cases that we were ignorant about but now it has become so common. Well, the answer could be in the rice cooker. A research in Singapore ( Story published in Strait Times) has shown that a plate of rice is as bad as two cans of sweetened soft drink. Ask yourself how many plates you eat in a day.

We Bhutanese always ate rice, so before you ask me why I blamed rice cooker here let me tell you that before rice cooker we boiled rice till it gave away whatever it contained and drained out the soup. Remember the history lesson. So the rice we were eating didn't contain all the sugar it came with but now we are taking in every bit of sugar it contains because there is no draining out of soup.

We started using rice cookers in 90s and in the last two decades we must have forgotten how to cook rice without rice cooker but we have produced enough diabetic parents to relearn the art of cooking rice the old way.

Courtesy: Strait Times, Singapore 

Love in Bangkok

If you have been to Bangkok you would understand how wonderful you feel as a Bhutanese in that city. The moment Thais know you are a Bhutanese they shout in excitement, "O' you from Butan? Your king Jigme very handsome. He come here. I love your king Jigme". And every shop in Bangkok seems to love our king, and by the grace of His Majesty Bhutanese are welcomed with open arms. You can literally feel Love in Bangkok.

I was given 50% discount at a barber shop because I showed her my graduation photo with his majesty and an angry cab lady suddenly became very polite after she knew we were Bhutanese. Of all the friendly nations Thailand seems to treat Bhutan like a celebrity.

Now things will be different. The moment they see our passport in the airport they will look at us with suspicion. The Bhutanese passport that once brought us friendly smile will now make us look like potential smuggler. All because of the Bhutanese woman who was arrested at the Suvarnabhumi international airport with 4.9kg of ketamine in her luggage. I just hope that the news didn't go viral in Thailand, but given the amount of drug it must have been the hottest news, burning the trust Thais have on Bhutanese.

Pic from: MCOT Public Company Limited

Similar bad publicity was brought home by a young man from Singapore sometime ago. The man was not only living there illegally but caught for numerous theft cases. For a small nation one person is too many. Therefore, Bhutanese travelling, living, studying or working anywhere in the world must uphold the Bhutanese values show the world who we truly are.

I am very proud, on the other hand, that my friend Karma Yonten the founder of Greener Way is flying to London to receive the prestigious Global Environment Entrepreneur of the Year award from Prince Charles. Thank you Karma for taking our country's name to the world stage. May you inspire generations of our youth.

Life Changing Show: Aamir Khan's Satyamev Jayate

My Singaporean friends were surprised at my fluent Hindi, I surprised them most when I told them that majority of urban dwellers could speak better than me. Who wouldn't doubt we were immigrants from India but I explained that our homes were invaded by Indian TV Soaps, and even before we had TV the only cinema we knew was Bollywood.
Indian shows on TV are part of our lives and our choice of show defines our lives, and most importantly the lives of our children upon whom we enforce our choices. My cousins grew up watching my aunt's choice of family drama and I am not surprised by how their personalities are driven by those on screen.
Now is the time to switch our channel to something that will change our lives for better, and inspire dreams in our children rather than letting them learn how to fight their mother in-laws. If you were a fan of The Oprah Winfrey Show then you already have the best taste, and perhaps you must have been watching the show I am going to talk about.
Aamir Kham's Show on Star TV has a very difficult name- Satyamev Jayate but it's worth practicing because no one can help telling about the show to friends and family once you watch it. It's telecast at 11 AM (11:30 BST) every Sunday on Star World and Star Plus. The show has the power to change an individual, better a family, transform a culture, improve a system, and uplift a nation.
It makes me cry, it inspires me to be part of change, it motivates me to fight for good, it's the best show India has ever created. And the Magician Aamir Khan add five stars to the show. If Indian shows have entertained us so far, it's now time to get inspired and think of a better world.
Only four episodes have been shown so far (Click on the links to get the whole picture):

1. Daughters Are Precious
2. Break the Silence (About Sexual Abuse of Children)
3. Marriage or Market Place
4. Every Life is Precious ( About Health Care)

Dying to see what Aamir is going to bring up in the Fifth Issue, which will be on Sunday 3rd June at 11 AM (11:30 BST). Every episode ends with a heart breaking song and long after you walk away from the TV, the song echos in our soul. If this show doesn't change us then nothing else can.
If you are using iPhone (Click Here) and iPad (Click Here) you could download the StarPlus App from App Store and Watch the show live.

Thank You and Goodbye SIF

Yesterday a two member team from Singapore International Foundation visited my school to say a formal goodbye after three years of working together. They spent the whole day here auditing the Bhutan WIREd Project they undertook. 

The project identified five schools- Drukgyel HSS, Chhukha HSS, Punakha HSS, Yangchengatsel LSS, and our school Bajo- and trained five teachers from each school in use of Information Technology in teaching. The project donated ICT equipment to set up a collaborative classroom in each school and brought in six teams of trainers to train 25 of us during the project period. The project also walked the extra mile in taking all of us and our principals to Singapore to give us exposure to how schools there use technology in teaching. Each year the brought in a volunteer and left them at our disposal. These three people, Kong Ming, Jermain and Louis, not only survived our culture and discomforts, they also made their places in the hearts of many Bhutanese teachers. Louis came back again to wind up the project and it was then that I realized how deep an impression he has made on me. I felt like a brother returning home.

And now the time has come for them to say goodbye to us and let us walk our own journey. It's no more difficult to walk independently, the project has done its magic on us and I am saying my goodbye happily. In my final words to our Project Manager Ms. Deeksha, "Please say my thanks to SIF for the finding us and making differences in our lives. I am still amazed at the generosity your organization in a faraway country coming all the way to invest so much in our country." Ms. Deeksha smiled and said, SIF's vision is "making friends for a better world", and I couldn't agree less.
It didn't seem to me that SIF is saying their goodbye yet, they may come back with different project anytime soon and I already committed that if they are going to take WIREd project to other schools we are available anytime.
My love and gratitude to SIF and Singapore!

There are 5 Articles on Singapore in my blog, if you wish to read.

Singaporeans Believe in Bhutan

Two weeks ago, when Mr Khaw made a conclusion about Bhutan, I was disheartened. I thought he took away a wonderful friend from us because we count on Singapore when it comes to technological development. I knew his beliefs were his own yet I couldn't deny that those words were spoken in the parliament. I just sat down and wrote a letter to him, fully aware that my words won't make it anywhere near him in this vast universe of information. After over ten regular days, my blog stats suddenly started shooting up like a timer and comments flooded in. At first, it brought me immense joy and satisfaction as a blogger, and my message made it through. When the hits shot over 45,000, I began to worry. What have I done?

I only wanted Mr Khaw to know that we are happy, and far beyond my intention, it has gone viral, disturbing the minds of many Singaporeans. Many turned up to apologize on behalf of their minister, and discussions were heated on many forums. In trying to convince him that we were happy, I landed up making him unhappy; while I don't regret my words, I apologize for the unprecedented noise it made.

Our King and Queen just visited Singapore, and perhaps Singapore must have seen the very reflection of our simple happiness in the humility of our King. Over ninety positive Singaporean comments on my blog convinced me that they believe in Bhutan, that they believe in happiness, and that they are sorry about Mr Khaw being cynical. 

I am not used to so many comments on my blog; therefore, I am sorry I can't reply to each one of you, but I am very thankful that so many of you read my blog and took the time to leave your comments. I wish you happiness.

Thanks, Kuenzang Thinley, for the wonderful Award.

To Mr. Khaw Boon Wan, What did you expect?

(This is in reply to National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan of Singapore on his comments made on our country )

Dear Mr. Khaw,

I was not surprised when you said Bhutan is not the last Shangri-la on Earth, because I had a friend from your country who found Bhutan only "full of mountains and valleys". When you visited Bhutan, what did you expect? Those flying mountains you saw in Avatar? or Every Bhutanese merrily dancing in designer clothes? Well, you must have at least expected fancier cars and taller buildings but we only have taller mountains (not flying ones) and thicker forest (truly natural).

I am not surprised even when you said "Most of the time, I saw unhappy people, toiling in the field, worried about the next harvest and whether there would be buyers for their products." because I heard a proverb in school that goes, "Two men looked through the prison window, one saw the mud and other saw the horizon". I am only surprised that you have spend "Most of your time" in Bhutan looking in the fields. I am amazed at your ability to figure out whether the people are happy or unhappy just by looking at them- O' you even knew they were "worried about the next harvest". No wonder you country export human resources.

The Man who didn't find happiness in Bhutan. Source:channelnewsasia 

I visited your wonderful country sometime ago, and it felt like a city from the future. The transportation system held me spell bound, Cleanliness of the street is so much that I didn't find a fragment of dust on my shoes after walking for the hours, Every building and car looks new, and there is no question about the civic sense among the people. Four days after I landed in Bhutan I woke up and started sharing the stories of your wonderful country- yes it took me four days of sleeping to shake of the hangover of many sleepless nights in your 24X7 country. I read the amazing history of your country and thought to myself, if Bhutan's to develop, Singapore can be our vision.

But since you questioned the presence of happiness in Bhutan, let me answer by telling you few things that you overlooked when you visited my country. Those people you saw in the fields weren't unhappy, if you have gone closer you would have heard them singing and enjoying the social lives, perhaps you won't understand that. If you have spent a little longer time watching them, you would have seen and a woman with basket on her back and holding arms with several children coming with steaming food- we don't have McDonald or KFC. Then everybody will sit down to eat their lunch, laughing and joking, feeding babies, for over an hour- you wouldn't have had so much time to sit and watch I know, times means money in your country. But we have luxury of time. People don't worry "about the next harvest and whether there would be buyers for their products." In fact, we don't do much commercial farming, we do most of them to keep with the tradition. And when the sun sets, doesn't really matter what time, people leave for their homes where they have a large family waiting. Large family because we don't chase away our children when they become 18 or children cast away their parents when they age.

We don't need Health Insurance to survive, nor have to go for Education Loan for educating our children. We don't hang the drug users, we counsel them to hang on to their lives, we don't have to have a job to survive, and when we fall sick even the furthest cousin comes to attend without having to update Facebook status.

If you reread our history you will find that our wise kings have hidden us from the outside world so that we could remain the way we are today. If we start mining our mountains and lumbering our forests, we can become Singapore but no matter what you do you can never become Bhutan. It is far too difficult. We shall be the last breath of oxygen on earth.

Bhutan may not be the Last Shangri-la but we are happy.