Marching through March

While blogging keeps me happy, life keeps me away from blogging. I met the bad luck at the gate of new year and he is still bothering me. My junior high school mate Tashi Phuntsho shook my hand hard and made strong promises. I didn't know he had changed so much until he ran away with my money. He has got guts even police couldn't break. Arrest warrant awaits him and he is still breathing dusty air across the border with his Indian mates. I have given details of his every move with his photograph to police, and yet I am made to wait forever. Police vigilance and intelligence ran far short of my expectation.

My school, the place that has become a part of me, saw series of hard times these few years. There was flooding, followed by drowning of a beloved student, then a theft case, then the bus accident which took a dear friend and injured three, and finally the fire that made us start from the scratch. Thanks to many donors, our school is coming back in shape. My principal is coming in with lots of new equipments. and thank god, the toilet has survived the fire, under the ruins- we didn't have plan "B" for that!

Mortality of physical assert shocked us the most, and our madam Secretary advised us to computerize every school data, which was what I was working on all through the month. I have prepared a very comprehensive school database, which I am think of publishing online in our school website- no flood and fire could ever destroy it.

But my personal problem still remains. As long as Tashi is free, I am not!

Hitting Century on my blog amidst Crisis!

While I am the last person to believe 2012 story, these few months of crisis all over the world is forcing me to change my mind. From stubborn Mubarak in Egypt to brutal Gaddafi in Libya, now  almost across whole Arab world, history is changing forever. While we were busy watching the tsunami of people across the streets, Japan is hit by what seemed like an imitation from the movie Day after Tomorrow. 

Hitting 100!

As far as we know there is no country in the world more prepared for earthquake than Japan but Tsunami took it by surprise. And as if it wan't enough, the disaster is immortalized by the involvement of nuclear power crisis in Fukushima Daiichi. Japan may have to live the World War II ordeal one more time. My sincere prayers for Japan for whatever it take stand tall again.

Amidst all these crisis across the globe, which keeps me awake late into the night I selfishly rejoice the success of my blog- if I can call it so, for gathering 100 followers today. PaSsu Diary has given me the inspiration to write and friends to inspire. While I expect recognition for whatever I sweat in,- from working months on building school webpage to stretching midnight hours to set up school database- my blog where I least expected gave me the maximum satisfaction. It only teaches me to do the things that I love, or love the things I do.

On this occasion I want to thank all my readers from across the world who gave me 36,740 hits so far for letting me enjoy writing and take pride in it. Following are the top ten countries in which my blog was read. I am surprised Singapore which was in top 5 earlier is now knocked off!

1. Bhutan 50.1%
2. United States 22.0%
3. India 6.6%
4. Australia 4.0%
5. Thailand 3.6%
6. Netherlands 3.4%
7. Germany 2.7%
8. United Kingdom 2.6%
9. Russia 2.5%
10. Canada 2.4 %

P:S: Thank you Madam Secretary for reading, loving and praising my blog. I couldn't help flying when DEOs and principal gave me your regards. It means a lot to me- and to them!

Amend the Tobacco Act (not repeal)

I don't smoke but I am still concerned. Tobacco Act does not go well with our country's image. And most importantly it doesn't represent the will of people, which it should have. Everybody is talking about it now and many are swearing on the government. But I wonder who is more concern about Bhutan than our Prime Minister. He sounded upset about the Facebook group and many comments people made, and he has the right to be. What he wants is not silence but the right approach. He wants people to talk to their representatives. While it is possible to do that, it could be difficult to reach them. 


Here is a easier way out! Sign the online Petition: Repeal the Tobacco Act. Read the letter, and if you agree then give your name and email address and click on sign. Comment is not necessary but if you have something to say make it formal and decent since it is going to be submitted to the government. This is the right and peaceful way and there is nothing to worry about.

Form will look like this! I have signed, You?

My Daughter got her ears pierced!

The New Year wasn’t good to me and I am sick of facing hard times. If I had to blog about everything that has happened to me in the last two months I would have infected my blog with bad luck, and you guys would consider me a depressed man rather than an ordinary Bhutanese. Therefore, I avoided writing about all those things and looked deep inside myself to find out something good to write about.

The constant source of happiness and at times anxiety was my daughter. Despite all the pressure we undergo as parents we can’t deny the fact that she is our daily dose of stress reliever and pain killer- and of course anti-sleeping pill. And it gives me great joy to share with you all that I got my daughter’s ears pierced. She looks more beautiful with her tops.

Look at her ears

It was done weeks ago in Druk Optical, Thimphu. Her mother was so excited to have it done despite by reluctance. But honestly I wanted it done too if only I was not scared. At the studio, the lady showed no sign of hesitation when she marked the position with a pen. Then came the piercing gun loaded with the earring we selected. The first one was done in a click and my babe cried. When they went for the second ear she was so irritated that she caught the lady by her sleeve and shook her- the adult was surprised and blushed. In another click it was done. While my babe kept crying a friend of her age appeared from behind the counter and hugged her- it helped. It was the lady’s daughter. I am amazed at the value added service!

We were worried about having a bad night but thanks to the superior quality of the earring, we have no complains at all. We were told that the earring can be changed anytime after a month. And I must tell all the new parents that it is completely safe and result is amazing!

Remains of Bajo

Bajo school will start afresh from now on with all its history gone with the fire. Tomorrow we will look for a room, fine a chair to sit and start a new school. No record what so ever of any student or teacher kept with the school exist anymore. We will write down the names of the students, ask their class, their house and ..and well lets see... for now we have covered the rubbles and made it look like nothing has ever happened.

Beginning at the end.

Keys to all the doors and cupboards are baked and I hope we don't have to break every door tomorrow. I have collected some keys and hopefully they will open up some doors.

A victory trophy and some keys- all but baked

Where do we start? Bajo School Fire aftermath...

Just when we are all set to start, we lost everything! We don't even have a list of students to restart with. All school documents from the time school started went down to ashes. How do we start? where to start from?

Which Gang should I register my Son with?

On New Year’s Day my son got robbed in Jaigon amidst the crowd. His beloved mobile phone and some cash were snatched away by a group of Indian Nepali boys. The first question they asked him was, “Are you a member of MB Boys?” MB boys, I heard, is a gang in Phuntsholing with over hundred members. They are in permanent state of war with the Indian boys ever since the murder of an Indian boy in Bhutanese soil. And today, despite strong indo-Bhutan friendship, no Bhutanese youth can walk safely across the border, unless in groups or with elders.

For once I wished my boy was with that gang; they would have given him protection and he wouldn’t have to undergo the traumatic experience. But that’s soon forgotten as we packed our bags and headed home.

But that was just the tip of an ice berg of what is happening in our towns.  Wangdue is now seeing strange faces and deadly group names, which only mean gangs are growing here at home too. I heard of some gang leaders from Thimphu visiting Wangdue to register members; they seem to have registration form, fee, interview, and other formalities in place. And as a concerned father I am seriously wondering which gang I should register my son with, because I don’t want my son to be a victim of all the gangs. He may need protection even as he walks to school. He has already seen the weakness of being a good boy.

Shadow of the Smoke

I was driving back to Wangdue, and I was alone. I was in a rush to cross Dochula pass before it gets dark. But the forest fire above Changjiji football ground made me stop for a while. I have never seen a forest fire from such close range; with the Wang chhu between me and the fire, I could feel the heat wave. There were hundreds of people from my side of the river bank and there were hundreds on the fire side but only the policemen, and some people in fire fighter's suit were battling the fire. 

Kuensel Image-probably taken from my side of the river.

The smoke from the fire rose high and its shadow fell over me and soon over Thimphu but as if it wasn't our problem we just looked on. For a moment, I wished I wasn't going to Wangdue. The fire soon destroyed a hut on its way across the hill despite the effort of three fire engines. And because fire engines couldn't climb the hill, fire soon escaped their range and ran up the hill. When I was watching, the fire was still climbing the small hill and if hundred men ran up the hill the fire could have been controlled. But one man was in rush to reach Wangdue and others had their own excuses. Men engaged in fighting the fire were greatly out numbered by men watching the fire show. 


The shadow of the smoke soon fell on Changjiji football ground and I was utterly shocked to see 22 strong men running after a ball and not at all bothered by the fire which was burning just above them. It wouldn't have made a difference even if they had stopped their game for a while but it sure showed what substance they were made of. I don't know who won the game or who scored the winning goal but our country lost 250 acres of forest before they finished their match. 


How easy it is, to sit and watch, or just go on playing a football match when it is just the shadow of the smoke that falls upon us!

Getting Bhutan schools W.I.R.ED by Eisen Teo

From:http://www.asiaone.com/News/Education/Story/A1Story20100315-204656.html


MOST teachers in the landlocked Himalayan nation of Bhutan are computer-illiterate. Internet connections there are patchy at best, and only one in 10 students has a personal computer at home.

But a group of Bhutanese educators is determined to pull the country into the Internet age.

Ten teachers and five principals from five schools in Bhutan were in Singapore last month to tour the National Institute of Education and School of Science and Technology campuses, to learn how to use information technology (IT) in the classroom.

The five-day programme, from Feb 1 to 5, capped nine years of collaboration between the Singapore International Foundation (SIF) and Bhutan's Ministry of Education and the Royal University of Bhutan. Previously, SIF had organised about 30 volunteer trips to Bhutan, teaching IT and planning IT curricula at seven educational institutions.

The mountainous kingdom, bordered by India and China, lifted a ban on the Internet and television in 1999.

The latest phase of the collaboration, dubbed Bhutan W.I.R.ED (Weaving Infotech Resources with Education), hopes to take IT to a higher level: training teachers from the five partner schools so they can, in turn, train other teachers and students. SIF's goal for the country is 'sustainable development', said Ms Tam Peck Hoon, manager for international volunteerism.

Mr Passang Tshering, 26, embodies that value. He was one of the students in the pioneer batch who took an IT course planned by SIF volunteers eight years ago. Today, he is one of three teachers out of 28 at Bajothang Higher Secondary School, in central Bhutan, who are adept at IT. The school has 502 students, aged 13 to 20.

The father of one has his own blog, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter accounts. He set up a website for the school last year.

In Singapore last month, he was impressed by the school tours. 'We got a lot of ideas, such as giving out homework on Google Docs, and having class blogs.' He planned to share these ideas with his colleagues and students.

Ms Loh Kwai Yin, the head of department of information and communication technology at the School of Science and Technology, is pleased with the progress made by the Bhutanese.

She volunteered to plan IT curricula in Bhutan from July 2005 to June 2006. Compared with four years ago, many schools there now have Internet access and projectors to experiment with using IT to conduct classes, she said.

Mr Tshering's school is one of them. It has 10 second-hand laptops donated by SIF, wireless Internet access, and a projector. He has bigger dreams for his country. He wants IT to become part of the official school curriculum and hopes all schools can be connected to one another through the Internet. The aim is that a wired Bhutan will help make life easier for its people.

He said: 'People would rush to the capital to apply for jobs or file their taxes. Now they can do it online.'

SIF sent a Singaporean volunteer - teacher Germaine Cheong, 32 - to Bhutan on Feb 24 to work with the five partner schools until the end of the year.

Six workshops helmed by Singaporeans are also planned up to the end of next year to help the Bhutanese educators keep up with technological changes.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.

A SEASON OF FIRSTS « Singapore

A SEASON OF FIRSTS « Singapore by SHERALYN TAY

This apprehension, thankfully, did not last, as Passu started a month-long introduction to information technology (IT) in school that very year as part of his Grade 9 curriculum. From then on, IT was to open vistas for the 26-year-old in both his professional and personal life.

As an IT teacher at Bajothang High School, Passu is among a pioneering batch of educators who have undergone a three-year IT enabling programme started by the Singapore International Foundation (SIF). “I was lucky to be in the first batch to be trained in 2004,” he said. “It was a three-year training course divided into five (six-month long) phases that included basic training and application in education.”

Passu’s visit to Singapore from 1 to 5 February this year was part of the Bhutan W.I.R.ED (“Weaving Infotech Resources in Education”) project, cofunded by the Temasek Foundation and the SIF. This three-year collaboration with Bhutan’s Ministry of Education and the Royal University of Bhutan aims to help develop the capacity of Bhutan’s educational system in employing IT for learning and living in the 21st century.

“We don’t need to rely on textbooks and chalkboards; IT has changed how we teach.”

Passu told Singapore that he felt “fortunate” to start his IT exposure early and to have been able to further his proficiency when he trained to be an IT teacher. It’s the new wave, he said, and an essential way for Bhutan to progress. “We don’t need to rely on textbooks and chalkboards; IT has changed how we teach,” he explained. “With IT, it is more interactive. We can show instead of just tell. We can entertain as we educate, and students are more excited about learning.”

This appetite for learning is not limited to his students. Passu himself is on a dedicated and continued journey to grow his IT expertise. His five-day learning visit to Singapore was very useful, he said, as he learnt about new applications for IT in education, such as SharePoint, Google documents and Googlesites. He has also expanded his horizons in other ways. “It’s my first time flying by airplane, coming to Singapore, seeing tall buildings, and riding on the MRT!” he said with a grin.

His Singapore experience has inspired him, he said. “The Singapore education system, school and country as a whole seem to us like something from the future. On top of education and infocomm and technology training, we were overwhelmed by the transportation system, cleanliness, civic sense of the people, and the food. We even observed how we would walk down many streets and come back indoors and find not a fragment of dust. If Bhutan has to develop, Singapore could be our vision!”