Radio/Tape Recorder Licence - 1984

My brother Tenze Choda handed me an old yellowed booklet titled "Radio/Tape Recorder Licence" that he found in an old trunk at home. Knowing my interest in old stuff, he has kept it aside for me. 

The booklet grabbed my attention at once. I heard about the need for a licence to own a radio and listen to it back in the days but this is the first time I am seeing one for myself. It was issued in my late father's name on 27th Feb, 1984. 

It was never renewed. Eight pages kept for renewal were left blank. It's because he passed away in the same year. They said I could barely crawl when my father's body was brought to the village. He was killed in a public service truck accident near Katsho bridge. He was in his 20s.

This document is fascinating in so many way; I am looking at it and wondering how my father would have felt when we brought home a radio and the licence to listen to it. Did he place the radio on the window and let the whole village hear it? I can only imagine how much it would have meant to him and my mother.

On seeing the document, my mother remembered wrapping her radio in a piece of cloth and hiding it in a grain box when she saw a few policemen coming to our village. This seems to suggest that my parents had a radio even before they got the licence.

Almost four decades later I am holding the same document in my hand and feeling nostalgic. Just like my father who is long gone, the relevance of the document, which was once a serious matter, is gone too. It's now a piece of history almost forgotten that reflects the life in those days.

Following are some interesting clauses from the document; 

1. No Radio set or a tape recorder shall be maintained and used in Bhutan except on the basis of a valid licence issued by the civil authority 

2. The licence shall be valid for the calendar year of issue only and is renewable every year on the payment of the prescribed fee.

3. a) b) Radio and tape recorder for domestic use: Nu.15/-

c) For each tape recorder or radio set used in shops, restaurants and similar places of trade or business with a view to attract or entertain customers: Nu.30/-

10. The person in possession of a radio or tape recorder without a valid licence issued by the civil authority is punishable with a fine of Nu.10/-

Nu. 15 was a big amount of money back then yet people paid it to acquire the right to listen to a radio. Looking back at it now, it seems so ridiculous and oppressive. But I am sure one day we will look back and feel the same about driving license. 

This small document from 1984 reminds us of how far we have come and how lucky we are now than ever before. 

Translation of His Majesty's Address to the Nation on the 114th National Day

On the auspicious occasion of our National Day, I offer my deep prayers to Guru Rinpoche, humble reverence to Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, and profound gratitude to His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo. I extend my heartfelt Tashi Delek to the people of the 20 Dzongkhags and Bhutanese living abroad. 

Despite the threats from the Covid-19 pandemic, we have continued to successfully pursue our national goals. This is due to the blessings of the Triple Gem, the good fortune of our leaders, the merit of our forefathers, and the unified efforts of our people.

The Royal Government has successfully vaccinated the vast majority of our people. This was possible through the generous assistance of many countries like India, United States of America, China, Denmark, Bulgaria, Croatia and other partners like the COVAX Initiative. The quality and efficacy of vaccines such as Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Covishield, and Sinopharm have been impressive. The people of Bhutan deeply appreciate the assistance provided to us during these difficult times.

Today, our Nation stands secure and peaceful. Yet, the foremost question in our people’s minds is when the pandemic will end. While it is difficult to provide a definitive answer, the most important task ahead is for us to remain fully prepared and vigilant. 

We need to strengthen our efforts to fight the pandemic. Led by our Prime Minister, our ministers and senior government officials have been serving to the best of their abilities. Our civil servants, members of the armed forces, De-suups and other volunteers have served with dedication. Our people have also stepped forward to serve despite their own difficulties. Members of our monastic community have performed prayers and rituals to avert the dangers posed by the pandemic. As a nation, we can be proud of the manner in which we have demonstrated exceptional resilience.

As we grapple with the challenges posed by the pandemic, we must not lose sight of the many important national tasks ahead of us. Preparing our people for the future is one such immediate task. 

Our journey ahead will be fraught with challenges. Within our lifetime, the global population will increase exponentially to nine or ten billion. This will be compounded by recurring pandemics and the impact of climate change. Unequal access to knowledge and technology will create greater disparities in education, opportunities and wealth. Conflicts among powerful nations may be unavoidable. 

Blockchain, Fintech, Quantum Computing, Artificial Reality, Virtual Reality, Metaverse, Robotics, Machine Learning and Web 3.0 are just some of the rapid and sweeping changes brought about by technological advancements that we are beginning to see. Breakthroughs in nanotech, biotech and genomics will transform the future. What deeply concerns me is whether our people will be in a position to take advantage of these opportunities. Or if we will be left behind due to our inability to adapt.  

For example, hydropower today is an important source of our wealth. With rapid advancements in harnessing nuclear, hydrogen, fusion, solar, thermal and wind energy, hydropower may soon lose its competitive edge. We may soon become a net energy importer.  

Therefore, it is imperative to seize the opportunity and enhance the capabilities of our people, and strengthen the economic and governance framework to harness the potential ushered in by these rapid and dynamic technological changes.

While the school system plays an important role in nurturing our citizens, we cannot rely on this alone. We must not lose sight of the large number of people who are not in schools and educational institutes. Many have completed high school and are still in villages and towns working on farms or in small businesses. There are also those who have jobs in the formal economy. We must realize that knowledge and skills, if not renewed, will soon become obsolete. We must inculcate in us a culture of life-long learning.

As Bhutanese, we will embark on our journey together, regardless of socio-economic status and our educational qualifications. We need to be prepared for the future so that every one of us is equipped with the skills, competencies and experience to succeed and compete in the world. We must give utmost priority to skill, up-skill, and re-skill our people to make them world-ready. 

I would like to share a conversation that I had with an elderly lady in a remote village. I asked her about some of the important developmental needs of the people in the village. She said that infrastructure like roads and bridges, electricity, drinking water, irrigation, mobile connectivity, schools and hospitals, land, proximity to urban areas and access to shops remained important. 

I probed further about her personal difficulties and concerns and asked her how we could alleviate them. After some hesitation, she reluctantly shared that she had come to the painful realisation that money was most important to ensure a comfortable life. She reasoned that money is important to pay for expenses associated with travel, accommodation, children’s education, essential food items, wage payment for farm help, and repayment of loans taken to renovate or build homes. Cash income has also become more important due to the decline of traditional and customary institutions and practices of self-help and community cooperation.  

Her observations were very pertinent. We have all seen and experienced how difficult it has become to own decent homes, secure meaningful employment and have steady sources of income. On the other hand, expenditure keeps rising and makes our people’s livelihood difficult.

We need to resolve these issues as soon as we can, before it tears our nation apart. Providing Kidu will remain important. That said, depending solely on the government to alleviate people’s difficulties is not sustainable as the government does not have infinite resources. We will never become self-reliant, if we were to continue to depend on the government for everything.   

As our youth mature and become adults, they have to shoulder greater responsibilities. They will need to take care of their parents, work, and build assets to secure their future. When they do not find opportunities at home to realize their aspirations, they will head abroad inevitably. If we are unable to create better economic opportunities for our people at home within a decade or two, there will be a scarcity of young people in Bhutan. 

Creating greater economic prosperity for our people and the nation remains an important national goal. If our country prospers, the people will enjoy the benefits as they become more confident and self-reliant, and develop a greater sense of belonging to our country. Should we fail, our people will suffer.

When we talk of prosperity and wealth, it is important to distinguish between transient and enduring prosperity, so that we are clear about our national aspirations. For example, it is possible to become wealthy through gambling, rent-seeking, and other unethical means. A country can also become prosperous if it looks only at short-term gain at the expense of long-term national interest. We should never go down this path of acquiring transient wealth and prosperity.    

Instead, we should focus on creating prosperity for our people and nation in a sustainable manner. A prosperity that is underpinned by good governance, smart policies and strategies, driven by innovation, creativity and enterprise, supported by a culture of hard work and determination. We can also derive enduring prosperity by better understanding and utilising our sovereign prerogatives. We can achieve generational prosperity by supporting our people as they develop their capabilities and realize their potential. We must reinvigorate the efforts made by successive governments on these fronts.

We need to strengthen our foundation by improving the educational standards, craft policies to diversify economic opportunities for our youth, and support private sector growth. The role of the civil servants is critical for this endeavour. Therefore, efforts are underway to reform the civil service.   

I am grateful for the tremendous support and confidence we have got in undertaking these reforms. While working with the civil servants, I have been impressed by their qualifications, competence, and commitment to serve our people. As we work with the best of our civil servants and with foreign experts and professionals, we are learning new ideas every day and formulating fresh, clear, and bold strategies for our future.

Despite this, I have serious concerns whether we have the will to fundamentally address some of the challenges that I’ve highlighted earlier. Several efforts have been made in the past to reform and improve our governance. However, we have yet to see tangible, meaningful improvements. 

Foreign experts and professionals have commented that our rules, regulations, laws and institutional procedures are among the best in the world. Yet we are not able to reap the benefits. Where have we gone wrong? Could it be due to our misplaced compassion by not holding people accountable, not removing incompetent people but instead tolerating and even rewarding underperformers?   

We know our country best. We are a compassionate and close-knit society. We hesitate from giving our honest views or taking bold actions, which might risk offending or displeasing others. As a result, the strength of our national character, exemplified by courage and determination of our forefathers, has weakened; complacency has set in, discipline has waned, and corruption is on the rise. This has unfortunately given rise to a popular perception that two laws coexist in the same country. If we allow such practices to proliferate, we will become more vulnerable to even greater risks and dangers.

All of us are aware that we are a tiny, land-locked and developing country with a small population and limited resources. As the world around us changes rapidly and the future becomes more uncertain, we are becoming more vulnerable. 

What we need now, more than ever, is a corresponding degree of resolve and determination for our national interest. The strength of our national character, courage, grit, and fortitude must define every aspect of our national endeavour. I have witnessed the boldness, rigour, resolve and sternness that had defined the reign of His Majesty the Fourth King. Unfortunately, these qualities have deteriorated over the last fifteen years of my reign.   

From now on, all of us must boldly embrace accountability as a measure of our service, should we falter, deviate, and err in the service of our country. As King, I must first and foremost exemplify the ideal of accountability. I do not say these to trigger any alarm or anxiety. We are not too late in getting our priorities right, re-focusing our national goals, and re-aligning our national priorities and strategies. If the King, government and the people continue to work hand-in-hand with dedication, perseverance and fortitude, we still have every opportunity to further strengthen our country and achieve greater prosperity for our people.

As underpinned in our age-old saying, “the golden yoke of secular laws,” accountability must henceforth become the cornerstone of governance. We must correct those who deviate, be firm with those who do not deliver, replace those who are incompetent and terminate those who underperform and have therefore become a liability to our system and nation. We must not hesitate to expose those who engage in corrupt practices so that we send a strong signal to deter others from doing so. 

There is nothing new in what I am sharing today. These are part of daily conversation among our people while expressing their concerns, hopes and aspirations. Rather than leave these concerns and sentiments within the confines of their homes, I re-articulate them today as the King’s Command on this National Day.

King’s Dzongkha: the Beauty of our Language

His Majesty the King's address to the nation on the National Day is the single most important speech in the country and the most awaited moment of the year. It's the annual Royal Address to the nation that leads the nation to reflect deeply on our values and priorities as a nation and inspires the masses to take bold steps into new frontiers. It is in this moment the King talks straight to the heart of every Bhutanese across the world to remind us of who we are.

Over the years, we began to seek more in His Majesty's speech. We seek satisfaction from listening to one of the greatest orators of our time. We appreciate the art of public speaking. We marvel at the fluency and the gaps. We admire the power and clarity. 

In those goosebump moments, we savour the true beauty of our Dzongkha language that we are not quite used to. The complexity associated with good Dzongkha is a myth. In the Dzongkha that the King speaks, there is hardly any bombastic word. In King's Dzongkha, we see the elegance in common words, the versatility of simple terms and undeniable dignity. 

If the Dzongkha can be as elegant yet as expressive and simple as the King speaks it, then the generation of Bhutanese who are more into English may embrace Dzongkha. The People who are entrusted with promoting Dzongkha must work hard in simplifying it rather than alienating it from the ordinary people.

Over the years, I have noticed that our language is growing richer by a few words or phrases after every Royal Address. Most of the time, the words are not completely new; rather they are given a new meaning or used in a new context altogether.

This year, during the 114th National Day Address, that word is ངར (Ngar). Like I said, it's not a new word; Ngar means temper in Metallurgy. But for it to be used to define the strength of national character in terms of boldness, rigour, resolve and sternness are metaphorically new and profound. Temper (ངར) defines the degree of hardness and elasticity in a metal; if it's hard, it becomes brittle and breaks off. On the other hand, if it's elastic, it will bend. That perfect balance between the two defines Ngar. And quite poetically, that balance is achieved through heat treatment.

Why is the place called Hati-Dunga?

You may have heard a certain place in lower Motithang being referred to as Hati-Dunga (The Elephant Rock) but have you seen it? 

I thought it was just named after a random rock that looked like an elephant 🐘 but it's not. It's named after a more prominent rock and a space around it. It doesn't look so much like an elephant if not for the colour and the eyes drawn over it but it's regarded as a place of worship by the Hindus. It may be associated with Lord Ganesh. 

The place is surprisingly so welcoming. It is developed and managed so well within a campus wall with a gate that's protected with a lock. There is a tiled footpath inside the gate to circumambulate the sacred rock. There seems to be a pujari who makes an offering every day looking at how everything is in order. 

I think the place is already quite popular among the local Hindu devotees, and I believe it can be a hotspot for Indian tourists. 

BONUS: A Little further from the sacred rock there is a magnificent blue house that's so characteristic of Southern Bhutan. But I have never seen such a massive and elegant Lhotshampa style house across the entire southern belt, let alone Thimphu. It is a Hati among the southern Bhutanese houses and for it to be next to the Hati Dunga doesn't seem like a coincidence. How are they connected? 

How to get Blessed at Dechenphug?

Everyone comes to Dechenphug to seek blessing and divine guidance from the mighty Ap Gayney. From ancient times, Bhutanese have been going to him in times of need. There are too many of us. Too many prayers. Too many expectations. Each one is more desperate, more urgent, and more earnest than the other. 

The poor deity there must be overwhelmed. His ears must be ringing with a million prayers, mostly selfish ones. He must be the most confused-deity in the country; Two persons competing for one job slot are both visiting him and seeking his help, whom should he favour? If it was based on merits then why go to him? 

In this mysterious scheme of seeking the attention of the divine one at Dechenphug, I suggest you approach things slightly differently. Make it easy for him to notice you in the maddening crowd; Just help Azha Lhagay, the cleaner, sweep the huge courtyard and the long winding footpath from the parking to the temple. Help him clean the toilet that's hidden behind the lam's residence. Help him uproot weeds from between the stone slabs, this has been bothering him every season. I gave him an idea to pour either bleaching power or used-engine oil between the slabs to prevent weeds from flourishing. 

For a tiny man in his 70s, Azha Lhagay is too thinly spread at Dechenphug. He needs help. Who knows the cleaner may be the divine one. He may have taken the form of the pitiable one just to see if you are kind enough to deserve the blessings you came to seek.

Take toilet paper rolls and soap instead of dalda and incense sticks. Don't do what thousands are already doing. Being the most visited temple, there is Dalda overdose. Do something different to be noticed. 

Thousands come there, but only a few return with blessings. If you want to be among the blessed ones, help do some necessary chores for Ap Gayney. Excite the divine one, impress him and seek his favour. 

Ap Lhagay is the lone cleaner at the temple. He is a grateful person who got this job as a Royal Kidu. He says he can't even offer a spoonful of butter as an offering to Ap #Gayney but he serves by cleaning the home of the divine with all his heart. He says, he would be so grateful if some young visitors could help him with his chores at times. 

Humans of Thimphu

I am capturing this post from Humans of Thimphu page to archive it on my blog and express gratitude. I wish to thank the team of young people behind the project, not just for featuring me but for all the positive stories you have written so far. It’s incredible how a difference in perspective can change everything. Their deliberate effort to find stories of kindness, compassion, courage, devotion, inspiration, dedication... and share on social media that is suffocating with all sorts of negativity reminds me of the story of the Hummingbird. 

 

The only other Bhutanese platform on which we see similar expressions of positivity is Ap Pokto, which is deceivingly serious in its commitment to find and tell stories of positivity and go out of its way to help people who are in need. 

Sometimes, some people raise their brows and ask how a particular person is chosen as a silent hero or an inspiring figure by Ap Pokto or Humans of Thimphu when that person doesn’t deserve to be honoured that way. Well, that’s where we must realise that there is goodness in everyone, but only a few of us can unconditionally see through all the flaws and spot the diamond among the coal. Not all of us are kind, loving, and unjudging enough to tell a good story about a random person. Therefore, the two platforms deserve to be celebrated. 

Thank you Humans of Thimphu for choosing to feature my story on World Toilet Day, a cause that's close to my heart. When you wrote a positive story, it's less about the subject and more about you. Thank you for being kind. 

Tsirang Damphu Swimming Pool

I thought I was ridiculous when Tsirang made news about opening a swimming pool in Damphu to attract tourists. What? Who would want to go all the way to Tsirang for swimming? Which tourists are they talking about?

It only made sense to me when I visited the town myself. My daughter had only one thing on her mind when she reached Tsirang; to visit the swimming pool. October in Tsirang is still warm enough for swimming in cold water- can now count the months the pool is going to serve people. 

There were dozens of local children in the pool, thoroughly excited. Many of them can swim so well, unlike me and my daughter, who never had so much opportunity to learn the art. As a landlocked country with limited access to water bodies, swimming is an art that only a few Bhutanese have mastered.

Therefore, it was big news when Sangay Tenzin made it to Olympics in swimming from Bhutan where the only public pool in Thimphu is not even operational for the last two years. Looking back, we could applaud the school pool in Ugyen Academy for nurturing the swimming dream that ultimately took him to Japan 2020.

Some day, we may hear of a swimmer who began in Damphu pool go on to win an Olympic medal for our country or bravely jump in the river to save someone from drowning. It's not just a perfect getaway for the locals in this warm Dzongkhag, it's a national asset.

As of now, It's one of the only two public pools in the country and the only one that is operational. I happily added it on Google Maps.

Learning to Cook in School

There is a growing pressure on the education system to prepare children for future jobs that don't even exist today. It's a race between our preparation for the future and the changing landscape of future jobs. The bitter reality is that we can never win this race. Our milestones are often outdated by the time we have achieved them. Are we even in this race? Is it worth it? That's not a great education system. It's a pressure cooker.

The Little MasterChefs

A great education system is one that prepares children for a good life. They should be taught to learn on their own, use kindness as a tool to achieve happiness, and be able to convert stuff in the kitchen to food and feed themselves.

The Chef and Her Happy Father

Let's not even talk about the worst kind of education system where everything revolves around tests, exams and marks. This is where a child is only as heavy as the marks he fetches in the test and exams. Even the school is judged on the exam results of the children. So even the principals are sucking up to the marks-politics as much as the students are.

What My Daughter Served

The above thought played in my head since experiencing a beautiful culture in my daughter's school, Thimphu Pry School. I was invited on the final day of her cooking class to taste the food she prepared. I loved both the food and the fact that her school considered it important to teach her cooking. After a decade in school if our children can't even prepare a cup of tea, what a shame would it be?

Emptying the Plate

Annually, her school playground turns into an open restaurant where the class VI students prepare and serve their parents the foods they have learned to prepare over the last several Saturdays.

For us, it's an emotional moment to watch our little ones walk across the ground with a trayful of food for us. One could see their pride reflected in the eyes of their parents.

Honestly, I didn't expect the food to be good. I was just happy that my 11-year-old daughter managed to prepare a trayful without burning anything. But the MasterChef junior getup wasn't for nothing, it showed both in the beautiful presentation and the great taste.

Their principal shared how some of their past students had surprised their parents with bedtea and helping hands in the kitchen after their cooking classes. I'm looking forward to such surprises but even if it didn't happen I will be as grateful to her school for adding a beautiful dimension to their school experience and giving them the most basic skill to survive as humankind. 

Why Bhutanese Students Admire Hitler? -A Letter From Germany

In March 2019, my German friend, Annalena Lohaus wrote the following letter to our education minister, Lyonpo Jai Bir Rai. Since it was written to none other than the man at the helm of the education ministry, I didn't think I needed to write this blog. But it's almost three years, and there is no sign of the letter having made any impact whatsoever, so I am obliged to share this letter and let the people whom Lyonpo forwarded the letter know how significant it is. 

Anna- The Letter Writer

Anna told me how she was taken aback by several Bhutanese friends holding high regard for Hitler and Nazis. Of course, if she was not from Germany, the conversations wouldn't have happened. I helped her understand the mystery by pointing at the class VIII world history textbook. She didn't believe me. I had to get a tattered copy of the textbook that was published before I was even born and gave it over to her. 

Several days later, she wrote back to me expressing how disgusted she was about the content of the book where not only was Hitler celebrated but also Stalin and Mosulini. She couldn't believe that students were given tasks to collect the picture of Hitler and write notes about him. You will feel the significance of portraying Hitler in such a light in the letter below, which comes from a young German lady who carries the great burden of her history to this day;

Dear Minister Jai Bir Rai,

Thank you very much for the opportunity to address you directly. I am writing to you today to speak about an issue I've encountered several times in Bhutan as a German citizen. While Bhutan is a wonderfully welcoming country and the people I've met have been very warm and curious I was confronted multiple times with statements that are deeply troubling to me.

When people have learned that I am from Germany I was told more than ten different times how much Adolf Hitler is admired for his leadership and how he strengthened Germany during the early 1900s.

These statements are deeply problematic and as well as incorrect. The first time I heard this I did not know how to react. I also did not think much of it. However, it happened more frequently and I started to wonder where it was coming from. I would speak to my brother and friends at home who were equally as shocked by these remarks especially as we have our own personal experiences withNeo-Nazis nowadays and the uprising of far-right ideology.

For a German, positive remarks about Hitler are very insulting as our history is a great burden that we carry until today and it should not be treated lightly,

I was born many years after the war had ended, however, I still feel the shame and guilt of what has happened during WWll as we hear about it from our grandparents, in our schools and in books, art and movies.

I remember quite vividly one evening when we were staying with my grandparents and my father was talking to my grandfather about WWll. My grandfather grew up in central Germany as part of a low ranking family. His parents weren't Nazis; the Nazi propaganda didn't have a place in their homes. They were however members of the Nazi party as far as I know - but merely to protect themselves. lt wasn't a free choice at all. My grandmother's father refused to join the party and spent several years in prison for it. This resulted in a lot of hardship for his family. Many people tried to avoid these situations by joining the party as my grandfather's parents did. For children, there were special organisations: Hitler youth ("Hitlerjugend" in German) for the boys and League of German Girls ("Bund Deutscher Mädel")for the girls. My grandfather was not allowed to join the Hitler youth as his parents wanted to protect him from the propaganda as much as they could.

He was born in 1933. During the war, he was only a child. He went to school in his village. Every morning the children would gather in the schoolyard and sing the national anthem together; standing in one line. For a young boy, this generated a feeling of great pride. However, some children were not allowed to join: Jews especially and those, who were not members of Hitler youth or League of German Girls. These children were made to stand at the side in shame as th€ others proudly sang the national anthem.

My grandfather told me that he went home one day and begged his parents to allow him to join. Years later he was still ashamed of how easily the propaganda worked on him. He probably was wondering which role he would have played in the war had he been older and able to work and fight. I am afraid it would not have been a positive one. He had a small room in his house with bookshelves on every wall stuffed with books on WWll. He read everything he could get his hands on. History books, books on mäss psychology, biographies and even Mein Kampf and other books written by Nazis. He wanted to understand thoroughly how the crimes during the Nazi era had become possible and how the propaganda had worked on so many people.

My father was born after the war. During that evening at my grandfather's house, he claimed that every German back then knew about the concentration camps and the holocaust. My grandfather denied it. He wanted to explain how people fell for the propaganda without knowing about the horrors of the genocide. He was at the brink of tears. The shame of having been a part of it all even though he did not commit a crime himself never let go of him.

But whoever receives a regime like the Nazis and a dictator like Hitler as positive is an enabler to their crimes. This is what we learn in Germany as part of our history lessons. We speak in great detail about antisemitism and the ideology of the Nazis that put humans into different categories and allowed the enslavement and murder of millions. We visit concentration camps and listen to talks of survivors so that we remember our history and our duty to make sure that it does not repeat itself.

Even though I was born so many years after WWll I still feel the same historic guilt as my grandfather did. When I visited a friend in Poland and heard that I was going to meet his grandmother I was deeply worried about how she would receive me. Luckily she was a very lovely lady and welcomed me. However, in Finland, I was told by friends that I couldn't go to their grandparents' house because I was German and they would never open the door to me since they suffered greatly from the deeds of the Nazis during WWll.

I hope these stories help you to understand why it troubles me and other Germans so deeply when people in Bhutan or anywhere else say positive things about Hitler. The second world war is not my fault but it is my duty to do my best to prevent the ideology from growing again. Every family in Germany has its own story. Some were perpetrators, many were victims. Some stories I've heard from my friends' grandparents are too horrible to repeat here. Every family has lost loved ones and many innocent lives were lost in an unjustified war that was started by Germany and fuelled by a twisted and inhuman ideology.

I am writing to you because through conversations with my friend Passang Tshering I have come to know that the remarks about Hitler I was confronted with are partly rooted in misinformation during history classes. He was able to get me the Vlll World History Book that is being used (as far as I am told) in schools in Bhutan and it was very surprising to me to see how Hitler and Nazi Germany are being portrayed as victims of the other nations and Hitler as the liberator of the oppressed German people. The holocaust is not even mentioned in that book, which would be illegal in Germany. The denial of the holocaust and public praise of the Nazis is a crime punished with up to 3 years in prison.

The depiction of history in that era is very one-sided and simplified, leaving out major events and painting a wrong picture of Germany's role in both wars. Even WWI was caused to a great extent by Germany and the conditions set by the peace treaty of Versailles were harsh but justified. Germany was by no means a victim and Hitler no liberator. He rose to power by killing and capturing those opposing him and by manipulation of the masses. The book talks of great economic advancement and development of infrastructure in that time but fails to mention how the momentous buildings were constructed: By taking property from non-German people and Jews, by using forced labour and by enslaving Jews as well as whoever was deemed to be of lesser worth than the "Aryan master race".

The book talks very positively not only about Hitler but Stalin and Mussolini as well. Millions of lives were lost in WWll and I strongly believe that these dictators should not be glorified. The tasks for the children to solve in the book are especially disturbing: They are for example asked to collect pictures of Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini and write short texts about them as if they were Popstars.

The book is poorly written and seems to be very biased in order to depict history in a certain way. This results in Bhutanese admiring Hitler and thinking that this is a compliment for Germans when in fact it is an insult and disturbing to anyone aware of the history.

I hope that the lessons and books can be changed in the future. I do understand the fascination with Hitler's charisma, however, a man that ordered the murder of 6 million Jews should never be idolised. The ideology behind the Nazi era is extremely harmful and their role in WWll should be recognised as what it truly is: One of the greatest crimes against humanity and all of their doing needs to be clearly condemned.

Thank you very much for your consideration; I would be glad to talk to you further about this issue if you have any enquiries.

Kind regards,

Analena Lohaus

08.03.2019

Mikyo Dorji- The Big Promise in Bhutanese Sports

Mikyo Dorji is on the national news several times. Each time it was for breaking a new barriers and setting a new benchmark. It's hard to believe that he is just a college student who is already on the national cricket team and now singed by an international club. 

Last week, when the news of Mikyo Dorji joining Lalitpur Patriots came on BBS, I was reminded of the first two times he came on news. It was in 2015 May, when St. Joseph's School in North Point recognized Mikyo for his excellence in cricket, volley and basket with the rare White Coat. It's said that the prestigious award was conferred to only 12 students in the entire history of the school. Mikyo was the first Bhutanese. 

Mikyo joins the defending Champion, Lalitpur Patriots, Nepal

In the October of the same year, his school awarded him the most coveted Depelchin Gold Medal. That was for the overall 'most outstanding student' in the school up to class X. That's like the life time achievement award for the entire school years. That talks about his consistancy over the years he spent in the school. 

2015 May on BBS

Going by the two huge recognitions coming from a reputed school in a country as big as India we can guess what stuff Mikyo is made of. He was only 16 then. We would think it's way too young for him to handle professional sports but in the world of sports that's where the shining must begin. Younger the better. His career in India was set.

But I am proud that he returned to Bhutan and joined the national cricket team first. Signing with the Nepali cricket club is just the beginning for the young man. I foresee Mikyo joining an IPL team and make whole of Bhutan watch him play on TV aganist the best in the world someday soon.

2021 Sept. BBS

 

Much like Chencho Gyeltshen has forged the path into the international football arena, Mikyo is the next generation. When Mikyo makes it to the biggest cricket league in the world, one can only imagine the kind of money he will be signing on. When that day comes, Bhutanese cricket will shine too. 

May Mikyo inspire younger Bhutanese to embrace sports professionlly and achieve excellence.