Piloting a Classical Song

        This song was composed by Aap Dhopay, a legendary Bhutanese singer, in 1984. 

Aap Dhopay: Image courtesy Click link

        In 2019, I was engaged as a member developer for drafting the first National Education Assessment Framework for Science (NEAF). The workshop was organised by the Bhutan Council of School Examinations and Assessment (BCSEA) in collaboration with the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), New Delhi. 

        The NEAF is a robust assessment system that will assess the competency of students in grades 3, 6, and 9. The students will be assessed across 4 domains:

1. Dzongkha Reading and Writing.
2. English Reading and Writing. 
3. Mathematics Literacy and,
4. Science Literacy. 

         Mr Wangchuk, Curriculum Developer, Department of Curriculum and Professional Division (DCRD) generously welcomed me to stay in his home during that 10-day workshop.  

        We not only had fun moments, but every night we had singing and recording session as well. I had the pleasure to pilot one of Aap Dhopay's classic songs, which was composed as a tribute to the Kurje Lhakhang in Bumthang. 

    Even though the recording contains some errors, I have archived it in my blog for my future memories.

On Gatekeeping Functions

        Media is the watchdog, they say. It is the watchdog of society. If operated astutely, media functions as a bulwark against corruption, unethical, and illegal social practices. The role of media in creating a disciplined, well-ordered society is enormous. More importantly, reporting trustworthy and moral news is one of the key onuses of any mass media. 

        But occasionally, our mass media lose sight of their responsibilities and duties. I am not fascinated to contend with some of the international news outlets and entities that lack the ability to report credible stories and accurate facts. As a citizen of a Kingdom that has only a 66 percent literacy rate (2017), my key concern is with our local mass media. It misleads when they report news that is not credible and gravely under-researched.

        The recent viral short clip of a Bhutanese couple that appeared in the Border Security – Australia’s Front Line, for carrying some dried vegetables, betel nut (doma), dried cheese (chugo), and cordyceps is a textbook illustration of evidence. I am not stupefied to discover what the couple had in their luggage because, as we practice based on cultural rituals, they were carrying their friends' parcels, without knowing what was inside. However, the couple should have been aware of or informed by their agents that, for reasons of economic and food security, it is strictly prohibited to import plants and its products into Australia: 

"Import of plants and their products from outside Australia can risk introducing weeds, pests and diseases. These can threaten Australia's natural environment, our food security and economy" (Department of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Forestry, Australian Government). 

        

        What I am appalled at is witnessing some of our media houses picking up stories about the incident. On the other side, people obsessed with social media blew off the roofs by scrolling through their social media feeds. And there, blind followers of social media assume the role of social media mouthpiece by further transmitting it. 

        While sensitisation of the travel risks and prohibited items are important, reporting credible news is quite another. The incident where the couple was interrogated at the airport happened way back in 2013, which is roughly 9 years ago. 

        At a time when we are unable to contain the wave of confusion created in society by mass media, we as media consumers never take the time to weigh the amount of truth it contains, choosing instead to spread the already contaminated and diseased information. 6 years ago, I wrote my impression of citizen journalism where every citizen can take ethically active roles in reporting credible news. 

        Why can’t we adopt Middle Path Journalism (Wangchuk, 2018), a conceptual framework for Bhutanese media developed by our very own communication scholar Dr Dorji Wangchuk? (Full article link here). This framework proposed based on 4Cs (Collectivism, Compassion, Commitments, and Contentment), which are very much rooted in our national developmental paradigm of Gross National Happiness (GNH) is simply intriguing and operational in our context. 

        Whether it is intended or unintended, the consequences created by the wrong media effect are colossal. We all have a responsibility to act as effective gatekeepers. As I write this article, I remembered Bittner's (1996) gatekeeper definition: 

any person or formally organized group directly involved in relaying or transferring information from one individual to another through a mass medium (p.10).

Bittner (1996) mentions 3 gatekeeping functions of the mass media:  

·       Limit

·       Expand

·       Reinterpret or Reorganise

Limit

Limit is restricting the quantity of something that is allowed or possible. The gatekeepers can limit the information that we get from mass media. Limiting can be done by editing or deleting the story. For example, editing the segment that is irrelevant or deleting the part of the information that is not suitable for the audience. 

Expand

Opposite to limit is expand. In this case, gatekeepers can provide a detailed account or version of the story by supplying facts, figures, or viewpoints, that are usually inaccessible to the readers. E.g., a news reporter attending the parliament debates or court hearings providing extra information about the deliberations. 

 

Reinterpret / Reorganise 

In reinterpret, gatekeepers can rearrange the information.  E.g., a reporter translating some foreign information to the local audience. 

        Whether it is the mass media or we as media consumers, we have the onus to cautiously perform each of these gatekeeping duties. People with objectionable purposes in the current technologically advanced world tend to: 

limit the information that is relevant and necessary,

expand the irrelevant and unnecessary and, 

reinterpret the relevant to make irrelevant and necessary to be unnecessary.  

        The ball is in our court. Next time when we access or share the information, ask ourselves, have I got a good gatekeeping function?  

The Small Big

        It is heartening to know that the Royal Government of Bhutan is pursuing a mini-hydro project. The fact that it will be owned and operated fully by native Bhutanese people makes it even more intriguing. 

        The undertaking may seem modest, but it is significant for a tiny nation like ours. It is high time, if not already too late, that we lead our venture rather than pulling on mega–projects. We have witnessed that most of our ambitious mega-projects that pledged electrifying employment and economic prospects after completion are still years away from getting done, costing astronomically to the government exchequer. That we need to rely on loans to fund the hiring of external experts and specialists for the construction of those mega-projects is even more distressing. In a Kingdom like ours that operates on a shoestring budget and where development plans are dominantly constructed based on donor aid, this harrowing phenomenon must be downright abolished, if not sagaciously addressed. 

Image courtesy: Click LINK

        The current initiative of the Royal Government to run small projects independently is a noble solution. We have all acquainted with the old cliche that big things come from small beginnings. Regardless of the magnitude of the project, this national assignment will irrefutably be a remarkable cornerstone for us. Venturing ourselves autonomously will benefit us to uncover gaps and identify needs of our own – focused on indigenous values and national interests. 

        The time has truly come for us to consider for how long we should rely on donor nations. What objective should donors support us with their aid? 

        We often brag that most of our people have earned degrees in medicine, engineering, education, economics, and architecture from leading international universities. But what uses is that if we can’t use that education to improve our hospitals, construct roads and hydropower, establish the best curriculum, build the economy, or design things in our ways?  

        Do we utilise them meaningfully? Have we put them to use well? If not, when will we put them to use? 

        If not now, then when? 

        These are rising concerns that the prior generations of decision-makers should have acknowledged. The current generation should be increasingly worried about these challenges. If we persist to be complacent in our quest to develop solutions today, the following generations will also be vulnerable to these same issues. 

        As a concerned citizen, this becomes a perturbing trend when we keep on banking other donor agencies for our developmental assistance. Every 5 years, we held elections – only to witness political parties boldly publicising freebies and pledging developments that often bank on the expertise and capital of unknown donors. 

        But who cares, after all, we are spellbound in getting everything free from the government, not realising that we are increasingly into external debt. Until last year, Bhutan has an external debt of 238.4 billion which is almost Nu.315,288 per person. 🤔

        When I was undergoing the Young Professionals Leadership Program (YPLP-6) at the Royal Institute for Strategies Studies (RIGSS), His Majesty the King stated that every one of us knows the fact that Bhutan is a very small developing country. But what we fail to realise is, how to take advantage of that smallness. 

        If we commit more to serving with honour, dedication, integrity, and visions, for a nation that has only 763,249 people (projected), everything is viable. We have a farsighted monarch to whom we can look for leadership guidance. We have adequate resources that we can use to construct national capitals. We have a prospective workforce, if entrusted and sincerely acknowledged, can be a potential indigenous architect in our nation-building process. 

        All that is required is that we start out small. As long as we keep taking baby steps with consistency and constancy, we will eventually be narrowing our distance toward realising the national goal of self-reliance.