In Keeping the Online Community Spirit

I penned this letter to the JKT’s Admin after a distressing post by a member, aiming solely to uphold the JKT’s spirit nurtured through this online community.

 

October 16, 2023

Administrator

Jangsem Kidu Tshogpa (JKT) 

 

Dear Sir, 

 

I am reaching out to you as a concerned member of our Jangsem Kidu Tshogpa [JKT], which has proven to be an invaluable forum for engaging in conversations related to the annual Bazaguru Dungdrup festivities held in our village. 

 

To start, I wish to extend my gratitude for your diligent management of this community and for your efforts in nurturing a sense of togetherness among its members.

 

However, I regret that I have to address a matter of growing concern that has recently emerged within our group. Historically, our discussions have revolved around the coordination of the Bazaguru Dungdrup, with a focus on nurturing unity, a shared sense of community, and strong bonds among members.

 

Regrettably, it has come to our collective attention that certain members have been posting content entirely unrelated to the overarching vision of JKT. This inappropriate content encompasses images, videos, and various materials that are causing significant disturbances among our members.

 

One particularly disheartening incident involved the sharing of a video featuring an individual from a neighbouring village who had recently passed away due to his unfortunate health condition. This video not only distressed the family of the deceased but also equally affected the emotions of relatives, including myself, who were closely connected to the departed soul.

 

Honourable Admin, I welcome any corrections if my understanding is mistaken. 

 

My consistent belief has been that such content does not align with the spirit and values of our group. This perspective is particularly pertinent given that the central focus of JKT is to engage in discussions related to the annual Bazaguru Dungdrup, the sole local religious festival that has been instrumental in nurturing a profound sense of community – a feat we have successfully achieved thus far. 

 

Honourable Admin, 

 

I firmly belief that you hold a crucial role in overseeing the group’s activities, enforcing group rules and guidelines, and moderate the content posted within the group. 

 

If this group has to prosper to achieve its intended objectives, hereafter, I kindly request that you take the following steps to address this issue:

 

Immediate Deletion and Notification

Any materials not related to the Bazaguru Dungdrup should be promptly deleted, and the person responsible for posting such content should be notified of its irrelevance to JKT’s purpose.

 

Removal of Disruptive Content

Any content that has the potential to cause division or disconnect within our community should be removed without delay. It is essential to preserve the unity and positive atmosphere of the JKT.

 

Maintaining Order

As the admin, you play a pivotal role in ensuring that the JKT remains a focused and productive space for noble discussions. Please remind members of the JKT’s guidelines and encourage them to adhere to the group’s intended purpose.

 

Let us bear in mind the collective wisdom of our educated community and harness the power of our knowledge for the greater good. As educated individuals, we must strive to demonstrate our competency in distinguishing between right and wrong, the moral and the immoral, and the healthy from the harmful. In solidarity, let us ardently endeavor to uphold these values we have acquired, directing our efforts towards the realization of the tightly woven, harmonious community we all aspire to be an integral part of.

 

Honourable Admin, 

I trust in your ability to address this matter effectively, and I appreciate your understanding of my concerns. I thank you for your attention to this matter. 

 

I look forward to seeing this group regain its focus on Bazaguru Dungdrup and the unity they represent.

 

Sincerely,

 

Dumcho Wangdi

JKT Member

 

Regular Irregularities

November 15, 2016: I visited Yangchenphug Higher Secondary School (YHSS) as a Visiting Examiner (VE) for the Board Examination Secondary Physics (Year 12) Practical Examination officially for 3 days. I evaluated 123 science students’ (Physics) project entries on the first day. The physics practical exam was administered over the course of the final 2 days. To prevent questions from being tampered with or declassified, schools across the nation start and end the practical examinations on the same day. However, due to the large class sizes at YHSS, we commenced the practical tests for the first cohort of students at 5:30 AM in the cold winter morning to strictly end it uniformly with other schools. I do not recollect precisely when I departed for home after the first day’s tests which wrapped up at 7:30 PM.

Although the modalities of administering the practical exams emerge to have been customised recently, at the time I served as VE, grade 12 science students were primarily oriented to the same set of questions. For this reason, the first cohorts who completed the practical exam in the morning were required to remain segregated inside the allocated room until the other fellow students complete the test. VEs are mandated to function as watchmen to keep the students confined to the closed-off room. VEs must even accompany students visiting the restroom to limit students' communication with the acquaintance they encounter on their way to the restroom and thereby defend against the accidental or intentional release of the exam questions.

I discharged my duties as VE in accordance with the obligations declared in the Letter of Undertaking from the Bhutan Council for School Examinations and Assessment (BCSEA). On day 5, I claimed my Daily Allowance and Travel Claims (TA/DA) as permissible for all other civil servants for 5 days [3 days for practical examination duty, 1 day for travel to the examination site (YHSS), and another 1 day for return journey]. 

A few months later in the school, I was notified that I have claimed an additional amount of Nu. 500 when tasked as VE during the board practical examinations. According to the BCSEA office,under the new financial regulations, a person is only entitled to a half-day allowance for the return trip to working stations that are lesser than 70 kilometres away. This means that from the entitled daily allowance of Nu.1000 per day, I need to refund Nu. 500. This also suggests that the previously established official 70-kilometre distance between Wangdue (my place) and Thimphu (Test centre), has abruptly been shortened based on the measurements provided by the BCSEA.

A lengthy list which in the view of the BCSEA office has violated the financial regulations by claiming additional allowances of Nu. 500 has already been forwarded to the respective District Education Office. My name was publicly declared by the school administration on the school social networking platform, WeChat, pronouncing the same issue. There were also some whirlpools of unconfirmed cautions and whispers circulating around that, certain punitive administrative prosecutions may follow for those who fail to refund the amount promptly. 

I did not react to the notification instantaneously. This is because, I can recall with sufficient clarity that over the course of my last 12 years of employment, I have NEVER been ensnared in any behaviours that have culminated into a drama involving financial irregularities against my name. But learning that I have to refund Nu. 500 from the entitled allowance, I was dumbfounded and thus, revisited the distance between Wangdue and Thimphu on the financial map. The map reads 70 kilometres obviously. 

I quickly reimbursed the money that same day, choosing not to debate about the distance. As an emotionally sensitive individual, I remember being humiliated even as a small child when my name was announced in the face of others for something I had not done or because something I had done was not in violation of the law. For example, I had a horrendous psychological trauma which I still cannot forget and forgive when the principal of the school terminated me because of another student’s offence (coming soon).

But above all else, whenever there are FI, especially relating to the state money, as a citizen, I feel duty-bound to do everything to stop anyone profiteering through manipulation, mishandling, or fraud, so that we can use the funds for others, higher, and nobler causes. Even though I was aware that I had not claimed more than what I was legally entitled to, I nonetheless reimbursed the money as instructed by the BCSEA office. 

I write this opinion after getting disturbed by repeated news of FI. Before I turn to discuss the FI reported by the Royal Audit Authority (RAA), at the outset, I begin by discussing some information associated with FI. 

Image courtesy: Click LINK

What is Financial Irregularities (FI)? 

 

Whether we know it or not, we have heard about it periodically – from the mainstream media or the annual publication of the Royal Audit Authority (RAA). In almost every issue of their publication, mainstream media report snippets of stories associated with the FI. The RAA as the supreme audit institution of the Kingdom yearly takes this task to publish reports like the annual lochoe (annual religious event) which is calendared in their yearbook episode. Ironically, nobody seems to bother about these reports. Not even those avid social media icons with huge followers or public figures who are otherwise so vocal in advertising commercial merchandise when they are paid a fortune. Consequently, the FI phenomenon in our context has now easily transformed into regular irregularities.

Under a broad conception, FI includes intentional false statements or omission of data pertaining to financial operations including but not limited to: 

·      Embezzlement

·      Fraud 

·      Falsifying documents/records 

·      Mismanagement of funds  

·      Misappropriations of assets, 

·      Falsification of records or 

·      Noncompliance with laws or regulations.

·      Corruption (such as giving bribes, bid riggings)

 

Why does FI occur?   

Money is the root of all evil they say. The obsessive desire that individuals have for money is what makes it the source of all evil. More significantly, the fact that money is deployed as a universal tool to do everything in this world only serves to compound the situation by making money the root of all evil. 

But what can be done without having money these days? 

Money is not everything, we are frequently told. But I always believe that these are the thoughts of people who have amassed enough wealth. As a person who lived a life without even having a bare minimum, I do not buy such idiocy. 

For instance, at the international level, money is heavily employed as a means for a nation to dictate and demonstrate dominance, authority, and global super-power. At the government level, politics function only when there is abundant money. At the individual level, we engage with money for absolutely everything.

But do these reasons stated above cause FI? Maybe or may not. 

Whenever I hear of FI, the following things spring into my mind: 

Human Greed

Some people have unquenchable desires and longings. They do not think twice about engaging in criminal activity and breaking the law to get filthy rich and have it all for themselves, even at the expense of the national coffer.

 

Opportunity to Access 

People take advantage of the opportunity to do anything they like when they have access to public funds. They can fiddle with the calculations, bribe someone, embezzle money, or engage in corrupt practices.

 

Inefficient System

The fact that we always hear about FI signals the ineffectiveness of our check and balance system. It is not surprising that we frequently witness the same individuals and institutions indulging in FI because of the fragile system. These people are already informed of the system’s vulnerabilities, which are neither remedied nor considered to be addressed despite frequent FI incidents.

 

Toothless Laws 

We often lack robust legal action against FI culprits. Most of the time, perpetrators are given administrative action as punitive sanctions. Administrative action means transferring the wrongdoers to a new place (so-called remote posting). New places are locations with all the contemporary amenities in place. Because they receive the same monthly income with less work and responsibility, lawbreakers who are relocated to remote areas are often contented, comfortable and convenient. 

 

Who is involved in FI?   

Nobody needs a subtitle to decipher this question. Based on the evidence of mainstream media reports, FI is connected to those in positions of authority, have access to public funds, and deal with money at work. 

 

Why is FI a Big Concern for Bhutan?  

Although we emphasise on Gross National Happiness (GNH) over Gross Domestic Product (GDP), GDP is still an important constituent of GNH. Our economy is still at an embryonic stage, which requires abundant efforts to keep it emerging and evolving. When there is FI, our emerging economy will be corrupted and will be diseased to function efficiently.

We are a donor-recipient nation where most of the developmental activities are completed through bilateral aid or loaned capital. We should not be complacent to witness this gamble of financial illegitimacy contaminate and hurt our delicate economy.  

At the societal level, the recurrent incidences of FI will deteriorate the noble foundations of harmony, and tha-damtsig (commitment/trust to the relationship). If FI is not nibbed in the bud, it risks the potential in creating an unequal and illegal wealth distribution, causing disharmony and distrust in society. That’s where we will keep seeing more people having plenty of money to support three to four generations of their families, while others even lack a basic roof to keep them safe from the heat and cold. That’s how the bridge between haves and have-nots will only get widened. 

Curbing FI

I am not an economist or financial expert. But I certainly feel that for a very small nation like ours, we can fix everything. Although FI cannot be eliminated, there are mechanisms to mitigate it. 

Annually RMA publishes the findings regarding the FI. It is now time that they remedy the identified vulnerabilities in our system. When regular FI are reported annually like an Olympics event, at times, we can only sense that we are already in auto-pilot mode. FI has been the elephant in the room. Some people and organisations have already earned a permanent seat in this financial Olympic event due to their ritualistic engagement.

Curbing FI is a collective responsibility. It is time to hold people accountable if they are engaged in any FI-related practices. It is time to introduce zero tolerance into action. It is time to revamp our system and make it more robust, transparent, and dynamic.

At the individual level, it is time that we school our attitude. For instance, I reimbursed the money despite being aware that I had not claimed any more money than what was legally entitled. I refunded the cash immediately, even though I understood the cashier was to blame in the first place. I am mindful that working with ethics, professionalism, high morals, and integrity are key ingredients to any human behaviour.  

Naming and Renaming Mania

 

The recent rebranding of Bhutanese tourism from its old tagline Happiness is a Place to Believe, and the increase in Sustainable Development Fee (SDF) sparked a great deal of debate and stimulated different wavelengths of societal dialogue. Enough ink has been spilt in every media forum by all walks of people, pouring in their standpoints – both in favour and against the current brand. Given my limited financial knowledge, I will set aside the SDF issue from the limelight of discussion in this article. Rather, I am intrigued to offer my thoughts on the topic of changing names.  

Bhutan Believe

When the only difference is the name

Initially, I was also swayed to think on this subject of naming and renaming phenomena. But I am already accustomed to this culture of how avid and obsessed we are in this gamble of name-changing malady. In the name of change, we are deeply infatuated with only changing names, and that is it. I can vividly recall that in the place where I domiciled, one of the schools was originally identified as a junior high school. A few years later, the same school was renamed a middle secondary school. Then the politics and political parties emerged to take the batons of this name-changing relay race. Buying the same nametag of change, two distinct neighbouring schools situated in the same locality were merged under one organisational jurisdiction and named the central school. During the tenure of a new political party that reverberated to overhaul the old education system, the union of the two schools done by the previous political party were dissociated and retroceded the schools with the same ancestry surname.

While the change in the name of the school was obvious and publicly evident, the quality of amenities and infrastructures have regrettably remained unchanged. The scarcity of teachers,  heavy instructional hours, awful bosses, sickening policies, pitiable working conditions, deprived career and Professional Development (PD) opportunities, cramped classrooms, and sterile internet access to name a few are still ubiquitous and an antique thing in the museum of our school’s plight. Perhaps, we remain utterly confused with the definition of change. 

As a former schoolteacher, I have a decent memory and understanding of how this word change typically remained as the keyword in the vocabulary of our policymakers. However, when I recurrently saw little or no change, like in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, I always lived by the dictum: What’s in the name? If we do not practically operationalise the concept of change in action, what good does it do by simply changing the name? That was why, in 2001, when my name was erroneously changed from Damcho Wangdue to Dumcho Wangdi by one of the irresponsible and negligent drunk census officers, I remained least bothered. 

Bhutan Happiness is a Place: Old Tourism Tagline

Change in the Tourism Brand

Returning to the change in the tourism brand, I hold very idiosyncratic viewpoints for the change in the name this time after I attended a seminar organised by the Royal Institute for Governance and Strategic Studies (RIGSS). With the new brand, Believe, I believe that there are multiple things that it can offer – if we think broadly and optimistically.   

For a small Kingdom like ours, which is often overwhelmed with resources and capital limitations, it is way beyond the latitude of the nation to accommodate a huge volume of visitors. That is why His Majesty the 4^th Druk Gyalpo was very farsighted during the benevolent reign that he steadily emphasised High Value, Low Volume tourism in Bhutan. Besides leaving abundant monarchic legacies including the noble philosophy of Gross National Happiness (GNH), His Majesty the 4^th King has already visualised, in days of yore, that if the health of the nation is lost, it would be difficult if not, impossible to recuperate to its unprecedented form. The health of Bhutan as a sovereign Kingdom lies heavily on our unique culture and the intact natural environment that remains pristine and unadulterated. We have read in the past that in many countries what Bhutan have today has been long lost, and it is, therefore, critical that we preserve what is precious to our country. Thanks to our holistic developmental paradigm of GNH which emphasises the nation’s economic prosperity without losing the elements of spirituality, culture, and environmental sustainability. At the heart of this paradigm is happiness and well-being for the Bhutanese people.

Why do we need change? 

I concur with the notion that if a nation aspires to progress, the generation of revenue is extremely important at this time of rapid globalisation, digitalisation, and commercialisation. It has even been more important since the COVID-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented era of hardships for the people altering our regular ways of livelihood. Post-pandemic, Bhutan embraced eye-opening experiences that cautioned with and offered both life-changing and life-threatening lessons to survive as a nation. Consequently, we have gradually started to self-actualise that the income derived due to mass tourism is not always nourishing for the nation’s future, especially in terms of sustaining the happiness and wellbeing of the Bhutanese. That is, happiness and well-being are matchless values that cannot be substituted, bought, or imported with any foreign outings. 

Mask dances as one element of culture (Image source unknown)

What believe could mean 

Although the brand believe appears to be dull, abstract, and subjective in its interpretation, the overall change in the tourism brand was timeous. If broadly construed, believe can imply that Bhutan has stalwart faith in her potential to rise higher and grow stronger. Believe embrace a strong conviction that we are competent of taking this nation forward as a sovereign Kingdom for many generations to come. Beyond all, believe is a signpost to serve as a stark reminder to the policymakers that for a fragile economic nation like ours, we cannot afford to focus singularly on mass tourism if we are to uphold the sovereignty of our Kingdom. 

What tourism means for Bhutan? 

One key focus of discourse that emerged due to the change in brand and subsequently increasing the SDF was regarding the volume of tourists vising Bhutan. Many remained sceptical that the national brand will limit the profile of tourism, but I continued to think otherwise. Elsewhere, tourism is largely marketed by publicising towering skyscrapers, spectacular beaches, modern technologies, a large museum, world-class recreations and entertainment centres, bubbling nightlife, and magnificent metropolis to name a few. In Bhutan, since its inception, tourism is promoted to showcase national identity through our unique culture and intangible values associated with environmental sustainability, serenity, peacefulness, tranquillity, and spirituality. 

Tourists who were drawn to visit Bhutan frequently were informed of our national aspirations, and they applauded their visits by embracing these ideals with a strong ethical compass. With the new tourism policy, which charges travellers $200 per night, it is never a signal to limit such tourists visiting the country. Instead, for a nation that depends excessively on its natural environment – both for the development and Kingdom’s prosperity, it intends to offer an additional experience of values from the little coffer we have. The lesser the volume, the better the quality and higher the standards in the value of their experience. 

What lesson can we draw? 

Bhutan may remain on the bucket lists of travellers who are still looking for certain ideals, such as sustainability, tranquility, sacredness, peace, well-being, and harmony – values that our development philosophy (GNH) strives for. If there is a sharp dip in the volume of tourists, it may intrude on Bhutan’s generation of revenue as tourism is the second largest income-generating source after hydropower. Even if there is less volume of tourists visiting after this new policy, instead of making plans to revert and recycle mass tourism, it is wise for our policymakers to recognise that tourism is not just an avenue to generate revenue and sustain our Kingdom’s future of self-reliance and sovereignty. It is imperative that we look for ways to support ourselves independently to lessen our propensity to rely on other countries. It is time we begin with small steps.