Bhutan and Being Bhutanese

Bhutan and Being Bhutanese Personal Experience in Bhutan and as a humble Bhutanese

18/12/2024

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18/12/2024

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17/12/2024

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17/12/2024

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16/12/2024

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10/12/2024

Dubai!!!

10/12/2024

๐—ช๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜†๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ท๐—ผ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜€ ๐—ง๐˜€๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐˜‚!

As the sacred festival of Tshechu dawns upon us, let's embrace the spirit of unity, joy, and spiritual reflection that this wonderful tradition brings to our lives. Let's come together, celebrate our rich cultural heritage, and pay homage to the teachings of Guru Rinpoche.

May this Tshechu fill your hearts with happiness and your homes with blessings.

10/12/2024
10/12/2024

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10/12/2024
06/12/2024

Azha Passat, doing Azha Passat thing! ๐Ÿ‘

06/12/2024

Sad!!!

29/11/2024

View on Prado quota by Lyonpo Damcho Dorji.

The Prado quota for MPs has once more dominated the parliamentary session and the media is going abuzz with it. Itโ€™s very sad that this unpopular topic of Prado quota keeps coming up every now and then and the MPs are themselves to blame.

In 2008 when the First Parliament discussed the Parliamentary Entitlements Act, I had vehemently proposed that rather than giving quotas, vehicle allowances, driver allowances, etc. the MPs be given a chauffeur driven duty vehicle since ultimately its coming to the same if not more. My reason for this proposal was that while serving in the Judiciary as a Drangpon in the 90s we did not have pool vehicles. Most Drangpons could not afford a bigger car like a Prado and had to be content with small cars or cheap second hand cars from Japan. The result was that many had to rely on the Dzongdags for travel to far off places or to remotes areas of their jurisdiction where it was impossible for their small cars to reach. The most embarrassing part was that when we had VIP visits in the Dzongkhags, the local authorities had to go in convoys for receptions and see-offs. The Drangpons driving small rusty cars could not catch up with the convoy and once the convoy stopped, they had no drivers to park their cars. So it was not uncommon for the VIPs to see Drangpons almost running out of breath to catch up the convoy and join the group but barely making it, to the amusement of everyone.

All this became history when His Majesty The Fourth King not only modernized our Judiciary but also granted a Prado each for the Drangpons in 2001. But history repeated itself with the first batch of MPs in 2008, when they happily accepted all sorts of funny sounding allowances instead of chauffeur driven duty cars during the term of the first democratic government. For the sake of a few hundred bucks, these MPs have sacrificed the dignity of the institution of Members of Parilaments and the then Cabinet had no sympathy for their plight. As the lone voice in the NA packed with Ruling MPs, my proposal was conveniently snubbed by the Cabinet members with no support coming from the ruling MPs themselves. The consequence of that decision was felt immediately when MPs driving small private cars were not allowed anywhere near Changlingmithang by the Police during one important national event. Some MPs had scuffles with the police and later complained to the Prime Minister. When they visited their constituencies, they got lukewarm receptions from the Dzongdags and some Gups were even ashamed to stand for reception of MPs to their Gewogs, who came driving small rusty alto cars in front of the public gathered for the event.

On the other hand, a chauffeur driven duty vehicle like a Prado or a Fortuner would make an MPs journey to their constituencies much safer and pleasant. A duty vehicle would last at least four terms of the Parliament which means 67 quotas and consequently 67 Prados would be saved during each term, totaling to saving 268 quotas or Prados in four terms. We would also be saving that much of our foreign reserve. In addition to this, we would be able to give jobs to 67 drivers at a time when job scarcity is a national scourge. Therefore, I still fail to understand why the Finance Ministry does not see this side of the coin instead of continuing this fight between the deaf and the blind!

Surprisingly, the present batch of MPs are repeating the same mistake. I am flabbergasted to hear that rather than asking for duty cars and close this chapter of Prados and quotas once and for all, they are still asking for quotas and allowances. Do they ever think of the Institution of MPs? This is the reason why the media and the critics on social media feel MPs are always after their own benefit. I am sure they will definitely understand why they need a duty car if they asked for one, as long as it remains public property. Even a director gets one! But the moment it goes into the pocket of someone, especially an MP who has pledged to sacrifice even his own salary for the benefit of his or her voters during the campaign period, it is no surprise that this rush for amendments to their entitlements is met with such stiff antagonism and scorn.

I wish the MPs would change their mind and claim a chauffeur driven duty car and the Government would see the logic why itโ€™s better to give a duty car rather than all sorts of funny allowances. MPs definitely need to be given this facility. Itโ€™s not about individual MPs but the institution of Parliament that needs to be served in the best interest of the country.

15/11/2024

For Bhutan!!!!๐Ÿ™๐Ÿ™๐Ÿ™

I met one chilip Aum from USA on my flight on the 5th of this month and shared to me that she missed the sight just by a...
07/11/2024

I met one chilip Aum from USA on my flight on the 5th of this month and shared to me that she missed the sight just by a day.
She was sad that she missed it, but overall happy and satisfied for her trip to Bhutan

I was happy for her!

What an incredible sight and beauty! .

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