Bhutan

Bhutan is a kingdom with boundaries with Tibet (China) to the north, Nepal to the west and India to the south and east. Its people have Tibetan characteristics and they existed as hunters and lived a tribal nomadic lifestyle until the 1400’s. Around 700AD a Buddhist monk arrived from Tibet and brought them a form of Buddhism that focuses on the group rather than the individual. Buddhism had established in India to the south over 1000 years previously and the Hindi religion developed from this. Then in the 1400’s another Tibetan Buddhist monk visited Bhutan and introduced a form of government to this still nomadic country based upon provincial tribal leaders.

                                                  Suspension Bridge circa 1500's with Prayer flags Paro

Its population is now 700,000 and it has 20 quite distinct regions and has been a kingdom since 1905. In the period between the 1500’s and 1900, the religious leader was termed the Dali Rajah and held temporal power as well as religious power. The currently exiled leader of Tibet is called the Dali Lama –but not Rajah -as he currently does not have political power in Tibet.

The monarchy developed alongside the Buddhist clergy and while their respective hierarchies mirror each other there is a clear distinction between the role and influence of the religious leader and the monarch.

There have only been five kings and the current king was crowned in 2008 when his father retired. The father (fourth king) had four wives who were all sisters. Two sisters had two children and two had three children to the King. So the present king has nine siblings. The king is highly revered in Bhutan and lives in relatively modest accommodations.

About 70 % of the country is forest and national park. It has tall mountain ranges and deep fertile valleys but does not seem to be endowed with natural resources like minerals. The exchange rate is 1 AUD: 56 BHN.

Travel

Tess and I arrived on Monday morning from Bangkok and we noticed on the flight that every announcement was prefaced by the words ‘Your Majesty’. It turns out that either the fourth or fifth king was on board because when we landed there was a brief military parade and red carpet to welcome him home.

It was a clear sunny day and we were met by our English speaking guide with a car and driver. So as a party of four, our entire time in Bhutan will be managed by the guide along a pre arranged itinerary for seven days and six nights as we tour the western region of Bhutan. The guide is delightful and  follows a syllabus of sorts and Tess and I have learned an enormous amount already. Being a small group we also can make deviations from the itinerary if something is of interest.

He has explained that basically Bhutan is about 200 years behind much of the west in terms of development – particularly infrastructure. Their first significant road was built in 1960 and sealed in 2004.

But the leadership does not wish to rush headlong into western values and is determined to preserve and promote their traditional culture no matter what. So the government controls access by foreigners carefully and until the 1980’s allowed only tourists aged 40 or more to visit. All citizens are required to wear the national dress when at work and there are severe repercussions for anyone flouting this. On weekends this rule is relaxed.

Nowadays all tours are prepaid before arrival and visitors must use one of the designated tourist firms and travel with a guide and driver. In this way they limit tourist volume, maintain relatively high standards and avoid the risk of unwanted western influences. For example – smoking is forbidden and we were told about that and other rules before we arrived. Locals get three years jail for smoking which appears disproportionate and this regulation is under review.

Interesting Customs

Inheritance

Inheritance of estates by law goes to the female offspring. The reasoning is that the fairer sex has less opportunity to gain assets through work than her male siblings – but the female is also required to care for her parents in old age and this is a form of payment. When a couple marry the husband leaves his home and family to live with his wife and her family.

Where a couple have only boys, one of the daughters in law will move in –but there are strict rules that will see her progressively gain ownership of her parents in laws assets until by 20 years she owns what her husband’s parents used to own! However, she will take care of her parents in law in old age.

Education

Schools are open 6 days a week. On Saturdays the first class is social responsibility and then the rest of the day is spent on maintenance of the grounds, classroom cleaning, planting, landscaping and gardening. This is basically good communal activity and it saves the government from paying for this necessary upkeep. The children have a lot of civic pride as a result.

Education is very important and we have been amazed at the high standard of English spoken –even in remote rural areas. There are boarding schools to serve areas where the local population is too small to justify a local high school and all accommodation and tuition is provided virtually free with only a nominal fee for full board if the parents can afford it.

Apparently the Australian education system has been implemented to some extent particularly around discipline and other techniques. The government tries to evaluate what other societies have done before implementing major policies or reforms.

Courting

Either sex can propose a match but in rural areas there is a practice known as ‘night hunting’ whereby males enter the home of a female (by law needing to be aged 18 or more) and sleep with her. They could be total strangers who have noticed her over prior days or someone she knows. Her parents are complicit insofar as they leave the door unlocked and the teenage female is aware that someone might call at any time but by custom can also refuse such an advance without any hassle. We really do wonder how this all plays out in practice! If she is attracted to any of these ‘visitors’ she can allow them to sleep with her and if she so decides can declare that she is married. No official paperwork or marriage registration occurs until children arrive. While the government is keen to maintain traditional customs this is one they now seek to stop –and it now occurs only in remote areas. Interestingly the Buddhist religion has no teachings on marriage, divorce or sexuality and leaves that to the state. It also seems that Facebook and cell phones have replaced the custom in the cities.

In the cities well to do males can have more than one wife and in northern rural areas women can have multiple husbands. There are various explanations for the latter-one being that the demographic in the very poor rural north is that there are more men than women. But one has to wonder how that transpires. These days the original partner is required to agree before an additional partner can be acquired!

Punctuality

We noticed in various workplaces shops and hotels that the clocks were set forward about 15 mins and we were told that this is to encourage employees to be more punctual! Former residents of Price Street Merrylands would remember that this concept is not unique to Bhutan!

Religion

Religion is a very central part of the way of life in Bhutan and adherence to Buddhism is nearly universal. There are several forms of Buddhism and Bhutan has adopted a form that promotes respect for each other and the need to be co operative and supportive in the group. The rituals are well understood and embraced and the belief system places a lot of responsibility upon the individual to live a virtuous life. It is entirely appropriate for friends to point out where others are not behaving as they might and while it is not conformity it does serve to keep standards of behaviour at very high levels. Crime as we know it is rare.
                                 
                                                   Prayer wheel adjacent to school

There is a naturist aspect of Buddhism which means that creatures are protected and revered to some extent-sometimes because of reincarnation beliefs.

Prayer wheels are rotated at every opportunity or set upon streams which spin them like water wheels; flags are strung across ravines or hillsides and each of these is a prayer that floats on the wind sending good fortune to the community in the direction of the wind. People appear devout and uninhibited in their practice of religion-particularly at temples or stoops (which are smaller local shrines). The monks will conduct annual ceremonies to bless houses in elaborate rituals involving trumpets, incense and prayer.

                                  House Warming ceremony. Chief monk at podium and two buglers below

We were instructed to walk clock wise when circling prayer wheels and visiting temples.

Travel

We travelled on the Monday to Thimphu which is the capital city with a population of 100,000. The city is on a river in a broad valley and we were shown various features including a recently built statue of Buddha financed by a Chinese tycoon. It is massive with the statue itself being 25m high and it is on a base which is also 25 m high. Apparently the tycoon was scheduled to visit Bhutan but at the last moment pulled out so that he could instead go on a trip elsewhere with his wife. The local host persisted in urging the Chinese businessman to honour his commitment to visit so he did and while he was in Bhutan, the coach his wife was travelling in elsewhere was in an accident and all passengers perished. The tycoon realised that he was spared because he was visiting Bhutan and wanted to express his appreciation to Buddha. It was suggested that he might like to finance the shrine – so he did!

                                                                         Buddha at Thimphu

The following day we went to the outskirts of Thimphu and climbed a paved track which took us from 2400m above sea level to a further 500m up to visit a Buddhist monastery. The walk was tiring because of the altitude but it was exhilarating to look out across the mountain ranges. Some construction work was underway at the monastery and a flying fox on a cable was used to ferry building supplies and sometimes workers to the site.

Workers en route to mountain building site

On Wednesday we drove through the Dochu La Pass from Thimphu into the Panukha Valley. This was a poorly sealed road that wound tortuously around the face of the mountain in a zig zag pattern until we reached the farming land at the floor of the valley. It took several hours and we stopped for lunch at the peak of the range and had a terrific high altitude view to the snow capped Himalaya Mountains.

On Thursday we took a 15km walk along a mountain side in a remote rural area calling in at a school along the way. Classes start next week and the teachers live in government supplied housing at no charge adjacent to the school as it is too far to travel for most on a daily basis. Some students will walk an hour and a half to and from school along the track that we were following. The teachers were preparing for the new term which starts next week and we called in to the house of the principal and Tess swapped notes with his wife who is a primary teacher at the school.

                                          Local teacher with children and father in law at rural school

As is customary in much of Asia, grandparents play a major role in rearing children. In this household the maternal grandparents move in for six months and then the paternal grandparents replace them while both parents work at the school.

Environment

Taking care of the environment resonates well with Buddhism and all sorts of regulations protect wildlife and the environment more generally. We noticed lots of dogs about the cities in particular. Most are strays but are fed by the locals as they believe that they will reincarnate as humans and they need to be treated well! They are not culled and are docile –usually sleeping much of the day in sunny nooks. There are many national parks and they comprise 30% of Bhutan’s land area.

Until recently each Tuesday was a car free day and there are very strict regulations about replacing any felled tree with more.

There are many endangered species who appear to be doing well in Bhutan and this is a source of much pride.

Up until the 1960’s the only thoroughfares were walking tracks so there was not much commerce between communities as goods could not be easily transported. Some major road works occurred from the 1960’s but the first sealed roads were not made until 2004. There are no railways and the mountainous terrain is not conducive to major civil works. In recent years the Indian government has provided funds for road works. One of the conditions is to use Indian guest workers who undertake seven year contracts to do very menial maintenance labour along the main roads for which we in Australia would normally use machinery.

                                                   Farming techniques are not yet modernAlong some of the walking trails there are suspension bridges and we crossed one which had been built in the 1500’s.

Celebrations

The Bhutanese become very animated at sporting success. They have discontinued soccer as a major sport partially because the games would drag on for ages due to the prolonged celebration when a goal was scored. A goal was unaccompanied singing, dancing and all round elation which is contagious and amusing and could last for twenty minutes!

Archery is pretty much the national sport and we witnessed this being ‘played’ on several occasions. On Saturday morning we pulled over to watch a serious competition and the target was 145m from the archers. Nevertheless the arrows that did not hit the target did not miss by much. When a bulls eye was hit they erupted into a lively jig and loud but melodious singing which went on for several minutes!

We also had a chance to join the locals in some casual archery and Tess proved to be a natural!

We were told that quite literally all boys are expected to engage in archery – and if someone doesn’t they are very much frowned upon.

National Dress

As part of the government’s drive to maintain culture all adults are required to wear the national dress. For men it is the Gho and women the Kira. It is made from long lengths of woven cloth and must be worn at work and any communal occasions. For men there are large cuffs (usually white) which are slipped over the sleeves.

                                                Practising for the Festival next week-note traditional dress

Politics & Leadership

In 2007 the fourth king in his annual address announced that he and the former advisory council of (chosen-not elected) ministers were retiring and he basically introduced democracy on the kingdom. He explained that his son would be crowned king and that there would be a democratic government and elections would be held for the first five year term in 2008.

He explained that too many decisions were being made that affected the people and that they should have some say over how the country developed. He was probably quite genuine in this but was also probably facing too much competing pressure on many serious and far reaching decisions.

They had studied various democratic systems and appear to have avoided some of the problems for example that we face in Australia.

                                                                        Tess above Thimphu

There are 47 electorates and the parliament is like a very large local government as there are no other official assemblies in the provinces or villages.

Some interesting approaches to the electoral system:

-          Anyone can form a party but the party must field candidates in all 47 electorates or they are disqualified. This avoids opportunistic fringe parties or other independents or minor parties forming coalitions.

-          If more than two parties meet the criteria and wish to contest an election, a primary or run off vote is held so that in the end the electors have a choice only between two parties.

-          Once the election is called the candidates receive about $5K from the government to run their campaign. No other funds are to be used. In each centre/village there is an open forum for the candidates during the campaign and these follow formal processes including Q&A with the voters.

-          We saw many election notice boards in all parts of the country and these are the only approved means of advertising by candidates

-          Anyone standing for election must have a degree (education is important) - they must be aged at least 24 and no older than 60

-          Anyone standing for election must be audited for all financial dealings and would need to repay any loans that they might have had from the government

-          Similarly, the candidate and his/her immediate and extended family are investigated for any criminal records or concerns

In the first election in 2008 a party won by 44-3.

In the next election in 2013 the previous ruling party finished up with only 15 seats and a new party gained government with the balance.

The Prime Minister and the twelve ministers are required to live in a compound in the capital Thimphu. This is partly to reduce expense of security details and travel costs for staff but also ensures that they are all on hand to discuss issues.

The locals listen in to daily broadcasts from parliament and the newspapers report on what transpired. But apparently there are limits on what can be said by way of commentary about the government – and the king.

That said, it is a significant change for the country and follows up on the fourth king’s successful effort to have the country admitted to the UN in the late 1990’s which was mainly to ensure some border security and also to give more access to foreign capital and UN aid/development funds.

Economics

The primary source of income is from hydro power as much of the electricity is sold to India. There are two current hydro systems and two more are under development. The government also levies all tourists on a per diem basis and there is a degree of agricultural trade with neighbouring countries.

                                                                  Thimphu - Capital of Bhutan

Health and education services are a priority and in remote rural locations electricity is free as the pragmatic view is that it would not be efficient to have meters, readers and payment arrangements in those areas! Education is free and there is a debate about priorities for infrastructure. One view is that more roads between rural communities would allow for trade and therefore improved living standards. Currently most rural areas are linked by walking tracks which limit movement of goods.

Social security in the form of cash benefits is not developed an families are generally required to take care of their own.

There are regulations governing labour but unions are not allowed.

While we were travelling our guide received a call to advise that some money was being docked from his pay as a contribution for some colleague who is sick! Employees receive a form of sick pay but this attitude of communal support is highly developed and is no problem as far as our guide was concerned.

The currency is the Nu and we noticed that all the currency was paper and no coins. The guide explained that they had coins for a while but people were collecting them so they were not in circulation. This was a problem for cash management nationally!

Gross National Happiness (GNH)

The GNH concept is an initiative of the current king. The population is small enough to survey quite regularly and to keep costs low university students are required to perform this census in their major break. It seeks views from the people on a wide range of topics and if a respondent is unhappy about something he has to explain why and what would improve it.

                                                   Dzong at Paro. These fortresses were built in the 1600's

The topics are highly relevant and could include for example: social alienation. This is not a problem in the rural villages but is becoming a potential problem in the towns. One partial solution introduced by the government in the towns was to require all apartment dwellers to collectively clean the common areas on Saturdays! There isn’t much cleaning done but people meet and inevitably finish up in one of the units having tea and getting to know their neighbours.

The authorities look for themes and while the menu of issues is controlled it seems that people can be candid and the survey is taken very seriously and annual trends will be a measure of the government as well.

The Future

Bhutan is a paradox in many ways.

The government forbids unions but operates a very controlling almost totalitarian system of government that provides incredible services and benefits to the population and is highly relevant to the lives of all citizens.

It has a robust democracy which has been designed to avoid corruption and is highly accountable.

The king and the parliament are intent on preserving and promoting the culture – and enforce this aspiration. Yet via TV and the internet there is massive exposure to the secularism and opulence of the west freely available to the population.

Education is a key priority and the challenge is to achieve infrastructure development and economic prosperity without a resultant decline in the positive aspects of living in a truly communal society.

Two thirds of the population are not adults and the future will be determined by them.

Bhutan is a fascinating experiment or laboratory of social development and will be worth watching in the years ahead.

                          

                                     Tess and our Guide in the Paro Dzong