Published on December 21, 2005

All of Bhutan was in shock when the 50-year-old HM King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, or Druk Gyalpo, told his subjects on the county’s national day, last Saturday, that he would step down within two years and that his eldest 25-year-old son, Crown Prince Dasho Jigmey Ghesher Namgyel Wangchuck, would take the throne. It was not a major headline around the world the next morning as it should have been – it took wire services two days to realise the significance of this development and get out the story. But to the Bhutanese, the news came down at once like an avalanche.

Kinley Dorji, editor in chief of Bhutane se newspaper Kuensel, explained that the king wants to step down from the throne when there is peace and prosperity in the country. He does not want to see the country forced to change because of war or revolution.

Throughout his reign, the editor said, the king has been educating and consulting with the Bhutanese people to prepare for this announcement.

Bhutan has been gradually moving towards democracy since 1988, when members of the cabinet began to be elected. Now the king wants to speed up democratic reforms in the country. He is devolving more of his power to elected officials. A constitution has been drafted and is expected to be adopted by 2008. He has introduced a provision in the charter that the king should step down at the age of 65 years old. But last week, he surprised his nation by saying that he would abdicate in 2008.

Now the king is travelling throughout the country to debate and consult with his people on the draft constitution. At a recent gathering in Gyalpozhing, some district representatives urged the king to remain on the throne for life. They feared that without his personal leadership, it would be easier for the country to be negatively affected by difficulties and uncertainties.

Bhutanese are very aware of their country’s small size and strategic location. Sandwiched between the two most populous countries in the world, China and India, Bhutan’s future survival is the biggest challenge.

According to Dorji, who attended some of these gatherings, the king said that it is not good when one man makes all the decisions, and that the Bhutanese people have to provide for their own future. He expressed his wish that the people become able to know how to choose the right leaders – people who can best serve the national and public interest.

Soon, the government will establish an electoral commission to train officials to handle the country’s first general election, as mandated by the new constitution. Political parties reflecting the broad-based interests of the country will contest in a primary election. The two political parties that get the most votes will then compete in a second round of voting. The party that wins the second round will become the ruling party and the losing one will serve as the opposition party. The state will provide all political campaign funds.

According to the latest census, completed in May, Bhutan has 553,000 people. Kinley said that Bhutan is blessed to have a small, manageable population, which makes it easier for people to be happy. In fact, making people happy has become a major goal of the Bhutanese government, as reflected in the government’s concept of Gross National Happiness, or GNH. No other country has placed “happiness” so squarely at the centre of a national plan and pursued it as vigorously as mountain-locked Bhutan. The problem is, how can one measure happiness or know exactly when it is attained?

Happiness in the conventional sense is related to levels of comfort of various sorts, the kinds of opportunities one has, the types of shelter or food or social services and material possessions one has. But in Bhutan, from what I have gathered, happiness is a hybrid of these things that one needs for day to day living, as well as something spiritual. People in Bhutan are happy that they have enough to eat and activities to enjoy as well as a clean environment and fresh mountain air. This might sound a bit romantic. But it is not. Bhutanese experience this kind of happiness every day. What we consider to be a dream or paradise, or for that mater, Shangri-La, is their reality.

Along the way to visit the Temple of Saint Drukpa Kinley (aka the Divine Madman) in Wangdi Phodrang, 75 kilometres from the Thimphu Valley, I came across a group of women and men baking in the strong afternoon sun. One woman was applying a greenish herbal paste to the hair of another woman. They giggled when I approached them and asked: “What are you doing with her hair?” The women just laughed, revealing her reddish teeth, stained from chewing a bitter local nut. Then, the woman who was fixing her friend’s hair said that the paste, which looked liked wet cow dung, helped prevent hair from splitting and made it appear shinier and blacker.

It struck me that this was just the kind of natural herbal treatment that tourists are spending a fortune on in exclusive spa resorts around the world. The three men who were sitting on the ground near the women were laughing the whole time. They said their families normally spend their afternoons looking after their children, doing household chores, talking with each other and preparing dishes. They also pray every day.

Since the Wangdi Valley is very fertile, the villagers can harvest rice twice a year. A few years back, the government introduced a new crop of rice, Nipponica, from Japan for them to grow in addition to their staple red rice. The idea was that they could grow the rice to boost their income. But the villagers surprised proponents of the scheme, by complaining that they did not need extra income as much as they needed a balanced lifestyle. They rejected the plan to grow more rice, arguing that they would not have enough time to rest and enjoy themselves. More is better, to us. But to them, wealth is not valued in material terms and having less can give you greater happiness.

To Bhutanese villagers, happiness is measured simply by their state of mind. Such spiritual happiness is the foundation of their genuine contentment with their lives. When your mind is at ease and content, there is no room for unhappiness.

The above example is just from one village I visited. Each village has different conditions and outlooks. Many are located in remote mountainous places. More time is needed before the contentment of Bhutanese villagers is better understood. In months and years to come, this GNH will be a subject of further scrutiny by Asian and Western experts, including Thais, and development experts who are in search of new development paradigms. Can Bhutan offer a new approach, which is based on attainment of happiness and sustainable development?

It is obvious that the Bhutanese people love their king very much. So it was a big shock to them to learn that their king is stepping down by his own free will while he is still relatively young. An example of just how open and easygoing the state of affairs in Bhutan is, is well reflected in the 320-page telephone book here, which lists the telephone numbers of all royal family members, including the king, and the addresses of their palaces throughout the country.

Kavi Chongkittavorn

The Nation

THIMPHU

Post your comment to this story here