Darla School Celebrates the 60th Birth Anniversary of the Fourth Druk Gyalpo

Prayers for the long live of the kings

Chipdrel ceremony in the morning with the public of Darla

Making the right thing

Various songs and dances are performed, and this one is by class six - dancing for the long life of the king

Our students feeling proud to be Bhutanese

Class nine dancing

This Chorten is consecrated today and is dedicated to HM, the Fourth King

Singing of Zhabten and Listening to the King's speech aired in the school sound box

Our Public dancing

Class eight furling the flag so high

Consecration Going on

Lighting butter lamp for HM 60th birth anniversary

Special Dedication Week to our Fourth King Jigme Singye Wangchuck

This week is celebrated as ‘Special Dedication Week’ to His Majesty the fourth Druk Gyalpo on His 60^th birth anniversary in Bhutan.  Every day–for–a–week, we are having different messages and programs. We light butter lamps for the king which is arranged (a small altar) in front of the assembly ground. We sing Zhabten(a special prayer for long life). Many students’ speakers spoke about the fourth king in the morning assembly. There were also quiz questions based on the fourth king’s life.

We solemnize this week to our living legacy. We express and show our gratitude, honor, homage, accolade, commendation, felicitation, wish, pledge, gratefulness, thankfulness, appreciation, greeting and pay tribute, and we pray for his happy and long life. To honor the occasion, I recounted a short fact about the fourth Druk Gyalpo during one of my a week duties (Teacher on Duty)

King Jigme Singye Wangchuck was born at Dechencholing Palace, Thimphu on 11 November 1955, to the Third King Jigme Dorji Wangchuck and Her Majesty Queen Grandmother Ashi Kesang Choden Wangchuck.

                                                         

The mantle of leadership, when Bhutan was at a crossroads both domestically and internationally, fell on him, on June 2, 1974, when he became the king of Bhutan at the age of 18.

He married to the four queens, Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck, Ashi Tshering Pem Wangchuck, Ashi Tshering Yangdon Wangchuck and Ashi Sangay Choden Wangchuck, who all are daughters of Yab Ugyen Dorji and Yum Thuji Zam.

He brought many landmarks developments, like construction of Chukha Hydropower Project, road networks, decentralization of administrations, opening to tourism, became a member of many organization like WHO, UNESCO, World bank, IMF, SAARC, established RIM in Bhutan, established Gewog Yargay Tshochung, etc…

During his reign, he firmly established our status as an independent, sovereign nation.

During his reign, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck expanded diplomatic relations with many foreign countries. His Majesty foreign policy deepens Bhutan’s relations with many countries especially India. Bhutan also received many high-level foreign visitors including various Prime Ministers of India; Yasser Arafat; Prince Naruhito of Japan, the King Birendra of Nepal, Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia of Bangladesh, and I.K. Gujral; and Prince Charles of Wales, to name a few.

The country overcame the militancy of the southern rebels in the 1990s. His Majesty led the "operation flush out" team against ULFA, KLO and NDFB militants. The well-armed militants from Assam and Bengal had illegally entered jungles of southern Bhutan and camped in some 30 locations while carrying out attacks back in Assam and Bengal. Our King personally headed the military operation and flushed them out in three days, which might have brought a security threat to the country.

The Fourth Druk Gyalpo, also drafted the Constitution of Bhutan with his people, providing the legal framework for a democratic, political system for Bhutan. The drafting of the Constitution for the kingdom of Bhutan is an exemplary stride towards democracy. In many countries, the changes in the system of governments were brought externally through revolution and public strife. However, the Bhutanese are fortunate since the change came as a gift to the people of Bhutan from the Throne. The Constitution was offered to the people at a time when the country enjoyed unparalleled peace and stability with total harmony and unshakable fidelity between the King and the people.

The fourth king abdicated the thrown for the people in 2006 and in favor of his son Crown Prince Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck.

A larger than life figure, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck is a national hero of different historic dimensions and aspects of national status and life. His Majesty the Fourth King Jigme Singye Wangchuck is the creator of GNH (Gross National Happiness) and the Father of the Nation.

I also recited a short oath to our king which I have written very recently:

Our joy ring, we sing

Long may our land be bright

With freedom’s holy light

Great God, our king.

King Jigme Singye Wangchuck

United, peace and spring of development brought

Thank you.

Long live our beloved king.

May His Majesty enjoy many years of happiness and may the flag of Pelden Drukpa continue to flutter high under the reign of his son, His Majesty King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck.

Long live the Fourth Druk Gyalpo! Palden Drukpa Gyelo!

 

Not only me, our students also read so many beautiful messages and tributes to our king.

One of these messages is written below; which was read out by Mr. Dawa Thsering of class V B. I wrote this piece for him.

My King: The Jewel of our Country

My king, my country’s king. He is helpful to all the people. He worries about his country. He makes good decisions to help people when any problem comes.

I am glad to have a smart and brave king. He guides our small nation with great love and affection. He is guiding us to the realms of modernity without sacrificing our great tradition. He is our guardian.

My king is my parent. He is very popular everywhere. He has built many schools and hospitals, roads, electricity, etc, for his people.

I have my poem here for you, Your Majesty.

You are the bud of love

And country’s king

You are so special

You are the king of many great hearts

And jewel of our country.

His Majesty Visits

His Majesty visited Darla Gewog on 17/10/2015. It was a history to have an audience with His Majesty Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck at Rinchentse Helipad, Darla. No king had visited before in Darla. His Majesty’s plan was to visit our school, but due to some busy schedule, the Majesty and His entourages arrived very late in the evening. Our school and staff were asked to go down to Rinchentse. So, we walked in line for almost three kilometers to be picked by buses on the way. The school was very unlucky and unfortunate to have missed the Royal visit. We had splendorous and pompous preparation for His Majesty's visit to our school for almost a week. But anyways, we were extremely lucky to have the audience at Rinchentse with the public of Darla and neighboring villages. Thousands of people assembled on the ground. Many people were said to have come early in the morning from 5am. The audience was graced with His Majesty's presence at 5pm. The Majesty gave a royal speech on how happy he was to be with the people. He also talked about being a good citizen and taking care of children – sons and daughters. The Majesty also served Tokha to the people. People also received His Majesty's booklet with a Coronation coin in it. There were also some dances from the public of Darla and students of Darla MSS. Bhutanese comedians, Gyem Tshering and Gyam Dorji broke out many witty jokes; and there were lots of mirth and joys. When people came out, people were all smiles to have received a beautiful portrait of His Majesty the King and The Queen.  

A Business is to be Noted

One of the most significant need in life is money. Companies and individuals business make profit. The celebration and festivities woo the mind of people to buy and try; to ask them to keep the things of the event. The World Olympic event in China or Independence Day celebration or National Day is only money. Like anywhere, the 60^th anniversary has become a profit making anniversary in Bhutan. Like reading year for book keepers, the celebrations are lucrative business for many money minded people. Many groups of people came to our school bringing wall clock bearing the HM’s portrait, lotteries based on the celebration, badges, and other.

Suppose in our school, every student has to buy a badge; and everyone has to pay nu. 50/- each for the badge. And today our students got the new badge with the 4^th king portrait on it. They were happy to be with the king, but not with the quality of the badge as it would worth not more than nu.20/- The pins from the badge comes out without any reasons. And the HM photo isnt clear.

Badge for my class

A Golden Handshake-a solution to Unemployment

The government has failed to frame a long-term employment policy, without which there is a danger of our youth going astray, thereby disrupting and pressurising the path of development strategies. It is also noted that an employment otherwise would be for a few well-connected individuals.

According to a recent report prepared by the Ministry Labour and Human Resources, the unemployment rate is 2.9 percent and the country’s youth unemployment stands at 9.6 percent.

This year too, almost half of the 3,322 university graduates appeared the preliminary examination for 434 vacancies in the civil service. This means at least three graduates will be vying for a slot in the civil service this year. The unemployment figure is rising. According to the labour ministry’s press release, the national unemployment rate has decreased by 0.3 percent in 2014 from 2013, which is not actually true.

Google Guru

The government must now think of absorbing graduates. One of the best ways of giving jobs is to replace old servants with new, skilled seekers. The labour force participation rate is estimated at 62.6 percent in 2014, (those between 16-45) and they are considered economically active group than those who are economically inactive due to old age. One of the schemes of making the workforce is Voluntary Retirement Scheme. This is generous, can be tax-free severance payment to persuade the employees to voluntarily retire from the company, which is called a ‘Golden hand Shake’ as it is the golden route to retrenchment. It can be a better way of creating jobs for an active group of people.

A golden handshake is essentially a severance or kind of compensation made to employees through several ways, such as cash, or stock options, or other incentive packages. It’s an agreement between an employee and employer when they leave jobs or retire voluntary-credit as a retirement incentive. The golden parachute agreement customarily is used as a lure to create jobs and give opportunities to jobs to young people in the country. As young people enter jobs, they tend to perform better than old oldies.

Some benefits under this scheme are better emoluments; the employee will get the provident fund and gratuity dues at the earlier year so that he/she can use for house construction, and for family subsistence. It is a lucrative settlement that prevents resentment at old age. It also offers the best and human route to retrenching excess employees. Sometimes, voluntary nature precludes the need for enforcement.

The people most likely to take advantage of the Golden Handshake(GH) are people who would retire anyway. For example, employees who are more than 50 years old and have more than 25 years of service should be eligible for GH. If this tenure has to be taken in, 1000 or more jobs could be created in a year than mare 434. Offering the GH might encourage a few additional employees to retire sooner. And those bogus employees opt for retirement and for the benefit anyway, and then the new experiencers would result in a higher quality job.

As an alternative to the Golden Handshake, there could be a Lump Sum Incentive program in which retirement-eligible employees were offered a lump sum incentive. These can include cash, a house, or stocks options, or other packages for life-long for a personal sacrifice of early retirement. For example, an employee at least 50 years old who retires by the close of the fiscal year is offered the opportunity to receive lump sum incentives.

Human Values Workshop

Darla school staff attended Human Values Workshop in Gedu for three days beginning from 13-15^th of August. I am reproducing some important topics that the workshop covered during these three days. When there was a feedback session, everyone said how changed everyone was at the end of the workshop. In the beginning, the content was similar to our eight-fold paths, and it actually was derived from there.

The session starts with this proposal, an ambiguous one:

“Whatever is said is a Proposal (Do not assume it to be true/false)

Verify it on Your Own Right – on the basis of your Natural Acceptance “

It also defines the role of education.

“The role of education is to facilitate the development of the competence to live with Definite Human Conduct.”

And transformation is equal to development as far as the workshop. This is the diagrammatic summary of human values.

Transformation = Development

Right Understanding is all we need

And Preconditioning leads to many undesirable activities

 

The self and body...i like this part the most. Everything submerges in the space. Where does the self go from the space? 

PemaGatshel Throme

Of late, there are lots of hullabaloos about Dzongkhag Throme in Pemagatshel, and it is radical, and people have rights at length. Pemagatshel is the only Dzongkhag left without any thromes; Yenlag or Dzongkhag throme. In social media like Facebook and Twitter, one could read so many hurling abuses and comments left by the literate people of Pemagatshel.

Lucky Semsel wrote in the facebook group called ‘Pemagatshepa:’

  “If you look at the present Pema Gatshel Dzong area, you won't see any major developments. Things have not changed for decades in terms of development. Now, the dzong is under construction in Denchi and the Dzongkhag area will also eventually shift to the new location. However, if Denchi is not identified as the Dzongkhag town, everything will be same again. No developments will take place there. On the contrary, Nganglam is bound to prosper as a big business harp whether it is identified as Dzongkhag town or not. Should there be rainfall where there is already abundant water? Or, should the rain fall in the desert?”

And the most popular and thorough discussion is about poll posted by Sangay Choki. It has now more than 500 comments, and most people voting for Denchi.
 Vote for Thromdey in Pemagatshel
Which one you prefer as Thromdey in Pemagatshel? *
1. Nganglam is more appropriate
2. Denchi is more appropriate

And likewise, there are many opinions and views about Thromes, and most of them dissatisfied ones. I truly believe that Gatshelpas are not taken fairly and are deliberately abandoned. There was only Dasho Zanglay Drukpa folding his hands that a Throme should be in Denchi.NC Jigme Rinzin was not supporting any of the places. What is that? And that woman didn’t exist there. I would prefer Dzongkhag Throme in Denchi, and there are many reasons for this. Firstly, Dzong is so near. Secondly, Denchi has eight jacketing Gewogs. Thirdly, it was already planned by the DPT govt. and where is the logic if the plan changes when every new govt. is formed. Fourthly, Denchi is safer than bordering places. Fifth point is that Nganlam is far-flung from Dzong, and it would be for eight gewogs if ever Dzong was to be established in Nganlam. Sixth, Nganlam would develop inevitably as it’s a border. Seventh, Nganlam will be a regional town, not Dzongkhag throme. Eight, Ngalam was not in Pemagathsel before five years ago. Ninth, Denchi has two big rivers nearby so that people could catch fish to feed their lives-true. To develop into a town, a river is necessary. Look for any good cities or towns around the world without a big river nearby them. Tenth, Pemagatshel has no town then.

The fact is that we don’t have to have any kind of hard feelings in our mind if it weren’t for ONE person. This happens because of ONE leader when Bhutan first has a transaction in the govt. system. HE came out of nowhere declaring he was from Pemagathsel. Where was the connection – west and east? HE wooed and melted the hearts of women. HE easily won. If HE was in the power now, Gatshelpas would have been more fortunate; we would have got what everyone got. AND if HE had not contested first from there, Gatshelpas would have been more fortunate than that. we would have got what everyone got. Now, half sunshine is all that is there. HE couldn’t go from what He had created like that leaving Gathselpas in this situation. You are our messiah, please come back. We are flawed. I personally have very high regard for the person; as a leader, as a developer, as an inspirer. HE is my role model. Everyone liked like me. Now the thinking of the govt. has changed. And everything has been sidelined. And this is politics. And I would leave with a quote from Kamala das ‘An Introduction':

I don’t know politics but I know the names
Of those in power, and can repeat them like
Days of week, or names of months, beginning with Nehru(TB).





Note: The above views are personal and don’t intend to hurt anyone directly or indirectly.