How does one become happy? Is it a destination that one has to pursue in his lifetime? Or a condition by which one can never desire for more once he finally reaches happiness. Or a mere state of mind that one, without actually obtaining it, could so happily and simply declare he has realized it by his own standards and measurements?
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- Surrounded by Himalayan mountain range
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- Kissing Bhutan skyline
I had a providential encounter with a prominent Minister from Bhutan, who also happens to be a medical doctor, recently, when he and his team visited the Philippines for some exposure study visit with the hope to find something good in our education system that may be translated in the context of further developing Bhutan’s human resources. Whether or not they have found something unusual to copy from our system, or have drawn inspiringly good practices that could inspire them in their future constructive efforts is not the focus of this piece, but a curious question I will try to answer before you finish reading this.
Bhutan is probably the singular country known the world over to have openly expressed that she measures the happiness of her people not by the percentage of gross national product nor financial or economic indicators known to financially-beaten nations worldwide. It is probably a strange name that would make one wonder “where the hell is Bhutan” if one is not very familiar with modern geography and history of the vast and rich region of Asia. One of the few South Asian countries that shares the similar characteristic of being landlocked, Bhutan is surrounded by giant countries like India to its south, east and west and China to its north and other smaller nation like Nepal. It is known as the Land of the Thunder Dragon, in the tradition of labeling the country’s huge potential and very rich history despite being dwarfed by two of the world’s emerging giants.
The former King of Bhutan, the father of King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, like any other leaders, was highly concerned about the development of the country and its people. In his many travels abroad and interaction with his people, the concept of Gross National Happiness (GNH) was conceived. This has been progressively carried out by the beloved King Jigme Singye, who abdicated his throne in 2008 in favor of his son, giving way to more political reforms, one of which was the historic democratic election last year.
But more than just being a concept, GNH has become a deep guiding philosophy embraced by the people of Bhutan. A balanced way of achieving development. Amidst technological advancements, environmental condition changes and socio-economic trends happening around the neighboring giants and the world, the real meaning of development for Bhutan is solidly pegged as nothing but attaining one’s own level of happiness with a well-preserved environment, intact culture and identity and tradition at the back drop.
I had the luck to have visited Bhutan sometime in November 2006 on a wintery 4-day official trip. There is undoubtedly a well-grounded reason to be happy in Bhutan. Surrounded by a beautiful landscape of heights and peaks, the place is undoubtedly endowed. Talk about its lush landscape which I found so beautifully artistic moving from Paro airport to capital city Thimpu. Nature is well-preserved. Few hotels stand in the main city Thimpu, and limited flights are offered by the single air carrier of Bhutan, Druk Air: an indication that tourism is well-regulated and the rush of tourists every year is controlled to the optimum number that can be hosted at a given time.
The people are well-disciplined, highly educated at least in the capital city. Their identity is well-preserved, as shown by coming daily to work with pride in their traditional dresses: men in striped skirt (yes, men can wear skirt here!) with knee-high black socks and women in satin colorful oriental design top and skirts. Majority of the people are Buddhist believers with young and elder monks a common sight. Not much cars are there to pollute the clean air. Men and women who belong to a rather small population of Bhutan, would rather walk their way to their destinations, which could never be far considering the small land area occupied by the city. If one must go to the marketplace, one would find various textile products imported from neighboring countries like Nepal and India. Construction of the road systems are mostly done by Indian and Nepali workers since the work itself is considered mediocre it is difficult for educated Bhutanese to take such jobs or any lowly jobs in villages.
During my brief but unforgettable visit to the best country I have ever been so far, I came to learn three unique things about Bhutan: First, that it was probably the last country to have allowed its people to access television and the internet at the late part of the 20th century, which is comparatively too late since televisions have become an ordinary piece in the living room of most Asian household, rich or average poor.
Second, they are not fond of eating sweets or any form of desserts that we all grew up with, a stark reality that life in Bhutan must be something very very far from what young Filipinos of today have been raised into.
Third, they live by the principles and pillars of Gross National Happiness, with the 4 pillars namely sustainable development, environmental preservation, cultural preservation and identity. Upon which, further criteria are drawn to guarantee that the true meaning of development is measured against the criteria that matter most for each Bhutanese and the country’s collective national development.
These three unique things somehow made me curious to see and contrast with what we, as Filipinos in our beloved land, are told and made to believe in when we talk about happiness in this material world. We grew up highly influenced by the ‘western way’: dressing up following iconic figures in Levi’s, Gaps and what have yous; thanks to “Ukay-Ukay” an average or thrifty but “wais” Filipino can get these branded goods for as low as 30 pesos for being either factory rejects or second-hand goods.
We keep ourselves abreast and equipped with new gadgets, toys and equipment, not owning them kicks us off and away from the techie fad. And to have these material things, some would resort to unimaginable acts, making a sorry state of creating a material culture amongst the young and old members of the society.
We eat our way in between classes and official work time following the American way of Starbucks, McDonald’s and Burger Kings, that we could not help but create our own chain of fastfood junkies, again, following menus and recipes with a twist to preserve a little of what remains in our culture and taste. Our natural sweet tooth has either given birth to a diverse and creative collection of sweet junkies that do not fall (Thank God!) within the western chocolate family but rice etc.(e.g. sapin-sapin, biko, leche flan, ubeng haleya etc.) or given birth to a very young generation of diabetics.
Truly, we have an array of sources of happiness and simple pleasures. But if we let these things manipulate us, we are reducing ourselves into being technologically or materially rich but unhappy beings, without which we are nothing. And our nation an unhappy sorry one.
Corruption, in small or big way, is rooted from desiring the material things that one believes he must own to be happy. With power, corruption is made legitimate since occupying a position in the government or private corporation gives a convenient leeway to earn more than what is prescribed and have much than what one needs. With power, corruption is acceptable since to hold power, one has the convenient access to extra-budgetary money-making sources (and processes) more than what one must get into. All in pursuit of happiness. Has this become our measurement and standard of happiness?
Going back to the question, what good is it in our country that others might be inspired to bring to their own land. I believe there are a lot. And one of them is our desire for change. But we are yet to act on it collectively, harmoniously, unitedly, responsively.
To this I have yet another question to ask: Why can’t we learn from the Bhutanese way? Simple. Happy with the brand of things that bring them happiness. Responsible enough to see the extent to which they should be happy and stop when they they finally find it. This country is no rich one but rich inside.
(kb 06.2009)
