To All the Hardworking Health Workers

Very recently, my spouse had to be admitted to the BHU in Zhemgang. She had to spend a couple of days there. I escorted her. From our few days’ stay in the BHU, I could realize few important points which we otherwise, often overlook.

The health workers in the BHU are sometimes obliged to work during odd hours so as to attend to the ailment of the patients. There is also a worker in the BHU to whom everybody addresses as ‘Ata’. He stays in the BHU premises twenty four seven.

I wonder how they could work so well even if it meant during odd hours or for almost all the time with beautiful smiles on their faces because it was almost impossible for me to stay awake even for few days, that too when my wife was ill!

I know it is not only in Zhemgang, rather health workers everywhere, both within Bhutan and abroad, work very hard. Therefore, I offer my heartfelt appreciation to all the dedicated health workers.

I wonder if the remuneration they get at the end of the month justifies the amount of hard work they put in. But more important than the remuneration, I feel is the kind of intention that you work with. The nature of your job is unquestionably noble. As such, please continue to work selflessly and accumulate merit for your whole lifetime!

Electioneering Helps Promote our National Language

If we use the way that our MPs used to speak in the Parliament as the baseline and compare them with the status quo, I can proudly say that almost all of them have improved, both in terms of confidence and spoken Dzongkha. (We should not however forget that there are quite a handful of them who have hardly stood up to make their points in the parliament and therefore, their Dzongkha would have remained almost the same as how it was five years ago. But that is a different story, altogether).

We have always been complaining about Dzongkha not being used as widely as English. If we analyze, the candidates of the National Council and National Assembly exclusively use Dzongkha to debate and present their manifestoes; in electioneering, in a nutshell. Parliamentarians use our national language to debate, deliberate and enact laws in the parliaments. What greater platform can we expect our national language to be used in?

The effect does not stop there! The debates are aired live on BBS. Many of us have followed them, thereby improving Dzongkha vocabulary among the viewers. Moreover, there are so many aspiring MPs among us. If we are to ever think of contesting an election, Dzongkha is the most essential prerequisite. Students who aim to take up politics after their graduation might also be learning Dzongkha more seriously. It is also very important for the electorate to understand Dzongkha in order to make an informed choice of a party/candidate. 

The whole election process means learning/knowing Dzongkha! Therefore, I genuinely feel that it has immensely contributed in promoting our national language nationwide. This is a brighter side of the status of our national language that merits our appreciation, rather than lamenting about the limitations all the time.