The Bhutanese Leading the way.
There has been a lot of public anger on the ESP issue among others online. One can dismiss this as yet another online campaign that will fizzle out with time, but there is something different this time and it fits in with a larger trend.
Be it the ESP or other issues, public anger seems to be rising and there is a decline or even breakdown in the traditional trust between the people and the government embodied in Tha Damtshi.
This also coincides with a Generation Z coming into its own in Bhutan. This generation is less patient with the old ways and more ready to voice out. There seems to be increasing frustration within this group and many see a future outside Bhutan.
The online anger and outrage are also in the context of an economy that is still suffering in the post pandemic era with many businesses struggling. It is not just the hotel sector. The fixes are there but policy makers almost seem paralyzed or are dragging their feet to take action.
An example is the duration discount in tourism being studied for over a year now as hotels go under and guides leave the country.
There is an increasing sense that business as usual cannot continue for long and policy makers have to put their ears close to the ground and start making changes or something may give.
The above is also in the context of global developments where the young people impatient with their governments are increasingly taking matters into their hands.
What may have been acceptable to older generations is not okay with this group.
Bhutan, of course, will never see things spilling out of hand or on the streets but the biggest danger at the moment is that our people are starting to lose hope.
It was already this despondency that drove many young people abroad. We cannot afford to lose more youths or see further weakening of the Tha Damtshi.
“When parents and children consult together, a little bit becomes a whole lot”
Vincent Okay Nwachukwu
