The Bhutanese Leading the way.
There is no better symbol then the Royal Couple of His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Gyaltsuen, for a country that is fiercely independent, has a rich heritage, a bright future and has citizens who are largely good and honest folk.
Bhutan no doubt is going through a lot with a burgeoning economic crisis, growing political and civil discord, governance issues, scams, external developments and etc.
However, in the middle of this heavy storm stands a strong and unshakeable pillar of national unity, sovereignty, strength and stability which is the institution of the Monarchy represented by His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen.
The Royal Couple are the most important part of how Bhutan defines itself as a sovereign and independent nation, how we define ourselves as citizens in this nation and also how we are seen by foreigners.
The Monarchy through the Royal Couple represents what is common to all of us as citizens in Bhutan. The Monarchy is above political parties, above regions, above race, above religious sects and represents the true essence of the Bhutanese people, the very soul of the Bhutanese identity and the sovereign basis of the Bhutanese state.
The Royal Couple in the last one year since the Royal wedding has been a true source of joy and happiness to their subjects.
After the Royal Wedding in Punakha Bhutan once again saw that we have a People’s King and a People’s Queen.
Regardless of security, protocol and physical discomfort His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen took out time and made genuine effort to meet all their subjects lined out to greet them from Punakha to the Capital.
The Royal Couple has been a source of comfort and solace, be it the Eastern tour before the Royal Wedding where land Kidu was granted, visit and Kidu to earthquake affected areas in Western Bhutan and also in the aftermath of the Wangdue Dzong fire.
Her Majesty Gyaltsuen Jetsun Pema Wangchuck has personally done much to educate stakeholders and numerous schools on the values of environmental protection as the Ozone Ambassador for the United Nations Environment Protection. Her Majesty’s launch of the Ability Bhutan Society will do much for the differently abled in Bhutan.
Her Majesty has been present during all the audiences His Majesty has granted over the year to thousands of people from all walks of life, in the Lingkana palace, and during His Majesty’s school and other visits.
The Royal Couple has also greatly strengthened Bhutan’s traditional friendships with countries like India and Japan who are also Bhutan’s biggest and second biggest developmental partners respectively.
The Royal Couple choose to visit India as the first country after their wedding which further enhanced the crucial Indo-Bhutan friendship. In Japan the Royal Couple’s visit apart from enhancing diplomatic ties also created a national media and public frenzy with the Japanese public who could not get enough of the Royal couple and also in the process Bhutan. It also resulted in a huge boom for Bhutan’s tourism industry with Japanese tourist numbers expected to double this year replacing USA tourists as the highest number of tourists visiting Bhutan.
For a country of around 60 percent youth population the young Royal Couple has also been looked at as inspirational youth icons. The Royal couple’s keen interest in youth issues demonstrated in their visits to various schools and youth gatherings has been a breath of fresh air in a country where there is a big generation gap between the rulers and the youth. The Royal Couple enjoys high popularity among the youth.
The Royal couple since the Royal wedding has demonstrated good leadership, duty, self sacrifice, sincerity, humility, kindness, stability, virtue and hope for the future.
The Royal Wedding was also the culmination of a great love story and the stuff of which good fairy tales are made off in a world that desperately needs both. Once upon a time, a good, kind and handsome King married a lovely, kind and beautiful Queen to the joy of their subjects and they all lived happily ever after.
These lines are so so touching…..”The Royal Wedding was also the culmination of a great love story and the stuff of which good fairy tales are made off in a world that desperately needs both. Once upon a time, a good, kind and handsome King married a lovely, kind and beautiful Queen to the joy of their subjects and they all lived happily ever after.”…………………….
Tashi Delek to your Majesties, the symbol of our country and heritage. We love and respect you. We wish you everlasting love and happiness. With undying loyalty and respects.
For those who believes in unbiased editorial, this editor bashes Government one way or other even while commemorating solemn occasion like Royal Wedding! There is no country without problem but this is not a occasion to highlight and talk about problems. Not a time for negativity, rather time to rejoice peace and tranquility we enjoy under the great monarchs.
Maybe its the writing style, but somehow, this editorial just does not sound like a sincere tribute, but rather a platform for more of the usual fare
Why preface it with broad strokes and pronouncements, yet again, with such statements like “growing political and civil discord”. Come on, like others said, every country has problems. Is it really that bad in the state of affairs in the country, or is the Bhutanese finding that the tabloid format as hard to fill with stories as the broadsheet format?
We’ve always faced challenges through every period in our history. Its just that we did not have media trying to sell papers and influence public opinion before.