Ap Tsara Speaks

Getting people out of rat race

Wai! The rupee crisis – nay the rupee problem as the government likes to put it – has galvanized our government and people into doing many things that are long overdue. Many Bhutanese, including this Ap Tsara, who pretends to know many things, are now clearer on the issue. One positive outcome of the crisis [...]

---

Grumpy industry

Wai! This is the time of the year when the Bhutanese film industry gets flamboyantly colourful as well as grumpy. First, the people from the industry get colourful, next grumpy, then silent – in this order. Like every year, this year’s film festival last week also brought together Bhutan’s artistes for a few hours in [...]

---

Surprise inspection catch tobacco act defaulters

Two teams of officials led by Bhutan Narcotic Control Authority (BNCA) fined a number of individuals and offices in Thimphu yesterday in a surprise inspection. The two teams collected Nu 30,000 in fines from government as well as private offices for failing to adhere to the Tobacco Control Act of Bhutan 2010. The teams visited [...]

---

Illegal donations

Wai! Bhutan is a deeply spiritual nation, but that doesn’t mean it should have an increasing number of people seeking monetary donations to renovate or restore temples and monasteries. At a time when our religious monuments are falling apart, such people can be saviours, but they can also be cheats. The use of charitable donations [...]

---

Death of another paper tiger

Wai! It made international headlines, created controversies at home, sent people to prison, devastated many a family. As if the boisterous, painful beginning was made for nothing, the tobacco control act has now been almost consigned to oblivion. What initially came as a draconian law seems to have lost all its teeth now. The fact [...]

---

The guru’s dilemma

Wai! Nowadays, teachers in Bhutan are going through testing times. They’re in a dilemma over how to deal with increasingly younger, but more rowdy, children. There was a time when every student would look up to the teacher with respect and fear. The teachers admonished or punished them whenever they misbehaved. The punishment came mostly [...]

---

Street madness

Wai! People often say that living on the streets of boisterous cities like Kolkata and Delhi makes them loud because they have to make themselves heard over loud competing sounds, mostly coming from machines. If this is true, residents of Thimphu city must surely be louder than their rural cousins. Lately, Thimphu streets have become [...]

---

Reality shows galore

Going by the rate at which reality shows are being churned out, Bhutan’s entertainment industry is headed for a big change. The trend of starting reality shows picked up like that of starting newspapers.  In a few years, we have seen many reality singing shows, but all based on the same imported template. Music shows [...]

---

Cultural spectre

Wai! We keep on saying that alcohol as the biggest killer in Bhutan. But, what have we done about it? We are less keen, it seems, to devise ways and means to reduce alcohol consumption that has become a social malady. Meanwhile, alcohol-related deaths continue to rise year after year. True, drinking alcohol is part [...]

---

Reporting religion

Wai! A conference on media and religion this week in Thimphu highlighted one of the most important topics for discourse for media professionals. This discourse comes at a time when Bhutan becomes – or it is required to become by the constitution – open to all kinds of religions. As Bhutanese embrace different faiths, the [...]

---