{"id":379,"date":"2008-12-21T17:01:03","date_gmt":"2008-12-21T11:01:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bridgetobhutan.com\/blog\/?p=379"},"modified":"2008-12-21T17:01:03","modified_gmt":"2008-12-21T11:01:03","slug":"the-road-ahead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bridgetobhutan.com\/blog\/2008\/12\/21\/the-road-ahead\/","title":{"rendered":"Bhutan celebrates the National Day:The road ahead"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n
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His Majesty addresses the Nation at Changlimethang<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

20 December, 2008 – <\/strong>Future generations of Bhutanese people will live longer. They will be better educated. They will have better communications and will travel further. They will be more prosperous. Their lives will be more comfortable. <\/span><\/p>\n

It was with this knowledge that the Bhutanese people around the country gathered to celebrate National Day on December 17 – to reflect on a past that made such a future possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have all come together, as one small family, celebrated 100 years of Monarchy, the start of democracy and my own Coronation,\u201d His Majesty the King said in the royal National Day address, which was broadcast and telecast live to the entire country. \u201cThe success of these celebrations and in fact the success of our nation over the last 100 years owes so much to the prayers and hard work of our people. I offer my gratitude to our people of the 20 dzongkhags for the kindness and love you have shown me during my Coronation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Literally stepping into a new era, many people were reflecting on their aspirations. They saw challenges ahead but were optimistic about the future.<\/p>\n

According to a former gup of Punakha, the past 100 years had not been smooth sailing. \u201cBut our forefathers ensured that we had a stable and a strong country,\u201d he said. \u201cAsk any of the elderly people and they will give examples of how our great Kings achieved this.\u201d<\/p>\n

He is not worried about the future: \u201cMy children will have a better life than me and I hope that they\u2019ll be as happy as I\u2019ve been,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Tshering Wangdi, a 39-year old businessman from Khalong village, would like to see the government tackle practical issues facing the country: \u201cI wish for the day when the children in my village will not have to walk for hours and days to attend school.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sonam, a 25-year old teacher, believes the government needs to work on basic education for all, especially in the villages, so that today\u2019s youth would truly be a part of the change. \u201cDemocracy is in place. His Majesty must guide Bhutan so that we remain an example of a peaceful nation in such troubled times,\u201d said Karma, a 45-year old housewife.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re the youngest democracy with the youngest King,\u201d said Yeshey Dorji, a 32-year old civil servant. \u201cI think there\u2019s a bright future waiting for Bhutan.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have every reason to be optimistic while entering a new era,\u201d said a former councillor of Thimphu, Dasho Bap Yeshey Dorji. \u201cHis Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo left a great legacy, by initiating a parliamentary democracy with a new noble and dynamic King. A great future has been given to the people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I marched past our King, I felt proud and happy,\u201d said Ugyen Bidha, 15. \u201cWe\u2019re celebrating our parents\u2019 achievements today. We look ahead to building an even better Bhutan in the next 100 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the moment to ask ourselves what each of us can do for the betterment of Bhutan,\u201d said health worker Sangay Zangmo. \u201cNow is the time to get started. I\u2019d like to see the government create opportunities for people to contribute in their little ways.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe foundation of our country was laid by our ancestors,\u201d according to a contractor, Penjo. \u201cWe\u2019re the architects, who can make it a stronger or a weaker country. We look forward to new opportunities. We hope the government will understand the needs of the people, people in all professions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHis Majesty has announced the fight against corruption,\u201d said Tashi Penjore, a civil servant. \u201cI hope there will be zero corruption in future. And service delivery from all three wings of government should improve.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Damcho Rinzin, who works in tourism, the relationship between the King and the people needs to be kept strong and everything else will work.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe new government should not lose sight of the path of GNH,\u201d said Dasho Galey Lhendup. \u201cThe GNH principles are a good guideline and nobody dare step out of such a noble policy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dorji Tshering, a civil servant for the past 18 years, is convinced that the Bhutanese people could not have hoped for more from the Wangchuck dynasty. \u201cWith our King to guide us, we expect changes from the democratic government,\u201d he added. \u201cWe want to see efficient people in the right posts, recognise those who contribute to the organisations and nation as a whole, and see a compact flawless system prevailing.\u201d<\/p>\n

His Majesty the King, His Majesty the fourth Druk Gyalpo, the royal family, and the people of Bhutan ended the celebrations with the Tashi Lebey, bringing the curtain down on a fine period of Bhutanese history and opening the door to a new era of hope.<\/p>\n

Their Royal Highnesses, the princes and princesses, celebrated the day with the people in the dzongkhags.<\/p>\n

Source: www.kuenselonline.com.bt<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

His Majesty addresses the Nation at Changlimethang 20 December, 2008 – Future generations of Bhutanese people will live longer. They will be better educated. They will have better communications and will travel further. They will be more prosperous. Their lives will be more comfortable. It was with this knowledge that the Bhutanese people around the … Continue reading Bhutan celebrates the National Day:The road ahead<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bridgetobhutan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bridgetobhutan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bridgetobhutan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bridgetobhutan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bridgetobhutan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bridgetobhutan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bridgetobhutan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bridgetobhutan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bridgetobhutan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}