05 November 2011

To Mr. Khaw Boon Wan, What did you expect? from PaSsu Diary- Journal of an Ordinary Bhutanese:


http://www.passudiary.com/2011/10/to-mr-khaw-boon-wan-what-did-you-expect.html

To Mr. Khaw Boon Wan, What did you expect?

(This is in reply to National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan of Singapore on his comments made on our country )

Dear Mr. Khaw,

I was not surprised when you said Bhutan is not the last Shangri-la on Earth, because I had a friend from your country who found Bhutan only "full of mountains and valleys". When you visited Bhutan, what did you expect? Those flying mountains you saw in Avatar? or Every Bhutanese merrily dancing in designer clothes? Well, you must have at least expected fancier cars and taller buildings but we only have taller mountains (not flying ones) and thicker forest (truly natural).

I am not surprised even when you said "Most of the time, I saw unhappy people, toiling in the field, worried about the next harvest and whether there would be buyers for their products." because I heard a proverb in school that goes, "Two men looked through the prison window, one saw the mud and other saw the horizon". I am only surprised that you have spend "Most of your time" in Bhutan looking in the fields. I am amazed at your ability to figure out whether the people are happy or unhappy just by looking at them- O' you even knew they were "worried about the next harvest". No wonder you country export human resources.

I visited your wonderful country sometime ago, and it felt like a city from the future. The transportation system held me spell bound, Cleanliness of the street is so much that I didn't find a fragment of dust on my shoes after walking for the hours, Every building and car looks new, and there is no question about the civic sense among the people. Four days after I landed in Bhutan I woke up and started sharing the stories of your wonderful country- yes it took me four days of sleeping to shake of the hangover of many sleepless nights in your 24X7 country. I read the amazing history of your country and thought to myself, if Bhutan's to develop, Singapore can be our vision.

But since you questioned the presence of happiness in Bhutan, let me answer by telling you few things that you overlooked when you visited my country. Those people you saw in the fields weren't unhappy, if you have gone closer you would have heard them singing and enjoying the social lives, perhaps you won't understand that. If you have spent a little longer time watching them, you would have seen and a woman with basket on her back and holding arms with several children coming with steaming food- we don't have McDonald or KFC. Then everybody will sit down to eat their lunch, laughing and joking, feeding babies, for over an hour- you wouldn't have had so much time to sit and watch I know, times means money in your country. But we have luxury of time. People don't worry "about the next harvest and whether there would be buyers for their products." In fact, we don't do much commercial farming, we do most of them to keep with the tradition. And when the sun sets, doesn't really matter what time, people leave for their homes where they have a large family waiting. Large family because we don't chase away our children when they become 18 or children cast away their parents when they age.

We don't need Health Insurance to survive, no have to go for Education Loan for educating our children. We don't hang the drug users, we counsel them to hang on to their lives, we don't have to have a job to survive, and when we fall sick even the furthest cousin comes to attend without having to update Facebook status.
If you reread our history you will find that our wise kings have hidden us from the outside world so that we could remain the way we are today. If we start mining our mountains and lumbering our forests, we can become Singapore in a year but no matter what you do you can never become Bhutan. It is far too difficult. We shall be the last breath of oxygen on earth.

Bhutan may not be the Last Shangri-la but we are happy.

By PaSsu at 1:01 AM

3 comments:

  1. 主观的人往往强加自己的意见在别人的身上。

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  2. 不丹人为何幸福指数全球最高?

    不丹政府在制定一系列如农业、交通及外贸在内的国家政策时,都不能以经济为出发点,必须以“幸福及快乐”作为根本出发点。(Getty Images)
    文 ◎ 杨仁寿


    如果你问一个中国人是否幸福,许多的人的回答都是否定的,即便是那些有钱有势之人;但如果你问一个不丹人同样的问题,绝大多数人的回答却是肯定的,而且那种发自内心的幸福溢于言表;此外,几乎所有去过不丹旅游的人都会异口同声地说,不丹让自己回到了心灵的故乡。也正因为如此,不丹被人们视为“快乐的王国”。一项全球统计亦表明,人均GDP仅为七百多美元的不丹人的“幸福指数”是全球最高的。是什么让一个身处喜马拉雅山脉的小国百姓对幸福感受如此之深?幸福到底与什么有关呢?

    9月下旬,不丹首相廷里(Jigmi Thinley)在纽约召开的联合国千禧年发展目标峰会上发表了讲话,并受到了与会者的欢迎,从中我们不难找寻到不丹人幸福的原因。

    追求多层面幸福的永续发展

    廷里指出,盲目追求财富是“危险和愚蠢”的行为;全球金融危机提醒人们,世界的财富是“虚幻的”,在一瞬间即可“消失无踪”。“人们无法想像,即使中国和印度立志要在消费上与美国媲美,但如果每一位地球公民都拥有同样的贪婪能力,世界会变得怎样。”他认为,巴基斯坦近来发生的大洪灾以及美国墨西哥湾漏油等灾害,都是大自然无法忍受人类任意妄取而进行反扑的证据。

    他还表示,当世界上许多发达国家尚在为如何履行联合国千禧年发展目标承诺所苦恼时,不丹政府却已经接近于实现这些目标,并将在联合国提出的2015年限期内,消除贫穷、饥饿、疾病、文盲、环境恶化和对妇女的歧视等问题,并达成真正的永续发展。

    廷里因此建议世界采纳新的千禧年发展目标,即“快乐”。“这个目标是单独的价值,但同时代表八项目标计画的总值。它的相关性超越了贫穷和发展中国家,将所有人文、富有与贫穷结合为一个没有时限的共同愿景。”

    虽然廷里的建议能否为其他国家采纳还是个未知数,但小小的不丹取得的成绩却是有目共睹的。而不丹之所以能取得如此了不起的成就,恰恰是因为一直以来,不丹政府把“国民幸福指数”作为追求的目标。该目标是不丹已故高僧旺秋(Jigme Singje Wangchuk)于1980年提出的。

    但如何衡量幸福呢?经过由不丹各方面专家组成的团队的调研,不丹国王、政府官员等对幸福有了全新的理解,即所谓的“发展”,除了在经济上谋求成长以外,必须同时追求物质上、精神上和情感上多层面的“最大幸福”。这个“幸福指数”包括四项基本内容:环境保护、文化推广、经济发展和良政。不仅不丹的几任国王都如此认为,就连大多数的不丹人也都认同这一主张。从廷里的发言中,可以看出,经过十多年的发展,构成“国民幸福指数”的四个基本方面已经在不丹实现,难怪不丹人过得安宁、快乐、幸福。

    重视环保及维系文化

    由于不丹政府的价值观定位在维系自身的传统文化和自然环境上,因此对国内丰富的森林资源、矿产业、水利资源的开发并不积极。这个国土面积74%为森林所覆盖的国家,竟然有26%的地区被划定为保护地。而1995年,不丹国民议会还规定,不丹森林覆盖率至少应保留到 60%。不丹也没有滥伐现象,而是适度科学合理开发。山民砍一株树需要特别许可,国有林区伐木必须经过严格审批。而且,任何一项新的工业、一个新的农业市场或是一种新的森林产品的产生,都必须考虑它们对环境所带来的深层次影响。

    在追求国民幸福总值的发展战略指导下,为了保护环境,不丹还选择了建造地下水电站。1999年,不丹政府宣布不丹为无塑料国家;2004年,不丹又制定法律全面禁止烟草的销售,这是世界上第一个全面禁烟令。商店不准卖烟草产品,居民不准在任何地点抽烟。按政府估计,全国只有1%左右的人口抽烟。正因为如此,不丹在2005年被联合国表彰为“地球卫士”。而不丹百姓的环保意识很强,连街上的垃圾桶都十分干净,有的根本没有什么垃圾。

    正因为政府对环境不遗余力地保护,所以如今不丹的原始树林保存得相当完好。葱郁的树木、各色野花、植被,还有隐密其间、时隐时现的传统藏式木楼、藏式佛塔,让人仿佛来到了人间仙境,恬静、淡然。

    除了重视保护环境外,不丹政府还致力于改善百姓的生活。在不丹,每个人都有一份田地,教育、医疗全部免费。而且随着政府的大力发展,不丹有了公路,有了电力,有了干净的水,有了正式的货币,有了邮政和电话系统,还有了像样的医院和学校。

    幸福与经济发展无直接关系

    此外,根据不丹的新宪法,政府在制定一系列包括农业、交通及外贸在内的国家政策时,都不能以经济为出发点,必须以“幸福及快乐”作为根本出发点。

    2008年,不丹人接受了作为君主制代表的不丹国王的辞职申请,并开始进行全国大选。这些改变都是为了“国民的幸福快乐”。不丹国王将王位传给了儿子吉格梅.凯萨尔.纳姆耶尔.旺楚克,后者在新宪法下举行了加冕仪式。只是,现在的国王在不丹已没有实权。

    可以想见,生活在如此环境中的不丹人该是怎样的淡定、从容。如今,不丹虽然人均GDP仅为七百多美元,但人民的“幸福指数”却是全球最高的。

    同幸福的不丹人相比,美国的人均GDP在过去五十年增长了三倍,但美国人却未感到更加幸福,美国的暴力犯罪增加了三倍,不和邻居交往的人数增加了4倍,1/4的人感到不幸福和抑郁。在中国也是如此。经济的发展并没有让人们感到发自内心的快乐和幸福。

    可见,幸福与经济的发展、金钱的拥有并没有直接关系。也许不丹人的国民幸福指数为各国政府提供了一个新的思路。当我们真正明了什么是幸福时,才会像不丹人一样拥有真正的幸福。(小标为编者所下)◇

    转载自新纪元周刊网
    http://epochweekly.com/gb/198/8663.htm

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