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Balancing Tradition with Technology
The
Bhutanese government has limited the number of tourists who
visit their country to about 8,000 every year, and these visitors
must pay $200 per day for the privilege of being there. But
the introduction of cable TV has brought thousands of "digital
visitors" -- from Pamela Anderson to Mickey Mouse -- into homes
throughout Bhutan. How do Bhutanese people balance the growing
influence of cable TV with their unique Himalayan culture?
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Lyonpo Jigmi Thinley
Bhutan's foreign minister:
Globalization is taking place, and people in the country
have become educated. The rate of literacy has risen, and
information has become vital. We feel we need access to
information as much as people elsewhere. ... People have suddenly
realized that there are so many things that they desire
that they were not even aware of before, in the forms of
lifestyles that they would like to indulge in, and all of
this costs money. And the truth is that most of these TV
channels are commercially driven. So that the Bhutanese
people are driven towards consumerism -- that's inevitable.
And that's to some extent, yes, unfortunate, but inevitable.
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Kinley
Dorji
editor of Kuensel, Bhutan's only newspaper:
Bhutan has always been an oral society, therefore especially
vulnerable to the media. This is a society where the family
depended on the grandfather's stories, the oral tradition
of communication. Suddenly this family has 24 channels to
watch. ... Television is having a direct impact on our culture,
which is the basis of Bhutan's identity. I mean the impact
on the language, the impact on the dress ... the consumerism
coming in, the materialistic value coming in. |
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Khenpo
Phuntsho Tashi
Buddhist Monk:
From the Buddhist point of view I think TV is a good means
to flourish our dharma, our teachings, if you really
use it purposefully. Otherwise, I don't think it fits our
Buddhist philosophy. Buddha taught the cause of suffering
and how to get away from suffering. But TV is not teaching
the cause of suffering, and how to remove your suffering,
but it is multiplying it, and you are shown only the suffering
things. The TV doesn't show the path of liberation, not
like Buddha. ... Sometimes I forget my prayer things, so sometimes
it is disturbing, this TV ... so I thought maybe better
not to have one myself. |
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Dago
Bida
Co-owner of SIGMA Cable, Bhutan's largest cable TV operator:
The day I heard that television would be allowed in Bhutan
I sat back and I just felt so sad. I just said, "Oh, gone
are the days when the country will be like before, when
we could have time to kill, you know, when we could go from
office to office to chat, when we had nothing to do after
two o'clock. Things will change, you know." ... People will
see a lot of advertisements. They're going to see a lot
of things which are flashy on television and they think
that they must aspire, you know, to get that. And they will
work harder to get a new car or to get a new TV or a new
fridge. ... It is sad that television has come in. But then
I told my partner [Rinzy Dorji], "Right now we are in competition
and we will do whatever we have to do for the moment. It's
temporary," I said. "But when the time comes and when we
are in a position to be able to decide, let's decide what
we must do for our children and our people. And that is
to have a balanced television industry, if we can at all."
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