TIMECODE <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> 10:00:02:08 <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> | CAPTION [centre of screen] Right now at this moment you have a mind which is all the basic equipment you need to achieve complete happiness 14th Dalai Lama |
10:00:28:18 <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> | VOX POP / FEMALE If you go to any country they will always say, oh Bhutan, they don’t even know we exist. |
10:00:38:17 <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> | VOX POP / FEMALE When people whenever I say I am going to Bhutan they say where? |
10:00:47:23 <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> | VOX POP / FEMALE It is in the middle from the Himalaya, upstairs from India downstairs from China. |
10:00:54:04 <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> | VO You could be excused for not knowing of Bhutan or where it is on the planet. It’s a tiny country, hidden in the Himalayan shadows of its two giant neighbours, India and China, a kingdom which insulates itself from external influences and while the rest of the world continues to pound the treadmill of economic development, Bhutan continues on its somewhat alternative path, pursuing the ultimate goal for its people, happiness. |
10:01:24:13 <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> | TITLE CAPTION BHUTAN Height of Happiness? |
10:01:41:14 <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> | VO In a recent survey, 97% of the Bhutanese declared themselves to be happy. But why? <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> In terms of material wealth, Bhutan hardly registers on the world index. So what is it about this Kingdom that generates so much contentment? <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> The kingdom’s guiding principals are based on the Buddhist belief in the sanctity of life, the preservation of nature and returning to the earth what has been taken from it, a land where people have traditionally lived in harmony with their environment. It owes much to its benevolent kings who have constantly evaluated and rejected technological advances in order to preserve the fascinating culture, for most of the 20th century, there were no cars, telephones or post offices to allow communication with the outside world. |
10:02:36:01 <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> | DR SONAM TENZIN I think Bhutan is Bhutan because of the type of Kings that we have had. Anything and everything that we have over here in this country is because of his ideas and his interventions, the selfless devotion that the Kings have given for the people of this country. |
10:02:41:06 <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> | CAPTION DR SONAM TENZIN Secretary Minister of Labour and Human Resources |
10:02:50:07 <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> | LOPEN LUNGTEN The uniqueness in our identity is our culture, our language, our traditions, our social customs and Bhutanese can have long hair styles, Bhutanese can have short hair but what distinguishes Bhutanese from others is our dress code and that I see as an important element of maintaining our culture. |
10:02:54:04 <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> | CAPTION LOPEN LUNGTEN Director, Institute for Language and culture |
10:03:12:08 <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> | CHIME WANGDI I am so totally glad that the government said that we have a dress code in all public areas because this is our national identity. We are such a small country sandwiched between 2 giants, imagine what would happen if everyone just decided to wear Western clothes, what would become of little Bhutan with only 600,000 people. What identity would we have left. |
10:03:14:11 <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> | CAPTION CHIME WANGDI Secretary General Tarayana Foundation Supporting rural communities |
10:03:38:12 <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> | VO But it's not only the traditional men's gho and women's kira that makes the kingdom special. By anyone’s standards, Bhutan is certainly different and while much of its identity is similar to Tibet’s, it is the only country in the world which practises Tantric Buddhism, a mixture of tradition, mythology and superstition where spirits, deities, and astrologers are part of everyday life |
10:04:01:09 <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> | RINZIN ONGDRA WANGCHUK People are very religious and very superstitious also. That has kept the Bhutanese people peaceful. I have to consult the astrologer so he looks at our good deeds, you know when my stars are good. Almost everything is consulted you know, like when you build a house also. Although the land may be owned by you but actually the spirits own them so you have to get an astrologer and beg for the land from the local Deities. So the astrologer is like a doctor he diagnoses what are the problems and then the monks can come and do the rituals to remove that problem. |
10:04:01:20 <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> | CAPTION RINZIN ONGDRA WANGCHUK Travel agent |
<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> 10:04:48:20 <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> | <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> VO And when the house is eventually built, 'interesting' decoration ensures that good luck will be ongoing. It's this fascinating culture that now attracts tourists, eager to observe a remote corner of the world that has developed independently of many of the influences which shape almost all other countries. After centuries of self-imposed isolation, Bhutan has tentatively opened its mystical doors to the world, initially issuing small quotas of visas and steadily increasing these to the thousands of tourists who now visit this very special country. |
10:05:42:13 <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> | RINZIN ONGDRA WANGCHUK The fourth King was only 18 years old but he knew very clearly that he should introduce a high value and low negative impact tourism here. When tourism was privatised in 1992 and then probably 35 agents were there. Now we have 300 plus operators. |
10:06:04:02 <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> | VO Making tourism not only one of the biggest sources of income for the Kingdom but also a potential threat to their insular existence. |
10:06:12:05 <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> | CHIME WANGDI I think Bhutan has been very, very fortunate that we had such wise leadership and we were lucky also in the sense that we woke up much later than the rest in the region. We had Nepal make all these mistakes particularly in tourism and environment that taught big lessons. The virtue of having woken up late is that you are around to see what the others have done wrong and hopefully you don’t make the same mistakes. |
10:06:44:12 <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> | VOX POP / FEMALE We are seeing a country that has gone from being so isolated to literally in the last 30 or 40 years developing a road system and developing things in a way that are both economically and philosophically sound and it is just striking because there are no other developing countries, that I know of, that are being brought into the global community that are doing it that way. |
10:07:14:09 <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> | CHENCHO GYALMO DORJEE We try to take the middle path and it is a middle path and it is very challenging, it is something that is going to determine how we are going to be in the next coming decade. We do things our way and we don’t want to be ruled by the West and I think that it is a very clear idea of how Bhutan has decided to grow, how Bhutan has decided to develop and I like that philosophy very much. |
10:07:17:16 <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> | CAPTION CHENCHO GYALMO DORJEE National programme officer. |
10:07:54:13 <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> | VO Rather than copying policies and trends from elsewhere in the world, Bhutan’s unique development owes much to the impact of a seemingly chance remark made by King Jigme Wangchuk about his people’s happiness |
10:08:07:06 <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> | UGYEN WANGDI It just came out spontaneously to a reporter that he would prefer to have gross national happiness rather than gross national product for his people and that I thought was a remark which came from his heart and through being a compassionate person. |
10:08:10:12 <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> | CAPTION UGYEN WANGDI Local TV producer |
10:08:25:07 <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> | UGEN DOMA Development doesn’t only have to be material. I mean you might have all the physical, material luxuries but at the end of the day does that buy you happiness? |
10:08:30:23 <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> | CAPTION UGEN DOMA Housewife |
10:08:44:01 <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> | VO The gross national happiness formula is founded on four pillars, conservation of the environment, the preservation of culture, good governance and socio economic development. Striving to achieve a balance of these has now become the basis for all future development. |
10:09:01:11 <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> | DR SONAM TENZIN If there is someone who has no food to eat you can’t say that he can be happy. If somebody has no roof over their head they cannot be happy. If everyday you are surrounded by smoke, dust and pollution you cannot say that you are happy. So economic development is also important but to just pursue this economic development alone, then you will undermine a lot of other things. Forgetting your own culture, forgetting your own traditions, your philosophy, family values, the festivals that we have like bringing the people together and all the good things that have been handed down to us by our parents, if you forget that, then you will not have a true happiness. |
10:09:53:07 <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> | VO So, the recipe was formulated, but before the fundamentals of gross national happiness could be implemented, it was necessary to establish just how happy people were already and the government set about collecting statistics from the four corners of the kingdom. |
10:10:07:12 <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> | DR SONAM TENZIN I have been responsible in undertaking this population Housing Census and one of the questions that we are putting over is – are you happy, are you very happy, or not very happy. 97% of the population of Bhutan have answered that they are very happy. |
10:10:25:14 <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> | VO Following their lead, many countries are now making scientific attempts to examine the factors that constitute happiness, but whilst attempts at analyzing such an intangible concept may have their place, surely a person’s happiness can only be evaluated at an individual level |
10:10:40:19 <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> | UGEN DOMA I think basically I am content with what life has given me. |
10:10:47:20 <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> | RINZIN ONGDRA WANGCHUK I am happy, but I don’t know how to measure myself you know. |
10:10:54:12 <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> | UGEN DOMA Of course may be you cannot really measure because how do you measure? Your happiness may not necessarily be my happiness and also it is such a transient thing but maybe we should say rather than happiness, contentedness. |
10:11:08:08 <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> | CHENCH GYALMO DORJEE It is not just the word happiness, it involves a lot of elements. It is not something that is tangible, you can’t feel it, you can’t measure it, in the sense that it is visible to someone else. |
10:11:09:09 <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> | VO But inevitably, the Buddhist philosophy of gaining control of your own state of mind and managing emotions has certainly played an important role in the Bhutanese understanding of happiness. |
10:11:30:31 <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> | LAMA THINLEY CHOPEL As a concept gross national happiness as a concept is a beautiful thing, it is a very beautiful concept but the caution is, is it really going to work out in practical. And this gross national happiness, it is a very Buddhist concept deeply routed in Buddhist philosophy. |
10:11:33:00 <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> | CAPTION LAMA THINLEY CHOPEL |
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10:11:51:03 <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> | LOPEN LUNGTEN There are two kinds of happiness, one happiness that comes from material world and another happiness comes from within the mind and that happiness which comes from within is the everlasting happiness and therefore if you are to talk about happiness we need to work on the ways and mechanisms that our mind functions, how it works and therefore Buddhism comes into picture, the Buddhist philosophy, the beliefs. |
10:12:14:17 | DR SONAM TENZIN There are a lot of people who with similar conditions are much happier than others. You will find two people in the same similar situation and one will react very violently and another will react very, very peacefully. |
10:12:29:01 | LAMA THINLEY CHOPEL Happiness of a person lies within one’s own mind, like for example if I have a million dollar account in my bank I would not be, you know, one degree excited about it, if I don’t have a penny right now, I would not be depressed about it. One step down. So happiness actually is totally dependent upon your own mind. |
10:12:58:14 | VO Free from many of the materialistic pressures that drive other economies, life here has been shaped much more by tradition, culture and religion, giving the people a unique understanding of what it means to be happy. Key to this, is a focused awareness of what is happening around you in order to take greater responsibility for personal decisions. |
10:13:20:13 | Kinley Dorji To keep yourself happy, you have to do many things and that is are you able to direct your own life, are you able to inspire yourself, do you have enough knowledge and skill not to be affected by external stimulants. Have you learned to sit quietly? Can you avoid future anxieties which may be on the way? Can you stop remorsing about what has happened yesterday? Can you be happy with yourself? |
10:13:23:04 | CAPTION: Kinley Dorji Executive Director, Bhutan Narcotic Control Agency |
10:14:04:20 | CHENCHO GYALMO DORJEE I think my happiness comes from if I can get up every morning and I can remind myself to say “It is not about me to today, it is about you. I don’t even know you but it is about you, probably that I can be kind to you if I meet you on the road side or if I am angry and I can tell my children , OK, mum is angry and I take a break. I think that is my happiness. At the end of the day if you can’t sit down and say I have done one good thing, or one thing being fully aware having done it you know, I think that it is my happiness. |
10:14:41:15 | DR SONAM TENZIN When you have a respect for your parents, when we have a respect for our kings, when we have a respect for our religion, everybody regards each other and does the right thing, nobody back stabs others. When you have that kind of way of living together then it always generates good things. |
10:15:01:24 | VO The goal of promoting the happiness of others and the awareness of this as the basis of personal happiness now generates a national atmosphere of harmony and tranquility that permeates daily life and many tourists come in the hope of unlocking the secrets of this inner contentment. |
10:15:18:15 | VOX POP / FEMALE I think it is marvellous and I have felt it here, the serenity wherever you go. There is definitely a gross national happiness feel about the place. |
10:15:29:13 | VOX POP / MALE Perhaps they try to avoid the bad thing in our civilisation but is it possible to avoid bad things – money or power, a lot of things like this. Is it possible to avoid it? |
10:15:50:02 | VOX POP / FEMALE In Singapore we are more into economy , into money, so I guess all over the world if you run after money and material things you will never be happy. |
10:16:00:19 | VOX POP / FEMALE Here the happiness is something you think a lot about, I mean I know friends back east, and, you know, in the States that work several jobs and are they really happy just to get more and more and more stuff. You always hope that when societies change that they don’t get caught up in that and that they remember their values and their culture. |
10:16:37:11 | CHENCH GYALMO DORJEE There are values that are very important here, it has to do with the heart. It has to do with family, it has to do with life. How do you look at life? What do you respect, what do you value? <!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--> |
10:16:56:11 | VOX POP / FEMALE And that is the challenge of keeping gross national happiness. Keeping that as the focus and if they can keep that as a theme maybe they will do something better than the rest of the world. |
10:17:11:03 | VOX POP / FEMALE A place like this school hopefully teaches the values and some of the traditions will be carried on and as tourists I think we have to come and really appreciate and remind them of the values that we are seeking, that we have lost. |
10:17:32:13 | VOX POP / FEMALE And we are, with our politics, with our religion, with our have more, have more, have more. Here it is not important to have more. Here is important you have, this is enough and the rest you can give. |
10:17:52:06 | VOX POP / FEMALE It is a different concept of what is important and I read about it with amazement and I can’t explain it to any of my friends at all. They just say what are you talking about, you can’t make money at it. |
10:18:08:15 | VOX POP / FEMALE Even if you are the richest man on earth I don’t think you are happy. But if you go on the route of spirituality with enough of the basics for living, then I guess at the end of it , you will be happy. |
10:18:18:16 | VOX POP / FEMALE I like the gross national product of happiness idea, I mean I think right now it is working but I am a little worried about the future but they do seem to be happy and making it work. |
10:18:34:09 |