My dream is to have a nice house, preferably a cottage, with beautiful surroundings and a million-dollar view. It should have some fruit trees and a spacious vegetable garden. There should also be a cosy corner where I can invite my friends and family for barbeque and drinks. And, of course, a nice car and a good source of income. I am pursuing this expensive dream. I want to materialise this dream through my own hard work and in Bhutan only.
Some of my friends in other countries live my dream, and they managed to achieve this in just a few years. Now, if you ask me if I can realise this dream in this lifetime, I would say ‘yes’ because I think I can. But the question is, can I realise this dream by living in Bhutan? The answer cannot be a definite ‘yes’, and for many, the answer will be a definite ‘no’. A more important question is, am I not capable enough to make this dream come true in Bhutan? I would say I am capable. Then what is stopping me from realising my dream in Bhutan? In my own country, where happiness is the goal.
My dream is the same dream for many Bhutanese. Sadly, many Bhutanese feel they must leave Bhutan – leaving their loved ones behind – to earn this future elsewhere. This is the reality for many Bhutanese in Bhutan now. The scene at the departure area, before you enter the terminal building of the Paro International Airport, is painful and heartbreaking. To see many parents in tears leaving their young children and loved ones behind, to see many parents who are sad to let go of their young loved ones, and worse, to see our senior citizens leave Bhutan with heavy hearts because they have to look after their grandchildren overseas. It is a scene of failure. We are failing to deliver what we have always been saying we can deliver.
“Bhutanese will always belong to Bhutan but Bhutan must belong to the Bhutanese,” this was the Royal Advice from His Majesty The King during a recent Royal Audience. His Majesty often emphasises the importance of adapting and staying relevant to the fast-changing world. What struck me strongly from the above phrase was the second part – ‘Bhutan must belong to the Bhutanese’. We tend to assume that we cannot change Bhutan or that Bhutan doesn’t have to change. Some of us say that we cannot stop people from leaving Bhutan. It is true we cannot, but if we fail to make Bhutan relevant to them, they will never return.
This is why we need the transformation now. This is why we have to believe in the national transformation. Believe in the objective of the national transformation – to ensure that we make Bhutan relevant to the Bhutanese and guarantee good economic opportunities; our culture, tradition and environment are thriving; and the Bhutanese have the choice to stay in Bhutan. We have to make Bhutan relevant so they don’t have to leave Bhutan for better opportunities. Bhutan is an extraordinary country, and every Bhutanese must believe it to be an extraordinary country.
I have asked a few of my friends in Australia how they like Australia. I have not heard a single person say they like it there. It is not because Australia is not a great country – as a multicultural country, Australia is a great place – it is because of better economic opportunities in Australia. There are no similar economic opportunities in Bhutan. We have not created the opportunity for them. Bhutan is irrelevant to them, for now. All of them said they wanted to come back to Bhutan after a few years. This is good news and very comforting. But if we don’t act now, they may never come back, and we will continue to lose many more to other countries.
This is why transformation is urgent and necessary. This is why we have to believe in what we have to do. This is why we must go beyond catchphrases like ‘happiness is a place’, even if this is easy to sell and fits well for tourism.
Thus, the new national brand, ‘Bhutan Believe’, was developed to encourage the overall vision of the national transformation. It is a national brand and not a tourism brand. But tourism is equally an important stakeholder, just like every Bhutanese. It is to put conscious thoughts in the minds of all Bhutanese so that we act now before it is too late. We must wake up from our false perception that everything is perfect in Bhutan or assume we will get there when we are ready. And we must not fall prey to the delusion that everything has a time.
The vision of the transformation is to make Bhutan a high-income country with a GDP of USD 10 billion and a GDP per capita of USD 12,000 by 2034. It is just ten years from now, and it is possible. We must accept the reality and believe in our capabilities and vision. With this vision, I want to make my dream come true. I believe Bhutan will be in a much better position with a strong economy.
As a passionate promoter of tourism and one of the custodians of the new brand, I regularly get asked about our new national brand tagline, Believe. I tell people that it is believing in our worth, believing in our values, believing in ourselves of what we want, what we can do, and more importantly, believing in what we need to do urgently! At the same time, it is also for our tourists to believe in the journey, to believe in Bhutan’s possibilities and aspirations, and to be inspired by our history and the story of the ongoing transformation.
‘Believe’ is defined as ‘feel sure that someone is capable of doing something’ and ‘accept that (something) is true…’. The definition is very relevant to Bhutanese in the context of transformation. We accept that we are all capable of transforming Bhutan. We also believe that the challenges and struggles of Bhutan are also true. But we make a mistake by accepting it as something we can correct in the future or slowly. The reality is we do not have time. Things are changing so fast around us. If we don’t change and act quickly, we will become irrelevant. Bhutan will never be relevant to many of our citizens, and we will fall behind the rest of the world. We must believe that the time is now, and we are responsible for transforming Bhutan. In my view, this is precisely what His Majesty has been emphasising.
Therefore, ‘Bhutan Believe’ is about believing in our future. It is to believe in ourselves. To believe in our good values, the values of ‘Tha dam tsi’. To believe in the nation. ‘Bhutan Believe’ provides a sense of responsibility, care, passion, direction, and narrative for the Bhutanese to own our dreams and believe in ourselves. It is a conscious reminder for us to be pragmatic by coming to terms with the reality.
The ‘Bhutan Believe’ visuals convey a bold, confident country with a future-facing ethos. At the same time, it has a warm, responsive and functional design with a tagline that defines possibilities. The brand is an expression of our self and our belief in the potential of what we can be and what we can do. The colour and design exhibit a modern touch, expressing that we are futuristic yet deeply rooted in our traditions, beliefs, and values.
“We see a bright future. And we believe in our ability and responsibility to realise it together and shine as a beacon of possibility in the world”. This is one of the narratives of the new brand, which summarises the essence of what we are trying to achieve through transformation. We must believe that we have a bright future. We must believe that we have the ability and responsibility to make our future bright. And we must believe it is possible if we work together as Bhutanese.
“The Kingdom is steeped in history, but our gaze is fixed on the future. This is our moment of evolution”. This is another narrative of the brand. We must protect, preserve and promote our rich history, but we must also welcome and celebrate what the future has to offer. We must do this now. We must evolve and grow now.
We have a choice to either let life happen as it happens or take charge of life and craft our future. ‘Believe’ is taking charge of our lives and, believing in the ability to craft our lives in the way we want and being proud of what we leave for our future generation. It is about the leaders and citizens, both taking the role of the agents of change.
In the context of a nation undergoing a dramatic transformation, ‘Believe’ urges us to build a new era. It is designed as an inspiration to steer the country from the past through the present into the future. It is to give a sense of possibility.
We have claimed that we are capable. We have been told that we are capable. We know that we are capable. Now, it is time for us to believe that we are worthy of making an impact, for Bhutan and ourselves. The transformation has started. There is no going back. We must be the stewards and champions of the transformation.
At the moment, it is hard to convince myself that I will be able to make my dream come true in Bhutan. But I have started to believe that it is possible. This is important, and what is equally important is to know that I am responsible for making it happen. In Bhutan, for Bhutan!
“As a small society, Bhutanese citizens, more than those of larger countries, bear a greater responsibility and role in the success of the nation. Individual success depends on success as a nation - no one succeeds when the nation has failed. There can be no Bhutanese without Bhutan. This is the fundamental truth for a small country like ours.”
In addition to the above, His Majesty also mentioned that our strength is in the agility of a small country where we can achieve great things so fast. We just need the will and courage to make it happen.
We Bhutanese are fortunate to have visionary, selfless, and hardworking monarchs. They have gifted us a beautiful country with rich tradition, culture and nature. We are entrusted as extraordinary citizens with great values who are intelligent and hardworking. So, the task ahead should not be difficult for us. Let Bhutan Believe impel us to become who we claim we truly are and what we can truly achieve. Let Bhutan Believe provide the conviction, confidence, courage, hope, direction and drive to make Bhutan relevant to us, the Bhutanese.
