Third Time in Charming Bhutan — with a Royal Finale, but Change is Afoot
Bhutan is the only country I’ve considered repeating on my instructional odyssey, not to mention three-peating! There’s just something irresistible about its untarnished culture, welcoming people, and rugged beauty. As with previous visits in 2016 (blog here) and 2018 (blog here), the bulk of my time was spent at the College of Science and Technology (CST), where I delivered a three day data science short-course and a one day workshop on design thinking and collaborative problem-solving. I ran a second design-thinking workshop in the main town of Thimphu, organized by the head of the Royal University of Bhutan (which oversees Bhutan’s ten college campuses, including CST), and I set aside a day for hiking around the gateway town of Paro.
My courses and workshops were similar to previous visits, with dedicated participants who were on the shy side but attentive and eager to learn. The internet has improved since 2018 (a welcome change given that my data science short-course relies on it), but unfortunately the power has not: My first two days at CST were plagued by outages, some due to early monsoon storms and others unexplained. We tried to make progress despite a lack of projector or microphone; kudos to the 150 data-science participants who did their best to continue working on some assigned problems. Eventually the college president called the power company and told them CST had a special guest and the company needed to do everything they could to provide continous service. It seemed to work!
Bhutan made world news early in the pandemic for having very few cases and then vaccinating nearly the entire eligible population in a week, including those in difficult to reach rural villages. When Covid inevitably found its way in, the reaction was swift and strict, with internal “red zones” from which nobody could come or go without a lengthy quarantine. CST was in one of those red zones due to its proximity to India, where Covid was rampant. The border was tightened up, but now seems to have become a “never waste a crisis” project where the restrictions have been made permanent, even including a newly-built wall.
More than just the border, post-pandemic Bhutan is changing fast, with trends that were nonexistent during my previous visits. The most alarming by far is a massive exodus from the country, primarily to Australia. Recently, Australia began welcoming foreigners with ready visas for students, workers, and their extended families. While those who have been leaving are clear that they would prefer to stay in Bhutan, local wages just don’t compare, with many emigrees taking significantly lower-skilled jobs in Australia for higher pay. Some predict that if the trend isn’t reversed, Bhutan could lose 25–30% of its population over the next few years.
The King, to whom most Bhutanese are fiercely devoted (though the country officially became a democracy in 2008), is working on counteracting the exodus but it won’t be easy. An international team of advisors, many from Singapore, have relocated to help transform the country. Since higher education is considered a critical element (as it should be, in my opinion), even CST has a “transformation team” on-site, and two campus presidents have been replaced by Singaporeans. I do have some concerns about the academic credentials of these folks, but there’s a strong feeling that reform is needed. In the meanwhile, “Gross National Happiness,” coined by the previous King and widely associated with the country, is being deemphasized; a group of marketing consultants recently came up with “Bhutan Believe,” meant primarily for the tourist industry but being adopted more widely.
Back to teaching: For my workshops on design thinking and collaborative problem-solving, the hosts and I always identify in advance a “design challenge” for practicing techniques throughout the day. Our original idea for the CST workshop’s practice challenge was How might we improve procedures at the tightened-up border crossing with India?, but once I arrived and learned what was going on country-wide, we switched to How might we reverse the trend of Bhutanese choosing to leave the country? It’s a sensitive topic but the workshop teams narrowed in on specific issues and dug into possible solutions. At the Royal University of Bhutan central office our design challenge was How might college better equip students in Bhutan for their careers? — a topic that’s at least peripherally related to the exodus.
On each of my visits I’ve carved a small bit of time out of teaching to explore the country. Slowly I’m covering the sites most visitors see on a tour, as well as some less touristed areas. (Independent tourism isn’t permitted so everyone is on a packaged trip; I’m a novelty wandering around without a guide.) This time, in addition to my day of hiking around Paro, I visited much more of the area around CST’s Phuentsholing district than I have in the past, from large factories and dramatic landslides to massive infrastructure for an aspirational upscale development.
The grand finale of my visit was a royal treat. Through a connection I made in Singapore earlier in the year, which I now realize was related to Bhutan’s largely Singaporean transformation team, I was granted an audience with King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck. I expected a short meet-and-greet, but in the end His Majesty gave me nearly 90 minutes, and judging by the offer of a photo together, gift, and hug, I’m told we hit it off. He’s smart, well-read, and thoughtful (none of which are guaranteed for a King), as well as warm and down-to-earth, but he has so much to contend with. We covered a lot of ground in our discussion, including some of his ambitious high-risk plans to turn the country around. It’s clear that his references to “existential crisis” were not an exaggeration.
Six and a half years ago I made my first visit to Bhutan and was enchanted by the country — I got around a bit but it was a series of low-key visits. Now I’m connected with leadership of the university system and even royalty, while the future of the country seems in peril. Perhaps it’s a stretch to think that I can help in some small way, but if it’s possible I’d surely want to give it a try.
Next stop on the instructional odyssey: Mongolia in June
