Ever Heard of Gross National Happiness? Teodoro B. Baguilat Jr. Inquirer
November 02, 2006
The Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan does not have the rich agricultural lands of the Philippines. But rarely does one meet a grumpy or miserable Bhutanese.
How could you when the greatest aspiration of Bhutan’s revered monarch is the pursuit of his people’s happiness?
“We seek, explicitly, one outcome in our public policy: The happiness of our citizens,” says Lyonpo Sangay Ngedup, the genial Minister of Agriculture of Bhutan, the guest of honor at the International Rice Festival organized by the South East Asia Regional Initiatives for Community Empowerment (SEARICE) last Oct. 27 to 29 in Bohol.
The Minister says this way of thinking was conceptualized three decades ago by their king, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, when he was only 17.
After visiting the remote villages and listening to the counsel of the elders, the king realized that a country’s progress is not measured by its material wealth. Instead he developed a new development philosophy called “Gross National Happiness.”
Witty pun
Ngedup calls the GNH a “witty pun” on “Gross National Product.” Instead of GNP as a material measure of productivity, GNH is a development strategy “wherein social, cultural, spiritual and other non-materialistic values are inseparable from the materialistic values.”
Guided by this policy, Ngedup says the Bhutanese government provides free education and health services to all Bhutanese because wisdom and health make a person happy.
Tellingly, the king has also decreed that the country’s forest cover should never go below 60 percent. Presently, the cover stands at 72 percent.
The Minister says Bhutan is also starting to propagate organically-grown agricultural products to make their citizens healthier and to sell the surplus overseas.
Globalization, he observes, has persuaded countries to overemphasize increased material production and developing products while neglecting family values and cultural heritage.
“We’re producing too much junk. But will junk make us happy? Is money the only thing that makes people happy?” Ngedup asks rhetorically.
Nestled between India and China, with a population of 600,000 spread over a mountainous, icy region of 337,000 square kilometers, Bhutan is one of the smallest countries in the world.
With only 8 percent of the land area declared arable, half of which is planted with rice, Bhutan imports half of its rice requirements.
No complaints
Despite the harsh environment and the lack of arable lands, the Bhutanese, who are 99 percent Buddhist, have no complaints.
In a survey conducted by the government last year, 97 percent of the population considered themselves, “generally happy.”
Most people may not fully grasp what Bhutanese national happiness is all about. Shingay Dorji, Minister Ngedup’s equally cheerful aide, explained that happiness is inner peace and contentment with what one has.
“In Bhutan, we do not look at the stars. Instead, we look at the ground. When we aspire too much and do not reach the stars, we end up disappointed,” he says.
This is not to say that Bhutanese prefer to be poor, Shingay stresses. The Royal Government promotes development through the four pillars of the Gross National Happiness, namely, conservation of the environment, conservation of heritage and culture, good governance and equitable economic wealth.
He explains that conservation of the environment means fresh air while good governance means justice and equal rights for everyone.
“Whenever we start a project, we only consider one goal -- will this bring happiness to the people?” he adds. Preserving their traditional rice varieties, for instance is one of the “happiness-directed” goals of the Royal Government.
Enjoying Bohol
This mindset was visibly painted on the ever-smiling faces of the Bhutanese delegation. During the three-day festival with farmers from Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and the Philippines, the Bhutanese animatedly mingled and socialized in their traditional costumes.
One farmer from Bohol said that they were the only ones who talked to them, even if the only Visayan phrase they knew was “Maayong Buntag” (Good day).
“Friends, family, health, and tradition are things that make us truly happy,” Minister Ngedup says. He remarked that he found all that and more in Bohol.
Without a coastal area in his land-locked country, he spent an entire afternoon in the beaches of Panglao.
