HAPPINESS OVER WEALTH

However, in 1972, at the occasion of the crowning of king Jigmed Singye Wangchuk, many foreign guests were invited to Bhutan. Having studied in the U.K., the future king obviously saw it coming that especially the western guests would observe a discrepancy between their own standard of living and that of the Bhutanese. In his opinion, the Bhutanese were not poor, but merely lacking in some amenities and products available in the West, most of them non-essential. Otherwise, the Bhutanese were actually quite well off, he felt. Almost all of them had a beautiful, spacious farmhouse, more than enough forests, arable land and animals to be fully self-sufficient in terms of heating, construction and nourishment. And, most importantly, a culturally defined sense of identity, belonging and security that made most of them very content and happy beings. The king had observed otherwise in the west.

In order to explain this to his foreign guests, he coined the term ‘gross national happiness,’ a clever term obviously meant to be juxtaposed with what seemed to be the aim of most governments, a high gross national product. The rest is history, one could say. These days, all over the world, conferences and workshops are being held on happiness and, more in general, on how to develop and emphasize those qualities of life that can not be measured in dollars or euros.

Bhutan does not claim that its inhabitants are the happiest in the world, but it does place overall happiness above wealth. These days, GNH, as it is generally referred to, is the formal pillar and yardstick of all government policies. After the king abdicated his powers in favor of a democratically elected government, Bhutan has seen four governments. All of them have continued to place GNH above anything else.

As a result, Bhutan has protected its culture – largely defined by Buddhist beliefs – but also its forests, mountains, rivers and wildlife much better than any other country in Asia. Key to all this is a reliable, non-corrupt government, which itself is one of the four pillars of GNH and, frankly, quite the exception in the region.

Bhutan is also extremely mountainous and rich in nature, especially forest – in fact, it is the most wooded country in Asia. The southern border consists of hills and low mountains with dense jungle where elephants and tigers roam, and people live in bamboo houses surrounded by rice fields. But in the central highlands, at an altitude of 1500 – 2500m, people live in small enclaves of farms reminiscent of Swiss chalets, surrounded by endless coniferous forests. Travelling through this area (and when you fly over it) you will occasionally catch a glimpse of the northern and highest parts, where the semi-nomadic yak shepherds live and which are bordered by glacier-covered Himalayan peaks. The only way to see all this up-close is to set out on a seven-day (or more) camping trek.