New king vows to shield Bhutan in globalised world
Bhutan's King, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, walks during a public ceremony in Thimphu yesterday. Bhutan's new king vowed to shield his remote and traditionally insular Himalayan nation from the negative forces of globalisation. In a speech the day after his lavish coronation ceremony, 28-year-old Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck said he would protect the landlocked country's unique culture and traditions by pursuing the principle of 'Gross National Happiness.'Photo: AFP
Bhutan's new king vowed yesterday to shield his remote, staunchly traditional and insular Himalayan nation from the negative forces of globalisation.
In a speech the day after his lavish coronation ceremony, 28-year-old Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck said he would protect the landlocked country's unique culture and traditions by pursuing the principle of 'Gross National Happiness.'
"My deepest concern is that as the world changes we may lose these fundamental values on which we rest our character as a nation and people," King Wangchuck, now the world's youngest reigning monarch, said in a speech to tens of thousands of people.
"Henceforth, even as more dramatic changes transform the world and our nation, as long as we continue to pursue the simple and timeless goal of being good human beings... we can ensure that our future generations will live in happiness and peace," he said.
"Ultimately without peace, security and happiness we have nothing. That is the essence of Gross National Happiness."
The crowning of the new king Thursday capped a year of sweeping changes for the Buddhist country, which is sandwiched between Asian giants India and China but has never been colonised.
Bhutan held its first democratic elections for a new parliament and prime minister in March, as part of a plan by the former king to modernise the country by relinquishing the Wangchuck dynasty's absolute power.
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