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Question
#97702. armindasantana
asks:
Is it true that the King of Bhutan lifted a ban on television and the Internet in 1999, making Bhutan one of the last countries to introduce television?
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mscorpion
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Yes.
Bhutan lifted its ban on television and the Internet. The newly introduced technology opened the eyes of the Bhutanese and introduced them to a kaleidoscopic world. Now TV programs often distract mothers when cooking, and it is reported that food is more frequently burnt. Children often leave their homework unfinished, and young people put up posters of Indian movie stars or American pop singers in their rooms.
Those who have seen the movie The Cup can easily understand why the Bhutanese government decided to lift the ban on TV. The 1998 Soccer World Cup took the world by storm, not excepting the Bhutanese. In order to watch live broadcasts of the soccer games, many citizens secretly installed satellite dishes on their homes. In the following year, the government ended the ban on television.
The removal of the ban indicated that the government of Bhutan had finally realized that, despite all its rules and despite the traditional garments people wore, it was impossible to stop the Bhutanese from pursuing what they really wanted. To modernize the country, the first thing that needed to be done was to listen to the hearts of the people.
 http://taipei.tzuchi.org.tw/tzquart/2003su/qs2.htm
Jul 19 08, 7:19 PM
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jk18
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Yes
In 1999, the government lifted a ban on television and the Internet, making Bhutan one of the last countries to introduce television. In his speech, the King said that television was a critical step to the modernisation of Bhutan as well as a major contributor to the country's Gross National Happiness (Bhutan is the only country to measure happiness), but warned against the misuse of television which may erode traditional Bhutanese values. Some believe it has indeed affected Bhutan in a negative way.
http://realismoliberal.blogspot.com/2008_03_01_archive.html
Jul 19 08, 7:22 PM
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