News

Smartphones, monks and what not
Share

Smartphones, monks and what not

Fri, Mar 3, 2017
Smartphones, monks and what not
Share

Passing time in Bhutan (Part 1)

Assistant Professor Takehiro Hirayama
The Hirayama Ikuo Volunteer Center (WAVOC)
IMG_5788

A monk charging his smartphone

Hi, I am Takehiro Hirayama, assistant professor at WAVOC who studies a small country located at the foot of the Himalayas called “Bhutan.” I would like to introduce things about Bhutan that the media usually does not cover. Part 1 is about smartphones.

It was in August of 2007 that I saw a smartphone for the first time when my Bhutanese acquaintance was carrying an iPhone around in the capital, Thimphu. Smartphones were neither sold in Bhutan nor Japan at the time, but he got one during his stay in the United States, thinking it was cool. He was using the iPhone with a B-mobile (Bhutan’s cellphone provider) SIM card.

Not only my acquaintance, but I noticed that most Bhutanese people are open to new trends and do not cling onto what is old. In fact, time-worn or antediluvian pieces generally do not hold value or worth in Bhutan. You could say that it is one of their characteristics as a nation to not look back on the past and live today. The Bhutanese government is attempting to protect its traditional values and culture as a part of its national development plan, but so many new and convenient things that are “now and young” are quickly becoming a part of their lives.

Smartphones represent the many things which merged novelty, convenience and stylishness all together and became widespread. Although cellphone services only began in 2003, the percentage of cellphone owners increased from 5.96% in 2005 to 87.06% in 2015. Such dramatic change was observed in a short span of 10 years*. Aside from small children and the elderly living in rural areas, almost everyone has one.

IMG_7352The national religion of Bhutan is Tibetan Buddhism, and smartphones have also reached the monk community as well. During prayers, you might see young monks using Facebook or WeChat with the smartphones they are hiding in their sleeves. Recently, there are smartphone applications for chanting sutras. It’s likely that there will be a number of monks studying Buddhist scriptures with a smartphone in their hand.

*Policy and Planning Division, Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIC) (2016) Annual Info-Comm and Transport Statistical Bulletin (7th Edition, 2016), Thimphu: MoIC, p.10.

Related links


Social Media

  • facebook

    facebook

  • twitter

    X

  • youtube

    youtube

  • linkedin

    LinkedIn

Giving

Your generosity can make a difference and bring rippling impact

No matter the size, every single gift will make a difference in helping students afford an academic experience that will transform their lives, as well as promoting frontline research to resolve complex challenges of the world today.

More About Giving