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| Bhutanese selling vegetables by highway ©sonam ongmo |
City inspectors are constantly after vegetable sellers on the Thimphu streets. What about these junk food sellers under Lungtenzampa right under their nose? ~ Bhutan Observer 2011
A picture story in the Bhutan Observer tells of how City officials in Bhutan are still after vegetable/fruit vendors. In Oct 2009 I made a comment about another Bhutan Observer article ~ “Why the Unending Scuffle” about officials harassing vegetable vendors on the streets.
In that article the Observer said:
"Our government should realise that if some rules cannot be enforced effectively, the problem may not be with the people - Bhutan Observer
Unfortunately since then, however, we have seen many more bans come into effect - the most ridiculous one being the Tobacco Act which bans all sale of cigarettes – but that's not enough, anyone caught smoking without a receipt in Bhutan, from purchases in India or overseas, can actually go to prison for 3-5 years.
But enough about Tobacco for now, just see how ridiculous it seems also to be banning the sale of vegetables on the streets.
In 2009 I commented:
“Not much thought is given into some of these stupid laws that they enforce. Thimphu residents need vegetables. Not everybody can have their supply last through to the next weekend when they have to wait to hit the Saabji Bazaar and do their weekend shopping. If these people can find a market, let them supply, just find a solution as to how this can be done. I understand that it clogs up the footpaths etc. so in that case maybe the government can keep the Sunday Vegetable market open throughout the week? or maybe find an alternative location for the week? The vendors can pay a small fee for the use of the space (during weekdays) that can go towards maintenance of the place. The govt surely doesn't need to make money of vegetable sellers, do they? The respective officials simply need to come up with ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS!!!
Talk about encouraging farmers to increase productivity and helping them make a living. They are trying to do that as honestly as they can - they're not selling contrabands, drugs or prostituting, for god's sake, they are selling vegetables! And the government objects to that?”
In 2009 that was just a comment and a caution. But today, after the events in Tunisia, and now Egypt I may just have to make this a warning.
Many of our officials may not know the details of the events that led to the Tunisian uprising. No, Bhutan is not like Tunisia, and neither can we compare the socio-economic and political situations. However, in sharing the story of the event that sparked the Tunisian uprising, it might help officials keep in mind a few things about our policies on being so hard on vegetable and fruit vendors (or even junk food sellers) who are merely trying to make a few bucks here and there; merely trying to eke out a living.
Mohamed Bouazizi, a 26-year-old man, had spent his whole life on the streets of Tunisia feeding his mother, uncle, 5 brothers and a sister by selling vegetables on the streets. Faida Hamdy was a 45-year-old municipal inspector.
On the morning of December 17, Ms. Hamdy tried to confiscate the young man’s fruit and slapped him when he tried to take his fruits back. The socio-economic and political frustrations embodied in this one man who eventually set himself on fire toppled the Tunisian government and led the revolution throughout that region which as of now, the events are still unfolding.
In relating this story, all I am trying to say is that, for us who are in a better position or trying to enforce the law, we should remember that there is always a reason WHY people do the things they do.
Like I said earlier, there is a reason why the government may not want people to be selling vegetables on the street, but seeing that people need to do this to earn a living, and that residents need vegetables couldn’t they find an alternative?
And as I said before, I will say it again FOR GOD’S SAKE they are selling Vegetables and not drugs!! We seem to really have gotten our priorities mixed up and not knowing how to differentiate which is what. This can be very dangerous if the authorities do not reflect on how their policies impact ordinary people, just as in the example above.
As some Bhutanese bloggers have pointed out, we seem to be a nation that loves imposing rules that infringe on personal choices of what we wear, eat, and smoke (except drink – no bans and restrictions on alcohol hallelujah!) making it even more difficult to implement
*Meat Ban – certain periods in a year (I forget the duration and when) for religious reasons. (I can guarantee people are getting their meat if they want and who is the authority to make a blanket law. If someone doesn’t want to eat meat, don’t, but what makes one person think he/she can enforce an entire nation to do their will?)
*Long hair ban – (I am not too sure about this, but I have seen it mentioned)
*Marijuana ban – good luck
*Plastic Bags ban - The sanest ban of all
*Vegetables ban– from being sold on streets
*Cigarettes/Tobacco ban - from sales and from smoking without "the receipt" (same thing I said about meat applies here. If someone doesn't like smoking fine, but imposing that ban on an entire nation is fascist)
* What next?
