BBS TV has finally got its own place after squeezing in with the radio for over ten years. Well-done BBS! Especially the engineering guys who are always the unsung heroes of BBS. And of course the new management for seeing this project through after so much of initial delays.
The event made me recollect another historic moment for BBS that occurred exactly 23 years back - on June 2, 1986.
It was on that day that BBS became “BBS” in place of Radio NYAB. I am sure very few people in BBS would know this. So just for the record, it was the day when BBS got its own 5KW RIZ transmitter commissioned. Until then Radio NYAB was riding on the waves of the Wireless Department’s 400W BEL transmitter (a military piece made of pure iron that would give electric shock from all its parts when it was ON).
On June 2, 1986 we bid goodbye to Radio NYAB. Dasho Karma Lethro, who was the deputy minister of communications & tourism inaugurated the station and was the first voice to go on-air from the new transmitter. Late Dasho Rinzin Dorji was the director of information (that included BBS, Kuensel and DSCD), Mrs. Louise Dorji was the head of BBS and Mr. Sangay Tenzing (now DG of Roads) was the station engineer. I was a junior engineer back then - one of the sixteen staff members.
So when you consider technician working with electric shock giving transmitters, RJs talking from that cold, stinking and haunted studio and reporters dishing out hand-written news bulletins, we must be proud of BBS with its new state-of-the-art master control room and satellite uplink facility. I am told the production studios are air-conditioned.
Not bad, right? We always think so low of ourselves. It is about time we Bhutanese hold our chin high and boldly move to the future.
yup yup. but technology (or lack of it) will not block the creativity. BBS should stop copying from others.getting inspiration is ok, though.
ReplyDeleteby the way i hate those people in Live Call In SHow on saturdays, with doma stained teeth, talking to people(actually flirting with them), leaning on the table. hey look at MTV, VH1, V ..whatever ..see them standing straight, confident and talking?? get inspired man..don't copy..tashi delek
and when narrating (in documentary) ..dont try to sound like chillips ..your own accent should do...
Actually, I've observed that we generally do think high of ourselves and hold our chins high.
ReplyDeleteThe question is: Do we hold ourselves high because we have built infrastructure and visions, or because we exhibit ‘excellence’ in whatever we do on a day to day basis?
So, I would rather say that it's probably high time that we stood back, looked real hard into the mirror, and courageously admitted where we are going wrong and why. (This for me is bold step number one) How can we change or improve to do justice to our chins held high? (This for me is bold step number two)
Yes, I join everyone in the celebrations of the new BBS Centre, for the history and journey behind its making. And, I look forward to many more rounds of celebrations when we show to ourselves and the world that our TV programmes are of a caliber comparable to other world programmes. Otherwise, it wouldn’t make much sense to have invested so heavily in the Centre, right?
Today, if we hold our chins high it is because of the bold steps (such as, decentralization, GNH philosophy, transformation to democracy) of our leaders (Kings). Let’s not only talk gratitude but walk our gratitude with the decency to sustain and strengthen those bold steps by observing excellence in our own little contributions.
Nice story with dotted history. We often hear less of our own developmental history in few specific (but important) areas. Like you narrated here. Dorji you should write a historical developmen of Radion and Tv in Bhutan for youths (I know there are already few things but it is not very interesting. You could probably write one and produce a documentary as well. I dont know if there is already one which covers an elaborate history.
ReplyDelete