A fascinating and informative talk from Kuenzang Tshering last Wednesday about Bhutan and the Bhutanese way of life. Kuenzang has been living in WA with his wife and two young daughters for 5 years, with the two girls attending Lake Monger PS. Kuenzang is an environmental hydrologist who has just completed his PhD at ECU. Bhutan is a kingdom in the Himalayas, 39sq kms in size (about the size of Switzerland) with a population of only 770,000. A constitutional monarchy since 2008. Bounded by China and India, with both seeking influence in the country, makes it a challenging existence. The main income is derived from tourism and the sale of hydropower energy to India. Less than 3% of the land is arable, although agriculture is the main employer. A Buddhist country, philosophy is a way of life. A gross national “happiness” register is maintained and a happiness star rating is attributed to each hotel. Chilli is the national dish. More than 30,000 Bhutanese live in Perth (the most in Australia) and they have the highest number of tertiary students by country at WA universities. Amazing stats. A terrific presentation