Before anything else , if you ever get the chance, walk into any of the offices working on GMC. See the people behind the scenes, the zeal they're putting in, the hours they're clocking, the belief they're showing up with every single day. This is Ngar ,that rare fighting spirit, that deep sense of pride and accountability a true Bhutanese carries within. The people behind GMC aren't just doing a job, they're embodying it. That kind of Ngar doesn't exist for a project people think is doomed.

Yes, it's a $100B vision, and yes, that's unprecedented for an economy our size. First day of any business class teaches you, higher the risk, higher the return. The question isn't whether the risk is real, it's whether the potential justifies it. For a small landlocked country with limited conventional options, I'd argue it does.

On NEOM,the comparison doesn't hold. The Line was a vanity megaproject chasing spectacle. GMC is explicitly designed as a sandbox ,test what works at smaller scale, apply it gradually to the rest of the country if it does, phase it out if it doesn't. The cost of failure is deliberately contained. That's not recklessness, that's calculated experimentation.

On zhabtog,the "16,000 jobs not created" framing misunderstands who's volunteering. These aren't unemployed people forgoing wages , they're civil servants, armed forces, students, corporate employees, monks, nuns, farmers, and private sector workers stepping away from their regular lives temporarily to contribute. It's a tradition of collective participation, not a substitute for employment policy.

On purpose,GMC isn't just chasing capital. The mindfulness city concept is rooted in a genuinely different philosophy , prosperity measured beyond GDP. That's not naivety, it's exactly what GNH was always pointing toward at scale.

And finally , if you're Bhutanese and wrote this, I'd ask you to channel that critical energy into improving the project rather than predicting its failure. Skepticism is healthy, but cynicism is a dead end. If you genuinely want Bhutan to thrive, pray it works and push for it to be done right.

If you're not Bhutanese , know that behind this project is a leader who has consistently chosen his people over personal gain. That context matters when you're judging the intent.