Being an avid K-pop song listener and ARMY myself, it has always been very exciting to talk about BTS and the positive impact these people along with other idols, have brought on to the lives of youth in Bhutan.
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BTS is a 7 member boy group based in South Korea. Although they began as young rappers and hip-hop artists they now explore different genres of music including but not limited to orchestral strings and EDM, Neo soul, gospel and moombahton, Future bass, Latin pop and jazz hip hop, Emo rap, rap rock, afro pop, nu-disco, trap, pop rock and pop rap. Moreover, their work also makes lyrical themes and parallels to literary, philosophical, and psychological ideas and has an alternate universe plot.
Apart from being musicians, BTS advocates the importance of self love and good mental health. According to reports on mental health from UNICEF, a global initiative called the “Love myself campaign” which was initiated to help prevent violence and neglect and boost self-esteem around the world generated about 5 million tweets and more than 50 million conversations.
Picture source: Twitter @bts_bighit
During that period, BTS addressed world leaders and heads of state at the annual United Nations General Assembly gathering in New York, donated US$3.6 million to UNICEF's efforts to prevent violence, and created an exclusive music video in support of UNICEF's initiative to promote compassion and love. There are many more donations and public service programs that the group conducted as a means to thank the people of the world for all the love and support they got for their music.
Seeing such initiatives, fans all over the world including in Bhutan were greatly inspired to follow the steps of these idols, not only in terms of contributing to society but also to work hard and try their best to achieve their dreams.
BTS Bhutan
Out of the many Bhutanese BTS fan accounts, a page called @_btsbhutan has been posting updates and creating several welfare campaigns and projects where young fans from different parts of Bhutan living both inside and outside the country enthusiastically participate and promote the wellbeing of people
Some of their donation campaign and projects are as follows :
1. The first project was inspired by BTS’s “Team work, makes the dream work” to fight against the pandemic. The page collected about nu.11000 and donated it to Bhutan’s Covid 19 fund.
2. On BTS’s 8th debut anniversary, Bhutanese fans/ARMY's collected Nu. 8,500 to donate to Jangsa Animal Saving Trust. As a registered NGO, Jangsa is actively involved in all aspects of animal welfare, including the spiritual practice of Tsethar—"saving of animals lives"—by saving sick and injured animals, offering care and medical attention, and maintaining animals in shelters, sanctuaries, and pasturelands in Bhutan and India. With this, we can definitely say that the values of compassion and the art of giving are further encouraged when like minded people come together to work as a team.
3. To celebrate the 9th anniversary of BTS on June 13, 2022, the administrators of BTS Bhutan collected Nu.9,000 to feed the stray dog. The act of helping stray dogs also aligns with His Majesty’s concern for homeless dogs. The reason for mentioning this is that there are people who think foreign influencers have had a bad impact on the minds of young Bhutanese when in reality it has rather inspired many youths to find ways to embrace their roots and remember their values as they try to love themselves and do good in the world or their own local community.
The page has also conducted activities where young talented youth express themselves using dance and songs. You can check out those covers on their YouTube channel.