Dec 18,2014 (Thursday)Vol;01, Issue: 11
Dhonam Pemba, PhD. was born in
Darjeeling, India. He is the grandson
of Dr. Pemba from Darjeeling, who
was first Tibetan doctor trained in
western medicine and first Tibetan to
publish a book in English. Dhonam
grew up in Darjeeling, London,
California and New York. He graduated
Valedictorian from his New York high
school. Dhonam then went on to
study biomedical engineering at Johns
Hopkins University. Dhonam then went
on to pursue his PhD in Biomedical
Engineering at University of California,
Irvine. Dhonams PhD thesis was on
the development of Neural Interfaces
for restoration of auditory, motor
and sensory systems. Dhonam also
worked with the NASAs Jet Propulsion
Laboratory on the development of
new propulsion system that could
power microspace crafts of the future
or allow precision pointing of small
spacecraft for planetary missions and
missions to explore asteroids. Dhonam
also spends his free time serving the
Tibetan community, and has created
several mobile apps such as the
Tibetan Alphabet App, and served
as the Vice President of the Tibetan
Association of Southern California
(TASC) Currently, Dhonam is the Chief
Scientist and Co-founder of Kadho Inc.
Kadho develops interactive Ebooks,
games and content for mobile devices
featuring scientifically validated
auditory and visual stimuli designed
to enhance cognitive development in
children and performance in athletes.
Tell us about yourself
I was born Darjeeling, India and
have lived in England, and now live
in America. I was very fortunate to
be brought up in family that valued
education, my grandfather was first
Tibetan doctor trained in western
medicine and first Tibetan to publish a
book in English
Your career.
I went to Johns Hopkins University
to pursue my Bachelors degree in
biomedical engineering, and then I
received my PhD from the University
of California, Irvine. I have worked with
the NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory
on the development of new propulsion
system for microspace crafts. Currently,
I have co-founded a company that
English section !
develops interactive Ebooks, games
and content for mobile devices
featuring scientifically validated
auditory and visual stimuli designed
to enhance cognitive development in
children and performance in athletes
Your motivation for pursuing your
field of interest
I have had real difficulty in learning
foreign languages and musical
instruments, and wondered why it was
so hard for me. The science shows
foundations for all these skills are built
during our early years, and although it
might be too late for me, I wanted to
help future children build their brain to
their best potential
How you view yourself and your work
in connection to Tibetan people and
the future of Tibet
Two critical issues we face are the
preservation of our language and the
education of our children. A dead
language is one that only adults speak,
to keep our language alive it can
only be preserved through children.
We are trying to solve both issues
by developing content delivered via
mobile tablets and phones that can
bring a child to competency in reading,
language, math in any language
Advice to readers.
I think you will be happiest when you
are doing what you love and if that
passion is positive. We might argue
that your passion wont pay your bills,
but perseverance and the pursuit of
knowledge is the key to find a passion
that will. Chance does favor the
prepared mind. Interviewed by Tsechu
Dolma colombia university
PhD,Dhonam Pemba
A guest post by Jonathan Mirsky, a book review of Meltdown in
Tibet: Chinas Reckless Destruction of Ecosystems from the Highlands
of Tibet to the Delta of Asia by Michael Buckley, published by
PalgraveMacmillan 2014
Meltdown in Tibet: Chinas Reckless Destruction
of Ecosystems from the Highlands of Tibet to the
Delta of AsiaBy Michael Buckley
In our age of decolonization and
environmental protection, China has
created in Tibet what Michael Buckley
calls the worlds largest colony. He
wonders, Is environmental horror
Chinas greatest export? China not
only exploits the local environment
in every possible way, he contends,
but also threatens the environments
and livelihoods of countries like India,
Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Burma
An intrepid environmentalist and
travel writer his Lonely Planet
volume on Tibet is unique Mr.
Buckley provides in his latest book
an impassioned and angry account of
Chinas rape of Tibet and its people.
His passion is strengthened by telling
details. These make the books thesis
of destruction and heartlessness extra-
convincing. Here is one: Mount Kailash
is one of Tibets sacred mountains;
believers regard it as a place to be
walked around, in two or three days
for all but the hardiest pilgrims. A plan
is now underway to pave the sacred
path so that some of the hundreds of
thousands of Chinese tourists to Tibet,
for whom Kailash is a happy-snappers
dream, will be able to circle it in a bus
in a few hours
I have written rape and I meant it.
Despite the objections of Tibetans on
religious grounds, as Mr Buckley shows,
China has penetrated Tibets ground
waters, and its deep-lying minerals,
and violated its mighty rivers and
grasslands. It has removed from their
traditional surroundings two million
nomads, whose way of life protects the
grasslands, slaughtered their domestic
animals, and driven to extinction the
wild asses, gazelles, and deer that
not long ago wandered those spaces,
which have been given over to growing
grain for the hungry mainland
An adventurer who rafts down Tibets
imperilled rivers to feel their power, Mr
Buckley is also an up-to-date techno-
geek. The Chinese authorities keep
much of their rape-developments away
from prying eyes like Mr Buckleys.
But he managed to gaze down on the
mining operations from the Google
Earth satellite, 250 miles up. Now
he could see the mining sites, their
pollution discoloration, and tailings
storage ponds with toxic sludge.
Beijing objected to Google Earths far-
seeing eyes, but having tossed Google
out of the country their objections
were ignored
China calls Tibet Xizang, Western
Treasure House, and Tibet is indeed
stuffed with rare earths and minerals.
Take lithium, the metal of the moment.
One third of the worlds lithium is in
Tibet. Lithium carbonate is extracted
from the regions salt lakes, and is
used in batteries for electric vehicles.
Warren Buffet, one of the planets
richest men, is now a shareholder,
and at a ceremony launching one of
his investments was presented with
katas, (ceremonial scarves) by Tibetan
women in full costume. But as Mr
Buckley puts it with his usual punch,
The Chinese dream it would seem, is
to get wealthy. Tibetans do not dream
about driving cars powered by large
lithium batteries. They dream about the
return of the Dalai Lama
One of the main factors in the
destruction of Tibets way of life is the
railway that came into operation in
2006. Mr Buckley rightly calls it a game-
changer, fast-tracking the destruction
of Tibets environment. Now Han
tourists and workers in their hundreds
of thousands can travel from Beijing
to Lhasa in two days, compared to the
three-day truck ride from Golmud to
Lhasa I took 30 years ago
The railway is the first megaproject
in Tibet and has enabled large-scale
exploitation of Tibets resources. The
railway is Beijings opening salvo in the
Open-up-the-West campaign, which
got underway in 2000. This is more of a
Plunder-the West campaign
Mr Buckley does not exaggerate when
he discerns the hand of Mao Zedong in
what is happening in Tibet. The Chairman
believed nature to be an enemy to be
vanquished, an exact contradiction of
the respectful Tibetan attitude. This was
born out in Maos time by the disastrous
campaign to kill sparrows, which led to
a nation-wide plague of destructive
insects. Worse still was the Great Leap
campaign in agriculture resulting in
the worlds worst-ever famine, during
which 30 to 50 million Chinese starved
to death. Maos arrogant legacy,
writes Mr Buckley, lingers today with
the leadership of the military-industrial
complex that rules China
One of the recent contradictions in Han
attitudes towards Tibet is the awe of
many younger Hans to what they see
as Tibetan mystery and purity. They
visit holy sites such as Lhasas Jokhang,
where, described by Mr. Buckley, they
chatter and smoke (and, as I recall, walk
the wrong way) while photographing
the sacred images. Now there is a
lively industry in bottled 5100 Tibetan
Glacier Water, a product served on
Chinas high-speed trains and to first-
class passengers on the countrys main
airline. In Beijing it is drunk at official
banquets and Party anniversaries
In my minds eye I see a newly
paved highway around Mount Kailash,
where Chinese and foreign tourists in
air- conditioned buses glide around
the sacred way in a few hours while
drinking 5100 Tibetan Glacier Water
Meltdown in Tibet: Chinas Reckless Destruction
of Ecosystems from the Highlands of Tibet to the Delta of Asia
By Michael
Buckley Published by Palgrave
MacmillanBuy the book on Amazon
Thank you to Jonathan Mirsky
for contributing this book review.
Jonathan Mirsky is a journalist
who went to Tibet six times
between 1982 and 1988. He is a
regular contributor to the New
York Review of Books
Prepared by Tsechu Dolma
from columbia university
