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Are We Happy?

We may be a well-to-do country, but are we a happy people? If not, what can we do?

According to the Happy Planet Index, compiled by the folks at the New Economic Foundation, Singapore ranks 131 out of a possible 178 countries in its definition of happiness.

When I first read about this in the Straits Times, I thought that this was a little strange. Surely, we are not so unhappy? Si I decided to find out more. I went to the website and discovered that I could actually participate in the survey to get my own happiness index. (You can also try it out here: http://www.happyplanetindex.org/survey.htm). Despite being very upbeat with my own self-assessment, the result still said that I ranked lower than the global average.

Upon investigation, I realised that the index did not just measure my self-perception, but my "social functionings" and my "ecological footprint" as well. I scored particularly badly with my ecological footprint mainly because I drive a car, eat meat and "fly" more than most people because of work. The report said that I was using between three and five times my share of the planet's resources.

The countries that scored the highest in this index are the island nation Vanuatu and Latin American countries like Colombia, Costa Rica and El Salvador. I'm assuming that because the incidence of driving, eating meat and flying are low for the residents of these countries, their ecological footprint scores are very high, and hence they are high up on the index. I get the point about our ecological footprint, but this survey is not a good one for the measure of personal happiness.

I looked around for another global survey and found one conducted by the World Values Survey. In a 2004 study that ranked 82 societies based on "combined Happiness and Life Satisfaction scores"' Singapore ranked 24. The countries that ranked higher than Singapore are Switzerland, U.S.A., Australia and... Colombia and El Salvador.

Hmm...the folks of Colombia and El Salvador seem to socre high in various happiness surveys. What is their "Quality of Life" I wonder. For this, I looked at The Economist's Quality of Life index 2005, which measures dimensions such as material well-being, health and family relations, and I found that Singapore ranjed 11, and Colombia and El Salvador ranked 54 and 56 respectively, out of a total of 111 countries surveyed.

Looking at even more Happiness research, I found that happiness means different things to different people from around the globe. For example, the U.K. New Scientist Magazine noted that "in the U.S., satisfaction comes from personal success, self-expression, pride, a high sense of self. In Japan, on the other hand, it comes from fulfilling the expectations of your family, meeting your social responsibilities, self-discipline, cooperation and friendliness. So while in the U.S., it is perfectly appropriate to pursue your own happiness, in Japan you are more likely to find happiness by not directly pursuing it."

So Happiness is subjective. The folks in Colombia and El Salvador may be happier simply because they have happier perspectives, despite ranking low on quality of life. Singaporeans may have less happy perspectives (not "unhappy" perspectives, just "less"), despite scoring high on economic and social development.

Now let's talk about money. Is happiness all about adopting happy perspectives? Do we need money to be happy? Or does it mean that money doesn't buy happiness?

Well...we at Fundsupermart.com are, after all, in the investment business. Where would we be if people thought that money can't buy happiness? From my point of view, money certainly can buy happiness. For people around my age, who have old parents and young children to take care of, money can buy quality healthcare and quality education. It can buy relaxing holidays and challenging toys. Do we not experience joy when we are able to provide these things to our loved ones? Would we be happier if we did not have the means to pay for these things? Certainly this is not so.

But then again, we've heard often enough that people say that money can't buy happiness. Where does that come from, I wonder? Dp poor people say that, or rich people? I imagine that it is the people who already have money who would say things like that. The people who do not have money would be struggling to make ends meet.

The rich people say that money can't buy happiness because once they have money, they have loftier goals, desires and needs to achieve, and often these require more than money to arrive at.

So I would say that money is a necessary condition for happiness, but may not be a sufficient one for some. But it's important to be happy, isn't it? I mean, what would be the point of all our money if we were not happy?

So what can we do?

The world of Happiness research gives some clues. The researchers at the World Values Survey noted some "happiness suppressants". Chief among them is the pursuit of material goods. It seems that, for the people of economically developed or developing countries, there is a constant pressure to "keep up with the Joneses" in both status and material ownership. The researchers noted that "what counts is nt what you have so much as what others have" and that the constant comparison and pressure to achieve are making people miserable.

The BBC, sieving through a range of social science research in 2005, published this summary of the things that cause people to be happy (the words in brackets are mine).

1. Genetic propensity to happiness (Your genes can cause you to have certain emotional predispositions. So if you want happy kids, it is important that you try to maintain happy perspectives)

2. Marriage (Married people are generally happier than single ones, despite all the jokes about wives and mother-in-laws)

3. Make friends and value them

4. Desire less

5. Do someone a good turn

6. Have faith, religious or not

7. Stop comparing your looks with others

8. Earn more money (or make more, with Fundsupermart.com)

9. Grow old gracefully

10. Don't worry if you're not a genius (many people get depressed because they benchmark themselves against impossible standards, so this last point is about setting more realistic goals)

I though I might leave you with that and wish you a Happy 2007

Moh Hon Meng
Fundsupermart.com
Singapore
18 Feb 2007

Mr Moh Hon Meng is the Executive Director of iFAST Group. www.fundsupermart.com