EVERYONE has their own definition of happiness, hence some people can achieve happiness easily whereas for others, it seems so far away.
There are many ways to express happiness. It could be conveyed through verbal or non-verbal expressions. Often, we tend to lose sight of the importance of mental health in the context of happiness.
Based on the Origins of Happiness Report, if we reduce mental health issues, such as depression or anxiety, we would be able to increase happiness by 20 per cent. On the other hand, if we tackle poverty, we would only increase happiness by five per cent. It could be interpreted that reducing mental health problems would be four times more effective than reducing poverty in improving happiness.
In this year’s World Happiness Report, Malaysia has been ranked 80th in the world, dropping 45 places from the previous year, and ranked fourth happiest country in Southeast Asia.
This year’s report focuses on three main sets of factors:
LINKS between happiness and government,
THE power of prosocial behaviour; and,
THE changes in information technology.
The first set of factors, which is links between happiness and government, states that what governments do affects happiness, and, in turn, the happiness of citizens in most countries determines what kind of governments they support. It also could be explained by gross domestic product per capita, social support provided by the government and perceptions of corruption.
In May last year, the 61-year governance under Barisan Nasional ended. It has been taken over by a coalition of four parties, Pakatan Harapan, and led by the oldest sitting elected leader in the world, 92-year-old Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
According to a survey by Merdeka Centre, two-thirds of voters felt the new government was doing “all right” 100 days after their victory in the 14th General Election. Nevertheless, there is a long list of items in the manifesto that has yet to be fulfilled by the Pakatan Harapan government.
The Happiness League Tables show that Malaysia has the highest perception of corruption in Asia that is most likely related to the 1Malaysia Development Bhd scandal.
The second set of factors is the power of prosocial behaviour, which is a broad and multidimensional construct that includes cooperation, donation and volunteering (Padilla-Walker & Carlo, 2014). Humans are social animals. Prosocial behaviour can be viewed as a mark of positive engagement among communities and a central way that humans connect with each other.
Based on the information published in the report, it could be explained that with generosity, people who give to charity are happier compared with those who do not. In addition, spending money on others can be known as prosocial spending. Malaysia has the figure of 27, which stands at the ranking of fifth out of nine Southeast Asia countries.
The third set of factor sets comprises the changes in information technology. Digital technology is changing the way people understand communities, navigate their life paths and connect with each other, be it at work or play.
The findings of the World Happiness Report show that there is a relationship between the rising use of digital media and falling happiness. The positive negative impacts of digital technology, especially social media platforms, are being compared and measured.
Although social media connects people like never before and is one of the best tools to deliver messages and information, it comes with unwanted affections from cyberbullying to digital addiction.
Overall, activities related to smartphones and digital media are linked to less happiness and non-phone activities such as sports or exercise, in-person social interaction and volunteerism improve happiness. Malaysia has a balanced figure for both positive and negative affect.
All in all, are all the results and evidence gathered by the World Happiness Report enough to determine the “happiness” level of a country?
A country that rarely sees bright skies and experiences freezing weather throughout the year, Finland, are their people really happier than us?
ALEXANDER GOH
Kuala Lumpur