The World Happiness Report was released to coincide with the United Nation’s International Day of Happiness on 20 March. The report measures how happy the people are and why.
There are 6 key variables that was taken into consideration which are GDP per capita, Healthy years of life expectancy, Social support (as measured by having someone to count on in times of trouble), Trust (as measured by a perceived absence of corruption in government and business), perceived freedom to make life decisions and Generosity (as measured by recent donations).
So where does Malaysia and Singapore rank?
| No | Country | No | Country | No | Country |
| 1 | Norway | 56 | South Korea | 111 | Namibia |
| 2 | Denmark | 57 | Romania | 112 | Kenya |
| 3 | Iceland | 58 | Bolivia | 113 | Mozambique |
| 4 | Switzerland | 59 | Turkmenistan | 114 | Myanmar |
| 5 | Finland | 60 | Kazakhstan | 115 | Senegal |
| 6 | Netherlands | 61 | North Cyprus | 116 | Zambia |
| 7 | Canada | 62 | Slovenia | 117 | Iraq |
| 8 | New Zealand | 63 | Peru | 118 | Gabon |
| 9 | Australia | 64 | Mauritius | 119 | Ethiopia |
| 10 | Sweden | 65 | Cyprus | 120 | Sri Lanka |
| 11 | Israel | 66 | Estonia | 121 | Armenia |
| 12 | Costa Rica | 67 | Belarus | 122 | India |
| 13 | Austria | 68 | Libya | 123 | Mauritania |
| 14 | United States | 69 | Turkey | 124 | Congo |
| 15 | Ireland | 70 | Paraguay | 125 | Georgia |
| 16 | Germany | 71 | Hong Kong | 126 | Congo |
| 17 | Belgium | 72 | Philippines | 127 | Mali |
| 18 | Luxembourg | 73 | Serbia | 128 | Ivory Coast |
| 19 | United Kingdom | 74 | Jordan | 129 | Cambodia |
| 20 | Chile | 75 | Hungary | 130 | Sudan |
| 21 | UAE | 76 | Jamaica | 131 | Ghana |
| 22 | Brazil | 77 | Croatia | 132 | Ukraine |
| 23 | Czech Republic | 78 | Kosovo | 133 | Uganda |
| 24 | Argentina | 79 | China | 134 | Burkina Faso |
| 25 | Mexico | 80 | Pakistan | 135 | Niger |
| 26 | Singapore | 81 | Indonesia | 136 | Malawi |
| 27 | Malta | 82 | Venezuela | 137 | Chad |
| 28 | Uruguay | 83 | Montenegro | 138 | Zimbabwe |
| 29 | Guatemala | 84 | Morocco | 139 | Lesotho |
| 30 | Panama | 85 | Azerbaijan | 140 | Angola |
| 31 | France | 86 | Dominican Republic | 141 | Afghanistan |
| 32 | Thailand | 87 | Greece | 142 | Botswana |
| 33 | Taiwan | 88 | Lebanon | 143 | Benin |
| 34 | Spain | 89 | Portugal | 144 | Madagascar |
| 35 | Qatar | 90 | Bosnia & Herzegovinian | 145 | Haiti |
| 36 | Colombia | 91 | Honduras | 146 | Yemen |
| 37 | Saudi Arabia | 92 | Macedonia | 147 | South Sudan |
| 38 | Trinidad & Tobago | 93 | Somalia | 148 | Liberia |
| 39 | Kuwait | 94 | Vietnam | 149 | Guinea |
| 40 | Slovakia | 95 | Nigeria | 150 | Togo |
| 41 | Bahrain | 96 | Tajikistan | 151 | Rwanda |
| 42 | Malaysia | 97 | Bhutan | 152 | Syria |
| 43 | Nicaragua | 98 | Kyrgyzstan | 153 | Tanzania |
| 44 | Ecuador | 99 | Nepal | 154 | Burundi |
| 45 | El Salvador | 100 | Mongolia | 155 | Central Africa |
| 46 | Poland | 101 | South Africa | ||
| 47 | Uzbekistan | 102 | Tunisia | ||
| 48 | Italy | 103 | Palestine | ||
| 49 | Russia | 104 | Egypt | ||
| 50 | Belize | 105 | Bulgaria | ||
| 51 | Japan | 106 | Sierra Leone | ||
| 52 | Lithuania | 107 | Cameroon | ||
| 53 | Algeria | 108 | Iran | ||
| 54 | Latvia | 109 | Albania | ||
| 55 | Moldova | 110 | Bangladesh |
From the report Singapore rank 26 while Malaysia rank 42. Not too bad for Malaysia although there are still many rooms to grow.
Apparently although China is getting wealthier, it seems their citizens are not as happy (rank 79) as other develop countries. The one that caught me surprise was Palestine, apparently their citizens are happier than Egypt, Iran, Bangladesh and India.
What do you think? Is Happiness an important criteria to be included as measurement of a country’s well being apart from just Wealth?
