Apparently, Singaporeans are the unhappiest people in the world if we believe a recent survey.
People here were less “upbeat” than those living in war-torn places like Iraq, Armenia and Afghanistan, Gallup suggested, based on a poll of 1000 respondents in each of 148 countries.
Nearly 150,000 respondents were posed five questions on whether they experienced a lot of enjoyment the day before the survey and whether they felt respected, well-rested, laughed and smiled a lot, and did or learned something interesting. While about 50 per cent of people in Armenia and Iraq did, only 46 per cent of Singaporeans could say the same.
Singapore came in first, ahead of Armenia, Iraq, Georgia, Yemen and Serbia, for being the least positive.
This led Gallup partner Joe Clifton to suggest that “higher income does not necessarily mean higher wellbeing,” given Singapore’s poor faring even though it ranks fifth in the world in terms of GDP per capita.
Personally, I am rather sceptical. Why?
1. To me, the sample size of 1,000 respondents from each country is too small.
2. I would also ask how were the respondents chosen? Are the 1,000 respondents representative of the national population of the country?
3. Are the questions posed sufficiently exhaustive to conclude that Singaporeans are a unhappy lot?
While I agree that making more money might not make a person happier, I find it hard to believe that Singaporeans feel less positive compared to the nationals of war-torn countries like Iraq and Afghanistan! Of course, this represents my personal opinion.
Read:
Singaporeans unhappiest people in the world.
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This certainly brightens up the holiday season for all shareholders.
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