By Manik Mehta(Bernama)
-- If happiness could be measured the way a country's economic performance is measured in terms of gross national product or gross domestic product, then Malaysia would be the world's 51st happiest country. This is the conclusion drawn in the United Nations' so-called "World Happiness Report" recently released at its headquarters in New York.
The report, which had been commissioned for the UN Conference on Happiness held in New York on Monday was compiled on the basis of survey responses received from 2005 until mid-2011 to "measure the happiness level of 156 countries".
In Malaysia's case, there were a number of factors that led to its 51st ranking. Materialistic prosperity of individuals may have been one thing but wealth, usually an indicator of a person's material well being, was not the only crucial factor in this determination. There were factors such as a person's general disposition, the level of contentment with basic aspirations, etc. which were also taken into account.
However, Malaysia was ranked 2nd in Southeast Asia, behind Singapore which emerged as the happiest Southeast Asian country. On a worldwide basis, the island was ranked 33rd out of the 156 countries surveyed. Thailand was ranked 52nd, Myanmar landed at 74th position and Indonesia was 83rd.
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