Every year, the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network publishes the World Happiness Report. It contains reports and rankings of national happiness based on respondent ratings in each country. The key variables taken into consideration cover categories such as income, healthy life expectancy, social support, freedom, trust and generosity.
This time, the United Nations also considered three factors that also affect the happiness of a nation. The three factors are links between government and happiness, the power of prosocial behaviour (behaviours that promote happy places to live in, such as helping others) and the changes in information technology.
The top 10 Happiest Countries in the World in 2019 are:
1. Finland
2. Denmark
3. Norway
4. Iceland
5. Netherlands
6. Switzerland
7. Sweden
8. New Zealand
9. Canada
10. Austria
Where is Malaysia on the list? Sadly, Malaysia fell from the 35th place in 2018 to the 80th in 2019. In short, it means Malaysia has fallen 45 places, which is not good at all.
When compared to the other Southeast Asian countries, Malaysia ranked 4th this year, compared to 2nd place in 2018. It appears that as a nation, we’re not getting happier, and this just means there are still a lot of improvements to work on!
For further comparison, here’s how Malaysia did in the previous World Happiness Reports:
2013 - 56th
2015 -61st
2016 - 47th
2017 - 42nd
Malaysia was actually significantly improving over the years. Regardless of the report, what’s important is how we feel in our daily lives. We asked our fellow readers what makes them happy and maybe, we can emulate some of their suggestions listed below. Keep calm and carry on!
Happiness is...
Sunnyside up with runny yoke. - bb_hurricane
Reading or watching videos of animal rescue stories. - ramonarevi
Put a smile on others face makes me feel happy. :) - joyalee1719
Blue sky & happy family. - naimishah_
Vacation. - amrysharif
My kids. - sayasha88
Food. - navna_nvn
When get together for dinner with parents and families. - dzulzainal
Kids! - mamanaz09
Shopping and listening to music. - acikachik
Food ,.. because it is my hobby. - farahd85
Food. - arfaakey
Music, rainbows. - verasoo
Able to help those in need to fulfill their daily needs especially grocery items lights me up. - lancelotlance1
Activities and food. - jennifergohwaiping
I love eating Nasi Lemak with kopi’O. - jasminevasudevan
I love food, food always makes me happy and forget my problem. - areinaen
Sleep without timing the alarm. - budynyzam
Free voucher. - dinimuzakir
Free Staycation! - rozaliaanik
Cupcakes. - sophiapious
Food trip with my bestie(s). - n.aida.z
Binging on ice-cream on a sunny day. - ren_d3zvous
Good boss, good friends, supportive family. -little.misyaa
Festival/ Celebrations/ Holidays/ memes. - santhana94
Food and books! - Fariq Sazuki
Win contest. - nazha06
Food n money. - uvasasi
Eat a bar of chocolate while watching my favourite TV show and free from any distractions. - carideeyhamad
Ice cream. - Liza Mei
Going for gigs. My heavy metal music is everything to me. - arvindsindhu14
Finding new awesome songs to listen to. - darifamalina
Watching my favourite Kdrama. - michycsy
Make money in the stock market. - damian.boo
Fried dumpling cook by my dad. - angellam123
Cheesecake. - tya_arif
Music. - anishanair2702
Yummy food. - wendylim_aw
