Singaporeans are happy. Very
happy
Singaporeans are a happy lot, in fact more so than the people in
several other Asian countries.
This according to survey done by a Japanese University which
polled over 8,000 people across China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore,
South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam.
The survey on values, lifestyles, satisfaction and quality of
life of the people, showed that nearly 80 per cent of the 1000
Singaporeans surveyed said that were either 'quite ' or ' very
happy '.
Compare this to the Japanese and the Vietnamese, who scored
between 60 and 65 per cent in this area.
So what worries an average Singaporean ?
Unemployment came up tops, even though the poll was done in
2006, when the economy was doing well.
Second came Terrorism, followed by healthcare, natural disasters
and wars.
These results were analysed and recently published in a book put
together by three professors from the National University of
Singapore's Business School.
Dr Tambyah Siok Kuan, who was one of the professors involved, on
whether there could be discrepancies in the survey findings with
the recent economic crisis.
" I think we might see a dampening of sentiments, in terms of
the optimism of Singaporeans in terms of their future and economic
prospects. I do not think we will see a plummeting of this index,
if you can call this an index. We wont see a drastic reduction in
levels. We will probably see lower levels but like I said even in
good times, the index or sentiments on economic propects are still
there, people are still concern about their jobs. But I think we do
see a fairly stable plateau of the satisfaction levels over the
years. "
Besides the happiness factor, the respondents who were between
20 and 69 years old, were also asked what they would like their
children to grow up to be.
Most said they would like their children, regardless of gender,
to grow up caring about their family.
The results in other East Asian countries were more contrasting
between the genders.
A majority of the parents in these countries would like their
daughter to find a good marriage partner, while they expect their
son to grow up to be a loving and charitable person.
--938Live
