Why Singaporean So Unhappy?
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x2Originally posted by Meat Pao:Errr.....I dont know about the pride thing / national identity thing.
I think maybe that will require a separate discussion, and maybe not so much related to happiness, although it is quite a serious issue too.
To talk more about happiness, I left out one more thing:
Religion.
Here in Singapore, many people are atheist.
It can be said a part of that is because of government policy.
Here if you take out money from your wallet and look at it, you cannot find any reference to God.
It is pretty telling.
Religion can be misunderstood, I dont want to bring out the religious 'animosity' or religious principles/ rituals and whether they are good or bad.
What I want to mention is, religion is a kind of faith.
Faith is a kind of spiritual wealth.
With faith, with religion, you can find inner peace and happiness, you will see life differently, you will view world differently.
With this kind of spiritual wealth, you will be more happy.
Here in Singapore there are many atheists, therefore there are many people who dont know why they live in this world, dont know why they are like robots everyday work work work, and dont have a direction.
I truly believe the big proportion of atheists, and lack of spirituality, contribute to the average happiness level.
I like your spirituality statement, though not at all agreeing with faith in your term.
By the way, faith is not just psychoing yourself up, saying "you can do it, you can do it" all the time.
Faith is about stepping out of your comfort zone and is doing something to maximize your life's substance. Few people actually do something to improve or constantly upgrade themselves instead of complaining all day long.
Anyway, the price of being an athiest country is no different from being communist.
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Wah lau, how can you threadjack my topic into religion discussion? How can? How can?Originally posted by Meat Pao:Errr.....I dont know about the pride thing / national identity thing.
I think maybe that will require a separate discussion, and maybe not so much related to happiness, although it is quite a serious issue too.
To talk more about happiness, I left out one more thing:
Religion.
Here in Singapore, many people are atheist.
It can be said a part of that is because of government policy.
Here if you take out money from your wallet and look at it, you cannot find any reference to God.
It is pretty telling.
Religion can be misunderstood, I dont want to bring out the religious 'animosity' or religious principles/ rituals and whether they are good or bad.
What I want to mention is, religion is a kind of faith.
Faith is a kind of spiritual wealth.
With faith, with religion, you can find inner peace and happiness, you will see life differently, you will view world differently.
With this kind of spiritual wealth, you will be more happy.
Here in Singapore there are many atheists, therefore there are many people who dont know why they live in this world, dont know why they are like robots everyday work work work, and dont have a direction.
I truly believe the big proportion of atheists, and lack of spirituality, contribute to the average happiness level.
Why South American so happy but African so miserable? Nigerian less belief in God than Brazilian is it?
That's why religion =/= happy just like money =/= happy wat. Spiritual wealth can be used for happiness or miserable... like any other kind of wealth.
Same same. -
Originally posted by Meat Pao:
Actually people have done scientific studies on happiness.
Your post, threadstarter, is very much I like. I like to discuss about this topic.
I think Singaporeans are unhappy because they are overworked, simple as that.
Here in Singapore, students are always tops in international competitions.
Workforce, although no international competition, I think also tops in productivity compared internationally.
You often read about how the average student here spend the most hours in doing homework, or maybe top 3 or top 5 in the world, forgot.
Same too about average employees work hours in a week.
Meanwhile, the inverse is true when we read about how many hours is spent in a week for sex. Always bottom, or bottom 3 whatever.
This kind of work work work environment produces material wealth, but no emotional wealth.
Like producing material wealth takes time, producing emotional wealth also takes time. But all attention is focused on material wealth.
Singapore is unique, small country, no resources, but very ambitious. How to be ambitious? By pumping the human resource, whether in education or business.
It is true the average Singaporean is a good student and good worker, and the economy shows that as a result. The statistics show that.
But the cost is your happiness.
Unfortunately we dont measure happiness. There is no statistics for that. People wont bother to design a Happiness Index. It will be deemed as quasi science, junk even.
It is overlooked area. Therefore it suffers.
And frankly, maybe this situation will last for much longer. Simply because Singapore fundamental condition wont change much. Unless maybe if it can turn itself into a tourism haven or suddenly it find oil.
If nothing much change on the underlying level, then nothing will change in its society too.
Check out Glenn Firebaugh from Penn State
http://www.sociology.psu.edu/faculty/GFirebaugh.htm
Evidence so far shows that relative wealth is related to happiness. -
isnt dis econsOriginally posted by Darkness_hacker99:Me ish O Level Geography Student.
GDP refers to the sum of total value of the final goods and services produced in a country during a given period.
I agree to a certain extent that GDP per capita is useful as an indicator to the quality of life.
GDP per capita is derived from the sum total of all goods and services produced by a country divided by the total number to people in the country.
By doing so, it provides a common basis for comparison of all countries in the world.
When there is a high GDP per capita, it can mean that the citizen are able to afford food, shelter and education. Singapore, Canada and the USA are examples of countries that have a high GDP per capita, and the citizens generally enjoy a good quality of life.
However, a high GDP per capita does not automatically mean that the quality of life is good. This is because GDP per capita does not take into account the distribution of wealth. Not everyone in the country have access to the same amount of resources.
Saudi Arabia is an example of a country with a relatively high GDP per capita, but the wealth lies mainly with those involved in the extraction of the country's crude oil.
A good quality of life is concerned with more than economic well-being, as it also takes into account personal satisfaction of cultural and environment conditions.
If a higher GDP per capita is achieved at the expense of living conditions or the environment, eq. rapid deforestation due to an increase in demand for wood products, then the quality of life cannot be said to have improved.
GDP per capita does not take into account unpaid work such as homemaking, volunteer work and community service. These help to improve quality of life, but they are not reflected in the GDP per capita. Hence, GDP per capita does not reflect accurately the quality of life.
Extracted from 'O' Level The Essential Geography Elective Exam Practice (Exam Paper Answer 1) Q 5(b)
hw come i take geog elective oso nbr see dis 
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I know of 2 fairly recent happiness index (indexes? wtf is the plural for 'index'?).
The first, by the new economics foundation, can be found http://www.happyplanetindex.org/. Unfortunately, it seems to have been widely discredited largely because of the way it defines happiness.
The other, by an academic at the University of Leicester, seems to command more respect. It can be found at http://www2.le.ac.uk/ebulletin/news/press-releases/2000-2009/2006/07/nparticle.2006-07-28.2448323827. IIRC, Singapore was ranked 58 under this study.
For those who are interested, his main findings are thatHappiness is found to be most closely associated with health, followed by wealth and then education.
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Fuc kin' hell. I know I am a miserable sod but I didn't realize the depth of my misery.
Full results: http://img21.imagefiasco.com/viewimage.php?file=/images/YAF01929.pngYour personal Happy Planet Index (HPI) is 12.2, which is below that for any country, including bottom-placed Zimbabwe. That's dreadful! Your score is below that of your country, 40.8.
http://www.itint.co.uk/hpisurvey/
Below is a breakdown of the various components that make up your HPI score.
You: 12.2
Average: 43.3
[Average is of all online responses to this survey - not the average for your country]
I think I need to top myself soon. -
This is one reason..
" Singapore Ministry Official: Income Gap To Widen Further
SINGAPORE -(Dow Jones)- Singapore's income gap will continue to widen in coming years due to pressures linked to globalization, a labor department official said at a press briefing Monday.
"We do expect the trend to continue," said Jeffrey Wong, divisional director of Manpower Planning and Policy Division, Ministry of Manpower. "This is largely the result of globalization."
Wong's comments follow the recent announcement by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong that Singapore would raise the sales tax to 7% from the current 5% next year, and simultaneously introduce a packaged designed to help low-income Singaporeans.
Wong was responding to a question about wage trends in the next one to two years.
"Basically, we see the highest group of professionals - their wages are rising. And on the other hand, the wages of the lowest group is largely flat," Wong said.
Between 2000 and 2005, incomes in the highest decile of Singapore households increased at a 2.8% annual rate, while the lowest deciles had an outright decline, according to the government's most recent survey.
-By John Jannarone, Dow Jones Newswires -
sorry. i beat ya.Originally posted by scabstermooch:Fuc kin' hell. I know I am a miserable sod but I didn't realize the depth of my misery.
http://www.itint.co.uk/hpisurvey/
I think I need to top myself soon.Your personal Happy Planet Index (HPI) is 5.7, which is below that for any country, including bottom-placed Zimbabwe. That's dreadful! Your score is below that of your country, 40.8.
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Hey! Its not a challenge!
-sigh- I can't even win at this eh?
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Happy Planet Index
Your personal Happy Planet Index (HPI) is 15.3 Sorry to say that this is below the world average of 46. For those living in the UK, youÂ’ll also be disappointed to hear your score is below the national average. Your score is below that of your country, 40.8.
Below is a breakdown of the various components that make up your HPI score.
You:
15.3
Average:
43.3
[Average is of all online responses to this survey - not the average for your country]
Life Expectancy
Congratulations. Your life expectancy is above average for your gender and country. Whether it's eating well, not smoking, getting regular exercise, or just being lucky enough to have the right genes, you're doing something right. However, nobody's perfect and we could all improve our health a little! Aside from getting all the above bits of your lifestyle right, there are some more surprising factors that can influence your life expect - for example, giving up your car, avoiding living alone, moving out of the city or shrugging off stress.
You:
77.7
Average:
80.8
[Average is of all online responses to this survey - not the average for your country]
Ecological Footprint
Your ecological footprint is 6.15 global hectares, or 3.42 planets. This is equivalent to the average in Ireland, Norway or Singapore.
Your ecological footprint is about average for the country you live in.
Oh dear! You are using between three and five times your share of the planet's resources, even assuming no resources are set aside for other species. That's well above the world average, and even above the average for most industrialised countries. Perhaps it's time to start taking action. Here are some of the most effective steps that everyone can make to reduce their footprint:
1. Leave your car in the garage. Car use has a huge impact on ecological footprint. Obviously it's more difficult for people in certain circumstances, but where possible, try to use public transport more. Or, even better, get on a bike!
2. It's obvious, but we have to say it. Conserve energy. Turn off the lights when you leave a room, buy energy-efficient bulbs and appliances, turn off your TV completely, rather than leave it on standby.
3. Reduce your waste. If there are ways to recycle where you live, try and do so. If you have a garden, start a compost heap. Re-use plastic bags. Give away clothes you don't use, rather than throwing them away. There are hundreds of little things you can do.
4. You don't have to become vegetarian, but cutting down on meat, particularly beef, and particularly from animals fed by imported soya feed, is an effective step to reducing your footprint.
5. It has to be said that air travel is one of the biggest contributors to many people's footprints. For example, flying direct from London to Sydney and back would add 5.44 g ha to your footprint - that's the average Briton's footprint for an entire year. Flights with a connection add even more polluting air miles.
You:
6.15
Average:
5.43
[Average is of all online responses to this survey - not the average for your country]
Life Satisfaction
Oh dear. You reported a life satisfaction of 3. Sorry that things aren't working out. At a national level, only one country scores as low as you - Burundi (and this score is an estimate based on objective data and reduced to account for the ongoing war in the country). Compared with other individuals, in the World Values Survey, 15% of respondents worldwide, and 4.6% of British respondents reported a life satisfaction of 3 or lower.
You:
3
Average:
6.74
[Average is of all online responses to this survey - not the average for your country]
Well-being
The new economics foundation (nef) recognises that there's more to life than feeling good, which is why our model for well-being is based on four domains – personal feelings, personal functionings, social feelings and social functionings. 'Feelings' refers to your attitude to the way you, your future and society are. 'Functionings' looks at whether you have the opportunities to do the things that bring you well-being. Like with life satisfaction, a score of 5 is theoretically the middle score, but, given the way most people respond to surveys, is below average.
Personal Feelings
In this online questionnaire, personal feelings are assessed with two questions – one testing your optimism and one testing your self-esteem.
You have some anxieties about the future or yourself which are affecting your overall well-being. These are not too severe though...
You:
4.02
Average:
6.03
[Average is of all online responses to this survey - not the average for your country]
Personal Functionings
In this online questionnaire personal functionings are assessed with five questions – two evaluating your subjective opinion on your health and how activity you are, the other three testing you for feelings of autonomy, purpose and worth.
In some ways you are unable to function in the way you would like. Perhaps you have had problems with your health, are feeling unable to make your own decisions, or do not have the opportunity to get involved in activities that give you a sense of purpose and ability. Some slight changes in lifestyle would help.
You:
5.38
Average:
6.15
[Average is of all online responses to this survey - not the average for your country]
Social Feelings
In this online questionnaire social feelings are assessed with four questions – three assessing your opinion of your community, whilst the last looks at personal relationships.
You have a strong sense of trust and belonging in your community and a happy personal life.
You:
5.22
Average:
5.67
[Average is of all online responses to this survey - not the average for your country]
Social Functionings
In this online questionnaire social functionings are assessed with four questions – two assessing your job / studies, one your free time, and one your community participation. If you did not respond to the work / study questions, your score is judged purely on the other two aspects.
Your job / course is not really allowing you to function socially in the way that you wish. Either it is very dull and unrewarding, or it is very stressful, leaving you little time to do the things you enjoy - or a bit of both! Are they any ways you could make it a little better for you? Alternatively, one way to relieve the boredom of work, can be to find other focuses of interest. Many take up voluntary work to offer them an alternative purpose.
You:
5.01
Average:
5.59
[Average is of all online responses to this survey - not the average for your country] -
The threadstarter is one of the reasons why we feel unhappy... Sub-standard arguments... Sub-standard use of language....
There is no national pride because most people do not want to identify themselves with people like him... -
Originally posted by freakass:
You got no point to make, so shoot me is it? Wau liew eh.
The threadstarter is one of the reasons why we feel unhappy... Sub-standard arguments... Sub-standard use of language....
There is no national pride because most people do not want to identify themselves with people like him...
I sub-standard, OK, but how you sub-stantiate your "most people" claim?
If they don't identify with me, then they must identify with who? Give example lah! -
making people happy don't make more money for the govt -
hehe, very funny, cys...Originally posted by Cystaire:Wah lau eh!
Damn interesting data, man. Are you sure it's not the same siao kiah click 1821 times non-stop?
talking bout siao kiah bo ming kia zou (nothing to do, press the button all day)
maybe he invented a robot to aid him... pls its his/her only achievement in life. -
after reading all these posts, most of them are very well written! do you all mean LKY made a mistake, we shouldn't even gain independence in the first place, staying intact with mainland malaysia should be the option?
or even worse?
well, LEE is a lawyer graduate, so he acts like a lawyer, thinks like a lawyer, naturally his actions would be lawful not awful, okay?
but i think they got a good solution for our thirst, newater but i think we need to deal with the climate too... any solution, brilliantly smart singaporean?
or maybe we need to appeal to sumone more of a greater authority?
United States? siao no! they r like us, human...
GOD! our maker, our creator, pls aid me!
pls we r smarter than dinosaurs, we don't fight....physically.
but we fight verbally or mentally if you like... occur all the time............lah
pls don't destroy us... your doomsday lie don't frightened us anymore..
i can sense our singapore road getting very dangerous these days, traffic cops not doing anything!(possible)
19 years old driving aggressively, and with out any care!
never mind, ram into pedestrain won't hurt you but pls... pls don't ram into sumthing hard... we need you for future!
singapore needs manpower not horsepower!(do it in a safe zone so you won't kena caught! or when ur really bored!)
we don't cause hurt "dye-rat-lee"...
got a problem, comeout a innovation, work hard, bring it to real life... thats what we all been doing since '65 times...
never be different lah... stay with the soul-sei-yer-ty, you would be "happy" more...
if human don't gossip, then we don't consider to be one!
again, looks not important!
money plays a big part in the average sing-a-por langs' happiness!
aw YES money can make individuals comfortable,(damn right! pls do not challenge this local belief, u can't win) but money can't bring happiness, am i sure?
why am i still contradicting myself? well thats a problem.... for me....
if we got everything(s) we want... (thru legal means, not stealing or such)
we won't "cherish" the stuff we got! bcos we got it so easily... well most of us is ah nee kuang...as always...(not wrong not wrong, okay?)
it is not a crime to be wealthy here! cheers
gals here want gadgets
not chocolates!
chris ho(deejay 98.7 right?)
he's a "different"
ya know what, buy a space shutter so u can stay in space for.... some time! very much desired for a new generation. we don't need earth anymore!
we don't have natural disaster, cept the dieases(introduced by god!)
our government manage to subdue it, contain and blessed our citizens
so they sumthing like a god right?
we don't see death every day or so we r highly "pampered" protected!
god too good us, not taking anything away...
so small, let them be lah...
they proud, proud loh...
they arrogant, arrogant loh...
they r only so few of them...
now you see why we don't get to see the beauty of the UFO, or a Tornado
since we always buy grocery from tey NTUC auntie soh!
death teaches sumthing too ya know! -
i'm happy and the people around me are. so who said singaporeans are unhappy
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humans are never contented
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I think the more you have, the more whether you are happy or not becomes important to you.
Anyway Man is a problem solving being. If he doesn't have a problem, hard for him to be happy. But most of evolution, men is solving a problem that has a very direct relation to his survival.
I feel that the reason why many Singaporeans are unhappy is cos they dont feel empowered to take charge of their own lives, their perspective is that they are not responsible for all the problems that's happening in their lives.
They are discontented with their lives, but feel they are powerless to make a change. Its like so many unhappy people sticking with the jobs they hate, simply because they've got to pay off the car, the condo, the children's tuition lessons. Then they say its all the govt's fault because the ERP is rising, the GST is rising, and if their kid don't take tuition THEN HOW cannot go to SAP school. They blame the government for making them do NS, (that's why my gf leaves me).. and while I do not feel our government is PERFECT,
I believe the individual has a CHOICE not to subject himself to this. He is part of society therefore he is one of the molecular participant that can change a mindset. Be it leaving the country for greener fields. having a higher faith or stepping up and out if you feel you know the solutions to the problem - it is this empowerment of being ABLE to do something abt what you are not happy with that makes u happy. Or.. knowing you CAn but just DONT WANT, that makes you contented.
Not...Don't Know What To Do -> that just puts u right in the middle of unhappy.[/u][/b] -
Why Singaporean never contented? always compare with others? lack of EQ to handle HR?
Life is full of up and down, today u r not happy doesn't mean u will be forever not happy. Chinese have a problem of wanting to have face which actually do more harm than good. If u r not richer or better than your friends or relatives and it will made u sad, than it's time to think what u want.
As u compare with others, u lost focus on yourself. What other is capable of and u don't. Others have the luck that u don't have. We need wisdom to understand all this and to be happy. -
Originally posted by ShrodingersCat:
Wow actually those are some wise thoughts.
I think the more you have, the more whether you are happy or not becomes important to you.
Anyway Man is a problem solving being. If he doesn't have a problem, hard for him to be happy. But most of evolution, men is solving a problem that has a very direct relation to his survival.
I feel that the reason why many Singaporeans are unhappy is cos they dont feel empowered to take charge of their own lives, their perspective is that they are not responsible for all the problems that's happening in their lives.
They are discontented with their lives, but feel they are powerless to make a change. Its like so many unhappy people sticking with the jobs they hate, simply because they've got to pay off the car, the condo, the children's tuition lessons. Then they say its all the govt's fault because the ERP is rising, the GST is rising, and if their kid don't take tuition THEN HOW cannot go to SAP school. They blame the government for making them do NS, (that's why my gf leaves me).. and while I do not feel our government is PERFECT,
I believe the individual has a CHOICE not to subject himself to this. He is part of society therefore he is one of the molecular participant that can change a mindset. Be it leaving the country for greener fields. having a higher faith or stepping up and out if you feel you know the solutions to the problem - it is this empowerment of being ABLE to do something abt what you are not happy with that makes u happy. Or.. knowing you CAn but just DONT WANT, that makes you contented.
Not...Don't Know What To Do -> that just puts u right in the middle of unhappy.[/u][/b]
You're right that control is important, the pilot always feel more confident than the passengers.
Especially a passenger who is also a qualified pilot, feels lagi more scared and apprehensive because he knows what's going on but is not flying the plane.
So people who dunno wat to do are unhappy, and people who know what to do but cannot apply it also very unhappy. -
Damn good point.Originally posted by T.Ryousuke:Why Singaporean never contented? always compare with others? lack of EQ to handle HR?
Life is full of up and down, today u r not happy doesn't mean u will be forever not happy. Chinese have a problem of wanting to have face which actually do more harm than good. If u r not richer or better than your friends or relatives and it will made u sad, than it's time to think what u want.
As u compare with others, u lost focus on yourself. What other is capable of and u don't. Others have the luck that u don't have. We need wisdom to understand all this and to be happy.
*bows*
I also observe Chinese family only compare up never compare down. In reality we are all f**king lucky since we got no choice where we born. Most people in the world are too busy dying of hunger and disease to worry about happiness.
Whoa I'm so lucky I get so many wise response!
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As we advance as a country, our needs move up higher in the pyramid. But the ability of Singapore to fulfill these needs are very limited. You can see the difference when we compare Singapore with other developed countries. There, issues of gay rights, religion, race, abortion, euthanasia, stem cell research, freedom of speech and foreign policy are very important. Here, although we are as advanced economically as they are, we are still concerned with the 'lower-level' needs such as HDB upgrading, GST increase, employment.
I'm not saying this is bad. Actually, I find that these issues are alot more important but we do have 'higher level' needs that maybe we are surpressing. The religion guy has a point in that maybe religion could address the problems of these higher needs. But religion is not the only solution.
Another thing I find interesting/distressing is the fact that when the Governments says that Life Sciences would be a booming industry , alot of people flocked to study Life Sciences. I was wondering if they have dreams of their own. Perhaps, we should choose what we like to do, instead of what we think will bring us material comfort.
The other problem is I think is that we tend to rank people according to their wealth. So, if you are wealthy you are more well-respected than others. Other intangible things are not considered when we decide who we respect. As a result, we perhaps sacrifice our happiness in pursuit of wealth, hoping that it would pay off in the long-run. The problem is the pursuit of wealth is a never-ending race. At some point, we have to stop and say that this is as far as we want to go. -
All contributions here are good. The important thing is to find a balance. Your own balance.
"Chicken Soup for the Soul" ... a good read to know how people cope with it
Focus in on the happy parts and focus out the not-so-happy parts.
People are not entirely happy, there are some things they are unhappy with.
On the other hand ...
People are not entirely unhappy, there are some things they are happy with.
Take a step back and identify the happy parts ...
