Are Malaysians happy?

We examine where we are in the World Happiness rankings

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 pro-social 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 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 a lot of improvements to be made!

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 [see sidebar] and maybe, we can emulate some of their suggestions. Keep calm and carry on!