Happiness is the warmth we feel for each other

ONE of the most enduring cultural contributions of Peanuts, the Charles M. Schulz comic strip, is this line that first appeared in 1960: “Happiness is a warm puppy.”

That may have been the inspiration for the title of an article in the May 1968 issue of a magazine owned by the National Rifle Association of America (NRA).

“Happiness is a warm gun,” said the heading. Soon after, The Beatles recorded a song with the same title.

It is unlikely that the NRA will associate itself with such a sentiment about warm guns these days, but these two catchphrases from 50 years ago remain great examples of how different things make different people happy.

However, we can agree that there are certain goals and aspirations that are common all over the world. And our general happiness and well-being hinge upon our progress in achieving these goals and aspirations.

This is a point worth pondering, and now is a good time to do so because Tuesday is the International Day of Happiness.

Let us be clear that it is not an annual event for florists, restaurants, gift shops and jewellers to maximise profits. Instead, it is rooted in the sober recognition that “the pursuit of happiness is a fundamental human goal”.

Five years ago, the United Nations began celebrating the International Day of Happiness on March 20 following a resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly in June 2012.

The resolution points out that it is important for public policies to take into account the relevance of happi- ness and well-being as universal goals and aspirations in the lives of people around the world.

The resolution also acknowledges the need for a more inclusive, equitable and balanced approach to economic growth that promotes sustainable development, poverty eradication, happiness and the well-being of all people.

A companion to the International Day of Happiness is the World Happiness Report produced by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

The report’s centrepiece is a ranking of countries by their so-called happiness levels. This is based on a survey in which individuals are asked to evaluate the quality of their current lives on a scale of 0 to 10, with the worst possible life as a 0 and the best possible life as a 10.

These responses are converted into average scores and countries are ranked according to their scores.

This year’s edition of the report came out on Wednesday. Of the 156 countries covered in the survey, Malaysia is 35th, with a score of 6.322. The No. 1 country is Finland, which scored 7.632.

Malaysia was No. 42 in last year’s table. The 2018 report also shows that we are 13th among the countries whose scores have improved over two periods – 2008 to 2010 and 2015 to 2017.

In this sense, there is evidence that we are doing relatively fine. And there are other numbers to support that view. But we have to keep doing better.

Earlier this month, when in Kota Kinabalu, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said he did not want to see Malaysia’s development measured purely in terms of per capita income. He also wanted public happiness to be a yardstick.

“To be a happy nation, we need to have a society that is so comfortable with each other.

“If we are in harmony with each other, then we respect and help one another regardless of ethnic background, culture, religion,” he added.

For us, happiness lies not in the warmth of a gun or a puppy, but in the warmth we feel for each other. That means we must always aim for moderation, teamwork and understanding.

Merely working towards these goals will already make us feel good. And we do not have to wait for March 20 to be reminded of that.