Happiness is a rain shower

By Yeoh Siew Hoon

I feel rather disgruntled this week. I have just found out that I live in an expensive and unhappy place. Plus, it’s not as safe and peaceful as I thought it was.

And on top of that, the airport that everyone’s always been raving about has slipped to – shock, horror – third place in a global airport ranking survey.

Yes, it’s not been the best of weeks to return from the serenity of the rainforest to the insanity of the urban jungle.

I feel like moving to Costa Rica. A new survey by the Britain-based New Economics Foundation ranks Costa Rica as the happiest place on earth and one of the most environmentally friendly.

Its report, The Happy Planet Index 2.0: Why Good Lives Don’t Have to Cost The Earth, weighs factors such as life expectancy and people’s happiness against their environmental impact. And by their formula, Costa Rica tops it. All nine of the top 10 spots were taken by Latin American countries. Only Vietnam sneaked in at fifth spot.

The survey asked the question, “All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?”

Singapore came in 49th. I guess I am not surprised. People are always complaining about the weather here so if you can complain about something that’s always the same, imagine what else you can complain about.

And in case you are curious, Bhutan which measures its economy by “Gross National Happiness”, came in at 17th.

I could also move to New Zealand. Another global index, compiled by the Institute for Economic and Peace in Sydney, ranks the Pacific island nation of 4.2 million people and 40 million sheep, as the planet’s most peaceful country.

The index ranks countries on 23 areas, from military spending and support for United Nations peacekeepers to economic indicators, murder rates and human rights protection.

The Nordic countries of Denmark, Norway and Iceland came in second, third and fourth. Iceland slipped because after its people lost all their money, they went out on the streets to make trouble.

In Asia, Japan is considered the safest (7th), followed by Singapore (23rd), which rose six places from last year and Malaysia (26), which rose 12 places. This gives me hope for Malaysia.

Then there’s the ECA International survey that says Singapore is the 10th most expensive city for expatriates to live in. Can you blame people for constantly complaining?

The bit of news that rocked the city more than any other though was the report by Skytrax that put Changi behind South Korea’s Incheon and Hong Kong International Airport as the top two airports in the world. It’s the lowest ranking for Singapore’s pride and joy in eight years and it’s sparked off a lot of navel-gazing by the authorities and the media.

Actually, I think I will move to Abu Dhabi. They are building amazing things there that I believe will make them the happiest, safest – and wettest – place on earth, proving once and for all that money can buy happiness, and change the weather.

A friend who visited Abu Dhabi recently emailed me, “Yesterday I was in a shopping center in AUH. At 7 pm it rained. It rains every day inside the shopping center at 7 pm. Arabs open their umbrellas and walk in the rain. Children play in the rain and get wet… after a while the rain stops. Then little Indians with big mops come to wipe up the floor. Now how crazy is that ….

“On the other hand I had the chance to see the exhibition about the Louvre Museum, Guggenheim, Center of the Arts and National Theatre projects, and that was really fascinating, I must say, and will establish AUH in the arts world.”

Catch Yeoh Siew Hoon every week at The Transit Cafe.