If tropical weather and glorious food are enough to get you down, chances are you are not Malaysian.
The World Happiness Report published on Wednesday put Malaysia at the 35th place among 156 countries ranked by happiness levels, based on factors such as life expectancy, social support and corruption.
Another good news is that Malaysia is now just one spot behind Singapore.
We also outranked other South East Asian countries which includes Thailand (46), the Philippines (71), Vietnam (95), Indonesia (96), Laos (110), Cambodia (120) and Myanmar (130).
Brunei, however, was not included in the survey or any of its previous editions.
Previously, we landed at 42nd of 155 countries in 2017 and was behind Thailand. In 2012, Malaysia was 51st, 56th in 2013, and 61st in 2015 before ascending quickly to the 47th spot in 2016.
Notably, Singapore often ranks the top spot within the Asean region so for us to be one place behind is quite an achievement.
Producing their sixth edition now, the World Happiness Report 2018 is released by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, based on polls where people are asked to rate the quality of their current lives.
And remaining the same, the top 10 happiest countries includes, in order, with Finland displacing Norway for the first spot, followed by Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand, Sweden and Australia.
Where as, the top 10 unhappiest countries in the 2018 global report are in descending order, Malawi, Haiti, Liberia, Syria, Rwanda, Yemen, Tanzania, South Sudan, Central African Republic and Burundi.
Well done, Malaysia!
–mD
