It figures that the more time ( or lazy ) I am, the more my blog gets updated.

Candle: Yes, I did a lot of thinking during that little road trip to Malmo. Well, when you're in a car careening down the highway, and all the other passengers are asleep, you have no alternative but to stare out at the fields and lose yourself in thought. Hahaha...

But I admit, that road trip, with the endless scenery of green fields, forest, and the giant windmills spinning slowly, will always be etched in my mind.

The Best in the World

Anyway, plagiarised from Newsweek this week, is a special report of The Best Countries in the World.

The article lists the best countries in the world in several categories, for example State, People, Business, Science, and the Arts.

So for example, the best country to be an idealist is The Netherlands, for their curious mixture of business and altruism, while the best country to be young is Turkey, with a median age of 25.

People who want to work overseas, the best country to be an expatriate is Britain, which is keen on attracting those with degrees and talent to their shores.

But another interesting report is the one that asks: "Can poor people be more self-satisfied than the rich?"

The article states that "a World Value Survey of people in 65 nations... decided that the world's happiest people lived in Nigeria"

"Those ranked second to fifth in the happiness survey were the people of Mexico, Venezuela, El Salvador and Puerto Rico."

Huh????? All poor, developing nations? What happened to the big guns, like the US of A, Japan, France? Does it really show that poorer people are happier than the rich?

Well, not exactly. Firstly, every single person on this earth has their own personal definition of happiness. So which means there are, oh, say about 1billion different ideas of happiness on earth?

Then satisfaction too is different from happiness. Remember this theory in Management? That one could be in a state of negative motivation, satisfaction, or positive motivation? ( Ok, I forgot what that theory was ) The idea was that one could be satisfied with one's work, but not be positively motivated to do more for it. You get enuff peanuts to make you happy, but not enough to make you want to work for bananas.

The key point in the article, however, is that "happiness can be a tantalizing but elusive goal - a ripe apple in a tree that's always just out of reach" When you have no money, you want more money. When you have money, you want more money.

Actually in a past, past issue of Newsweek, there was an example that clearly highlighted this. When you're stuck in an office, you envy the guy who's flying off somewhere on a business trip. When you're on economy, you envy the guy in first class
The guy in first class envies the guy in business
The guy in business sees the guy who managed to charter a private jet
And the guy in the private jet sees Donald Trump getting onto his own privately owned jet!

The cycle of envy and want goes on and on. And as it turns, our dissatisfaction grows, regardless of the fact that we may earn more than the average Nigerian, have enough to eat, a roof over our heads, and friends and family who love us and all our money-scheming ways.

Also, there's another theory that "satisfying relationships are a more important influence on happiness than income". So the more or better relationships you have with the people around you would be more likely to affect your happiness.

Judging from some friends, I would say this is true to some extent too. What's the point of working in a nice office, with a nice pay, but where half the people would rather see you dead six feet under? Why not work for far less the money, in a place where you are appreciated, and where people are nice to you and respect you? ( Another reason why I prefer to work with young, impressionable kids )

Well, we all have differing ideas of happiness, as evidenced by this article. If you guys get a hand on Newsweek, ( perhaps the free browsing copies at Borders ) read the article. It's enlightening in more ways than one.

Oh, and incidentally? In their Top 10 countries list, Singapore ranks as 9, with the description "City-state with a corporate mind-set. Clean government", beating Canada. ( We beat Canada?? ) Turtle may be glad to know that Sweden ranks first, because of "high marks for health care and innovation".

So you see, even as much as life sucks in Singapore, we still only lost to 8 other countries to be one of the best to live in. Maybe that's something worth considering over. ;)