[Vnbiz] Vietnam happiest country in Asia: survey [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]

[Tran Dinh Hoanh]

Dear brother Quang Anh & CACC,

Whatever the survey author's measure of happiness is, it is obvious
that the less developed a country is the more their people are happy,
the more advanced a country is, the more stress they have.

And this make sense, if you are a tribe in the jungle, all you need is
food, something to cover your body (just a little part of your body)
and a little hut to live in.  You get these three things, you're
happy.

If you live in a modern world, your food is more complicated than just
a little rice on the table.  It also demand elaborate grocery shopping
and cooking.  You also demand that restaurants have good food and good
services. You home is not going to be a hut, chances are you want a
home with many bed rooms and library and dining room and living room,
etc.  Your clothing has to be in fashion with the world, with
different shirts, pants, skirts, shoes, scarves, belts, etc.  Not
mentioning, trading, business, politics, traffic, car and bikes,
computer, Internet, phones, children and schooling issues, a zillion
things more than a primitive society to create problems and stress for
you.

But what do we choose as a society?

For many years our ancestors sang and praised "chu+~ nha`n"
(relaxation).  Of course, if you live with chu+~ nha`n you are going
to be very happy.  But look at our nation, it is backward and poor and
weak and any nation of the world would just step in and be a bully
over our head.

So what do we choose as a nation?  We want to work hard and have
stress and be powerful and independence?  Or do we want chu+~ nha`n
(and its happiness) and be bossed around by everyone else and
ultimately be miserable for being dominated?

Have a great day!

Hoanh
____________

On 7/12/06, QuangAnh.Nguyen at dfat.gov.au <QuangAnh.Nguyen at dfat.gov.au> wrote:
>
> [Vietnam Business Forum]
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> ----- Forwarded by QuangAnh Nguyen/People/DFATL on 13/07/2006 10:49 AM
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> The website for the happiness index is: http://www.happyplanetindex.org
> Cuba ranked number 6.
>
>
> http://www.thanhniennews.com/society/?catid=3&newsid=17646
>
> Vietnam happiest country in Asia: survey
>
> Vietnam is the 12th happiest country on earth, and the happiest in Asia,
> according to a study
> published Wednesday that measured people's well-being and their impact on
> the environment.
>
> The tiny South Pacific Ocean archipelago of Vanuatu is the happiest in the
> Happy Planet Index,
> compiled by the British think-tank New Economics Foundation.
>
> Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica and Panama complete the top five.
>
> Out of Asian nations Singapore was ranked lowest at 131.
>
> Island nations performed particularly well in the rankings. But Vanuatu,
> with a population of around
> 200,000, topped them all.
>
> "Don't tell too many people, please," said Marke Lowen of Vanuatu Online,
> the republic's online
> newspaper.
>
> "People are generally happy here because they are very satisfied with very
> little," he told The
> Guardian.
>
> "This is not a consumer-driven society. Life here is about community and
> family and goodwill to
> other people. It's a place where you don't worry too much."
>
> "The only things we fear are cyclones or earthquakes."
>
> The index combines life satisfaction, life expectancy and environmental
> footprint—the amount of land
> required to sustain the population and absorb its energy consumption.
>
> Zimbabwe finished at the bottom of the 178 countries ranked, below
> second-worst performer Swaziland,
> Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ukraine.
>
> The Group of Eight industrial powers meet in Saint Petersburg this weekend
> but have not much to
> smile about, according to the index.
>
> Italy came out best in 66th place, ahead of Germany (81), Japan (95),
> Britain (108), Canada (111),
> France (129), the United States (150) and Russia, in lowly 172nd place.
>
> Andrew Simms, the foundation's policy director, said the index "addresses
> the relative success or
> failure of countries in giving their citizens a good life while respecting
> the environmental
> resource limits on which all our lives depend."
>
> Nic Marks, the center's head for well-being, added: "It is clear that no
> single nation listed in the
> Happy Planet Index has got everything right.
>
> "But the index does reveal patterns that show how we might better achieve
> long and happy lives for
> all, whilst living within our environmental means," he said, according to
> British daily The Guardian.
>
> "The challenge is: can we learn the lessons and apply them?"
>
> Source: AFP
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-- 
Tran Dinh Hoanh, LLB, JD
Attorney of Law
Washington DC