Extract from ST paper By Irene Tham
Are Singaporeans happier when they have lots more money?
A study shows that people who have a university or postgraduate qualification and earn $5,000 or more a month are the happiest. Is this really the case ?
However, they are also dissatisfied with their achievements and enjoy life the least, compared with those who are less well-off.
Indeed, it is the Singaporeans earning less than $2,000 a month who enjoy life the most, concluded the three academics behind the study.
Senior lecturer Tambyah Siok Kuan, associate professor Tan Soo Jiuan and professorial fellow Kau Ah Keng - all from the National University of Singapore Business School - presented their findings in a book, The Wellbeing Of Singaporeans, which came out recently.
The survey in 2006 polled more than 1,000 people, aged 20 to 69.
They were posed questions such as whether they enjoy life, how happy they are, and how much they feel they are accomplishing what they want in life.
It could hold quite some weight that some may live in a million-dollar homes but if they owe the bank a lot of money, you are not going to enjoy life very much. Conversely, some who lives in an HDB flat may be able to enjoy life more as they are less committed financially and able to spend within their means and what they earned.
According to Tanjong Pagar GRC MP Indranee Rajah in the report, the ability to enjoy life and the feeling of achievement ultimately bring about happiness.
'It all boils down to expectations. Happy people can field the pressure and strike a balance between competitiveness and complacency,' she added.
The fear of not being able to sustain the high life 'can be a source of strain or unhappiness', she noted.
Psychotherapist Stephen Lew, 30, from the Positive Psychology Centre, said happiness is a state of mind.
'Happy people know and use their strengths. Naturally, they are better able to enjoy life, which leads to happiness,' he said.
Sonja Lyubomirsky in her 2007 book, The How Of Happiness says 40 per cent of a person's happiness is within his control, said psychologist and University of California professor of psychology. The rest is genetically determined, she claimed.
Maybe we should start an internal survey in your workplace and find out what leads to joy in the hectic workplace and is challenges and achieving goals providing you the fighting spirit to hang on to tough work place, eg. in Shipyard as compare to downtown office life in Orchard road
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