Avoid extreme emotional pressure to live happily - PM Najib

"There is no use of having high income if there is no happiness. It is important to raise productivity with hard work but not to the extent of suffering extreme emotional pressure.

"By calming the mind with recreation and spending time with the family, one can balance between happiness and one's personal progress," he said in a posting on his blog www.najibrazak.com on the 2017 World Happiness Report.

He said the position of Malaysia ahead of countries like Japan, Russia, Italy, South Korea and China in the report showed the level of happiness is not always in line with the level of progress.

According to the report by Gallup World Poll which was released by the United Nations recently, Malaysia rose five rungs from 47th position last year.

Najib described the achievement of Malaysia in the report involving 155 countries in the world as interesting as it was based on several factors including the strength of the economy, social impact, life expectancy, freedom of choice, generosity and the perception of corruption.

He said happiness was a subjective matter and it differed between individuals but it enhanced the will to live life successfully.

According to the report, Norway is the happiest nation in the world followed by Denmark, Iceland and Switzerland.