Happiness Index: Malaysians generally a happy lot

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia scored 6.48 which is a Happy level in the Malaysia Happiness Index (MHI) 2021, said Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin.

According to the findings of the MHI which was conducted for the first time by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM), Labuan recorded a score of 9.29 which is Very Happy, 11 states including the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya were at a Happy level, while Melaka and Selangor were Moderately Happy.

The study was carried out to measure the level of happiness of the Malaysian population from the physical, social, emotional and spiritual aspects.

The level of Malaysia's happiness was categorised into five scores, where the value of 0.00-2.00 is very unhappy; 2.01-4.00 unhappy; 4.01-6.00 moderately happy; 6.01-8.00 happy and 8.01-10.00 very happy.

"Overall, Malaysians are generally happy even though the country is facing the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic crisis, in the implementation year of the MHI Survey 2021," said Mohd Uzir in a press conference after launching the MHI Report here today.

The study which was conducted between September and November 2021 and comprised 42,446 survey respondents nationwide, was developed based on international manuals, among others, the World Happiness Report and the Human Development Index.

Mohd Uzir said the MHI report had 73 indicators that were grouped into 13 components, namely family; housing and environment; social participation; health; communication facilities; education; working life; income; public safety; time use; religion and spiritual; culture and emotional experience.

He said analysis by component showed that the highest index score recorded was the family component which was 7.23, followed by religion and spiritual (7.21) and health (6.75).

MHI score by urban and rural areas in Malaysia were at a Happy level of 6.46 and 6.54, he added.

Mohd Uzir said for the urban strata, the states that recorded the highest MHI score were Labuan at 9.21, followed by Kuala Lumpur (7.77) and Putrajaya (7.28), while for the rural strata, the states with the highest score were Labuan (9.50), Terengganu (7.14) and Perlis (7.07).

Analysis by gender showed that females logged an MHI score of 6.49 while males scored 6.46.

Mohd Uzir said based on the MHI report, the scores that recorded by citizens and non-citizens were not much different, namely at 6.49 and 6.32, respectively.

"This means that we accept non-citizens as part of the country and they can also live a life just like citizens of our country.

"This is an interesting finding that we can show to other countries, in terms of the Happiness Index among citizens and non-citizens there is no element of discrimination," he said.

At the international level, Mohd Uzir said Malaysia ranked 79th out of 146 countries surveyed in the World Happiness Report 2021, with a score of 5.384.

He said the MHI was important as an input in assessing the level of happiness of Malaysians at the national and state levels that could be used in achieving prosperity and creating an inclusive society.

-- BERNAMA