How happy are Filipinos?

If you can prove the Danes are the happiest people on earth you can prove anything

The latest fatuous index of national “happiness” has gloomy Denmark chortling at the top of the pile and the Philippines languishing at 78, just behind “the land of smiles”, Thailand, at 76. The creator of this nonsensical project, an academic at the University of Leicester in the UK, has even provided a map of world “happiness”.
Earlier this happy month, another guide to global bliss, the “Happy Planet Index”, had the island nation of Vanuatu in first place, with the Philippines a respectable 17 (Denmark was in 99th place).

These wildly differing results can be partly explained by methodological differences. The Leicester index places the highest value on health statistics, while the New Economics Foundation (compilers of the “Happy Planet Index”) concentrates on “life satisfaction”, life expectancy and environmental footprint.

But isn’t the whole idea of indices to measure “happiness” nonsense? How can you conjure up objective variables to measure a subjective feeling like happiness?

You can compile all the data you like, but in the end just look around you. That’s really the best way to figure out who is happy and who is not.

To start the ball rolling, the “torn and frayed dismal planet index” includes China, Britain, Russia, Cuba, and, yes, Denmark in the dark countries. On the other hand, people in Thailand, Italy, Ecuador, Australia, and the Philippines seem, in general, pretty glad to be alive.

You can argue with my selection of countries of course, that’s fine by me. Just don’t tell me that, say, Denmark, “ought” to be happy because of its fabulous health statistics. I have a couple of wonderful Danish friends, but when I visited Copenhagen people would turn away when I asked for directions. Some friends of mine were virtually assaulted when they stepped into a cycle lane. And let’s not even mention dogme movies, Søren Kierkegaard, or Hamlet. Denmark, the happiest country in the world? That’s just hilarious.

Which brings us to our island home. Let’s face it, Pinoys have just about every reason you can think of to be miserable. Yet the crowds of people in jeepney hell under the Taft—EDSA intersection just can’t stop laughing and joking. It’s raining and I’m getting soaked? Ha, ha, uproarious! Crossed the road and nearly got run over—what a hoot!

It seems there is nothing that will stop Filipinos from having a good time. Their objective circumstances seem to have little to do with it – Filipinos just are happy (illogical or just plain nutty though that might be). I’m gonna try to figure out why that is in a subsequent post, but in the meantime if you have any ideas just leave me a wee comment below.

Comments

[carlos]

We have no winter? Winter sucks.

[torn]

Yup, I think that has a lot to do with it--not so much the temperature as the long winter nights. I guess one way you could test that would be to look at countries that have both temperate and tropical zones, e.g., China and the USA. That way you assume that the other factors contributing to happiness would be more or less the same, with the main difference being the climate. Are people in Hainan and Florida happier than their fellow nationals in inner Mongolia and Chicago? Perhaps.

But if a warm climate and little variation in the length of days can help towards this elusive happiness, they don't guarantee it. Take Singapore -- I lived there for four years and I would say that, although they have many good qualities, Singaporeans are a pretty unhappy bunch.

Another tropical people, Cubans, were a big surprise to me. After living in London, I was familiar with Caribbean culture, so I expected Cuba to be an upbeat party people, especially as they have excellent health and literacy indicators. In fact I *wanted* them to be happy if only because that would be a kind of 'up yours' to the big bully to the north. Instead, the people seemed very morose and depressed, especially compared with Filipinos. That might have been something to do with the hurricane that arrived about the same time as we did of course ...

[cvj]

Filipinos' happy disposition might be both a form of coping and a consequence of having less options. I read somewhere that having more choices can make people less happy. The Nigerians are also known for their happy disposition. I don't know about Cuba though. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that it's still a communist country.

[Carla]

Hahaha! I know. The Danes...happy--only someone who has not been anywhere near Scandinavia can possibly string those two words together. Or maybe an academic who has no personal experience of happiness. I mean just look at the drinking habits and the suicide rates in that part of the world.

And I completely agree about the dogme movies. I have never managed to sit through *any* Danish film. The pace is similar to the that of thawing glaciers (faster now due to global warming, true). Actors just as icy.

Briefly on stereotypes, though: I have a Danish colleague who can't stand the cold! Always sits near heaters during winter and insists on shutting windows even if it's stuffy. He appears to be happy in this heat wave.

[Ken]

I find your article informative and thought provoking, and the comments are quite interesting too. Just one more thought: Could it also be that happiness is expressed differently in different cultures?

You might be interested in checking out our article on Vanuatu in www.ExploringTheGlobe.com.

[Mila]

I wonder if the fatalistic attitudes help, that "bahala na" mentality which puts a lot of the fault and responsibility on an external entity (God, gods, the government, the padrino taking care of your kid's education). Not worrying about the issues that you can't or won't deal with, there's more time to enjoy the little things in life. The individualistic focus in Northern Hemispheres or in places where people are empowered towards change dynamics can be quite stressful. You have to make a million by the time you're thirty or you're worth zilch. Everything's all financially or materially directed.

There's a lot to be said about having few possessions or wanting less.

[Carla]

There's this island off Darwin, Australia (will look the name up again, read about it months ago in the Guardian). By all indications, it's a tropical paradise. Many of the aboriginal residents are unemployed, but not exactly destitute (they have some form of subsidies). Some still fish and farm for a living. I guess some sit in the sun all day, worrying about nothing because nothing appears change changeable.

This island has the highest suicide rates in the world. Thre is a high incidence of alcoholism and a staggering number of young men are hurling themselves to their deaths from electric poles. Just before they kill themselves, they scream about hearing a curlew, which is from a tribal myth about a curse on the tribe.

I think that in this case, unhappiness comes from a combination of things: there is still bitterness about the colonial takeover of the island (over a century ago), continuing exclusion from mainstream Australian society, the lack of prospects for young aborigines and perhaps the loss of identity. I guess there are varying levels of deprivation, hope and acceptance that push people to either struggle or give up. Because in this case, the weather can't seem to cheer them up and the fatalism they possess is of a very deadly strain.

[Howie]

I've done my bit of globe-trotting, and I can say from personal experience that the happiest people I've ever encountered are in alphabetical order: (1) Filipinos; (2) Indonesians; and (3) Iraqis (pre-US war but under Saddam).

Of course my choice of Filipinos is skewed by amount of exposure to my kapwa. But Indonesians I noticed were a lot like us -- smiling through disasters and miserable conditions. And Iraqis... they were easily among the warmest and most hospitable people I've ever met. I even got to attend the wedding parties of several couples I didn't know, because anyone could come. And they were noisy, musical affairs that spilled out into Baghdad's streets. It was the only place where I've seen veiled old ladies make loud war cry-like sounds in public, out of sheer joy.

Alas, with the stuff going on there now, I can't imagine much joy, even among such an effortlessly happy people.

[torn]

Mila -- Your point about an external entity taking care of the big problems is a good one. Although I'm an atheist, it does seem to me that people with faith (whether individually or en masse) are more content than those without (although of course there are plenty of sour-faced church and mosque goers).

Carla -- That's an interesting example and I agree that there are probably many reasons for it, especially the historical and cultural disjunct.

There is a Woody Allen film where he is sitting on an empty train, looking out the window, depressed as usual. Another train overtakes his and in this one everyone is literally having a party — funny hats, streamers, champagne …

Happiness is only partly caused by absolute conditions; your position relative to others also counts for a lot. The people on this island presumably have vicarious access to the modern world so they can see through advertisements and TV programmes that others seem to be having a great time. That makes their train even harder to bear.

I also think isolation can be pretty tough. Sure you can be lonely in a crowd too, but at least you have someone to brush up against.

Howie -- I quite agree about Pinoys and Indonesians. That's so depressing about Iraq. I think the American-led occupation has some points to make about our subject, for (even using the most benign interpretation of the causes of the war) it was surely one group of people trying to ram their idea of happiness (democracy, capitalism, Wal-mart) down the throats of another. "But the Iraqis MUST have been miserable under Saddam" -- actually, no, most were probably not (as you say). But then your first-hand impression of the weddings and what not counts for nothing against the neocon version of a theoretical "happiness". In this sense Blair's evangelical zeal is almost worse than Bush's...

[Carla]

torn-- I agree about isolation and the relativity of happiness. There was this survey among rich people, and it wasn't the absolute amount of wealth they had that made them happy, it was their social position among other rich people. So millionaires among billionaires were quite unhappy, haha. Millionaires among their own kind were happier.

I found the Guardian magazine. It's the Tiwi Islands off Darwin that have the highest suicide rates in the world. In Nguiu, capital of the Tiwi Islands, 1 in 4 have tried to kill themselves. The population is tiny: 2,500 on both islands. The suicide binges began in 1989, a rather recent phenomenon.

I've read elsewhere that suicide rates among Australian aborigines are double those of the national average. (Although the rates across the country are still far lower than those on these islands.) The historical and cultural disjuncts you mentioned play a major part, I would agree. Reminds me of native Americans drinking themselves to death on those awful reservations. Then again, Aetas and other indigineous peoples have been displaced in the Philippines, but they don't kill themselves.

[Howie]

I might raise some hackles by implying that Iraqis were happy campers under Saddam.

The truth was, unless you were a dissident or a Kurd, Iraq under Saddam was a safe place (in the same way martial law Philippines was). I wandered around freely day and night. People smiled at me.

You give people with a sunny temperament a secure environment and they will find a way to exude joy. You bomb and invade them, and create total chaos, nobody is happy.

[Allen O]

I think its the idea of community or belonging that makes pinoys happy. We just like to commune with each other, be it family, friends or neighbors, there is almost this pathological need to connect with each other.

[Sam]

Very nice, insightful commentary. I don't think its possible to achieve an objective definition of happiness. It varies from person to person, and even from culture to culture.

[Happy!]

If we brag that Phoebe Cates is one-fourth Filipino, then that explains why we are really-really happy!!! Whee!

[Jon Limjap]

Happy!,

Does that make you happy?

[Ella E.]

Happiness is no doubt relative. I would have to disagree with your impressions of the Danes. One of my recent happiest moments was my seven days in Copenhagen last year.

I was traveling alone and experienced a number of mishaps in other countries -- I was mugged at a train station in Germany, hoodwinked by a gypsy in Paris, endured catcalls in Stockholm and sat beside a stinky pervert en route to Vienna. I don't recall anyone being rude or even unfriendly to me while I was in Denmark.

Everyone I encountered just seemed so nice and well, happy. An ice cream shop owner gave me an extra scoop when he learned I was Filipina (he used to have a Filipino schoolmate). A sales attendant patiently showed me how to "unlock" my digital camera's memory card so I wouldn't have to buy a new one from their store. Moms allowed me to photograph their kids and even posed for my camera too!

My Filipino friend and his family who's lived in Denmark for three decades have little complain about the Danes.

I think the only thing that made me unhappy during my stay was my limited Kroner and the prohibitive price of their pastries. Hehe...

[torn]

That's a great story -- thanks for sharing it.

Still, although it indicates that Danes are helpful and friendly and that they made *you* happy, I'm not convinced that your tale demonstrates that Danes are themselves happy, not in the way that, say, Filipinos exude joy anyway.

[Ella E.]

Yup, I agree ;-)

Also the weather was great while I was there and must be why everyone seemed cheerful.

And perhaps happiness does beget happiness. I never thought I would find my way to Scandinavia alone! My bliss might have been too obvious. Haha!

[rob]

I think Filipinos are among the happiest because the Philippines is probably the most relationship-based society in the world. Family and social life are at its highest levels. Everything is one big social activity - the office, public gatherings, starbucks, etc.

How did it get to be that way? That's a mystery.

[juilus p. bantigue]

Hi. Someone just tuned me into this blog. Great site. I believe we have something in common. I look forward to reading more of your articles. Till next time....

[april s.]

have never been to denmark, but will soon find out what this 'happiness' theory is all about. i will have the luxury to see it with my own eyes and compare 'degrees' of happiness myself... it all depends on one's judgement, right?

[ohbree]

so true. ive seen the video 'happiest place on earth' and voted denmark at no.1. saw this a month before i moved to Denmark and ive realized it was overrated. happiness in denmark depends on the weather. when the sun is up danes are more happier..
suddenly miss home where happiness springs from social and not material.. we Filipinos are the happiest with family, friends and even strangers..

[Ignacio de Loyola]

I think happiness on either of the two studies you mentioned were dealing with the perceived level that people experienced a feeling of content. Having grown up in the Philippines, I'm not surprised that one study put the country down the list in the 70's. Nobody's content. And it shows. People Power Revolution. People Power Revolution Part 2. Part 3. Cha-Cha. Traffic. Kidnappings, rapes, lack of power in law enforcement and general distrust in the State. At the same time, I'm not surprised either that the Philippines could land itself in the top 10 "happiest" countries in the world. A large number of Filipinos don't know any better and don't choose to seek anything more than the situation given to them. Thus, the "bahala na" attitude - deal with what you have, no matter how horrible the situation, in order to be closer to God. "Bahala na" doesn't reside in the same area as development, something seriously lacking in the country. Sure, there's some money being injected into the economy - call centers, nursing, etc... Is that really something to be proud of? CALL CENTERS? And nursing, wow, we have so many nurses all over North America, and we're so proud. We are proud to have so many Filipinos filling the personal-care positions, so proud because of the clean white uniform they wear - so professional, much like the professional image of a call center worker. Yes, that's sarcasm, because they're just about as literate and professional as the department store clerk who gets to wear a business suit to his/her job, helping old ladies get fitted for new shoes or buy perfume.
The better half of the country is well aware that being in the shitter is better than living in the Philippines. Those who seek a faster pace of development and an environment that will allow them to truly contribute to the betterment of their fellow man, will leave the country and lead satisfying lives as professionals and honest workers elsewhere. Those who know the system of the Philippines and like how it works will milk it for all its worth, socialize their way to the top and take advantage of the lack of government enforcement and at the same time criticize it to no end until someone new, younger and more promising takes office.

And once there is a new head of government, they either do what's right - and make everyone complain, because the work that needs to be done means actually WORKING - and not relying on the "bahala na" attitude. It involves real work and sacrifice. No maids, no drivers, no shortcuts in the process of development. And once people realize that their new idealistic head of government means business, they'll rally to take that leader down so fast and reciprocate the cycle all over again.

But hey, as long as half the country is too ignorant to care about the big picture, they're happy, right? They've got "bahala na" to lean back on. I guess that means everyone's as happy as can be, in the end. You're either too stupid to know that there's something better out there, or you're too caught up in the social and political games to care anymore about real progress and development. The system is flawed, and you'll rag on it and complain, but hey in the end, as long as you're benefiting from it, you won't actually change it.

We can get into the semantics of what happiness truly means, whether it's contentment, or smiles, or an actual solid measurement of the amount of endorphins in one's head. But what's the point? Does it really matter? Bahala na, by now you've probably branded me a tyrant or traitor, or unpatriotic bastard, for some mild criticism of the way of life that you both hate and love to take advantage of, at the same time.

[Meddie]

Hello,

I think I saw some video with some Danish teenagers interviewed about this 'happiest country' thing.

Well aside from the fact about health, education etc securities, they have 'low-expectation' as well with life in general. Like being contented of what one has and not be too grumpy with something that doesn't turn out as expected.

But yes I agree with you in the point that we Pinoys make do and still be happy despite of the hardships we face day on day. Its a Pinoy thing.

Monkey Chomp

[Nike Shox NZ]

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