怡居網 － 非一般的地產網

在1月份的物業專訊，我們提到我們的公司網(www.easyproperty.com.hk)是非一般的地產網。除樓盤精選、成交數據、樓市概況及眾多名家精闢分析外，還有不同的出色專欄文章，多元化、高水平專欄敢稱網上最多。要特別指出，我們的網頁有兩個英文專欄，分別為「海外來鴻」及「萬里路萬卷書」，所載文章都是異常地道、漂亮的及有內涵的英文佳作。當時我們轉載了Dr. Yuk-Ching Hon的「Midnight in Paris」，現再轉載另一專欄作家Mr. Peter Wu 的一篇文章，以饗大家。

Happiest nations in the world

Mr. Peter Wu

I know Mr. Bob Choi doesn’t like rankings of this nature. I am the complete opposite because I was born with an un-questioning mind so I tend to accept findings like these as they are, regardless of how they arrive at those rankings.

Well, an international survey has revealed seven out of the top 10 happiest countries are among the poorest in middle and South Americas.

Many of the seven do poorly in traditional measures of well-being, like Guatemala, a country torn by decades of civil war followed by waves of gang-driven criminality that give it one of the highest homicide rates in the world. Guatemala sits just above Iraq on the United Nations' Human Development Index, a composite of life expectancy, education and per capita income. But it ranks seventh in positive emotions.

While this in itself is revealing, what is far more interesting is the ranking of Singapore as the unhappiest country in the world, By comparison, Singapore is ‘a palm-studded, tropical land with a thriving economy and an impressive per-capita GDP comparable to that of any leading Western European nation.

But they're miserable, according to many residents — only 46 percent reported positive feelings. "We work like dogs and get paid peanuts," Richard Low, a 33-year-old businessman in Singapore, told the Associated Press. "There's hardly any time for holidays or just to relax in general because you're always thinking ahead: when the next deadline or meeting is. There is hardly a fair sense of work-life balance here."

Kids are being put through an pressure-cooker-like education system. If studying does not wring the last ounce of energy out of them, having additional tuition, playing a violin, or piano, or other musical instrument will. The Association of Electronic Goods Manufacturers in Japan reported that the sales of electronic games like the X-Box, Play Station, Nintendo in Singapore are among the lowest in the world. Not because the Singaporeans are anti-Japanese but because of active boycotts by Singaporean parents, for the sake of their children’s education.

What does this study tell me? It tells me that money does not equate to happiness. Money cannot buy longer-term happiness. In fact having (too much) money brings forth all sorts of problem, like the bickering of the Stanley Ho clan. So money and happiness are inversely correlated.

I am happy to report that I am very very happy so it goes without saying that I am very very broke.

Attached information

HAPPIEST IN TERMS OF PERCENTAGE

Panama 85, Paraguay 85, El Salvador 84, Venezuela 84, Trinidad and Tobago 83, Thailand 83,

Guatemala 82, Philippines 82, Ecuador 81, Costa Rica 81.

SADDEST IN TERMS OF PERCENTAGE

Singapore 46, Armenia 49, Iraq 50, Georgia 52, Yemen 52, Serbia 52, Belarus 53, Lithuania 54, Madagascar 54.

想分享更多好文章或想兒女多看一些好的英文文章，請多些進入怡居地產網。.