What is Happiness?
By Dr Wong Wee Nam
01 November 2011
What is happiness?
To a Buddhist monk, the cause of suffering is ignorant craving. To Aristotle, it is something more tangible. According to him, “The masses take it to be something plain and tangible, like pleasure or money or social standing. Some maintain that it is one of these, some that it is another, and the same man will change his opinion about it more than once. When he has caught an illness he will say that it is health, and when he is hard up, he will say that it is money.”
As there are more masses than monks in Singapore, it is no wonder that people are pre-occupied with the idea of becoming rich and the government is obsessed with economic growth. Happiness, it seems, is about money.
Thus, if you are to contest an election in Singapore and speak like a monk, you are unlikely to get elected.
The subject of happiness was brought up at the opening of the new Singapore Parliament recently.
During a debate at this session, the Minister for National Development, Mr. Khaw Boon Wan, recounted his visit to Bhutan. He told the House that Bhutan is not Shangri-La on earth.
In fact, according to Mr. Khaw, the Bhutanese probably envy Singapore. To them, “Singapore could well be Shangri-La and they want Bhutan to emulate Singapore.”
That was Mr. Khaw’s view. Unfortunately I don’t share it.
I don’t think Bhutan wants to be a Singapore. Tourism can certainly bring in a lot of money into the country but they also know that tourism can ruin them culturally and environmentally. Because of this, they are determined not to go that route. They are not prepared to allow the pursuit of the dollar to ruin their country. So how could they want to emulate Singapore where economic growth is everything and welfare is frowned upon?
Nepal is an equally beautiful country. Yet, has tourism brought more happiness to the Nepalese than the Bhutanese?
When Bhutan wants to learn about our healthcare system, it is not because it wants to start a healthcare industry because it sees it as an engine of growth and wants to promote medical tourism. It probably wants to learn how it could provide better health care, out of compassion, for its poor and the sick. I don’t think it wants to adopt a system where the poor find it hard to cope with expensive medical costs and resources are diverted to treat the rich and the foreigners.
According to the WHO, economic growth in Bhutan, while essential, is not an end in itself, but is one among many means of achieving holistic development.
In his speech, the minister further added that the Bhutanese are not a happy lot of people that we generally thought they were. Of his experience, Mr. Khaw told us, “But most of the time, I saw unhappy people toiling in the field, worried about the next harvest and whether there would be buyers for their products.”
I do not know how the minister came to the conclusion that these people are unhappy. It reminds me of Zhuangzi’s famous fable.
Zhuangzi and Huizi were strolling along the dam of the Hao Waterfall when Zhuangzi said, “See how the minnows come out and dart around where they please! That’s what fish really enjoy!”
Huizi said, “You’re not a fish — how do you know what fish enjoy?”
Zhuangzi said, “You’re not me, so how do you know I don’t know what fish enjoy?”
Huizi said, “I’m not you, so I certainly don’t know what you know. On the other hand, you’re certainly not a fish — so that still proves you don’t know what fish enjoy!”
Zhuangzi said, “Let’s go back to your original question, please. You asked me how I know what fish enjoy — so you already knew I knew it when you asked the question. I know it by standing here beside the Hao.”
【原文】
庄子与惠子游于濠梁之上。庄子曰：“儵鱼出游从容，是鱼之乐也？”惠子曰：“子非鱼，安知鱼之乐？”庄子曰：“子非我，安知我不知鱼之乐？”惠子曰：“我非子，固不知子矣；子固非鱼也，子之不知鱼之乐，全矣。”庄子曰：“请循其本(3)。子曰‘汝安知鱼乐’云者，既已知吾知之而问我。我知之濠上也。”
In other words, Mr. Khaw is not a Bhutanese, so how could he have known how they feel? It is just his perception and it is not necessarily correct.
Singapore is a materialistic society and Bhutan is a country where the people practise Buddhism as a way of life. It is not easy for any Singaporean to experience the contentment that the Bhutanese feel.
This is because we are running all our lives, searching for economic growth and money to find happiness. Even politicians want to be paid extremely well so that they can serve the country without having to grumble that they are poorly paid.
On the other hand, the farmer might have seen things differently. Like the monk Thich Nhat Hanh*, he might have said, “I look at the cows. I look at the hay. I look at the nice fields. I feel closely connected. I see the hay as the milk, the yogurt I eat in the morning, also the cornfield. I see the link between everything. The cow is the mother to me. You drink the milk from the cow; you have an umbilical cord between you and the cow, and the sunflower and the hay.”
So why are we comparing ourselves with Bhutan? Are we trying to say “Look we are so much better off and we should be so much happier than the Bhutanese”? By comparing, would that make us happier?
The happiness of a people is not increased or reduced by comparing it to another country. It does not make an unhappy person happy by just asking him to look at a person who is worse off. Each country and its people have their own unique circumstances. The government should find out what makes a citizen unhappy and try to find a solution to it.
For example, people are unhappy about housing. Why are they unhappy? This is because the price is ridiculously high. While it benefits the government to have high property prices, it is depriving the younger Singaporeans the chance to own a home and it also makes life expensive for everyone. When high property prices push up rentals, the business costs must be reflected in the goods and services and must ultimately be passed on to the consumers.
In the end, not only have we to deal with high mortgages, we have to pay more for daily necessities. Ultimately, it is the lower income group, the housewives, the students, the unemployed, the retirees, the aged and the sick who are going to suffer the most, trying to keep up with the cost of living.
As the biggest landowner in Singapore, this is not a problem that the government cannot address. It only takes political will.
Another example is people’s unhappiness with employment and income. While money may not buy happiness, it is necessary in order to achieve a higher standard of living, better quality of education, healthcare and housing. Of course people are unhappy when their wages are depressed by import of cheap foreign labour or their jobs taken over by cheaper foreign workers. Increasing the GDP in this manner does not improve the lot of the people affected nor boost the happiness index. The government can do something about it.
It does not matter whenever Bhutanese are a happy or unhappy lot. It has no bearing on our own people’s happiness. What we expect of a government that is paid to do the job is to find out what we are unhappy about and do something about it.
The Dalai Lama said, “If you want others to be happy, practice compassion.” Similarly, if we want Singaporeans to be happy, the government must practise compassion. A compassionate government means compassionate policies. Compassionate policies mean bringing more warmth and kindness to the citizens so as to make their lives happier.
* Thích Nhất Hạnh is a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, teacher, author, poet and peace activist who now lives in France.
By Dr Wong Wee Nam
01 November 2011
What is happiness?
To a Buddhist monk, the cause of suffering is ignorant craving. To Aristotle, it is something more tangible. According to him, “The masses take it to be something plain and tangible, like pleasure or money or social standing. Some maintain that it is one of these, some that it is another, and the same man will change his opinion about it more than once. When he has caught an illness he will say that it is health, and when he is hard up, he will say that it is money.”
As there are more masses than monks in Singapore, it is no wonder that people are pre-occupied with the idea of becoming rich and the government is obsessed with economic growth. Happiness, it seems, is about money.
Thus, if you are to contest an election in Singapore and speak like a monk, you are unlikely to get elected.
The subject of happiness was brought up at the opening of the new Singapore Parliament recently.
During a debate at this session, the Minister for National Development, Mr. Khaw Boon Wan, recounted his visit to Bhutan. He told the House that Bhutan is not Shangri-La on earth.
In fact, according to Mr. Khaw, the Bhutanese probably envy Singapore. To them, “Singapore could well be Shangri-La and they want Bhutan to emulate Singapore.”
That was Mr. Khaw’s view. Unfortunately I don’t share it.
I don’t think Bhutan wants to be a Singapore. Tourism can certainly bring in a lot of money into the country but they also know that tourism can ruin them culturally and environmentally. Because of this, they are determined not to go that route. They are not prepared to allow the pursuit of the dollar to ruin their country. So how could they want to emulate Singapore where economic growth is everything and welfare is frowned upon?
Nepal is an equally beautiful country. Yet, has tourism brought more happiness to the Nepalese than the Bhutanese?
When Bhutan wants to learn about our healthcare system, it is not because it wants to start a healthcare industry because it sees it as an engine of growth and wants to promote medical tourism. It probably wants to learn how it could provide better health care, out of compassion, for its poor and the sick. I don’t think it wants to adopt a system where the poor find it hard to cope with expensive medical costs and resources are diverted to treat the rich and the foreigners.
According to the WHO, economic growth in Bhutan, while essential, is not an end in itself, but is one among many means of achieving holistic development.
In his speech, the minister further added that the Bhutanese are not a happy lot of people that we generally thought they were. Of his experience, Mr. Khaw told us, “But most of the time, I saw unhappy people toiling in the field, worried about the next harvest and whether there would be buyers for their products.”
I do not know how the minister came to the conclusion that these people are unhappy. It reminds me of Zhuangzi’s famous fable.
Zhuangzi and Huizi were strolling along the dam of the Hao Waterfall when Zhuangzi said, “See how the minnows come out and dart around where they please! That’s what fish really enjoy!”
Huizi said, “You’re not a fish — how do you know what fish enjoy?”
Zhuangzi said, “You’re not me, so how do you know I don’t know what fish enjoy?”
Huizi said, “I’m not you, so I certainly don’t know what you know. On the other hand, you’re certainly not a fish — so that still proves you don’t know what fish enjoy!”
Zhuangzi said, “Let’s go back to your original question, please. You asked me how I know what fish enjoy — so you already knew I knew it when you asked the question. I know it by standing here beside the Hao.”
【原文】
庄子与惠子游于濠梁之上。庄子曰：“儵鱼出游从容，是鱼之乐也？”惠子曰：“子非鱼，安知鱼之乐？”庄子曰：“子非我，安知我不知鱼之乐？”惠子曰：“我非子，固不知子矣；子固非鱼也，子之不知鱼之乐，全矣。”庄子曰：“请循其本(3)。子曰‘汝安知鱼乐’云者，既已知吾知之而问我。我知之濠上也。”
In other words, Mr. Khaw is not a Bhutanese, so how could he have known how they feel? It is just his perception and it is not necessarily correct.
Singapore is a materialistic society and Bhutan is a country where the people practise Buddhism as a way of life. It is not easy for any Singaporean to experience the contentment that the Bhutanese feel.
This is because we are running all our lives, searching for economic growth and money to find happiness. Even politicians want to be paid extremely well so that they can serve the country without having to grumble that they are poorly paid.
On the other hand, the farmer might have seen things differently. Like the monk Thich Nhat Hanh*, he might have said, “I look at the cows. I look at the hay. I look at the nice fields. I feel closely connected. I see the hay as the milk, the yogurt I eat in the morning, also the cornfield. I see the link between everything. The cow is the mother to me. You drink the milk from the cow; you have an umbilical cord between you and the cow, and the sunflower and the hay.”
So why are we comparing ourselves with Bhutan? Are we trying to say “Look we are so much better off and we should be so much happier than the Bhutanese”? By comparing, would that make us happier?
The happiness of a people is not increased or reduced by comparing it to another country. It does not make an unhappy person happy by just asking him to look at a person who is worse off. Each country and its people have their own unique circumstances. The government should find out what makes a citizen unhappy and try to find a solution to it.
For example, people are unhappy about housing. Why are they unhappy? This is because the price is ridiculously high. While it benefits the government to have high property prices, it is depriving the younger Singaporeans the chance to own a home and it also makes life expensive for everyone. When high property prices push up rentals, the business costs must be reflected in the goods and services and must ultimately be passed on to the consumers.
In the end, not only have we to deal with high mortgages, we have to pay more for daily necessities. Ultimately, it is the lower income group, the housewives, the students, the unemployed, the retirees, the aged and the sick who are going to suffer the most, trying to keep up with the cost of living.
As the biggest landowner in Singapore, this is not a problem that the government cannot address. It only takes political will.
Another example is people’s unhappiness with employment and income. While money may not buy happiness, it is necessary in order to achieve a higher standard of living, better quality of education, healthcare and housing. Of course people are unhappy when their wages are depressed by import of cheap foreign labour or their jobs taken over by cheaper foreign workers. Increasing the GDP in this manner does not improve the lot of the people affected nor boost the happiness index. The government can do something about it.
It does not matter whenever Bhutanese are a happy or unhappy lot. It has no bearing on our own people’s happiness. What we expect of a government that is paid to do the job is to find out what we are unhappy about and do something about it.
The Dalai Lama said, “If you want others to be happy, practice compassion.” Similarly, if we want Singaporeans to be happy, the government must practise compassion. A compassionate government means compassionate policies. Compassionate policies mean bringing more warmth and kindness to the citizens so as to make their lives happier.
* Thích Nhất Hạnh is a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, teacher, author, poet and peace activist who now lives in France.
