Does being rich mean being happy? - Eun Chan

I do not feel that being rich means happiness. Singapore is a relatively rich country with a very high cost of living. However, surveys have shown the Singapore might not necessarily be the happiest country. In fact, Singapore has almost topped the survey of being the unhappiest country.

Comparing Singapore to a Asian country – China, we can see that in terms of money and cost of living, Singapore has much more money and a much higher cost of living than China. However, China easily beats us in being a happier country than Singapore.

From these results, we can find out that money is definitely not the factor for defining happiness. Here are some of my thoughts. We Singaporeans work hard, too hard, to earn the income to support our cost of living. I think that that will indirectly affect our happiness as we will be stressed by our work load and not get to spend the money that we earn on what we want because we have no time. As this process continues, Singaporeans will never be happy or contented and will think they lead a boring life. We also complain a lot compared people from China. People in China lead a much more simple life and even if they have lots of work load, they still appreciate what they have and do not spend so much time complaining about the things they do not have.

In conclusion, based on the results of the survey and based on my own opinions, I feel that being rich is not a factor of happiness.