Malaysia: Happiest country in the region

Malaysia – An Ipsos poll attempting to understand how happy Malaysians are and what factors help contribute or hinder their happiness, shows that the top 3 factors that contributed to their happiness level were their relationship with their partner or spouse (53%) their relationship with their parents (46%), and the health of their family and friends (41%). The factors that contributed the least to their overall happiness was donating money to charity (6%), Social recognition (5%) and migrating to another country (1%).

Katharine Davis, Executive Director for Ipsos Malaysia comments, “Malaysians closely tie their personal happiness to the bond they have with their loved ones and the wellbeing of those closest to them. This is a reflection of the strong communal culture of Malaysia and their national identity, where the sense of self takes lesser precedence to the good of the community they belong to.”

In contrast people saying they are unhappy attribute their (lack of) happiness mainly to their personal financial situation (61%), followed by the health of their family and friends (40%) and their living conditions (38%).

These results were from a poll conducted among 466 respondents aged 18 – 50 years old, across all the major ethnic groups in Malaysia. Other markets surveyed included Mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea

Across APAC

Happiness levels were generally high across all markets with HK, China and Singapore stating that their personal health and their relationship with their spouse were the top two contributing factors. Korea showed a similarity with the Malaysian market with their top factor being their relationship with their partner or spouse (44%) but differed from other markets as being the only country where the living conditions was one of the main contributors to their happiness (35%).

Between Men and Women

Across the region, we see the region’s highest proportion of unhappy citizens among Hong Kong men at 24%. In China, there are about half as many unhappy women at 8% as there are unhappy men at 16%.

In Malaysia, the women are marginally less happy overall (11%), than men are (8%). A few other differences between men and women in Malaysia are noticeable;

• Women place a higher emphasis on their relationship with their parents (50%) than men do (38%)
• The health/wellbeing of their family/friends is more important to women (47%) than the men (35%).
• Having more friends/Relationship with their friends is marginally higher for men (22%) than for women (17%).

Overall, the data suggests that women place a greater emphasis on their relationships with their family; likely a result of them placing their career on hiatus when it comes to raising a family, deprioritizing external contributors to their happiness.
About the Study

The figures shown are findings from a study conducted by Ipsos Asia Pacific via an online survey provided by Toluna, among a total of 2,378 respondents across Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, S. Korea and China, aged 18 – 50 years old. The fieldwork was conducted on 16 – 25 July 2013.