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| Editorial: Trust and happiness Posted: 23 Mar 2021 05:53 AM PDT IN THE World Happiness Report (WHR) 2021, Finland was the happiest country. It was followed by Denmark, Switzerland, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Luxembourg, New Zealand, and Austria. Meanwhile, in the regions of East Asia and Southeast Asia, Taiwan was the happiest country at No. 24. Singapore (No. 32), Thailand (No. 54), Japan (No. 56) were also among the happier nations in the region. The Philippines is at No. 61 in the 2018-2020 rankings. The Philippines was happier compared to South Korea (No. 62), Vietnam (No. 79), Malaysia (No. 81), Indonesia (No. 82), and China (No. 84). According to WHR 2021, which is published by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, the rankings are based on "the average life evaluations reported by respondents in the Gallup surveys." The Gallup World Poll is the principal source of data in the WHR 2020. The survey "asks respondents to evaluate their current life as a whole using the image of a ladder, with the best possible life for them as a 10 and worst possible as a 0." Researchers compared the 2017-2019 and 2018-2020 data to determine the ranking of nations in terms of happiness. After the researchers took a deeper dive into the data they received, they found out that "individuals with high social and institutional trust levels were happier than those living in less trusting and trustworthy environments." The WHR 2021 found that trust plays an important role in fighting the pandemic and getting people to act on it. "Trust and cooperative social norms not only facilitate rapid and cooperative responses, which themselves improve the happiness of citizens, but also demonstrate to people the extent to which others are prepared to do benevolent acts for them, and for the community in general" the report states. The report adds "seeing trust in action has been found to lead to post-disaster increases in trust, especially where government responses are considered to be sufficiently timely and effective." "Trust played an equally strong role in helping countries to find and implement successful Covid-19 strategies," the report states. Based on the recent findings of the WHR 2021, if the national government and other concerned parties want to improve the compliance of the people towards minimum health standards and respond accordingly to fight the pandemic, it must build trust among the people. While trust rating towards the president is high -- 70-percent based on end-of-the year 2020 survey conducted by PUBLiCUS Asia Inc. and 91-percent in the October 2020 survey of Pulse Asia -- does the public have a high trust towards the Philippine government as a whole? The controversies over the Covid-19 vaccine procurement, lack of transparency on certain information on the government's Covid-19 response, and some government officials and influential individuals not following minimum health standards may have affected the people's trust towards the government. This in turn could have affected how some respond or comply with the guidelines set by the government. While there are many factors in play as to the increase in Covid-19 cases in the country, maybe rebuilding the trust of the people towards the government can help improve this situation. As the WHR 2021 states, trust has helped some nations mitigate the effects of Covid-19 and as a result, people have remained happy.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 23 Mar 2021 05:31 AM PDT SIDDHARTHA is a story by the German author Hermann Hesse. It is all about the spiritual journey of self-discovery by a young man, Siddhartha. In one of the conversations, Siddhartha was asked what his talents were. He replied with I can listen, I can fast and I can wait. And now for the third. In a supermarket stood a man watching a mother and her young child. There was a long line to the counter and the child was getting restless. The mother suddenly said, "Patience Martha, the line is not that long." A few moments later the child became restive once more and the mother once more said, "Take it easy Martha, we are next in line." Finally, the mother and the child exited the counter and the man said, "Madam I admire your patience with Martha." The woman turned around saying, "Oh, thank you but that is Jennifer my daughter, I am Martha." Funny but oh so true. We demand patience from others but we are so impatient with ourselves. Lord, give me patience and give it to me now syndrome. Most people would say that in today's society people have become impatient because of the instant culture we have. Instant food, gratification, entertainment. Anything and everything can be had in a flash. When we want or demand something we can have it almost instantly. We want it quick and when it is denied, well we instantly get irritated or mad. But this impatience has been here for as long as man has been. Perhaps, now it is more pronounced because of the culture we are in. Make haste slowly has is an old saying. We have always been impatient, more so now. And the target of our impatience has always been the other person and never us. We get stuck in traffic and we rant against the other fellow. Road rage is common. When we are in a restaurant and our orders take some time we get mad at the server. It is always the other person's fault and never ours. This pandemic is a classic example of make haste slowly. Look at Manila now. And whose fault is that? It may be a combination of factors but ultimately we are to blame. And we mean everyone. The faster we open, the faster we close. That is true for a pandemic, for any relationship, for a business, a career, a job, a dream. Simply put, everything will happen in its own time. Nature has mastered that. Cocoon to butterfly, seed to harvest, low tide to high tide, quarter moon to full moon. And none of those events can be rushed or hurried. It happens in its time. Because the real definition of patience is not waiting. Patience is timing.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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