The pursuit of Happiness

John Lennon wrote: "When I was five years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down 'happy'. They told me that I didn't understand the assignment, and I told them they didn't understand life."

Since 1972, (yes, it is true!), Bhutan has been pursuing GNH (Gross National Happiness) as the guiding factor in all its development. Bhutan, a tiny Himalayan Kingdom, took this lead under the progressive King Jingme Wangchuk.

Can it be captured easily? Is it even simple to understand? Credit to Bhutan for integrating this concept into their development strategy. This seeks to strike a balance amongst the four pillars - sustainable and equitable socio-economic development; conservation of the environment; preservation and promotion of culture; and good governance.

The GNH Index includes nine domains

• Living standards – material comforts measured by income, financial security, housing, asset ownership
• Health – both physical and mental health.
• Education – types of knowledge, values and skills
• Good governance – how people perceive government functions.
• Ecological diversity and resilience – peoples’ perception on environment.
• Time use – how much time is spent on work, non-work, sleep; work-life balance.
• Psychological wellbeing – quality of life, life satisfaction and spirituality.
• Cultural diversity and resilience – strength of cultural traditions and festivals.
• Community vitality – relationships and interaction

The GNH Index is decomposable by any demographic characteristic, meaning it can be broken down by population group, for example, to show the composition of GNH among men and among women, or by district, and by dimension, for example to show which group is lacking in education. The indicators and domains aim to emphasize different aspects of wellbeing, and different ways of meeting underlying human needs.

The 2015 GNH index shows that on the scale of zero to one measurement, the happiness of our people has increased from 0.743 in 2010 to 0.756 in 2015. That is, 1.8% overall increase. a. 91.2 % of people reported experiencing happiness, and b. 43.4% of people said that they are deeply happy.

Governance - The same King, who is revered and popular, took the bold step of introducing democratic reform in 2008. He felt the country's future cannot be in the hands of one individual.

Environment - Conservation ranks at the very top for this country. Bhutan is in the top 10 countries ranked in the order of species density. It is a bio-diversity hot spot. For example, the constitution says that 62% of the country should be under forest cover all the time.

Guess what is the current score? 72%. Further goals track carbon-neutrality with their ambition of going carbon-negative. More than 42% of the country comes under "protected land."

Culture - Its unique sandwiched position separated by high mountain passes has helped grow an isolated community. They have evolved their own culture, identity as well as language. The country celebrates this diversity of more than two dozen languages with regional festivals. The officials wear traditional dress to work. Culture is part of daily life.

Sustainable development - The government has constituted a Happiness Commission akin to a planning body. They subject all the policies of the government through a stress-test to ensure an equitable economic development.

Bhutan has been maintaining a very high profile in international bodies like Climate committees, OECD etc. It has inspired development of many different indices and has led from the front when it comes to holistic development.

Does it all mean that the Bhutanese are the happiest people on earth? Very difficult to answer this directly. The people there take time to think, to respond, to be with family etc. Both the older and future generations are hand-in-hand. TV was introduced in 1999. Smartphones have flooded the market. Certainly, this has complicated the matters. Alongside comes materialistic aspects. The good thing is that the country is not turning a blind eye to the unmindful and reckless development. Alongside, it continues to integrate and practice these happiness goals for the betterment of the country's future generation as well as that of the whole word. 

Certainly, there is more than a handful of lessons for other countries!