"Don’t Worry, Be Happy,” says Bobby McFerrin, in his award-winning song.
“If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands” say the children in their kindergarten action-song.
But what if we don’t know how?
Then, perhaps, the government can help. And try to make us happy.
This week’s appointment of a ‘Minister of State for Happiness’, by the UAE government, shows a growing new trend.
Many large corporations – and, as we can see now, even governments - are appointing officials whose primary mission is to spread good cheer, all around.
It was ten years ago, that I heard – for the first time - the term CHO (Chief Happiness Officer), and that it is a real ‘official’ designation, or job-title, given to that imaginary Ronald McDonald.
He is that clown-character, the primary mascot of the McDonald's fast-food restaurant chain, seen around their outlets and in their promotion material.
I still don’t know how this red-haired, white-faced, clown, donned in a yellow jumpsuit, and red-and-white striped shirt-and-socks, could make people “happy”. But that’s his job.
Google took the task of keeping its employees happy so seriously that it appointed Chade-Meng Tan to a position that is the equivalent of a ‘Chief Happiness Officer’.
But Meng’s official job title is – believe it or not - ‘Jolly Good Fellow’!
A July-2014 article of ‘New Republic’ says that Meng’s self-made job description is to “enlighten minds, open hearts, and create world peace.”
During a 2010 TED talk, Meng had said he was greatly influenced by a certain Mathieu Ricard, who despite a Ph. D in molecular genetics, left everything to become a Buddhist Monk.
Buddhism, by the way, is the state religion of the Kingdom of Bhutan. And it was, actually, Bhutan's fourth Dragon King, Jigme Singye Wangchuck who coined the phrase 'Gross National Happiness (GNH)’ in 1972.
According to this former king - who recently abdicated the throne in favour of his eldest son – their GNH represents Bhutan’s commitment towards building an economy that would serve Bhutan's culture based on Buddhist spiritual values instead of western material development gauged by gross domestic product (GDP).
And, even in 2015, Bhutan has made a detailed analysis of its citizens’ levels of happiness, to calculate its GNH.
So, the UAE government’s appointment of a dynamic young lady Ohood Al Roumi as Minister of State for Happiness, in UAE is, in a way, a natural progression on the world-wide interest of leaders in increasing happiness within their respective countries.
In the World Happiness Report 2015, I found immense praise for UAE, on UAE’s public policy related to happiness.
The report says: The case of the UAE is worth special mention in part for the extent to which happiness and well-being have been made central tenets of the design and delivery of the National Agenda “… to be the happiest of all nations.”
In that global report’s “Ranking of Happiness 2012-2014”, UAE is ranked 20. Top three countries on the table are Switzerland, Iceland and Denmark. United States is 15. And United Kingdom is 21, immediately after UAE.
So quite clearly, UAE is doing something right when it comes to happiness.
While I think it is the responsibility of all ministers to govern effectively and efficiently, to promote goodness, and thereby happiness, perhaps, a ‘Minister of State for Happiness’ might help as a catalyst in that effort.
“If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands” say the children in their kindergarten action-song.
But what if we don’t know how?
Then, perhaps, the government can help. And try to make us happy.
This week’s appointment of a ‘Minister of State for Happiness’, by the UAE government, shows a growing new trend.
Many large corporations – and, as we can see now, even governments - are appointing officials whose primary mission is to spread good cheer, all around.
It was ten years ago, that I heard – for the first time - the term CHO (Chief Happiness Officer), and that it is a real ‘official’ designation, or job-title, given to that imaginary Ronald McDonald.
He is that clown-character, the primary mascot of the McDonald's fast-food restaurant chain, seen around their outlets and in their promotion material.
I still don’t know how this red-haired, white-faced, clown, donned in a yellow jumpsuit, and red-and-white striped shirt-and-socks, could make people “happy”. But that’s his job.
Google took the task of keeping its employees happy so seriously that it appointed Chade-Meng Tan to a position that is the equivalent of a ‘Chief Happiness Officer’.
But Meng’s official job title is – believe it or not - ‘Jolly Good Fellow’!
A July-2014 article of ‘New Republic’ says that Meng’s self-made job description is to “enlighten minds, open hearts, and create world peace.”
During a 2010 TED talk, Meng had said he was greatly influenced by a certain Mathieu Ricard, who despite a Ph. D in molecular genetics, left everything to become a Buddhist Monk.
Buddhism, by the way, is the state religion of the Kingdom of Bhutan. And it was, actually, Bhutan's fourth Dragon King, Jigme Singye Wangchuck who coined the phrase 'Gross National Happiness (GNH)’ in 1972.
According to this former king - who recently abdicated the throne in favour of his eldest son – their GNH represents Bhutan’s commitment towards building an economy that would serve Bhutan's culture based on Buddhist spiritual values instead of western material development gauged by gross domestic product (GDP).
And, even in 2015, Bhutan has made a detailed analysis of its citizens’ levels of happiness, to calculate its GNH.
So, the UAE government’s appointment of a dynamic young lady Ohood Al Roumi as Minister of State for Happiness, in UAE is, in a way, a natural progression on the world-wide interest of leaders in increasing happiness within their respective countries.
In the World Happiness Report 2015, I found immense praise for UAE, on UAE’s public policy related to happiness.
The report says: The case of the UAE is worth special mention in part for the extent to which happiness and well-being have been made central tenets of the design and delivery of the National Agenda “… to be the happiest of all nations.”
In that global report’s “Ranking of Happiness 2012-2014”, UAE is ranked 20. Top three countries on the table are Switzerland, Iceland and Denmark. United States is 15. And United Kingdom is 21, immediately after UAE.
So quite clearly, UAE is doing something right when it comes to happiness.
While I think it is the responsibility of all ministers to govern effectively and efficiently, to promote goodness, and thereby happiness, perhaps, a ‘Minister of State for Happiness’ might help as a catalyst in that effort.
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