Who are the happiest people in Hong Kong? Apparently it's men over 50 years old, who never studied beyond primary school, live in Wan Chai and make more than 400,000 Hong Kong dollars (US$51,000) a year.
The ING LIFE Happiness Survey, by conducted by Lingnan University, assessed the 'happiness' of more than 8,500 Hong Kong residents who volunteered to take an online survey in June. Overall happiness was measured by responses to questions that Lingan personnel divided into categories it called love, insight, fortitude and engagement, hence the survey's name, according to Lok-sang Ho, director of the Centre for Public Policy Studies at Lingnan University, who headed the survey.
While the study, not surprisingly, found that happiness generally increases with income and age, it also revealed that education can have a negative effect on happiness. People surveyed who had only a primary-school education are happier than their more-educated and less-educated peers, scoring 8.59 on Mr. Ho's happiness index. The index runs from zero to 10, with zero being the least happy and 10 being the happiest.
The second happiest demographic, in terms of education, has no formal schooling whatsoever, while the third is a tie between those who matriculated from senior secondary school and people who graduated from a university.
'It's surprising that education carries a negative coefficient on happiness,' Mr. Ho said. 'It tells us that as educators, we haven't done enough. These people are facing a lot of pressure and they don't know how to cope.'
Mr. Ho said that while 724 people below the age of 18 took the survey, it's more likely that the older people, who tend to be happier anyhow, are the ones who skewed the happiness scale for those with only a primary-school education.
The study also found that Wan Chai, the Hong Kong Island district known for its late-night bars and traditional restaurants and residences, is the happiest neighborhood in all of Hong Kong, with its residents scoring an 8.55 on the happiness index. Tai Po, in the New Territories, came in second at 7.69, while Kwai Tsing, also in the New Territories, scored the lowest of Hong Kong's 18 districts, at 6.83. The average score was 7.11.
Overall, residents living on Hong Kong Island are happier than those in the New Territories, who are in turn happier than residents living in Kowloon, the survey found.
Women living in Hong Kong, who scored a collective 7.17 on the index, are also generally happier than their male counterparts, who averaged a score of 6.99.
And Hong Kongers get happier as they get older and richer. People surveyed below the age of 30 were the least happy while those aged 50 or above were the happiest. Men over age 50 are the happiest age/gender combo, with a score of 7.68 on the happiness index, while men below 30 are the unhappiest, scoring 6.74. By comparison, women over 50 scored 7.54, and women under 30 scored 7.06.
Hong Kongers making HK$400,000 or above annually are the happiest of all income brackets, scoring 7.37.
As for the reasons and explanations behind his findings, Mr. Ho simply said, 'This is something that deserves our investigation.'
This was the first year that the survey was conducted online and through Facebook, according to Lennard Yong, co-head of ING Insurance & Pensions for Hong Kong and Macau. He said that the survey, which has been conducted since 2005, got 10 times last year's response.
