新加坡"最快樂的人":快樂就在你身邊

Stressed-out Singapore named its happiest person on Thursday at a conference that aimed to make people in the city-state feel better.

Andy Goh, 35, the manager of a local engineering company, was named "Singapore's Happiest Person".

His secret?

"A lot of times, happiness is not just money and stuff, so you've got to count your blessings: health, family, friends, helping other people," Goh said after receiving 200 dollars (148 US) and a trip to the Thai resort island of Phuket.

The aptly named Philip Merry, chief executive of consulting firm Global Leadership Academy, began his search for Singapore's most cheery resident last month.

The winner was announced at the end of the two-day New Science of Happiness and Well-Being Conference, organised by Merry and his wife.

It seemed like a grim task after a poll by advertising firm Grey Group found that nine in 10 people living in the city-state, Southeast Asia's wealthiest economy, said they were stressed.

The contest called for written nominations, between 300 and 1,000 words, explaining why the candidate was a "model of happiness," Merry said. Nominees had to be 18 years or older.

A surprising 207 entries were received, Merry said.

"I literally thought when we launched... 'are we going to get anybody?' Not only did we get 207 stories but we've got such fantastic stories," he said.

"There is a lot of happy people that we just don't talk about or recognize."

Nominees were whittled down to four finalists including Zaibun Siraj, 61, a training consultant at a local polytechnic. She recently published her own book, "Zany, Zeal, Zest and Zing: The Z way to happiness."

In the end, Zaibun's zaniness could not top Goh's simple prescription for feeling good.

"Look not too far, as it's probably already close to you," the happiest man advised.

新加坡“最快樂的人”評選活動結果於上週四在當地召開的一個研討會上揭曉。該會議的主要議題是如何讓壓力纏身的新加坡人更加快樂。

新加坡一家工程技術公司的經理、35歲的安迪·高有幸被評爲“新加坡最快樂的人”。

他的快樂祕訣是什麼呢？

安迪說：“其實在很多時候，快樂並不只是金錢和物質，你應該多想想你所擁有的東西，比如健康、家庭、朋友以及幫助他人。” 安迪獲得的獎勵包括200新元（148美元）的獎金以及到泰國普吉島旅遊的機會。

於上月啓動的“尋找新加坡最快樂的人”活動由“全球領導學院”諮詢公司的首席執行官菲力普·梅里發起，他的名字Merry和這個活動倒是也很相稱（merry意爲“快樂”。

評選結果在由梅里夫婦組織的、爲期兩天的“快樂與幸福新科學研討會”結束時揭曉。

此前一項由格雷廣告集團公司開展的民調發現，在這個東南亞最富裕的國家，有90%的人感到壓力很大。這也正是梅里組織召開該研討會的原因。

梅里說：“參選者必須年滿18週歲，須提交一份300至1000字的書面提名材料，說明其爲何是‘快樂楷模’。”

梅里說，他們竟然收到了207份提名材料。

他說：“毫不誇張地說，我們剛發起這個活動時，我還擔心會不會有人蔘加。而現在看來，我們不僅收到了207個快樂的故事，而且其中不少故事都很精彩。”

“其實快樂的人有很多，只是我們沒有在意或發現。”

經過激烈的角逐，最終有4人挺進決賽，其中包括當地一家工藝學校的培訓顧問、61歲的老人賽卜•斯拉吉。她最近剛出版了自己的新書《幽默、熱情、樂趣和活力：快樂Z之路》。

但賽卜的“幽默”理念最終不敵安迪的簡單快樂良方。

這位最快樂的人在傳授快樂祕訣時說：“其實快樂並不遙遠，它可能就在你身邊。”