Dubai, UAE
Can the state engineer a happy country?
The United Arab Emirates thinks so. Last week, the country’s government announced it had selected 60 “chief happiness and positivity officers” to travel abroad to study happiness and how to spread it. In February this year, it appointed its first minister of state for happiness, with a mandate to make the country and its population happier.
Currently ranked 28th out of 156 countries surveyed in the United Nations’ 2016 World Happiness Report, the UAE wants to climb the rankings and sit within the top five by 2021.
I – Word Understanding
Mandate – authority to do something
II – Have Your Say
1. In this 2016 Happiness Report, Japan ranked #53 out of 157 countries.
What are the things that you think your government has done to make the
people happy?
What do you hope the government would do to make people in Japan happier?
2. On a personal level, what are the factors that make you happy and satisfied with life?
3. Please share what you know about the United Arab Emirates.
Do you think they can achieve their goal of climbing up to the top 5? Why or why
not?
