Stressed-out Singapore named its happiest person on Thursday at a conference that aimed to make people in the city-state feel better.
 
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 blessings¹: health, family, friends, helping² 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-Being³ Conference, organised by Merry and his wife.

It seemed like a grim task after a poll by advertising⁴ 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 nominations⁵, between 300 and 1,000 words, explaining why the candidate was a "model of happiness," Merry said. Nominees⁶ had to be 18 years or older.

A surprising 207 entries were received, Merry said.

"I literally⁷ 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 whittled⁸ down to four finalists including Zaibun Siraj, 61, a training consultant⁹ at a local polytechnic¹⁰. She recently published her own book, "Zany, Zeal¹¹, Zest¹² and Zing: The Z way to happiness."

In the end, Zaibun's zaniness could not top Goh's simple prescription¹³ for feeling good.

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

新加坡“最快乐的人”评选活动结果于上周四在当地召开的一个研讨会上揭晓。该会议的主要议题是如何让压力缠身的新加坡人更加快乐。

新加坡一家工程技术公司的经理、35岁的安迪·高有幸被评为“新加坡最快乐的人”。

他的快乐秘诀是什么呢？

安迪说：“其实在很多时候，快乐并不只是金钱和物质，你应该多想想你所拥有的东西，比如健康、家庭、朋友以及帮助他人。” 安迪获得的奖励包括200新元（148美元）的奖金以及到泰国普吉岛旅游的机会。

于上月启动的“寻找新加坡最快乐的人”活动由“全球领导学院”咨询公司的首席执行官菲力普·梅里发起，他的名字Merry和这个活动倒是也很相称（merry意为“快乐”。

评选结果在由梅里夫妇组织的、为期两天的“快乐与幸福新科学研讨会”结束时揭晓。

此前一项由格雷广告集团公司开展的民调发现，在这个东南亚最富裕的国家，有90%的人感到压力很大。这也正是梅里组织召开该研讨会的原因。

梅里说：“参选者必须年满18周岁，须提交一份300至1000字的书面提名材料，说明其为何是‘快乐楷模’。”

梅里说，他们竟然收到了207份提名材料。

他说：“毫不夸张地说，我们刚发起这个活动时，我还担心会不会有人参加。而现在看来，我们不仅收到了207个快乐的故事，而且其中不少故事都很精彩。”

“其实快乐的人有很多，只是我们没有在意或发现。”

经过激烈的角逐，最终有4人挺进决赛，其中包括当地一家工艺学校的培训顾问、61岁的老人赛卜•斯拉吉。她最近刚出版了自己的新书《幽默、热情、乐趣和活力：快乐Z之路》。

但赛卜的“幽默”理念最终不敌安迪的简单快乐良方。

这位最快乐的人在传授快乐秘诀时说：“其实快乐并不遥远，它可能就在你身边。”

Vocabulary: 

count one's blessings: 多往好处想; 知足常乐