CREATING HAPPY SOCIETIES: THE FINNISH MODEL

 

Are you happy with your life?

For a Finn, the answer is most likely “Joo” which means “yes.” Finland has the happiest people on earth for the sixth year in a row, according to the 2023 World Happiness Report.

The World Happiness Report defines “happiness” as “the degree to which individuals evaluate the quality of their lives as a whole positively” encompassing the following factors of measurement: economic prosperity, social support, life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity, and perceptions of corruption.

FINNISH WAY

Economic Prosperity. Finland has a high GDP per capita, low unemployment rates, and a highly skilled labor force. It has a strong and stable economy, with a high standard of living and a low poverty rate.

Social Support. Finland has a strong sense of community and social cohesion. It has a comprehensive social welfare system that provides support to its citizens, including universal health care, free education, and generous parental leave policies.

Life Expectancy. Finland has a high life expectancy, with access to high-quality health care, education, and a healthy lifestyle. It has a strong emphasis on preventative healthcare which can give rise to a longer and healthier life.

Freedom to Make Life Choices. Finland has a high level of individual freedom, with a strong emphasis on personal autonomy and the ability to make choices that align with one’s values.

Generosity. Finland has a culture of generosity and social responsibility with a strong tradition of volunteerism and giving back to the community which can lead to a sense of purpose and well-being.

Perceptions of Corruption. Finland has a low level of corruption with a strong rule of law and a high level of government transparency. It has a strong culture of honesty and trust, particularly in its institutions, which can bring about a sense of security and stability.

Let’s get the picture, up close and personal, from the point of view of Maria Heinonen, author, journalist, and editor in her native Finland, taken from the CNN article “Opinion: Finland’s the world happiest country. Here’s how we do it.”

“My father was a construction worker and my mother worked in a factory. Thanks to an exemplary education system, I was able to earn a doctorate practically for free. My two daughters have had access to one of the world’s finest educations – practically free of cost again. As a single mom, I can’t overstate how important it was that I didn’t have to dig deep into my own pocket to pay for quality education for them.

“Daycare is subsidized for all families in Finland. Before going to school, my girls were able to attend a wonderful, highly professional public daycare at an extremely reasonable cost, which allowed me to work.

“Then there is the issue of medical expenses – a huge financial hardship… One of my daughters had a chronic skeletal disease from the time she was little, and medical treatment lasted more than a decade… [M]y daughter’s medical expenses were affordable and didn’t ruin our lives.

“The bulk of the expenses were taken care of by the public health system.”

PH PLIGHT: GUSTO KO HAPPY KA

Brought into the mainstream more than a decade ago as an election campaign slogan by then Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, “Gusto Ko Happy Ka” was, for sure, inspired by the 1980s hit song “Don’t Worry Be Happy” with the following highlighted lyrics:

In every life, we have some trouble

But when you worry, you make it double

Don’t worry, be happy

Ain’t got no place to lay your head

Somebody came and took your bed

Don’t worry, be happy

Ain’t got no cash, ain’t got no style

Ain’t got no gal to make you smile

Don’t worry, be happy.

Our local artists, like the Apo Hiking Society, went as well with the 80s don’t-worry-be-happy flow as portrayed in the following lyrics of their song “Awit ng Barkada”:

Nakasimangot ka na lang palagi

Parang ikaw lang ang nagmamay-ari

Ng lahat ng sama ng loob

Pagmumukha mo ay hindi maipinta

Nakalimutan mo na bang tumawa

Eh sumasayad na ang nguso mo sa lupa.

The lyrics have painted a funny picture of an unhappy Pinoy face that strikingly epitomizes the PH plight. For a Pinoy, the answer to the question “Are you happy with your life?” is embedded in the more-than-a-decade slogan “Gusto ko, happy ka” where the “yes” answer is just an “aspiration” (reminds me of the P20/kilo rice), a castle in the air,  rather than what it is, a fact of life. Sad to say, such airy hope has remained an “aspiration” up to this day.

The telltales are out in the open such as this Inquirer headline dated September 14, 2022: “SWS: 31% of Filipinos say their quality of life worsened.” While Finland was ranked number 1 as the happiest country in the world by The World Happiness Report, PH was ranked number 60.

Making the most of benchmarking – a process of identifying internal opportunities for improvement – by measuring PH against the best in class, Finland, the following straightforward words by Maria Heinonen are illuminating:

“Finland has well-functioning and democratic institutions that provide their citizens with extensive benefits and security. The citizens of our [country] TRUST OUR INSTITUTIONS…” (Emphasis mine)

If PH aspires in moving upwards on the ladder of The World Happiness Report, this is a good place to start – our citizens must trust our institutions. Sad to say, however, one recent crucial development flies in the face of such aspiration as revealed in Jarius Bondoc’s Philstar column “Deceptive: Comelec gave receiving logs, not transmission logs – Rio, Odoño” which I excerpt below:

“Retired general Eliseo Rio and colonel Leonardo Odoño are upset. Comelec handed them not the transmission logs but the reception logs of Election 2022 results.

“’Deception!’ they decried the act. Reception logs are records of what Comelec’s Transparency Server [TS] received and then broadcast last May 9, 2022. Transmission logs are records of what 106,174 precincts’ vote counting machines individually sent to the TS.

“Transmission and reception logs should match, said Rio, 78, and Odoño, 80. But they suspect that results were fabricated to protect 20 million-plus votes within one hour from the 7 p.m. precinct close.

“A winning trend was concocted for the president and VP to condition the public mind.”

Ma. Ceres P. Doyo wrote in her Inquirer column “Via Crucis: SC petition with smoking gun” on the same issue:

“How did an avalanche of election results favoring presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr. get transmitted in so short a time? The “witching” – to use Halloween parlance – was 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. of May 9, 2022, but most especially between 7 p.m. and 7:17 p.m. or thereabouts.”

“[N]ot for the lazy of mind. Plodding through it, and the arguments and statistical proofs presented, was indeed a via crucis for me, a via dolorosa playing out in a national landscape.”

`While Ms. Doyo used a via crucis metaphor in stressing the issue’s complexity, on the other hand, I drew on a metaphysical metaphor as shown by my post-election ATABAY article’s title “Proving Election Fraud As Tough As Proving God Exists.”

Looking back, right after the May 2022 election, I wrote an ATABAY article “Democracy Can Exist Only On Trust” where, amid the controversy, I cited a viral letter that popped up and circulated on the internet with a telling message: “A Chinese IT Expert was hired to do this which can penetrate the Transparency Server. Thus, the 3x faster results. It cannot be traced where the results are coming from.”

The present administration may shrug off this issue as a tough nut to crack, so complicated, that it will only bamboozle Pinoys’ perceived lazy minds, thus, dismissing the whole fiasco. Here’s a caveat inspired by a passage in today’s Palm Sunday Gospel:

“When it was evening, [Jesus] reclined at table with the Twelve. And while they were eating, he said, ‘Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.'” (Mt. 26:20-21)

The “betrayal of trust” in government service infringes the public trust in the government’s integrity which can take, among others, this form: failure to fulfill duties. In the crucial COMELEC fiasco, it is like a termite infestation, that will slowly and gradually undermine the public’s faith in the government, weaken its legitimacy, and erode the foundation of democracy.

Are you happy with your life? For a Pinoy, hopefully, the answer is not "Hmph!"

Have a blessed Palm Sunday!

Head still collage photos courtesy of Adventuresdotcom, Science/HowStuffWorks, Kolkata Wire, and CTV News