What Makes a Filipino Happy?

A survey by The Filipino Times shows that 8 out of 10 Filipinos are glad to be living in the UAE but the question is, what is keeping them happy here?

DUBAI: The UAE, with its newly established Ministry of Happiness, is out to find out what makes people in the country happy.

“Mothers, students, labourers, employees and all segments of society will be surveyed to find out what makes them happy, starting this year,” the Minister of State for Happiness OhoodbintKhalfan Al Roumi said in a recent report. The massive survey will be tailored-fit to various groups of people to ensure that it would reveal accurate results and would effectively guide policies to be crafted to achieve people’s happiness.

“After the completion of surveys and studies, the ministry will begin implementing the projects and programs this year,” Al Roumi said, explaining that the Ministry is all about figuring out the needs of the UAE residents so the government could be in tune with what could make their lives better.

In line with this initiative, The Filipino Times has rolled out its own survey and interviewed more than 500 Filipinos in the community to know two things: how happy they are in the UAE and what makes them happy.

People that TFT has called were asked to rate their happiness in the country on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

Survey results showed that most Filipinos in the UAE are happy with an average rating of 4.005. Eight out of 10 Filipinos gave a 4 or 5 happiness rating.

When they were asked what makes them happy, majority of them cited family and their work/salary. Other top answers included security and convenience, as well as friends and leisure.

Let’s take a look at each family, work, security and leisure mean for every Pinoy expat in the UAE.

1. Family is the end-all and be-all of every OFW.After all, most of them left home to seek the proverbial greener pasture just so they could give their families better, brighter lives. Not a few are bread-winners who send their children, siblings, or other relatives to school. Yet another chunk of them provide for the daily needs and basic necessities of their loved ones back home.

So when 74 percent of TFT’s survey respondents said ‘family’ is what makes them happy—it’s almost a given, an expected automatic answer.

Cherry Rose Gutang, a school canteen staff in Sharjah who has been working in the UAE for 5 years already, said “there’s nothing else that could make me happy except my family. They are the reason why I am here in the UAE.” Cherry is single but she’s the sole bread-winner of her family of five. She is currently paying for the education of her siblings, one in college and two in high school.

When days get too rough in a foreign land, all that could lift them up to keep them going—is family.

2. Work and salary ranked second in the Filipinos’ happy reasons in the UAE, and quite understandably so. As respondent Lucy Reverente, a social media executive, has put it, “I can never earn my UAE salary in the Philippines, and that, I think, is what makes me happy here.”

Dors Cruz, who works as a secretary to a project manager, said she couldn’t be happier calling Dubai her second home. She has been in the city for over eight years.   “With my present working condition and salary, I should say, yes! Though I’m away from my family, I feel safer living here than back home in the Philippines – sad to say, but that is the truth,” Cruz said.

Sixteen percent of TFT’s survey respondents agree with Lucy and Dors, but it doesn’t really mean that Filipinos are only after the money. Again, it all boiled down to family. “I am happy with the work I have here because it is what I need to support my family in the Philippines,” said Claire de Guia, an accountant and a single mother raising two children.

While feelers of an economic slowdown emerged recently, people on the ground say otherwise. In fact just a recent survey conducted by Bayt.com showed that UAE expats are relatively satisfied with current compensation.

Forty-seven percent of the employed respondents in Bayt’s survey said they are satisfied with their career growth opportunities with 37 percent of them comfortable with their current pay. Forty-three percent of them also said they are satisfied with their company’s non-monetary benefits. Overall, 43 percent feel secure in their jobs.

“While the region as a whole has seen a relative dip in consumer confidence, future expectations among respondents remain
positive and bright,” said SuhailMasri, VP of Employer Solutions, Bayt.com.

Aside from current satisfaction, the future also looked rosy to most. About 51 percent of those surveyed believe their personal financial situation will improve in the next six months.

The respondents are also largely optimistic with what could happen next in the country, with 60 percent of them expecting business conditions to even get better in a year’s time, the Bayt.com said.

3. Security and convenience are yet other important reasons why OFWs prefer to stay in the UAE. As the TFTsurvey showed, 5 percent of the respondents say the peace of mind they get living in the country contributes to their happiness.

Indeed, the UAE is among the world’s safest countries, with Abu Dhabi ranking 25th on the list of the safest cities across the globe. And when compared to the conditions of the streets, alleys and public places in the Philippines, the UAE is clearly head and shoulders above.

“Sad to say, I feel safer here than back home with the high crime rates. Here, the law has teeth,” said Jhacq C. Miclat, who’s in the IT and tourism industry, adding that she likes it here because there is relative tolerance compared to other Gulf countries.

Troy Lo Tabamo, who is in the banking sector, said he’s happy in Dubai because “there’s discipline and harmony. And it’s safe,” he said.

“Here, and in Abu Dhabi in particular, you can bring your child to the mall and do your shopping without having to worry whether your son will be kidnapped when you lose sight of him for a second,” said Analisa Fuentes, a sales executive.

When it comes to convenience, ease of transport is also one thing cited by Pinoy expats. Coming from a country whose public transport remains in shambles, Filipinos are amazed at how easy and convenient commuting is in the UAE.

“Just look at the Metro here, and the buses. There’s a clear system and it’s very efficient,” said Gail Cervales, a restaurant staff.

4. Friends and leisure. No matter how hard they work, Filipinos do find time to unwind, relax and just have fun in the UAE. Five percent of TFT’s respondents say that the friendships they have made here and the leisure the cities here have to offer brighten up their expat lives.

“You can do a lot of things in the UAE,” said Charlie Banalo, a designer who cruises through the streets of Dubai on his skateboard on weekends. “I also do photo walks alone, or do road trips with my friends or just jam with them at home.”

Will MONEY make you happy?

No. Definitely not. –well, really? Remember that last pair of designer shoes you have long wanted to buy and which you have bought just last week? How about that night-out you have just had? Or that last vacation you spent abroad? All of which made you happy—and all of which involved you taking out some bills from your wallet. So again, do you really think money “can’t” make you happy?

Clinical psychologist Dr. Valeria Risoli explains the complexity in the happiness issue of the 999 Magazine, the official magazine of the Ministry of Interior.

“If we only believe that getting what we desire gives us happiness, we might end up thinking that happiness is placed only on things that we can buy or get,” Dr. Risoli said. “I’d like to think that the desire for something is what really motivates people to look for it and makes them feel happy.”

Even a study has shown that money can make people happy only up to a certain point. A 2010 study of psychologist Daniel Kahneman and economist Angus Deaton showed that Americans were happier with every pay hike but only up until they reached an annual salary of $75,000 (Dh275,250). Any amount higher than that no longer added to people’s happiness.

A money expert, Caroline Domanska, explains this in a report, saying that “the pinnacle of financial happiness is when you no longer have to work to maintain your lifestyle.”

“When your financial situation can do that for you. You still work, but you choose to work,” she said.

That freedom to do what you and what you love is really what makes people happy. True, you may need money to attain such state of independence—but if you look deep down in your heart, it is not the money that makes you happy. It is you.

Take control of your life: remember that you can always choose to be happy.

(Source: FilipinoTimes.ae)