Commenters push back after ex-foreign minister George Yeo suggests that unhappiness contributed to Singapore's achievements 

SINGAPORE: Former Foreign Affairs Minister George Yeo, together with longtime diplomat Kishore Mahbubani, sat down with Bloomberg’s Mishal Husain in front of a live audience in Singapore earlier this month for an Asian perspective on various challenges across the globe, as well as those facing Singapore itself.

Amid the range of topics from geopolitics to technology to China’s transformation, what has, understandably, stood out to many Singaporeans is when Ms Husain asked a question from the audience about unhappiness.

The host said that while Singapore is on the list of the world’s wealthiest countries, it is also on the list of the world’s unhappiest nations.

“Why do you think that’s the case?” the audience member asked.

Mr Yeo started his answer with a quote from Lee Kuan Yew, who had told Singapore’s officials to “never promise happiness,” which elicited laughter and a smattering of applause from the audience.

“We can promise infrastructure, economic development, education, whatever, but never promise happiness,” he repeated.

As a follow-up, the host asked him if he was “not bothered” about Singapore’s inclusion in the top 20 unhappiest countries.

Mr Yeo replied that he was “proud to say” that during his time with the trade and foreign ministries, according to public surveys, both the MTI and MFA emerged as having “terrible” work-life balance, although they had the highest morale. 

“So sometimes unhappiness may be a precondition for achievement,” he added, again eliciting some applause.

“I agree, I agree,” said Mr Mahbubani, prompting Ms Husain to call them “hardcore” on this point.

Based on the comments on the clip posted by Bloomberg on Instagram, perhaps this perspective may no longer be shared by others, especially those from younger generations. After all, Mr Yeo is 72, and Mr Mahbubani is 77.

“Ok lah delete happiness from the pledge lah,” wrote one.

One asked, “Why are they laughing?” and another called the exchange “neither funny nor witty.”

“When our worth is defined by what we possess, unhappiness becomes almost inevitable. Competition, comparison, and ever-rising expectations distance us from ourselves,” a commenter wrote. 

An Instagram user addressed Mr Yeo, writing, “Please tell me then, ex-minister, what has Singapore really achieved in the past 10 years besides fake economic growth? And what’s the point of achievements without happiness??”

Singapore’s challenges

Towards the end of the interview, both guests were asked by Ms Husain what they believe is one thing the city-state will have to deal with in the next ten years.

Mr Yeo, who answered first, spoke of Singapore’s “built-in contradiction” of needing to be unified as a nation but at the same time, always be connected to different parts of the world. 

He noted the large number of foreigners in Singapore, some of whom may come across as believing themselves to be superior to others.

“This is the tension we face. And the challenge for the government is how to ensure that despite all the changes in the world, social divisions are tackled, ahead of them becoming too difficult to solve,” he said.

Mr Mahbubani, meanwhile, spoke of Singapore’s declining birth rate.

“The number of Singaporeans who would have been born in Singapore, of Singapore parents, is going to keep going down. And how do you preserve a core Singapore identity when you have a population which has got lots of foreigners coming in?” he asked, adding that the challenge is to maintain a core Singapore identity in a very open society.  /TISG

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