Blowing Water | Hong Kong was an unhappy city long before the anti-government protests divided us further

It is not easy to measure happiness because, well, where would one begin? However, when we are happy, we tend to know it. And many would agree that Hong Kong is a very unhappy place these days as the city is choked by ongoing anti-government protests, and as a result, businesses have suffered in the political crossfire and society has become increasingly polarised.

But even before the unrest began in June, Hong Kong was not exactly a picture of smiley faces. Some say it was because of the housing crisis, a lack of upward mobility, inequality, an increasing wealth gap, and so on.

Hong Kong is one of the wealthiest cities in the world with GDP per capita standing at US$38,784 in 2018 and a jobless rate of 2.9 per cent. Health care is heavily subsidised by the government and people enjoy the highest life expectancy globally, with men expected to live for 81.24 years and women 87.32. Despite these glorious achievements, Hong Kong seems to be stuck in a perpetual cycle of unhappiness, fluctuating between 71st and 76th in the World Happiness Index from 2015 to 2019. The index measures more than 150 countries.

But honestly, how do we measure happiness in a city or a country? In this digital age, there is no lack of inventive methods for measuring happiness. Researchers have even studied the online reactions of social media users, such as the positive or negative words they use in posts, emoticons, reactions, as well as facial expressions in photos like big smiles or certain “frown lines”.

There is even technology to analyse and grade facial expressions. For example, big grins score higher than tight-lipped smiles. But, we all know it is not possible to determine whether these smiles are genuine, so merely depending on superficial expressions is unreliable, especially when overly expressive behaviours are less culturally acceptable in some places more than others.