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Vietnam has been ranked the fifth happiest country in the world
in a study by the UK think tank the New Economics Foundation.
The Happy Planet Index report measured elements that contribute towards a happy life in 140 countries and looked at factors such as life expectancy, wellbeing, inequality and ecological footprint. The list was topped by Costa Rica, followed by Mexico, Columbia and Vanuatu, making Vietnam the happiest country in Asia.
A lady with her baby stands outside in the rain to get a glimpse of US President Barack Obama as he visits a local shopping district in Hanoi on May 24, 2016. (Photo JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images)
Life expectancy in Vietnam is a healthy 75.5 years, not bad at all for a developing nation. By way of comparison, life expectancy in the US is 78.8 years (overall the US ranked as the 108th happiest country).
Wellbeing measure how people view their quality of life, while inequality looked at how unequal the distribution of life expectance and experienced wellbeing results were within a country. Vietnam’s score in the latter category was actually better than Costa Rica’s, and was attributed in large part to the strong provision of public services such as education. School enrolments in Vietnam, at 98 percent, are among the highest in the world.
Vietnam has also done a great job of reducing poverty. In the early 90s more than half the population lived below the poverty line, it is now in the single digits. At the same time, the country’s ecological foot print is very low. This measure of consumption gauges the land area needed to produce the resources to sustain each person, with Vietnam coming in at 1.7 global hectares per person. This made it one of the few nations with an ecological footprint that could be considered actually sustainable.
Đăng bởi Trần Đình Hoành
I am an attorney in the Washington DC area, with a Doctor of Law in the US, attended the master program at the National School of Administration of Việt Nam, and graduated from Sài Gòn University Law School. I aso studied philosophy at the School of Letters in Sài Gòn.
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I have worked as an anti-trust attorney for Federal Trade Commission and a litigator for a fortune-100 telecom company in Washington DC.
I have taught law courses for legal professionals in Việt Nam and still counsel VN government agencies on legal matters.
I have founded and managed businesses for me and my family, both law and non-law.
I have published many articles on national newspapers and radio stations in Việt Nam.
In 1989 I was one of the founding members of US-VN Trade Council, working to re-establish US-VN relationship.
Since the early 90's, I have established and managed VNFORUM and VNBIZ forum on VN-related matters; these forums are the subject of a PhD thesis by Dr. Caroline Valverde at UC-Berkeley and her book Transnationalizing Viet Nam.
I translate poetry and my translation of "A Request at Đồng Lộc Cemetery" is now engraved on a stone memorial at Đồng Lộc National Shrine in VN.
I study and teach the Bible and Buddhism. In 2009 I founded and still manage dotchuoinon.com on positive thinking and two other blogs on Buddhism.
In 2015 a group of friends and I founded website CVD - Conversations on Vietnam Development (cvdvn.net).
I study the art of leadership with many friends who are religious, business and government leaders from many countries.
I have written these books, published by Phu Nu Publishing House in Hanoi:
"Positive Thinking to Change Your Life", in Vietnamese (TƯ DUY TÍCH CỰC Thay Đổi Cuộc Sống) (Oct. 2011)
"10 Core Values for Success" (10 Giá trị cốt lõi của thành công) (Dec. 2013)
"Live a Life Worth Living" (Sống Một Cuộc Đời Đáng Sống) (Oct. 2023)
I practice Jiu Jitsu and Tai Chi for health, and play guitar as a hobby, usually accompanying my wife Trần Lê Túy Phượng, aka singer Linh Phượng.
Xem tất cả bài viết bởi Trần Đình Hoành
CVD 